OVERVIEW OF DATA VISUALIZATION

Matthew Ward, WPI CS Department

Definitions

Characteristics of Data

What is the dimension of data?

Assume function with a domain and range. If for every x and y we have temperature t and pressure p,

f(x, y) -> (t, p)

f1(x, y) -> t, f2(x, y) -> p

f3(x, y, t) -> 0 or 1, f4(x, y, p) -> 0 or 1

f5(x, y, t, p) -> 0 or 1

The key is that the mapping must go to a single value (or vector), e.g. f(x, t) -> 0 or more values of elements with position x and temp t, therefore losing information (e.g. hidden surfaces in projection). This is OK for statistics (e.g. histogram).

Graphical entities and attributes

What do we see and how well do we see it?

What makes a good visualization?

Mapping data to graphics

Interacting with the data

Common Techniques

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matt@owl.WPI.EDU