Unit-II

•Foundations for visualization:

• Visualization stages
• Semiology of Graphical Symbols
• The Eight Visual Variables
• Historical Perspective
• Taxonomies
• Experimental Semiotics based on Perception
Gibson‘s Affordance theory
• A Model of Perceptual Processing
 Foundations for visualization

• Mappings for visualization. choose most

appropriate visualization from options within
your toolset , e.g. scatter plot versus bar
chart (depends on the data type of the
axes). ...
• Before creating visualizations, you should
thoroughly analyze your data to understand
its structure, relationships, and any patterns
or trends.
• Foundations for visualization refer to the
fundamental principles, concepts, and
techniques that underlie the creation and
effective use of visual representations of data
and information
• Visualization is a powerful tool for
understanding complex data, identifying
patterns, and communicating insights.
Foundations for visualization

• We have now covered the start and the end

of the visualization pipeline , namely getting
data into the computer, and, on the human
side, how perception and cognition help us
interpret images.
• We have looked at one fundamental
visualization, namely the scatter plot.
• There are many other visualization
techniques and systems some.
• To make sense of them we need to organize
methods into categories or taxonomies.
• This is necessary for us to structure our study
of the field.
• We first review the visualization pipeline and
then discuss various ways to view the
multitudes of techniques and systems that
have been developed to date
 The Visualization Process in Detail

• Let’s review the steps that need to be taken

to define a visualization of data. It is our
reference visualization process.
• Most visualization pipelines and systems map
easily to these stages. Any transformation or
computation can be placed at any of the
stages.
• We now focus on the transformations and
processes that alter the data.
This is necessary for us to structure our
study of the field.
• user interaction ideally takes place at any point in
this pipeline. Each link is a many-to-many mapping.
• many visualization systems have multiple
visualizations at the same time on the screen, and
thus have multiple representation mappings and
corresponding renderings.
 I. Visualization stages

•process of creating effective data

visualizations typically involves several
stages, each with its own objectives and
considerations.
•These stages help ensure that the
visualization effectively communicates
insights and information.
 Stages
1. Data preprocessing and transformation
2. Mapping for visualizations
3. Rendering transformations
4. Expressiveness
5. Effectiveness
Data preprocessing and
transformation
The starting point is to process the raw data into something
useable by the visualization system.
❖ make sure that the data are mapped to fundamental data
types.
❖ dealing with specific application data issues such as
missing values, errors in input, and data too large for
processing.
Missing data may require interpolation. Large data may
require sampling, filtering, aggregation, or partitioning.
Poor use of a bar chart.
Better use of a scatter plot
Mapping for visualizations
• Once the data are clean, we can decide on a specific
visual representation. This requires representation
mappings: geometry, color, and sound, for example.
It is easy to simply develop a nonsense visualization,
or one that conveys the wrong information.
• Crucial influences on the visualization of data sets
are expressiveness and effectiveness
 Rendering
transformations
• The final stage involves mapping from
geometry data to the image. This includes
interfacing with a computer graphics
Application Programmer’s Interface (API).
• We need to select the viewing parameters,
shading technique if 3D, device
transformations (for display, printers, . . . ).
 Expressiveness

• An expressive visualization presents all the

information, and only the information.
• Expressiveness thus measures the
concentration of information.
• If the information displayed is less than that
desired to be presented, then Mexp < 1. If
Mexp > 1, we are presenting too much
information.
• We have 0 ≤ Mexp ≤ 1. If Mexp = 1, we have
ideal expressiveness. If the information
displayed is less than that desired to be
presented, then Mexp < 1. If Mexp > 1, we
are presenting too much information.
 Effectiveness

