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spatialization |
The extraction of information
from large data sources is becoming more and more difficult. As the
digital data flow rises exponentially, the need for techniques and
methods to efficiently extract information from, for example, large
on-line data bases, becomes crucial. For instance, if a query to a
large archive returns hundreds of "hits", the most effective
presentation is probably not a list of items, but some other type
of graphical display. Spatialization involves effective combination
of powerful scientific visualization techniques with spatial metaphors
to represent data that are not necessarily spatial in nature. Familiar
spatial concepts such as distance and direction, scale, arrangement
etc. which are part of the human experience in everyday life, are
applied to create two- and three-dimensional digital representations
of complex digital data. Skupin and Buttenfield (1996; 1997) have
demonstrated how spatial metaphors can be constructed for abstract
information spaces. However, as these authors (1996: 616) point out,
there has not yet been subject testing to determine the appropriateness
of such methods for visualization. We are not certain how people comprehend
spatialized views, or whether the components of distance, direction
and so forth are understood by viewers. This investigation presents an experimental design to explore if spatial metaphors in a query user interface, for example representing distance and direction, regionalization, and scale change are understood by people while querying a large data archive. Subject testing procedures on spatialized displays, to access a library archive are discussed. There is an imminent need for empirical evaluation and validation of emerging procedures and techniques in the visualization field. The geographic information science community, with its wealth of experience in spatial information processing, is predestined to add valuable insights to the spatialization domain. The results of this research should illustrate the enormous potential spatialization has to offer, in overcoming the bottleneck of information processing. |
how is spatialization used? |
A very common spatialization example is the desktop metaphor developed by Apple as a graphical user interface for the Macintosh computer. The two dimensional view of a computer operating system as an office table, covered with folders and documents, allows one to visually collect, process and store digital data. Using one of the spatial properties such as, proximity for example, we typically regroup related files or applications, by putting them into a common Folder. Consequently, hierarchies of Folders can be created, to simplify navigation through "data space". The deeper we dive into the hierarchy, the more detailed information about the data is revealed, thus relating to scale dependence in the real world. Moreover, by surmounting distance with the "drag" and "drop" option, we are able to perform actions within the "computer space", such as copying or deleting files. Files which have to be deleted are carried to a specific place on the "office table", to be put into a "trash can". Typically the trash resides somewhere at the edges of the "office table", thus neither obstructing our working environment, nor being too close to important files, which could be trashed inadvertently. Another spatialization example includes "Chat Rooms" on the Internet, where a user can access a computer, to communicate with other users in real-time. Users connect to an Internet-Relay-Chat Computer (IRC) and choose first a virtual identity, by selecting a name and one of the offered visualizations of humans, animals or even objects provided by the software. Once embodied, the user enters a virtual chat-room filled with other users seeking conversation. The user can then navigate through virtual rooms and approach potential conversants. Ongoing conversations can be identified by gatherings of virtual appearances. The real-time conversation is then triggered by typing a greeting to one of the present virtual chatters, addressing her or him with their name. Besides these more general computer interface examples, spatial metaphors are increasingly utilized by the scientific community, particularly to gain insight in voluminous multidimensional data sets. Examples range from "proceeding-article-landscapes" (Chalmers, 1993) to "news-paper-articles-spaces" (Skupin, 1996), and "access-frequency-surfaces" of World Wide Web pages of a digital library on the Internet (unpublished). |
spatialization examples... |
graphical user interface for accessing large data archives (overview of library collection)
© by sara i. fabrikant |
graphical user interface for accessing large data archives (cross-referencing)Check out screen shot of the GUI at the Atlas of Cyberspaces Web site in the Information Landscapes section (bottom of the page).
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user access patterns of a world wide web site (Alexandria Digital Library)
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related project |
Spacecast, a three-year NURI funded project by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), is a continuation of the work described here. Spacecast is an interdisciplinary research endeavor including researchers from cognitive science, information science and GIScience. Spatial metaphors for information exploration are being designed for the immersive, virtual domain. Experiments with users are being carried out at the Research Unit for Spatial Cognition and Choice, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This project is in collaboration with researchers at Buffalo University (SUNY). |
selected references |
Fabrikant, S.I. (2001). Evaluating the
Usability of the Scale Metaphor for Querying Semantic Information
Spaces. In: Spatial Information Theory: Foundations of Geographic
Information Science. Conference
on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT '01), Lecture Notes in Computer
Science 2205, Montello D. R. (ed.), Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany:
156-171. (PDF,
appendix and errata) Fabrikant, S.I. (2001). Visualizing
Region and Scale in Semantic Spaces. Proceedings, The 20th
International
Cartographic Conference, ICC 2001, Beijing, China, Aug. 6-10,
2001, pp. 2522-2529. (refereed abstract). (PDF,
presentation,
PDF) Fabrikant, S. I. and Buttenfield, B. P. (2001). Formalizing Spaces for Information Access. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 91: 263-280. (PDF) Fabrikant, S. I. (2000a). Spatialized Browsing in Large Data Archives. Transactions in GIS, vol. 4, no. 1: 65-78. (PDF) Fabrikant, S. I. (2000b). Spatial Metaphors for Browsing Large Data Archives. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado-Boulder, Department of Geography, Boulder, CO. (download zipped archive) Fabrikant, S. I. and Buttenfield, B. P. (1997). Envisioning User Access to a Large Data Archive. Proceedings, GIS/LIS '97, Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 28-30, 1997: 686-692. (PDF) |
last update: may 2001,
© sara
www.geog.ucsb.edu/~sara/html/research/diss/spatialization.html
