Visualisierungs- und Interaktionskonzept zur Integration hierarchischer Daten in die HyperGrid

Abstract

Hierarchies are not only used to structure information but also to deliver information. Therefore effective methods to display the information presented by hierarchies are necessary. Furthermore, to handle such a huge amount of information visual seeking systems have to be used. Innovative seeking systems support both an exploring and analytical approach. MedioVis, a research project of the Human-Computer Interaction workgroup of the University of Konstanz, is such a system. The main visualization of MedioVis is a zoomable table called HyperGrid. As of yet the HyperGrid cannot visualize hierarchical relations. Since hierarchies are a really important part of complex information spaces, they need to be displayed inside the HyperGrid. Therefore within this thesis the HyperGridXGL, a new visualization and interaction concept to integrate hierarchical data into the HyperGrid, was developed. In order to demonstrate its conceptual and technological feasibilty the concept is applied and implemented as a prototype. In the following evaluation the developed prototype was tested. In the context of this thesis, the concept, implementation and the results of the evaluation are observed and discussed in detail. The thesis is summed up with a resum´e which includes an outlook towards the possible further development of the HyperGridXGL.