• A visualization is effective when it can be

interpreted accurately and quickly and when it can
be rendered in a cost-effective manner.
• Effectiveness thus measures a specific cost of
information perception.
• We can define a measure of effectiveness Meff as
some ratio similar to that for expressiveness.
•What we want is a measure such that
for small data sets we measure
interpretation time (since rendering is
usually very fast) and when that time
increases, either due to the increasing
complexity or the size of the data set,
Meff decreases, emphasizing the
rendering time.
•Meff=1/(1+interpret+render).
•We then have 0<Meff≤1.
•The larger Meff is,the greater the
visualization’s effectiveness. If Meff is
small, then either the interpretation time is
very large,or the rendering time is large.If
Meff is large(close to1),then both the
interpretation and the rendering time are
very small.
 II. Semi logy of Graphical
Symbols
• a visual object called a graphical symbol.
• A symbol must be easily recognized. E.g, a red
octagon is universally understood as a stop sign. If
you use a symbol that requires a key-to-meaning
mapping or reference, interpretation will be slowed
and therefore efficiency is reduced.
• a graphical object or representation can be well
designed, and how it is perceived.
• The science of graphical symbols and marks is
called semiology.
• Every possible construction in the Euclidean
plane is a graphical representation made up
of graphical symbols.
• This includes diagrams, networks, maps,
plots, and other common visualizations.
• Semiology uses the qualities of the plane and
objects on the plane to produce similarity
features, ordering features, and
proportionality features of the data that is
visible for human consumption.
• There are numerous characteristics of
visualizations, of images, or of graphics made
up of symbols.
 1.Symbols and
Visualizations
•Figure (a) contains an image that is
universally recognizable.
•Such images become pre attentively
recognizable with experience.
•Figure (b), on the other hand, requires a
great deal of attention to understand;
 Symbols and Visualizations

•The first steps are to recognize patterns

within that figure.
•The first identifies the major elements of
the image, with the second identifying
the various relationships between these.
•With attentive effort, the symbols are
perceived (transferred from long-term
memory).
• Important: Without external (cognitive)
identification, a graphic is unusable.
• The external identification must be directly
readable and understandable.
• Since much of our perception is driven by
physical interpretations, meaningful images
must have easily interpretable x-, y-, and z-
dimensions and the graphics elements of the
image must be clear.
•Discovery of relations or patterns occurs
through two main steps.
•The first is a mapping between any
relationship of the graphic symbols and
the data that these symbols represent.
 Symbols and Visualizations

• Symbols are abstract or conventional signs

that can help you emphasize and annotate
important or interesting aspects of your data
visualization.
• For example, you can use symbols to
highlight outliers, trends, or patterns in your
data, such as arrows, lines, dots, or asterisks.
 Symbols and Visualizations

(a) Symbol with obvious. (b) Representation with complex meaning.

meaning.
•In other words, any pattern on the
screen must imply a pattern in the data.
If it does not, then it is an artifact of the
selected representation.
•any perceived pattern variation in the
graphic or symbol cognitively implies
such a similar variation in the data.
•Any perceived order in graphic symbols
is directly correlated with a perceived
corresponding order between the data,
and vice versa.
• similarity in data structure ⇐⇒ visual
similarity of corresponding symbols;
• order between data items ⇐⇒ visual order
between corresponding symbols.
 2.Features of Graphics
• Matrix representation of a set of
relationships between nodes in a graph.
• The size represents the strength of the
relationship.
 Features of Graphics

• Graphics have three (or more) dimensions.

• a matrix with points of various sizes within
each cell.
• Every point of the graphic can be interpreted
as a relation between a position in x and a
position in y.
• The points vary in size, providing a third
dimension or variable to interpret. In effect,
this can be considered a value in z.
• This produces a one-to-one correspondence
between a 3D view with height and a 2D view
with size, thus different interpretations for
the z value.
• The set of all points either in the 2D or 3D
image represents the totality of the relations
among the three dimensions x, y, and z, and
any patterns present imply a pattern in the
data.
• We identify the tree as the dominant feature of
this image, rather than the individual parts that
make up the tree.
• When looking at Figure Below, we immediately
see two tree branches.
• The eye sees either branch independent from
the number of its leaves.
• The graphic can contain a very large number
of single data items, themselves graphics,
with the only possible limitations being
technical ones, such as making sure that the
various graphic symbols are distinguishable
from each other.
•But even then, perhaps the texture
resulting from the en masse number of
symbols may produce an object of
interest.
•The eye can pre attentively see the
various distributions of symbols.
 3.Rules of a graphic

• All graphics are represented on the screen.

