Project A09

A09 | Scalability and Complexity in Immersive Analytics

Prof. Falk Schreiber, University of Konstanz
Email | Website

Dr. Karsten Klein, University of Konstanz
Email | Website

Prof. Michael Sedlmair, University of Stuttgart
Email | Website

Ying Zhang, University of Konstanz – Email | Website

About this project
Results

In many application areas we now see leaps to the next level in terms of scale of heterogeneous data, e.g. with technologies and techniques such as single cell profiling, spatial transcriptomics, large-scale science maps, ubiquitous sensing, and high-resolution imagery. This creates challenges regarding the cognitive and perceptual limits of a human analyst, but also creates an opportunity to exploit the affordances of mixed reality immersive environments (IE) in order to improve analysis efficiency and quality as well as the analyst's experience.

This project aims at deepening the understanding of scale and complexity effects for data analysis in IE. To this end, the scale and complexity space for immersive analytics will be characterised, and effects and limits of scale and complexity dimensions will be quantified. In a combination of methodological work and user studies, we will investigate the use of abstraction and aggregation methods and the potential and impact of navigation concepts for scalability.

Research Questions

Which scale and complexity of data representations can humans perceive and handle in an IE?

What are appropriate measures to evaluate scale and complexity effects on performance, memorability, user experience, and mental map creation?

What is the impact on visual explainability and confidence when different types and levels of abstractions are used in IE?

What is the impact of IE environment characteristics over different levels of scale?

