Dynamic Visualization Dynamic Queries For Visual Information Seeking by Ben Shneiderman Data Visualization Sliders by Stephen G Eick Presented by Yimeng Dou 05 21 2002 ydou ics uci edu Overview Dynamic Queries Applies the principles of direct manipulation to the database environment Data Visualization Sliders Dynamic Query Approach rapid animated visual display of search results Visual presentation of the query s components Visual presentation of results Rapid incremental and reversible control Immediate and continuous feedback No need to learn a specific query language to use dynamic query Example 1 HomeFinder System HomeFinder Christopher Williamson s HomeFinder showed a map of Washington DC and 1100 points of light indicating homes for sale Users could mark the workplace for both members of a couple and then adjust sliders to select circular areas of varying radii Other sliders selected number of bedrooms and cost with buttons for air conditioning garage etc Controlled experiments with benchmark tasks showed dramatic speedups in performance and high subjective satisfaction An Improvement To HomeFinder ProgramFind er plots the available programs on a map of Maryland Adjusting the controls updates the display which shows a dot for each program that matches A click on a program provides more details and the press of a Example 2 Cancer Rate Cervix cancer rates are color coded on the map The year slider shows time trends The other sliders allow interactive filtering of the gap according to the three chosen demographic parameters Example 3 Periodic Table Periodic table with chemical symbols in red and six sliders for attributes such as atomic radius ionization energy and electronegativity As users move the sliders the chemical symbols change to red showing the clusters jumps and gaps that chemists find fascinating A study with 18 chemistry students showed faster performance with use of a visual display versus a simple textual list and a visual input device versus a form fillin box Example 3 Periodic Table Example 4 Tabular Display When there are no natural graphical displays for the output dynamic queries can still be implemented with result sets shown in a traditional alphanumeric tabular display The sliders and buttons are created semi automatically by the program depending on the values that exist in the imported ASCII database Display is updated only when the user releases the mouse button Tabular Display Example 5 Dynamic Query of Unix Directory Sliders for size in kilobytes and age in days of files enabled 18 users to answer ten questions such as How many files are younger than umcp tai The three versions of the program are highlighting matches with color highlighting matches with asterisks displaying only the matching lines In five of the tasks there was a statistically significant speed advantage for the Expand contract interface Example 5 Dynamic Query of Unix Directory Advantages Visual presentation of query components Visual presentation of results Rapid incremental and reversible actions Selection by pointing not typing Immediate and continuous feedback For data in which there is a known relationship among variables the dynamic queries interface is useful for training and education by exploration Where there is so much data dynamic queries may help users to discover patterns form and test hypotheses Disadvantages stem largely from their poor match with current hardware and software systems Requirement for rapid performance in search algorithms and display strategies cannot be easily satisfied with current database management tools Application specific programming is needed to take the best advantage of dynamic query methods Current dynamic queries implement only simple queries that are conjunctions of disjunctions plus range queries on numeric values Visually handicapped and blind users will have a more difficult time with these widgets and outputs Research Directions 1 Database and 1 display algorithms For small database main memory array indexing grid structures quad trees and k d trees Larger database disk R trees grid files various B trees Display algorithms which can update quickly Buckets adjusted to granularity of the slider Data compression methods Screen management algorithms Only repaint the area that is changed Manipulation of the palette by color indexing can be effective for irregularly shaped regions Research Directions 2 User Interface 2 Design Use pictures and capitalize on the human visual system Appropriate coding of properties like size position shape and color to reduce explicit selection Graphical display properties such as color Auditory properties No natural two dimensional representation of the data is in currently available widgets Needed New Widgets Existing widgets are poorly matched with the needs of expert users One possible solution two dimensional input widgets Only one selecting is required to set two values correct selections can be guaranteed Three and higher dimensional input widget may facilitate the exploration of complex relationships One possibility 3 D Mouse Ways of specifying alphanumeric fields One possible solution alphaslider How to specify complex boolean combinations of attributes Example filter flow model Filter Flow model Users can select from the set of attributes and get an appropriate filter widget type in for interest areas sliders for cost and buttons for scholarships The widget is placed on the screen with flow lines showing ANDs sequential flow and ORs parallel flows Summary The challenge now is to broaden the spectrum of applications by improved user interface design fast database search compression methods It can become a general approach attached to every database system spreadsheet etc Research directions include 1 database and display algorithms 2 user interface design Data Visualization Sliders Sliders provide a threshold bar within a scale that user can manipulate with a mouse to select a value The effectiveness of sliders may be increased by using the space inside the sliders as An interactive color scale A barplot for discrete data A density plot for continuous data Sliders in Information Visualization Double edged slider with upper and lower thresholds on network maps Categorical slider on software display for selecting an arbitrary subset see next slide for an example Ahlberg and Shneiderman s FilmFinder uses a suite of doubleedged sliders Seesoft Example of categorical slider Lines corresponding to
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