• All objects will be interpreted as flat (in 2D)
or as physical objects (in 3D).
• So 3D is the medium by which we need to
interpret the graphic.
• We can identify some fundamental rules:
1. The aim of a graphic is to discover groups or
orders in x, and groups or orders in y, that are
formed on z-values;
2. (x, y, z)-construction enables in all cases the
discovery of these groups;
3. Within the (x, y, z)-construction,
permutations and classifications solve the
problem of the upper level of information;
4. Every graphic with more than three
factors that differs from the (x, y, z)-
construction destroys the unity of the
graphic and the upper level of
information; and
5. Pictures must be read and understood
by the human.
 Analysis of a graphic

• When analyzing a graphic, we first perceive

groups of objects.
• Finally, we examine special cases not within
the groups or relationships between the
groups (combination of both).
• This process can be done at many levels and
with many different visualizations.
• Supporting analysis plays a significant role.
 III. The Eight Visual
Variables
• The application of graphics to communicate
information requires an understanding of
graphic primitives and their properties.
• For the most part, all graphic primitives will
be termed marks.
• Marks can vary in size, can be displayed using
different colors, and can be mapped to
different orientations, all of which can be
driven by data to convey information.
• In total there are eight ways in which graphical
objects can encode information, i.e., eight visual
variables.
1.Position
2.Shape
3.Size
4.Brightness
5.Color
6.Orientation
7.Texture
8.Motion
• Eight variables can be adjusted as necessary to
maximize the effectiveness of a visualization to
convey information.
• Position: The first and most important visual
variable is that of position, the placement of
representative graphics within some display space,
be it one, two-, or three-dimensional.
• Position has the greatest impact on the
display of information, because the spatial
arrangement of graphics is the first step in
reading a visualization.
• The maximization of the spread of
representational graphics throughout the
display space maximizes the amount of
information communicated, to some degree.
• The visualization display with the worst case
positioning scheme maps all graphics to the
exact same position; consequently, only the
last-drawn graphic is seen, and little
information is exchanged.
• The best positioning scheme maps each
graphic to unique positions,such that all the
graphics can be seen with no overlaps.
 Displayed here
is the minimum price versus the
maximum
•Mark: The second visual variable is the mark or
shape: points, lines, areas, volumes, and their
compositions. Marks are graphic primitives that
represent data.
• Any graphical object can be used as a mark,
including symbols, letters, and words.
Several examples of different marks or
glyphs that can be used
• When using marks, it is important to consider
how well one mark can be differentiated from
other marks.
• Within a single visualization there can be
hundreds or thousands of marks to observe;
therefore, we try not to select marks that are
too similar.
This visualization uses shapes to distinguish between different car
types in a plot comparing highway MPG and horsepower. Clusters
are clearly visible, as well as some outliers.
• Size (Length, Area, and Volume) :
• The previous two visual variables, position and
marks, are required to define a visualization.
• The third visual variable and first graphic property is
size.
• Size easily maps to interval and continuous data
variables, because that property supports gradual
increments over some range.
• And while size can also be applied to categorical
data, it is more difficult to distinguish between
marks of near similar size, and thus size can only
support categories with very small cardinality.
• when marks are represented with graphics that
contain sufficient area, the quantitative aspects of
size fall, and the differences between marks
becomes more qualitative.
• Example sizes to encode data.
•Brightness :
• The fourth visual variable is brightness or
luminance.
• Brightness is the second visual variable used to
modify marks to encode additional data variables.
• While it is possible to use the complete numerical
range of brightness Values.
Brightness scale for mapping values
to the display.
• human perception cannot distinguish
between all pairs of brightness values.
• brightness can be used to provide relative
difference for large interval and continuous
data variables, or for accurate mark
