A framework for information visualisation

In this paper we examine the issues involved in developing information visualisation systems and present a framework for their construction. The framework addresses the components which must be considered in providing effective visualisations. The framework is specified using a declarative object oriented language; the resulting object model may be mapped to a variety of graphical user interface development platforms. This provides general support to developers of visualisation systems. A prototype system exists which allows the investigation of alternative visualisations for a range of data sources. The authors conclude with the benefits of this approach and issues requiring further investigation

Visualising and animating visual information foraging in context

Optimal information foraging provides a potentially useful framework for modelling, analysing, and interpreting search strategies of users through a spatial-semantic interface. Improving the understanding of behavioural patterns of users in such environments has implications for the design and refinement of a range of user interfaces. In this article, we outline the role of optimal information foraging in the study of visual information retrieval and how one may use visualisation and animation techniques to put behavioural patterns in context. Behavioural patterns of information foraging in an information space are visualised and animated to aid further in-depth analysis of search strategies

The HyperBagGraph DataEdron: An Enriched Browsing Experience of Multimedia Datasets

Traditional verbatim browsers give back information in a linear way according to a ranking performed by a search engine that may not be optimal for the surfer. The latter may need to assess the pertinence of the information retrieved, particularly when s$\cdot$he wants to explore other facets of a multi-facetted information space. For instance, in a multimedia dataset different facets such as keywords, authors, publication category, organisations and figures can be of interest. The facet simultaneous visualisation can help to gain insights on the information retrieved and call for further searches. Facets are co-occurence networks, modeled by HyperBag-Graphs -- families of multisets -- and are in fact linked not only to the publication itself, but to any chosen reference. These references allow to navigate inside the dataset and perform visual queries. We explore here the case of scientific publications based on Arxiv searches.Comment: Extension of the hypergraph framework shortly presented in arXiv:1809.00164 (possible small overlaps); use the theoretical framework of hb-graphs presented in arXiv:1809.0019

Web based hybrid volumetric visualisation of urban GIS data: Integration of 4D Temperature and Wind Fields with LoD-2 CityGML models

City models visualisation, buildings, structures and volumetric information, is an important task in Computer Graphics and Urban Planning -- The different formats and data sources involved in the visualisation make the development of applications a big challenge -- We present a homogeneous web visualisation framework using X3DOM and MEDX3DOM for the visualisation of these urban objects -- We present an integration of different declarative data sources, enabling the utilization of advanced visualisation algorithms to render the models -- It has been tested with a city model composed of buildings from the Madrid University Campus, some volumetric datasets coming from Air Quality Models and 2D layers wind datasets -- Results show that the visualisation of all the urban models can be performed in real time on the Web -- An HTML5 web interface is presented to the users, enabling real time modifications of visualisation parameter

Techniques for augmenting the visualisation of dynamic raster surfaces

Despite their aesthetic appeal and condensed nature, dynamic raster surface representations such as a temporal series of a landform and an attribute series of a socio-economic attribute of an area, are often criticised for the lack of an effective information delivery and interactivity.In this work, we readdress some of the earlier raised reasons for these limitations -information-laden quality of surface datasets, lack of spatial and temporal continuity in the original data, and a limited scope for a real-time interactivity. We demonstrate with examples that the use of four techniques namely the re-expression of the surfaces as a framework of morphometric features, spatial generalisation, morphing, graphic lag and brushing can augment the visualisation of dynamic raster surfaces in temporal and attribute series

Visualisation of Hypermedia Systems: An Open Approach

Hypermedia systems are designed to allow links, or connections, to be made between different media objects. Key issues tackled in early hypermedia systems included developing tools to help guide users through the material and tools to help authors maintain the material that they create. The open approach to hypermedia emerged, where links were separated from the content of documents, allowing a more modular approach to hypermedia services. The ease of integration of tools in these open systems promoted the creation of many different types of navigational aids, designed to help users of the systems to access and maintain the information contained within them. The openness and modular nature of such systems creates its own problems however. Users will often have to interact with a number of disparate interfaces to manipulate the navigational information. A new approach is presented which provides an open framework for these interfaces, allowing for a co-ordinated strategy and the modular addition of tools to help manage the screen interface and reduce the complexity of the interaction for users. A second approach to the problem is to provide the different hypermedia information within a unifying visualisation. A novel framework is presented which allows more open access to the underlying navigational information of hypermedia systems. Visualisation tools can be connected to this framework in a modular fashion to provide flexible visualisations of the underlying information. By generating a number of different visualisations, the openness and flexibility of the visualisation framework approach is demonstrated

