CS3041

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CS3041 Final week

• Today Searching and Visualization
• Friday Software tools
• Study guide distributed (in class only)
• Monday Social Imps
• Study guide review
• Tuesday Final Exam
• Thursday UI in Games (optional)
• Final project due

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Chapter 14
Information Searching and Visualization
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Searching

• Many Forms of Information Search
• Searching text and database
• Multimedia documents
• Data Visualization
• Different levels of searching
• Specific fact finding
• Extended fact finding
• Information availability
• Open-ended browsing

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Searching Text and Databases

• Simple case, general keyword search
• Google, Yahoo, Lycos
• Users often have problems with high volumes of
  returned data
• SQL
• Powerful tool for data mining 'experts
• Natural language queries
• Ask Jeeves
• Form-fillin queries

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Five Phase Fact Finding Framework

• Formulation
• Identify data source, search criteria
• Initiation of action
• Explicit (button) or implicit (immediate)
• Review of results
• Typically a results overview
• Refinement
• Adjust keywords / criteria, drill down
• Usage
• Export results for later use / sharing

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Multimedia Documents

• Much harder problem than text
• Often relies on metadata
• Automatic recognition requires many auxiliary
  technologies (image processing, speech to text)
• Some common search types
• Images (KimDaBa)
• Maps (Mapquest)
• Design / diagram (AutoCAD)
• Sound
• Video
• Animations (Disney internal animation tools)

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Example KimDaBa

• "KimDaBa or KDE Image Database is a tool which
  you can use to easily sort your images.
• Keyword / metadata browser

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Example KimDaBa

• Search criteria Visual browsing

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Filtering and Search Interfaces

• Filtering with complex Boolean queries
• Users often trip here because of the difference
  between natural language vs boolean algebra
• "List all employees who live in Boston and New
  York
• In language, AND inclusion
• In boolean logic, AND refinement
• "I'll eat pepperoni or sausage pizza
• In language, OR exclusion
• Boolean, OR inclusion

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Filtering and Search Interfaces

• Automatic filtering
• Applying user-constructed criteria to dynamic
  information
• Spam filters

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Filtering and Search Interfaces

• Dynamic queries
• Adjusting interface controls via direct
  manipulation and displaying the results
  immediately ( lt 100 ms)
• Facilitates data exploration
• Collaborative filtering
• Users rate results
• Tivo uses this ("Thumbs up" vs "Thumbs down")
• Multilingual searches
• Visual searches

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Filtering and Search Interfaces

• Dynamic searching
• Spotfire visualization tool

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Filtering and Search Interfaces

• Visual searches
• Airplane seat selection

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Information and Data Visualization

• Visualization is an area of research that aims to
  let users visually explore large data sets,
  looking for patterns and relationships
• A picture is worth 1K words
• An interface is worth 1K pictures
• Visual data mining
• People are good at visual pattern matching
• Visual information seeking mantra
• Overview first, zoom and filter, then details on
  demand (times7)

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Information and Data Visualization

• Data types by task taxonomy
• 1D Linear
• text, sequences
• 2D Map
• geographic, blueprints
• 3D World
• Medical, CAD/CAM
• Multidimensional
• Temporal
• Tree
• Network

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Information and Data Visualization

• Multidimensional Data
• Any data set with n attributes, where n gt 3
• N-d tools need to support a wide variety of tasks
• Finding patterns
• Identifying correlations, clusters, gaps,
  outliers
• Lots of different techniques
• Scatterplots
• Glyphs
• Dimensional stacking ( ? Jeffs thesis ? )
• (1pt extra credit on the final if you find the
  title)
• Parallel coordinates

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Information and Data Visualization

• Parallel coordinates example
• XmdvTool from WPI

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Information and Data Visualization

• Data visualization tasks
• Overview Gain an overview of the entire
  collection
• Zoom Zoom in on items of interest
• Filter Filter out uninteresting items
• Details on demand Select an item or group and
  get details when needed
• Relate View relationships among items
• History Keep a history of actions
• Extract Allow extraction of subcollections and
  of the query parameters

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Information and Data Visualization

• Challenges for information visualization tools
• Standardized data import
• Combining visual representations with text
• Viewing related information
• Viewing large volumes of data
• Support data mining
• Collaboration
• Universal usability