distinction for marks drawn using a reduced
sampled brightness scale.
•Color : The fifth visual variable is color;
• While brightness affects how white or black
colors are displayed, it is not actually color.
• Color can be defined by the two parameters,
hue and saturation.
• Hue provides what most think of as color.
• the dominant wavelength from the visual
spectrum.
•Saturation is the level of hue relative to
gray, and drives the purity of the color
to be displayed.
 Microsoft hue/saturation color
selector.
• The use of color to display information requires
mapping data values to individual colors.
• The mapping of color usually entails defining color
maps that specify the relationship between value
ranges and color values
• Color maps are useful for handling both interval and
continuous data variables, since a color map is
generally defined as a continuous range of hue and
saturation values .
Example colormap that can be
used to encode a data variable
•Orientation :
• The sixth visual variable is orientation or direction.
Orientation is a principal graphic component behind
iconographic stick figure displays, and is tied directly
to pre attentive vision.
• This graphic property describes how a mark is
rotated in connection with a data variable.
• Clearly, orientation cannot be used with all
marks; for instance, a circle looks the same
under any rotation.
• The best marks for using orientation are
those with a natural single axis; the graphic
exhibits symmetry about a major axis.
• These marks can display the entire range of
orientations.
• Example orientations of a representation graphic, where the
lowest value maps to the mark pointing upward and
increasing values rotate the mark in a clockwise rotation.
• Texture: The seventh visual variable is texture.
• Texture can be considered as a combination of
many of the other visual variables, including marks ,
color , and orientation.
• Dashed and dotted lines, which constitute some of
the textures of linear features, can be readily
differentiated, as long as only a modest number of
distinct types exist.
• Varying the color of the segments or dots can also
be perceived as a texture.
• Texture is most commonly associated with a
polygon, region, or surface.
• In 3D, a texture can be an attribute of the geometry,
such as with ridges of varying height, frequency, and
orientation.
 Example
• Six possible example textures that could be
used to identify different data values.
• geometric textures can be readily emulated
with color textures, with color variations
similar to those obtained via lighting effects.
• Finally, the distribution and orientation of
marks themselves can form regions of
texture.
• Motion:
• The eighth visual variable is motion. Infect, motion
can be associated with any of the other visual
variables, since the way a variable change saver
time can convey more information.
• One common use of motion is in varying the speed
at which a change is occurring.
• The eye will be drawn to graphical entities based
not only on similarities in behavior, but also on
outliers.
Effects of Visual Variables
• Different visual variables can serve different
purposes.
• We can categorize these purposes in a variety of
ways.
1.Selective visual variables
2.Associative visual variables
3.Ordinal visual variables
4.Proportional visual variables
5.Separating visual variables
•Selective visual variables.
• After coding with such variables, different data values are
spontaneously divided by the human into distinguished
groups (e.g., for visualizing nominal values).
• Size (length, area/volume);
• Brightness;
• Sample/texture;
• Color (only primary colors): varies with the brightness value;
• Direction/orientation.
•Associative visual variables.
• All factors have same visibility (e.g., for
visualizing nominal values).
• Sample/texture
• Color
• Direction/orientation
• Shape
•Ordinal visual variables.
• After coding with such variables, different
data values are spontaneously ordered by the
human (e.g., for visualizing ordinal and
quantitative data).
• Sample/texture;
• Size;
• Brightness.
Example associative variables:
(a) textures; (b) colors; (c)
direction; (d) shape
Example of separating texture
•Proportional visual variables.
• In addition, these variables obtain a direct
association of the relative size (e.g., for
visualizing ordinal and quantitative data).
• Size (length, area/volume);
• Direction/orientation;
• Brightness.
•Separating visual variables.
• All elements are visible (the rest are not
visible).
• Sample/texture ;
• Color;
• Direction/orientation;
• Shape.
IV. Historical Perspective

