Cupid: Cluster-based Exploration of Geometry Generators with Parallel Coordinates and Radial Trees

Information

• Publication Type: Journal Paper with Conference Talk
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • ViMaL: A Visualization Mapping Language
• Date: December 2014
• Journal: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
• Volume: 20
• Number: 12
• Location: Paris, France
• Lecturer: Michael Beham
• ISSN: 1077-2626
• Event: IEEE VIS 2014
• Conference date: 9. November 2014 – 14. November 2014
• Pages: 1693 – 1702
• Keywords: 3D shape analysis, radial trees, hierarchical clustering, illustrative parallel coordinates, composite visualization

Abstract

Geometry generators are commonly used in video games and evaluation systems for computer vision to create geometric shapes such as terrains, vegetation or airplanes. The parameters of the generator are often sampled automatically which can lead to many similar or unwanted geometric shapes. In this paper, we propose a novel visual exploration approach that combines the abstract parameter space of the geometry generator with the resulting 3D shapes in a composite visualization. Similar geometric shapes are first grouped using hierarchical clustering and then nested within an illustrative parallel coordinates visualization. This helps the user to study the sensitivity of the generator with respect to its parameter space and to identify invalid parameter settings. Starting from a compact overview representation, the user can iteratively drill-down into local shape differences by clicking on the respective clusters. Additionally, a linked radial tree gives an overview of the cluster hierarchy and enables the user to manually split or merge clusters. We evaluate our approach by exploring the parameter space of a cup generator and provide feedback from domain experts.

Additional Files and Images

Weblinks

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2014.2346626

BibTeX

@article{beham-2014-cupid,
  title =      "Cupid: Cluster-based Exploration of Geometry Generators with
               Parallel Coordinates and Radial Trees",
  author =     "Michael Beham and Wolfgang Herzner and Eduard Gr\"{o}ller
               and Johannes Kehrer",
  year =       "2014",
  abstract =   "Geometry generators are commonly used in video games and
               evaluation systems for computer vision to create geometric
               shapes such as terrains, vegetation or airplanes. The
               parameters of the generator are often sampled automatically
               which can lead to many similar or unwanted geometric shapes.
               In this paper, we propose a novel visual exploration
               approach that combines the abstract parameter space of the
               geometry generator with the resulting 3D shapes in a
               composite visualization. Similar geometric shapes are first
               grouped using hierarchical clustering and then nested within
               an illustrative parallel coordinates visualization. This
               helps the user to study the sensitivity of the generator
               with respect to its parameter space and to identify invalid
               parameter settings. Starting from a compact overview
               representation, the user can iteratively drill-down into
               local shape differences by clicking on the respective
               clusters. Additionally, a linked radial tree gives an
               overview of the cluster hierarchy and enables the user to
               manually split or merge clusters. We evaluate our approach
               by exploring the parameter space of a cup generator and
               provide feedback from domain experts.",
  month =      dec,
  journal =    "IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics",
  volume =     "20",
  number =     "12",
  issn =       "1077-2626",
  pages =      "1693--1702 ",
  keywords =   "3D shape analysis, radial trees, hierarchical clustering,
               illustrative parallel coordinates, composite visualization",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2014/beham-2014-cupid/",
}