Managing Spatial Selections with Contextual Snapshots

Information

• Publication Type: Journal Paper (without talk)
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • ViMaL: A Visualization Mapping Language
• Date: December 2014
• ISSN: 1467-8659
• Journal: Computer Graphics Forum
• Number: 8
• Volume: 33
• Pages: 132 – 144
• Keywords: annotations, spatial selections, visual analytics, interaction

Abstract

Spatial selections are a ubiquitous concept in visualization. By localizing particular features, they can be analyzed and compared in different views. However, the semantics of such selections often depend on specific parameter settings and it can be difficult to reconstruct them without additional information. In this paper, we present the concept of contextual snapshots as an effective means for managing spatial selections in visualized data. The selections are automatically associated with the context in which they have been created. Contextual snapshots can also be used as the basis for interactive integrated and linked views, which enable in-place investigation and comparison of multiple visual representations of data. Our approach is implemented as a flexible toolkit with well-defined interfaces for integration into existing systems. We demonstrate the power and generality of our techniques by applying them to several distinct scenarios such as the visualization of simulation data, the analysis of historical documents, and the display of anatomical data.

Additional Files and Images

Weblinks

• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cgf.12406/abstract

BibTeX

@article{mindek-2014-mcs,
  title =      "Managing Spatial Selections with Contextual Snapshots",
  author =     "Peter Mindek and Eduard Gr\"{o}ller and Stefan Bruckner",
  year =       "2014",
  abstract =   "Spatial selections are a ubiquitous concept in
               visualization. By localizing particular features, they can
               be analyzed and compared in different views. However, the
               semantics of such selections often depend on specific
               parameter settings and it can be difficult to reconstruct
               them without additional information. In this paper, we
               present the concept of contextual snapshots as an effective
               means for managing spatial selections in visualized data.
               The selections are automatically associated with the context
               in which they have been created. Contextual snapshots can
               also be used as the basis for interactive integrated and
               linked views, which enable in-place investigation and
               comparison of multiple visual representations of data. Our
               approach is implemented as a flexible toolkit with
               well-defined interfaces for integration into existing
               systems. We demonstrate the power and generality of our
               techniques by applying them to several distinct scenarios
               such as the visualization of simulation data, the analysis
               of historical documents, and the display of anatomical data.",
  month =      dec,
  issn =       "1467-8659",
  journal =    "Computer Graphics Forum",
  number =     "8",
  volume =     "33",
  pages =      "132--144",
  keywords =   "annotations, spatial selections, visual analytics,
               interaction",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2014/mindek-2014-mcs/",
}