• The art of visualization, the principles of

graphics and their comprehension, is
generally understood. But as a science, we
have yet to define a consistent formalism for
general visualizations, or even just for the
class of data visualizations.
• Researchers are now starting to look into such
an idea through the development of various
models;
• Robertson first proposed this need for formal
models as a foundation for visualization
systems . a number of efforts over the years
to formalize the field of visualization.
• The following section contains descriptions of
some taxonomies of visualization techniques.
1 Bertin (1967) Semiology of
Graphics
 V. Taxonomies
• A taxonomy is a means to convey a classification.
• Often hierarchical in nature, a taxonomy can be used
to group similar objects and define relationships.
• In visualization, we are interested in many forms of
taxonomies, including data, visualization techniques,
tasks, and methods for interaction.
• Keller and Keller, classify visualization techniques
based on the type of data being analyzed and the
user’s task(s).
Taxonomy of Visualization Goals (Keller and Keller):

• Keller and Keller, classify visualization techniques

based on the type of data being analyzed and
the user’s task(s).
• The data types they consider are:
• scalar (or scalar field);
• nominal;
• direction (or direction field);
• shape;
• position;
• spatially extended region or object (SERO).
• The authors also define a number of tasks
that a visualization user might be interested
in performing.
• While some of the tasks seem interrelated,
their list is a useful starting position for
someone setting out to design a visualization
for a particular application. Their task list
consists of:
• identify—establish characteristics by which an
object is recognizable;
• locate—ascertain the position (absolute or
relative);
• distinguish—recognize as distinct or different
(identification is not needed);
• categorize—place into divisions or classes;
• cluster—group similar objects;
• rank—assign an order or position relative to
other objects;
• compare—notice similarities and
differences;
• associate—link or join in a relationship
that may or may not be of the same
type;
• correlate—establish a direct
connection, such as causal or reciprocal.
 Data Type by Task Taxonomy
(Shneiderman)(1996)
• His list of data types was somewhat different from
Keller and Keller’s, and included more types from
the information visualization field.
• List of data types consisted of
• one-dimensional linear;
• two-dimensional map;
• three-dimensional world;
• temporal;
• multidimensional;
• tree;
• network.
•Task set consisted of the following
• Overview. Gain an overview of the entire collection,
e.g., using a fisheye strategy for network browsing.
• Zoom. Zoom in items of interest to gain a more
detailed view, e.g., holding down a mouse button to
enlarge a region of the display.
•Filter. Filter out uninteresting items to allow the
user to reduce the size of a search, e.g., dynamic
queries that can be invoked via sliders.
•Details-on-demand. Select an item or
group and get details when needed, e.g., a
pop-up window can show more attributes of
a specific object on the screen.
• Relate. View relationships among items, e.g.,
select a particular object that can then show
all other objects related to it.
•History. Keep a history to allow undo, replay, and
progressive refinement, such as allowing a mistake
to be undone, or a series of steps to be replayed.
•Extract. Extract the items or data in a format that
would facilitate other uses, i.e., saving to file,
sending via e-mail, printing, or dragging into
another application (statistical ).
•Shneider man suggested that an
effective visual exploration tool should
support most or all of the se tasks in an
easy-to-use manner.
 Keim(2002) Information
Visualization Classification
• Keim designed a classification scheme for
visualization systems based on three
dimensions: data types, visualization
techniques, and interaction/distortion
methods.
• Classification of Data Types. 6 types of data
exist:
1.One-dimensionaldata—e.g. Temporal data, news data,
stock prices, text documents
2.Two-dimensionaldata—e.g., maps, charts,
floorplans,newspaperlayouts
3.Multidimensionaldata—e.g., spread sheets, relational
tables
4.Text and hypertext—e.g. New articles,web documents
5.Hierarchiesandgraphs—e.g.,
telephone/networktraffic,systemdynamicsmodels.
6.Algorithm and software—e.g.
Software,executiontraces,memorydumps.
Classification of information
visualization techniques
 Classification of Visualization
Techniques

• 5classes of visualization techniques exist:

1.Standard2D/3Ddisplays—e.g. X,y- or x,ys,z-plots ,
bar charts , line graphs;
2.Geometrically transformed displays—e.g., land
scapes,scatter plot matrices, projection pursuit
techniques, prosection views, hyper slice, parallel
coordinates;
3.Iconic displays—
e.g.,Chernofffaces,needleicons,staricons,stickfigurei
4.Dense pixel displays—i.e., recursive pattern,
circle segments, graph sketches;
5. Stacked displays—i.e., dimensional
stacking, hierarchical axes, worlds-within-
worlds, tree maps, cone trees.
 Classification of Interaction &
Distortion Techniques

• 5 classes of interaction techniques exist:

1. Dynamic projection—i.e., grand tour
system, XGobi, XLispStat, ExplorN;
2. Interactive filtering—i.e., Magic Lenses,
InfoCrystal, dynamic queries, Polaris;
3. Interactive zooming—i.e., TableLens, PAD+
+, IVEE/Spotfire, DataSpace, MGV and scalable
framework;
4.Interactive distortion—i.e., hyperbolic and
spherical distortions, bifocal displays,
perspective wall, graphical fisheye views,
hyperbolic visualization, hyper box;
5. Interactive linking and brushing—i.e.,
multiple scatterplots, bar charts, parallel
coordinates, pixel displays and maps, Polaris,
scalable framework, S-Plus, XGobi, XmdvTool,
DataDesk.
 VI. Experimental Semiotics
Based on perception Gibson’s
Affordance Theory
• Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of
sensory information in order to represent and understand the
presented information or environment.

