Graph Visualizations Inspired by Alternative Aesthetics
Date
2015-05-04
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Abstract
Graphs are ubiquitous representations of data that are used in many applications. Our goal
in this thesis is to explore the use of alternative aesthetics to visualize graphs. Graphs are
de ned as entities (nodes) and relationships (edges) between entities, and may have extra
attributes such as weight.
We have designed three novel graph layouts and their applications in graph visualization.
These layouts were inspired by decorative artworks and patterns, personally selected from
di erent types of aesthetics. The rst graph visualization is Node-Ring whose layout was
inspired by Australian dot painting and Hundertwassers paintings. In this layout, concentric
circles are used for an implicit representation of edges for visualizing dense graphs.
The second graph visualization is Daisy Vis inspired by ornamental patterns of daisy
owers. In this visualization graphs' attributes are mapped to
oral elements. We use Daisy
Vis for visualizing ecological networks of real ecosystem data-sets by supporting speci c
attributes of ecological networks (e.g. input/output edges, respiration).
Our third graph visualization is Eco-Spiro, speci cally designed for ecological networks.
The layout used for this visualization is a modi cation of Spirograph, which is another novel
graph layout introduced in this thesis. In Spirograph layout all nodes are arranged on a
large circle (boundary circle) which divides the space to the internal and external regions, a
natural way to support external and internal edges of ecological networks. The circular form
of Spirograph used in Eco-Spiro has an organic form for showing the closeness of ecosystem
and for separating the environment into its internal and external spaces.
To evaluate our novel graph visualizations, we conducted three user studies. Participants'
feedback support the overall design for all three visualizations. Furthermore, they provided
us with useful comments about our design decisions to improve our visualizations.
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Computer Science
Citation
Etemad, K. (2015). Graph Visualizations Inspired by Alternative Aesthetics (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26318