Use of color and motion for the display of multi-dimensional data
R.J. Littlefield, W.L. Nicholson · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 1982
Meaningful display of data structure in more than two dimensions is a challenge to statistical graphics. The Analysis of Large Data Sets project (ALDS) includes research to evaluate potential techniques for displaying higher-dimensional data. This paper describes some of the ALDS developments on the use of color, glyphs, motion and stereo. Color is helpful but not essential. Color can be used for accent, identification of categories, ordered-scale display of a quantitative variable, and reinforcement of geometric cues. Glyphs are useful for extending scatterplots to display additional quantitative variables. Motion is a powerful tool, not only for three-dimensional (3-D) rotation, but also for more general display of distinct images such as slices of a multi-dimensional solid. Stereo is a relatively weak 3-D cue when used by itself, but is useful as an adjunct to other cues such as rotation. Examples illustrate the simultaneous use of color, glyphs, motion, and/or stereo.