• All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system,

which in turn result from physical or chemical stimulation of the
sensory system.

• Vision involves light striking the retina of the eye;

• smell is mediated by odor molecules; and

• hearing involves pressure waves.

 Gibson's Affordance Theory

• Gibson's Affordance Theory:

• The great perception theorist J.J. Gibson brought about radical
changes in how we think about perception with his theories of
ecological optics, affordances, and direct perception.
• --We begin with affordance theory (Gibson, 1979).
• --Gibson assumed that Perception is designed for action.
• This theory is clearly attractive from the perspective of visualization,
because the goal of most visualization is decision making.
• Thinking about perception in terms of action is likely to be much
more useful than thinking about how two adjacent spots of light
influence each other's appearance.
• Much of Gibson's work was in direct opposition to the approach of
theorists who reasoned that we must deal with perception from the
bottom up, as with geometry.
• The pre-Gibsonian theorists tended to have an atomistic view of the
world.
• They thought we should first understand how single points of light
were perceived, and then we could work on understanding how pairs
of lights interacted and gradually build up to understanding the
vibrant, dynamic visual world in which we live.
• Gibson took a radically different, top - down approach.

• He claimed that we do not perceive points of light; rather, we

perceive possibilities for action.
• We perceive surfaces for walking, handles for pulling, space for
navigating, tools for manipulating, and so on.
• In general, our whole evolution has been geared toward perceiving
useful possibilities for action. In an experiment that supports this
view, Warren (1984) showed that subjects were capable of accurate
judgments of the "climb ability" of staircases.
• These judgments depended on their own leg lengths.
• Gibson's affordance theory is tied to a theory of direct perception.

• There are three problems with Gibson's direct perception in

developing a theory of visualization.
• The first problem is that even if perception of the environment is
direct, it is clear that visualization of data through computer graphics
is very indirect. Typically, there are many layers of processing
between the data and its representation.
• In some cases, the source of the data may be microscopic or
otherwise invisible. The source of the data may be quite abstract,
such as company statistics in a stock – market database.
• Direct perception is not a meaningful concept in these cases.
• Second, there are no clear physical affordances in any graphical user
interface. To say that a screen button " affords " pressing in the same
way as a flat surface affords walking is to stretch the theory beyond
reasonable limits.
• In the first place, it is not even clear that a real -world button affords
pressing.
• Clearly, the use of buttons is arbitrary; we must learn that buttons,
when pressed, do interesting things in the real world.
• Things are even more indirect in the computer world; we must learn
that a picture of a button can be "pressed" using a mouse, a cursor,
or yet another button. This is hardly a direct interaction with the
physical world.
VII. A Model of Perceptual
Processing
• The classic model of information processing
for understanding the flow of sensory
information, from the low level pre-attentive
to the higher cognitive levels .
• This model highlights that memory is
involved in post processing, but this is known
to be only partially correct.
• Perception can be intrinsic and uncontrolled
(preattentive) or controlled (attentive).
• Automatic or pre attentive perception is fast and is performed in
parallel, often within 250ms.
• Some effects pop out and are the result of preconscious visual
processes.

• Attentive processes (or perception) transform these early vision

effects into structured objects.
• Attentive perception is slower and uses short-term memory. It is
selective and often represents aggregates of what is in the scene.

• Low-level attributes are rapidly perceived and then converted to

higher-level structured ones for performing various tasks, such as
finding a door in an emergency.
 Perceptual Processing

• The perceptual process allows you to take in

this sensory information and convert it into a
signal that your brain can recognize and act
upon.
 1. Pre attentive Processing

• Researchers have been investigating how the

human visual system analyzes images.
• An important initial result was the discovery of a
limited set of visual properties that are detected
very rapidly and accurately by the low-level visual
system.
• These properties were initially called preattentive,
since their detection seemed to precede focused
attention.
• (b)Target is absent.

• (a) Target is present in a sea of blue circle distractors.