Fig. 1: Evaluation of readability for multilayer network representations in VR

Publications

Y. Wang, Q. Dai, M. Bâce, K. Klein, and A. Bulling, “Saliency3D: a 3D Saliency Dataset Collected on Screen,” in Proc. ACM International Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (ETRA), in Proc. ACM International Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (ETRA). ACM, 2024, pp. 1--6. doi: 10.1145/3649902.3653350.
Abstract
While visual saliency has recently been studied in 3D, the experimental setup for collecting 3D saliency data can be expensive and cumbersome. To address this challenge, we propose a novel experimental design that utilises an eye tracker on a screen to collect 3D saliency data, which could reduce the cost and complexity of data collection. We first collected gaze data on a computer screen and then mapped the 2D points to 3D saliency data through perspective transformation. Using this method, we propose Saliency3D, a 3D saliency dataset (49,276 fixations) comprising 10 participants looking at sixteen objects. We examined the viewing preferences for objects and our results indicate potential preferred viewing directions and a correlation between salient features and the variation in viewing directions.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{wang24_etra, abstract = {While visual saliency has recently been studied in 3D, the experimental setup for collecting 3D saliency data can be expensive and cumbersome. To address this challenge, we propose a novel experimental design that utilises an eye tracker on a screen to collect 3D saliency data, which could reduce the cost and complexity of data collection. We first collected gaze data on a computer screen and then mapped the 2D points to 3D saliency data through perspective transformation. Using this method, we propose Saliency3D, a 3D saliency dataset (49,276 fixations) comprising 10 participants looking at sixteen objects. We examined the viewing preferences for objects and our results indicate potential preferred viewing directions and a correlation between salient features and the variation in viewing directions.}, author = {Wang, Yao and Dai, Qi and B{\^a}ce, Mihai and Klein, Karsten and Bulling, Andreas}, booktitle = {Proc. ACM International Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (ETRA)}, doi = {10.1145/3649902.3653350}, pages = {1--6}, publisher = {ACM}, title = {Saliency3D: a 3D Saliency Dataset Collected on Screen}, url = {/brokenurl# https://doi.org/10.1145/3649902.3653350}, year = 2024 }
Link
/brokenurl# https://doi.org/10.1145/3649902.3653350
Y. Zhang, H. Williams, F. Schreiber, and K. Klein, “Visualising the Invisible: Exploring Approaches for Visual Analysis of Dynamic Airflow in Geographic Environments Using Sensor Data,” in EuroVis Workshop on Visual Analytics (EuroVA), M. El-Assady and H.-J. Schulz, Eds., in EuroVis Workshop on Visual Analytics (EuroVA). The Eurographics Association, 2024. doi: 10.2312/eurova.20241117.
Abstract
Measuring, modelling, and visualising dynamics of fluids, in particular air and water flow, are important in many applications, including engineering, biology, meteorology, and sports. While there are established models of airflow in controlled conditions, we are lacking an understanding of the distinct airflows in natural environments, whose characteristics are highly influential for all forms of aerial activities. There is little data available for fine-scale analysis and representation of airflow outside the lab without the help of sophisticated and laborious airflow measurements. Here, we explore ways to exploit movement data of flying agents for this purpose, propose an approach to model and visualise thermal dynamics as a discrete localised airflow, and demonstrate our approach using data collected from paraglider pilots.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{10.2312:eurova.20241117, abstract = {Measuring, modelling, and visualising dynamics of fluids, in particular air and water flow, are important in many applications, including engineering, biology, meteorology, and sports. While there are established models of airflow in controlled conditions, we are lacking an understanding of the distinct airflows in natural environments, whose characteristics are highly influential for all forms of aerial activities. There is little data available for fine-scale analysis and representation of airflow outside the lab without the help of sophisticated and laborious airflow measurements. Here, we explore ways to exploit movement data of flying agents for this purpose, propose an approach to model and visualise thermal dynamics as a discrete localised airflow, and demonstrate our approach using data collected from paraglider pilots.}, author = {Zhang, Ying and Williams, Hannah and Schreiber, Falk and Klein, Karsten}, booktitle = {EuroVis Workshop on Visual Analytics (EuroVA)}, doi = {10.2312/eurova.20241117}, editor = {El-Assady, Mennatallah and Schulz, Hans-Jörg}, isbn = {978-3-03868-253-0}, publisher = {The Eurographics Association}, title = {{Visualising the Invisible: Exploring Approaches for Visual Analysis of Dynamic Airflow in Geographic Environments Using Sensor Data}}, url = {https://doi.org/10.2312/eurova.20241117}, year = 2024 }
Link
https://doi.org/10.2312/eurova.20241117
P. Eades et al., “CelticGraph: Drawing Graphs as Celtic Knots and Links,” in Graph Drawing and Network Visualization, M. A. Bekos and M. Chimani, Eds., in Graph Drawing and Network Visualization. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024, pp. 18--35. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-49272-3_2.
Abstract
Celtic knots are an ancient art form often attributed to Celtic cultures, used to decorate monuments and manuscripts, and to symbolise eternity and interconnectedness. This paper describes the framework CelticGraph to draw graphs as Celtic knots and links. The drawing process raises interesting combinatorial concepts in the theory of circuits in planar graphs. Further, CelticGraph uses a novel algorithm to represent edges as Bézier curves, aiming to show each link as a smooth curve with limited curvature.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{10.1007/978-3-031-49272-3_2, abstract = {Celtic knots are an ancient art form often attributed to Celtic cultures, used to decorate monuments and manuscripts, and to symbolise eternity and interconnectedness. This paper describes the framework CelticGraph to draw graphs as Celtic knots and links. The drawing process raises interesting combinatorial concepts in the theory of circuits in planar graphs. Further, CelticGraph uses a novel algorithm to represent edges as B{\'e}zier curves, aiming to show each link as a smooth curve with limited curvature.}, address = {Cham}, author = {Eades, Peter and Gr{\"o}ne, Niklas and Klein, Karsten and Eades, Patrick and Schreiber, Leo and Hailer, Ulf and Schreiber, Falk}, booktitle = {Graph Drawing and Network Visualization}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-49272-3_2}, editor = {Bekos, Michael A. and Chimani, Markus}, isbn = {978-3-031-49272-3}, pages = {18--35}, publisher = {Springer Nature Switzerland}, title = {CelticGraph: Drawing Graphs as Celtic Knots and Links}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49272-3_2}, year = 2024 }
Link
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49272-3_2
W. Kerle-Malcharek, S. P. Feyer, F. Schreiber, and K. Klein, “GAV-VR: An Extensible Framework for Graph Analysis and Visualisation in Virtual Reality,” in ICAT-EGVE 2023 - International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence and Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments, J.-M. Normand, M. Sugimoto, and V. Sundstedt, Eds., in ICAT-EGVE 2023 - International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence and Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments. The Eurographics Association, 2023. doi: 10.2312/egve.20231321.
Abstract
The investigation of interactive graph visualisation in stereoscopic 3D has recently gained increasing attention due to promising initial results and the broad availability of required hardware such as Virtual Reality (VR) headsets. While various software frameworks and libraries for (interactive) graph visualisation in 2D exist, there is a lack of corresponding frameworks supporting VR. This hampers the exploration of design choices and the comparison of approaches, especially for the benefits of virtual environments, slows down the development of novel methods, and requires additional effort from researchers to perform these investigations. We present GAV-VR, a framework for interactive visualisation and analysis of graphs in VR. GAV-VR has a modular architecture to support easy integration of visualisation and analysis method implementations. In this work, we elaborate on the framework's architecture and showcase possible use cases.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{10.2312:egve.20231321, abstract = {The investigation of interactive graph visualisation in stereoscopic 3D has recently gained increasing attention due to promising initial results and the broad availability of required hardware such as Virtual Reality (VR) headsets. While various software frameworks and libraries for (interactive) graph visualisation in 2D exist, there is a lack of corresponding frameworks supporting VR. This hampers the exploration of design choices and the comparison of approaches, especially for the benefits of virtual environments, slows down the development of novel methods, and requires additional effort from researchers to perform these investigations. We present GAV-VR, a framework for interactive visualisation and analysis of graphs in VR. GAV-VR has a modular architecture to support easy integration of visualisation and analysis method implementations. In this work, we elaborate on the framework's architecture and showcase possible use cases.}, author = {Kerle-Malcharek, Wilhelm and Feyer, Stefan Paul and Schreiber, Falk and Klein, Karsten}, booktitle = {ICAT-EGVE 2023 - International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence and Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments}, doi = {10.2312/egve.20231321}, editor = {Normand, Jean-Marie and Sugimoto, Maki and Sundstedt, Veronica}, isbn = {978-3-03868-218-9}, issn = {1727-530X}, publisher = {The Eurographics Association}, title = {{GAV-VR: An Extensible Framework for Graph Analysis and Visualisation in Virtual Reality}}, url = {https://doi.org/10.2312/egve.20231321}, year = 2023 }
Link
https://doi.org/10.2312/egve.20231321