Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 1.18
Is this a young
lady or an old woman?
1.2.7
Information Visualization and Visual Analytics
Information visualization is concerned with the design, development, and appli-
cation of computer generated interactive graphical representations of information.
This often implies that information visualization primarily deals with abstract,
non-spatial data. Transforming such non-spatial data to intuitive and meaningful
graphical representations is therefore of fundamental importance to the field. The
transformation is also a creative process in which designers assign new meanings
into graphical patterns. Like art, information visualization aims to communicate
complex ideas to its audience and inspire its users for new connections. Like
science, information visualization must present information and associated patterns
rigorously, accurately, and faithfully (Chen
2010
).
There are a number of widely read reviews and surveys of information visualiza-
tion (Card
1996
; Hearst
1999
;Hermanetal.
2000
; Hollan et al.
1997
; Mukherjea
1999
). There are several topics on information visualization, notably (Card et al.
1999
;Chen
1999
a; Spence
2000
;Ware
2000
).
Information Visualization
, published
by Sage, is a peer-reviewed international journal on the subject. A more recent
overview can be found in (Chen
2010
).
The goal of information visualization is to reveal patterns, trends, and other new
insights into an information rich phenomenon. Information visualization particu-
larly aims to make sense of abstract information. A major challenge in information
visualization is to develop intuitive and meaningful visual representations of non-
spatial and non-numerical information so that users can interactive explore the same
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