An Interactive 3D Integration of Parallel Coordinates and Star Glyphs

Abstract

Parallel Coordinates are a powerful method for visualizing multidimensional data, however, with large data sets they can become cluttered and difficult to read. On the other hand, a Star Glyph can be used to display either the attributes of a data item or the values across all items for a single attribute. Star Glyphs may readily provide a quick impression; however, since the full data set will require multiple glyphs overall readings are more difficult. We present an interactive integration of the visual representations of Parallel Coordinates and Star Glyphs that utilizes the advantages of both representations to offset the disadvantages they have separately. We discuss the role of uniform and stepped color scales in the visual comparison of non-adjacent items and Star Glyphs. Our visualization provides capabilities for focus-in-context exploration of the data using two types of lenses, and interactions specific to the 3D space.