540 research outputs found
Graph Layouts by t‐SNE
We propose a new graph layout method based on a modification of the t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) dimensionality reduction technique. Although t-SNE is one of the best techniques for visualizing high-dimensional data as 2D scatterplots, t-SNE has not been used in the context of classical graph layout. We propose a new graph layout method, tsNET, based on representing a graph with a distance matrix, which together with a modified t-SNE cost function results in desirable layouts. We evaluate our method by a formal comparison with state-of-the-art methods, both visually and via established quality metrics on a comprehensive benchmark, containing real-world and synthetic graphs. As evidenced by the quality metrics and visual inspection, tsNET produces excellent layouts
Overlap Removal of Dimensionality Reduction Scatterplot Layouts
Dimensionality Reduction (DR) scatterplot layouts have become a ubiquitous
visualization tool for analyzing multidimensional data items with presence in
different areas. Despite its popularity, scatterplots suffer from occlusion,
especially when markers convey information, making it troublesome for users to
estimate items' groups' sizes and, more importantly, potentially obfuscating
critical items for the analysis under execution. Different strategies have been
devised to address this issue, either producing overlap-free layouts, lacking
the powerful capabilities of contemporary DR techniques in uncover interesting
data patterns, or eliminating overlaps as a post-processing strategy. Despite
the good results of post-processing techniques, the best methods typically
expand or distort the scatterplot area, thus reducing markers' size (sometimes)
to unreadable dimensions, defeating the purpose of removing overlaps. This
paper presents a novel post-processing strategy to remove DR layouts' overlaps
that faithfully preserves the original layout's characteristics and markers'
sizes. We show that the proposed strategy surpasses the state-of-the-art in
overlap removal through an extensive comparative evaluation considering
multiple different metrics while it is 2 or 3 orders of magnitude faster for
large datasets.Comment: 11 pages and 9 figure
Segue: Overviewing Evolution Patterns of Egocentric Networks by Interactive Construction of Spatial Layouts
Getting the overall picture of how a large number of ego-networks evolve is a
common yet challenging task. Existing techniques often require analysts to
inspect the evolution patterns of ego-networks one after another. In this
study, we explore an approach that allows analysts to interactively create
spatial layouts in which each dot is a dynamic ego-network. These spatial
layouts provide overviews of the evolution patterns of ego-networks, thereby
revealing different global patterns such as trends, clusters and outliers in
evolution patterns. To let analysts interactively construct interpretable
spatial layouts, we propose a data transformation pipeline, with which analysts
can adjust the spatial layouts and convert dynamic egonetworks into event
sequences to aid interpretations of the spatial positions. Based on this
transformation pipeline, we developed Segue, a visual analysis system that
supports thorough exploration of the evolution patterns of ego-networks.
Through two usage scenarios, we demonstrate how analysts can gain insights into
the overall evolution patterns of a large collection of ego-networks by
interactively creating different spatial layouts.Comment: Published at IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and
Technology (IEEE VAST 2018
Visualising the Global Structure of Search Landscapes: Genetic Improvement as a Case Study
The search landscape is a common metaphor to describe the structure of computational search spaces. Different landscape metrics can be computed and used to predict search difficulty. Yet, the metaphor falls short in visualisation terms because it is hard to represent complex landscapes, both in terms of size and dimensionality. This paper combines Local Optima Networks, as a compact representation of the global structure of a search space, and dimensionality reduction, using the t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbour Embedding (t-SNE) algorithm, in order to both bring the metaphor to life and convey new insight into the search process. As a case study, two benchmark programs, under a Genetic Improvement bug-fixing scenario, are analysed and visualised using the proposed method. Local Optima Networks for both iterated local search and a hybrid genetic algorithm, across different neighbourhoods, are compared, highlighting the differences in how the landscape is explored
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