Visualizing Dynamic Data with Maps

• Published in: IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics Vol. 18; no. 9; pp. 1424 - 1437
• Main Authors: Mashima, D., Kobourov, S., Yifan Hu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.09.2012; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Animation; Clustering algorithms; Data mining; Data visualization; dynamic visualization; Dynamical systems; Dynamics; graph drawing; Heuristic algorithms; Information interface and presentation; Internet; Layout; map-based visualization; Measurement; multimedia information systems; Preserves; spatialization; Topography; Visualization
• ISSN: 1077-2626; 1941-0506; 1941-0506
• DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2011.288

Maps offer a familiar way to present geographic data (continents, countries), and additional information (topography, geology), can be displayed with the help of contours and heat-map overlays. In this paper, we consider visualizing large-scale dynamic relational data by taking advantage of the geographic map metaphor. We describe a map-based visualization system which uses animation to convey dynamics in large data sets, and which aims to preserve the viewer's mental map while also offering readable views at all times. Our system is fully functional and has been used to visualize user traffic on the Internet radio station last.fm, as well as TV-viewing patterns from an IPTV service. All map images in this paper are available in high-resolution at [CHECK END OF SENTENCE] as are several movies illustrating the dynamic visualization.