Searching with the Use of Periscope
In Fig. 10.12, the activity diagram of the Periscope system is presented. A user specifies a query, which is sent to a search engine. The visualization system retrieves the search result and selects, with- or without user interaction, appropriate visualization interface. Within the selected interface, the user chooses the method of visualization of the search result attributes by assigning them to particular visual properties of the interface.
Fig. 10.12 Periscope activity diagram
Fig. 10.13 Attribute-to-visualization dimension mapping window
Fig. 10.14 An example of a holistic interface
With these data, the visualization system creates an interface that consists of a 3D scene and a 2D interface. Having the result analysis the user may select another visualization interface, specify a new query within the retrieved results, or refine the query, i.e., create a new set of constraints to retrieve information from the search engine. The user may also proceed to a particular document of interest.
Fig. 10.15 An example of an analytical interface
During interface instantiation, default mapping between attributes of the search result and visualization dimensions of the interface is applied. During interface exploration, the user may change the mapping by the use of a special window (Fig. 10.13). The selected mappings are then passed to the system, and visualization with appropriate attribute-to-visualization dimension mapping is performed.
