Information Visualization for E-content David Modjeska Assistant Professor Faculty of Information Studies University of Toronto Information Highways 2002

Overview 1.Information Visualization and E-content 2.Research Project and Demo 3.Future Directions

1.Information Visualization

Online Information - Overview of Structure Difficult to get an overall sense of structure using textual representations. –Amount of online information increasing –Search engines provide access via queries –Directories such as Yahoo provide a hierarchical view.

Information Visualization This decade, much interest in visualizing information structure. –Capitalizes on human skills for scanning visual presentations quickly and efficiently. –Several algorithms and techniques –Little evaluative research for guidance in this area.

Desktop 3D Environments Desktop 3D environments provide experience of navigating in a world on desktop computer –E.g., in a first-person action game. –Can also represent information hierarchies, where concepts or items are represented as buildings or regions in model world. –Potential application areas include the Web and information systems.

Interesting Research Info structure - spatial vs. semantic (Dillon et al.) Info visualization (Card et al.; Chen) IR Visualization (Chalmers et al.; Hemmje et al.) “Focus+context” - cone tree, hyperbolic browser, XML3D (Robertson et al., Lamping & Rao; Risden et al.) Wayfinding (Lynch; Passini; Darken & Sibert) 3D info design (Waterworth; Vinson)

Document Landscape

Cone Tree (Vertical)

Hyperbolic Browswer

XML3D

Information Islands

Interesting Products Star Tree Viewer from Inxight File System Navigator from SGI VisualNet from Antarcti.ca

Star Tree Viewer from Inxight

File System Navigator from SGI

VisualNet from Antarcti.ca

2. Research Project

Information Systems Design Usability Evaluation Software Engineering Information Visualization

Goals Develop new technique for visualizing hierarchical data in desktop 3D environments Investigate design trade-offs between spatial and semantic structure in visualizations Implement and empirically validate proposed visualization designs Explore prototypes’ implications for Web/intranet browsing with semantic structural overview Investigate value of 3rd dimension and role of spatial ability

Tools Created toolkit for prototyping desktop VR and hypertext visualization designs ( ) –input: data hierarchies in ASCII files (~ 1 MB each) –filter: C++ software (~ 10,000 lines) –output: virtual worlds in VRML files (~ 3 MB each) Developed tool to log user’s virtual navigation (Study 4) Acquired hierarchical data for user studies –filtered subset of Yahoo! Web index (1998) –~ 1500 info items on six levels Studies used SGI or PC workstation, fast graphics card, monitor, mouse, keyboard

“Efficient” Day World

Map View of “Efficient” Day World

(Demo)

Methods Conducted user study with 20 participants Compared two visualization designs During each study session: 1) spatial ability test (a previous day) 2) Introduction and UI training (30 minutes) 3) 2 blocks of trials (20 minutes per block) a) “Scavenger hunt” for data items (0 -30 trials) b) After each block, test for structure-learning ability 4) Questionnaire and debriefing

Results World design: in map design, users... –overall - found more targets and rated higher efficiency –per trial - traveled less, made fewer errors, and stayed closer to target Spatial ability: lowest 25% of users... –overall - found fewer targets –per trial – traveled farther, and made more errors Structure-learning ability: higher-ability users... –Overall - found more targets –per trial - stayed closer to target

Benefits of 3D UIs for some tasks do not outweigh higher cognitive requirements. Different designs/training may be needed to compensate people with low levels of needed cognitive abilities Empirical evaluation is essential Discussion

3. Implications and Future

General Implications Humans inherently 2+ D creatures, except for acrobats, divers, and pilots These studies showed value of 2D UI for task performance, but 3D for enjoyment Naïve naturalism in desktop VR bad for task and system performance Trade-off ease of sensory representation vs. power of imaginative construction

Product Implications Computer graphics evolution + younger market demographics + information explosion  dynamic visual interfaces, tools to manage overload, and information as entertainment Visualization tools promising for intranets, digital libraries, e-business (B2C) Possibilities for real-time, multi-user communications (e.g., chat, conferencing) to add value and/or provide services

(Scenario)

Suggested Readings Card, S.K., Mackinlay, J.D., and Shneiderman, B., eds. Readings in information visualization: Using vision to think. Morgan Kaufmann, Gibson, W., Neuromancer. Ace Books, Modjeska, D. Hierarchical Data Visualization in Desktop Virtual Reality. Ph.D. thesis. University of Toronto, ( df) Stepenson, N., Snow Crash. Bantam, 2000