Sustainable urban development in practice:the SAVE concept

The need for sustainable development of the urban environment presents the research community with a number of challenges and opportunities. A considerable volume of research has been undertaken into the constituent parts of this complex problem and a number of tool kits and methodologies have been developed to enable and encourage the application of specific aspects of research in practice. However, there is limited evidence of the holistic integration of the body of knowledge arising from the research within real-life decision-making practices. In this paper we present an overview of the existing body of knowledge relating to sustainable development of the urban environment and propose a generic framework for its integration within current practices. This framework recognises the need to: understand social, economic, and environmental issues; understand the decision-making processes; provide a means of measurement, assessment, or valuation of the issues; provide analytical methods for the comparative assessment of complex data to enable an evaluation of strategies and design options and to communicate effectively throughout the process with a wide range of stakeholders. The components of a novel sustainability assessment, visualisation and enhancement (SAVE) framework, developed by the authors to ‘operationalise’ the body of knowledge are presented and justified. These include: decision-mapping methods to identify points of intervention; indicator identification and measurement approaches; appropriate mathematical and analytical tools and an interactive simulation and visualisation platform which integrates and communicates complex multivariate information to diverse stakeholder groups. We report on the application of the SAVE framework to a major urban development project and reflect on its current and potential impact on the development. Conclusions are also drawn about its general applicability

Providing scientific visualisation for spatial data analysis: criteria and an assessment of SAGE

A consistent theme in recent work on developing exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) has been the importance attached to visualization techniques, particularly following the pioneering development of packages such as REGARD by Haslett et al (1990). The focus on visual techniques is often justified in two ways: (a) the power of modern graphical interfaces means that graphics is no longer a way of simply presenting results in the form of maps or graphs, but a tool for the extraction of information from data; (b)graphical, exploratory methods are felt to be more intuitive for non-specialists to use than methods of numerical spatial statistics enabling wider participation in the process of getting data insights. Despite the importance attached to visualisation techniques, very little work has been done to assess the effectiveness of techniques, either in the wider scientific visualisation community, or among those working with spatial data. This paper will describe a theoretical framework for developing visualisation tools for ESDA that incorporates a data model of what the analyst is looking for based on the concepts of "rough" and "smooth" elements of a data set and a theoretical scheme for assessing visual tools. The paper will include examples of appropriate tools and a commentary on the effectiveness of some existing packages

The colour of life: interacting with SenseCam images on large multi-touch display walls

A SenseCam can provide a detailed visual archive of a person’s life, activities and experiences. However, as the number of images captured per year can extend beyond one million, gaining an insight into an individual’s lifestyle in a fast, effective and intuitive manner is a challenging prospect. In this work, we develop an interactive image browsing tool, which incorporates visualisation techniques that can capture not only a snapshot of an individual’s lifestyle over long periods of time, but also how that lifestyle varies with changing days, weeks, or years. The image retrieval tool incorporates the Colour of Life algorithms [1], which can represent an overview of millions of images with a single visualisation. The Colour of Life algorithms focus on the relationship between lifestyle and colour, by capturing the colours to which we are exposed in our lives (and therefore captured by SenseCam images), collating similar colours for specific time periods and depicting how those colours change over time with a flowing time-line – see Figure 1 which depicts the life of a SenseCam user over the period of 8 days. In this figure, time is orientated along the horizontal axis and larger vertical peaks indicate higher user activity for a given period of time. In Figure 1, the normal working week consists of the rhythmical blue, pink (work) and yellow (home) peaks and troughs for each day (with less activity at the start and end of the days), whereas time outdoors increases at the weekend, especially during the night (and hence the darker colours on the left hand side of the figure). The Colour of Life visualisation, while providing information on changes in lifestyle, does not provide sufficient context to understand the exact activities of a user for a given time period. For example, on the left of Figure 1 there is a peak of purple, that does not occur anywhere else during the 8 days of activities images – where was the user at this point in time and what was he doing? In this work, we build an interactive image browsing tool based around the Colour of Life visualisation. We exploit the use of high resolution multi-touch display walls, where we extend the Colour of Life algorithms to produce an intuitive visualisation, which incorporates image mosaicing (see Figure 2). Through this we incorporate coarse lifestyle data with more fine detailed contextual information on human activities into one interactive visualisation tool. As an additional feature, we have investigated the use of image classification within the framework of the Colour of Life. One such example is the categorisation of images as being as social (i.e. interacting with other people) or non-social. Using such a classification, we can depict a person’s social lifestyle, and how that varies over time

Visualisation as a Model. Overview on Communication Techniques in Transport and Urban Planning

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) changed the way planners present and operate with their projects. New visualisation tools have changed the ways projects and plans are presented and disseminated. However, the opportunities given by visualisation are not completely exploited in the professional practice. This is due to several bottlenecks which occur in the daily carrying out of activities. The paper is organised in three sections. The first one explains how visualisation can be an added value to the planning practice if it is organised and designed as a framework of information; conceiving the visualisation as a model, data can be managed and represented in order to provide information at different levels of expertise, allowing city plans to be analysed and understood before their realisation. The second section resumes the changes caused by the introduction of ICT within the daily practice; a comparison between pre-digital and digital approaches highlights current opportunities for implementing the communication values of plans and projects. The third part illustrates some examples of innovative visualisations in the urban and transport planning practice, showing a number of uses of visualisation to fit different purposes. The paper concludes this insight formulating the necessity for integrating the studies on visualisation coming from different disciplines into a scientific method that can be proposed as a guideline in building the images of urban and transport plans. This would be particularly useful for obtaining a more scientific approach in the choices of representation and visualisation of urban aspects