Characterisation and Showcasing of Network Visualisation Approaches for Command and Control
Alain Bouchard, Rudi Vernik · 2006
Network Visualisation technologies are becoming more relevant in Command and Control environments to help cope with the increased complexity of defence operations. A significant number of Network Visualisation technologies are currently available so the choice of a particular approach to support specific C2 tasks can be difficult. This paper describes an approach for characterising Network Visualisation tools in terms of domains of use, what they describe and how they present information using a reference model for visualisation. The paper also introduces a novel distributed system, named Imago, which supports the characterisation, discovery, showcasing, and evaluation of Information Visualisation approaches. We argue that the methods proposed in this paper could aid the process of selecting and deploying Network Visualisation tools for Command and Control activities. In the ever more complex world of networked and asymmetric military operations, command staff need to rapidly assimilate and understand a vast range of additional information including social and communication networks, resupply and logistics, belligerents profiling, etc. One would imagine that, given the vast array of visualisation approaches that have been developed and the critical and complex nature of defence operations,