SchemeLens: A Content-Aware Vector-Based Fisheye Technique for Navigating Large Systems Diagrams

Abstract

System schematics, such as those used for electrical or hydraulic systems, can be large and complex. Fisheye techniques can help navigate such large documents by maintaining the context around a focus region, but the distortion introduced by traditional fisheye techniques can impair the readability of the diagram. We present SchemeLens, a vector-based, topology-aware fisheye technique which aims to maintain the readability of the diagram. Vector-based scaling reduces distortion to components, but distorts layout. We present several strategies to reduce this distortion by using the structure of the topology, including orthogonality and alignment, and a model of user intention to foster smooth and predictable navigation. We evaluate this approach through two user studies: Results show that (1) SchemeLens is 16-27% faster than both round and rectangular flat-top fisheye lenses at finding and identifying a targ et alng one or several paths in a network diagram; (2) augmenting SchemeLens with a model of user intentions aids in learning the network topology.

De-Emphasise, Aggregate, and Hide: A Study of Interactive Visual Transformations for Group Structures in Network Visualisations

“…Depending on the actual method, this may involve de-emphasis by position and by size. Traditional fisheye views however may lead to distortions in the resulting drawings that can decrease the overall readability of the networks [17], [51]. Accordingly, [17] specifically for large networks.…”

Exemplar-based Layout Fine-tuning for Node-link Diagrams

“…Besides these generic layout algorithms for node-link diagrams, other methods aim to solve specific drawing problems. For example, orthogonal layouts proposed in [8,36] improve readability of node-link diagrams of power-grids, software, and financial markets.…”

“…Fisheyes enlarge the display space for items of user interest to improve readability. For example, SchemeLens [8] reveals orthogonally laid-out diagrams. And the structure-aware fisheye proposed in [62] reduces spatial and temporal distortions.…”

“…The aesthetics of a graph layout is often subjective and may vary [15,31,36,61] have successfully integrated users' preferences into layout. Nevertheless, such state-of-the-art solutions for interactive fine-tuning of node-link diagrams work only for either dragging individual nodes or the entire diagram (e.g., fisheye) [8,14]. Interaction techniques have enabled graph exploration but not layout modification [4,65].…”

iSphere

“…Distortion oriented techniques [37] have been developed to improve this design by magnifying the focal area while showing more surrounding context without increasing the display size or losing the spacial continuity. These techniques, such as the polyfocal projection [29], the Bifocal Display [5], and various types of graphical fisheye views [22,37,46] and topological fisheye views [1,14,25], produce similar results in which the context regions are suppressed, leaving space for showing more details in the focal area. However, given the limited distortion rate, these approaches are incapable of transforming the entire visualization plane into a focus+context display [41].…”