Abstract:
This paper describes a new efficient approach for
visualizing large hierarchical information. Our technique
is based on the connection + enclosure visualization
model [1] from which the area division is used for the
recursive positioning of nodes, while a node-link diagram
is still drawn to present the entire hierarchical structure.
We inherit the advantages of Space-Optimized (SO) Tree
technique [1] that can enhance the usability of display
space by using area division. However, we replace a set of
polygons used in SO Tree by a set of rectangles for the
area division. This not only decreases the computation
cost in calculating geometrical polygons, but also greatly
reduces the human perceptual and cognitive loads spent
on understanding the underlying hierarchical structure.
We use semantic zooming technique to enlarge a
particular viewing area and filter out the rest of structure
that is less interested. The navigation is accommodated by
animation in order to preserve the mental map [2].
