A novel method called Visual Q-Analysis (VQA) is proposed to analyze structures of complex systems. This method is based upon Atkin's Q-analysis where the structure of a system is represented by simplicial complex in topology and analyzed in terms of q-connectivity.
Two different types of hierarchies, Q-hierarchy and F-hierarchy, are introduced and algorithms to obtain these are given. In order to draw these hierarchies in a visually understandable form SKETCH system developed by the authors are used. The Q-hierarchy visualizes a hierarchical q-connectivity structure among all the simplices and the F-hierarchy expresses a structure of face-sharing among the simplices in the complex. By inspecting their drawings we can grasp the structural information embedded in the complex.
This method is applied to a structural study of technological development of future computers of Japan in terms of relationships between social needs and technological requirements (seeds). Results of the application not only show the effectiveness of VQA to support in planning technological developments but also suggest wide applicabilities of VQA to various other fields
