Presentation

Christophe Hurter, Ozan Ersoy and Alexandru Telea. 2011. pdf video exe
MoleView: An Attribute and Structure-Based Semantic Lens for Large Element-Based Plots.
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 17, 12 (December 2011), 2600-2609.


MoleView

We present MoleView, a novel technique for interactive exploration of multivariate relational data. Given a spatial embedding of the data, in terms of a scatter plot or graph layout, we propose a semantic lens which selects a specific spatial and attribute-related data range. The lens keeps the selected data in focus unchanged and continuously deforms the data out of the selection range in order to maintain the context around the focus. Specific deformations include distance-based repulsion of scatter plot points, deforming straight-line node-link graph drawings, and as varying the simplification degree of bundled edge graph layouts.
Using a brushing-based technique, we further show the applicability of our semantic lens for scenarios requiring a complex selection of the zones of interest. Our technique is simple to implement and provides real-time performance on large datasets. We demonstrate our technique with actual data from air and road traffic control, medical imaging, and software comprehension applications.

Exploration pipeline

exploraiton pipeline

We guide the design of our lens by the following:

  • exploration should use a single view rather than linked views;
  • the zone and attribute range of interest should be easily specifiable by simple mouse-driven operations;
  • the lens should address the overdraw problem in dense visualizations by allowing users to 'see' behind the front-most elements;
  • the lens should provide a focus-and-context metaphor on the dataset D. Changes to the layout L of D should be smooth so that users maintain their mental map when using the lens;


bundled unbundled