Re-Visualization: Interactive Visualization of the Process of Visual Analysis
Anthony C. Robinson, Chris Weaver · 2006
Despite the analytical power of geographic visualization, it remains difficult for users of these tools to save, re-use, or re-visit what they have discovered. Most current systems are limited to providing screen captures and can only save basic data and layout settings. Since the interactivity of geovisualization is so critical to its utility, there is currently a need for new methods to capture and make use of this rich set of interactions. This paper describes Re-Visualization, a method that can capture and re-use analysis sessions. Low-level state changes are collected during analysis and saved into sessions. These sessions can then be replayed in a way that allows users to review and explore their interactions. During analysis, users can leave breadcrumbs behind that mark portions of the analysis for follow-up. We outline design guidelines for a toolkit called ReVise that implements Re-Visualization. Finally, we describe our substantial progress toward implementing ReVise in the Improvise visualization environment.