Mathematical Sciences: Data Visualization using Focusing andLinking

为了显示复杂的信息，一种常见的本能是绘制一幅同样复杂的图画。然而，我们的目标是通过细节最大限度地减少分心。将未修饰的重要结构的自然和有效的渲染转换为计算机表示，从概念上和实践上都是一个非常困难的问题。这里的方法有两个基本思想：首先，描绘几个视图，然后绘制链接以在几个视图中标识相同的对象，从而即使在许多维度上也能感觉到该对象相对于其他对象的位置。其次，对物体进行自然分组，并检查它们的相互关系，可以专注于组的更精细的结构。根据这两个基本原则，可以得出一种在概念上连贯的查看多维数据的方法。然后，可以开发基于聚焦和链接的实际方法；可以尝试有效利用这些技术的用户界面体系结构，并且可以实现原型。

To display complicated information, a common instinct is to draw a picture that is equally complicated. Yet, minimizing distraction by details is the goal. Translating natural and effective renderings of unembellished important structures to computer presentation is conceptually and practically a very difficult problem. Two basic ideas underlie the approach here: First, depicting several views and then drawing the links to identify the same object in the several views gives a sense of the position of the object vis a vis others even in many dimensions. Second, taking natural groupings of objects and examining their interrelationships allows focusing on the finer structure of the group. From these two basic principles, a conceptually coherent approach to viewing multidimensional data can be derived. Then actual methodology based on focusing and linking can be developed; user interface architectures to make efficient use of these techniques can be tried and prototypes can be implemented.