A Review and Taxonomy of Distortion-Oriented

Presentation Techniques

Y.K Leung and M.D. Apperley

Presentation by Sean Lynch

Problem

In most computer systems, small viewing space

Problems:

locating items

interpreting items

determining relationships between items

Two techniques: distortion-oriented and non-distortion

Non-distortion Techniques

Display portion of data

Divide information space into portions

Arrange in a way for presentation

Problems with non-distortion

Inadequate context for navigating large-scale information

Solution: distortion-oriented techniques

Distortion Techniques

Allow user to examine local areas in greater detail

Fast-growing field with numerous techniques

Taxonomy and unified theory needed

Distortion(2)

Essence: local detail and global context

Polyfocal Display

Bifocal Display

Fisheye View(Furnas)

Main technique is thresholding

Fisheye View(Hollands et al.)

Used to represent subway network to compare fisheye vs. scrolling

Three tasks: route task, locate/route task, itinerary task

Generally closer to Bifocal than Furnas

Fisheye View(Mitta)

Presentation for aircraft maintenance data

Certain components were suppressed to increase focus

Information suppressing technique

Perspective Wall

Graphical Fisheye

Taxonomy

Techniques can be broken into two categories:

Piece-wise Continuous: Bifocal, Perspective Wall

Continuous: Polyfocal, Fisheye

Piece-wise can be further broken into constant or varying

Unified TheoryTreat displayed information as if on rubber sheet

Consider bifocal display:

a, b, c marked on sheet

Sheet is stretched and distorted

A Framework for unifying presentation space

M.S.T. Carpendale and Catherine Montagnese

Elastic Presentation Framework

Unified framework for distortion and non-distortion based presentation methods

Method of relating distinct methods into a single interface

Basic Geometric Concepts

Multi-Scale Presentations

Made possible by inclusion of drop-off functions

Focal regions set to a particular degree of magnification

Folding

Repositioning of foci in lens

Shear viewer-aligned vectors

Distance MetricsOn Lp metrics, can provide different drop off functions

United Framework

Framework provides method of relating distinct methods

Allows for more than one presentation in a single interface

Lens library offers a range of distortion choices.

Gaussian LensBell-shape

Advantage: gentle focal integration

Characteristics: focal magnification, good visual integration

Lens LibraryFrom left to right: Gaussian, Cosine, Hemisphere, Linear, Inverse Cosine, Manhattan

Top row is focus to distortion

Bottom row is distortion to context

Insets and Offsets

Inset is a selected sub-region that is magnified

Achieved at cost of local-context

Offset is a selected sub-region moved and magnified

Occludes other regions

Detail-In-Context Presentations and

ZoomingTypical drop-off functions use both x and y for distance function

Can use either only x or only y

EPF Library

Representation and presentation kept distinct

Lenses have precise magnification control and positioning

All lenses can be folded

Conclusions!

Presented a taxonomy and unified theory of distortion-oriented presentation techniques

Presented a unified framework for presentation spaces, with many different distortion techniques included

ANY QUESTIONs?