VisiGarp: Graphical Representation of Qualitative Simulation Models
Anders Bouwer, Anders Bouwer, Bert Bredeweg, Bert Bredeweg · 2001
Qualitative simulation models can play a useful role in computer-based learning environments, since they explicitly represent the domain knowledge required for causal reasoning about system structure and behaviour. However, the amount of information in a simulation is often large, which makes it difficult to transform the computer's reasoning trace to effective explanations. Besides textual explanations, graphical representations play an important role in the communication of knowledge. For example, state-transition diagrams, causal networks, structural hierarchies, tables and graphs all use different visual primitives to create a context for communication, and to denote relationships between the different kinds of entities. Our goal is to develop generic mechanisms for automatic visualization of qualitative simulation models, and to integrate these into a framework for generating multimedia (text and graphics) explanations. Currently, we have developed an interactive model inspection tool, VisiGarp, which automatically generates several kinds of diagrams from a qualitative simulation model; a mouse and menu interface allows flexible switching between the different views on the model, providing both overview and detail. Further work includes layout optimization, aggregation and abstraction mechanisms, and integration of graphics and text generation.