Visualization of linear time-oriented data: a survey

Abstract

During the last years databases have been growing in size, varieties of data, number of users, diversity of applications. Many such applications deal with data characterized by the temporal dimension (e.g., medical records, biographical data, financial data, etc.). Typically, end-users of these data are competent in the field of the application but are not computer experts. They need easy-to-use systems able to support them in the task of accessing and manipulating the data contained in the databases. It is well known that visual techniques are suitable in supporting users interacting with large data sets. However, no much research has been carried on specifically on the relationship between visual techniques and time-dependent data. This paper aims at filling this gap by presenting an overview of the main visual techniques for interactive exploration of time-oriented (historical) information.

Monitoring systems for parallel distributed data management systems

“…A terceira fase corresponde à interação com o sistema de armazenamento de forma a representar graficamente a informação. Coerente com Silva e Catarci, em [9], os dados recolhidos através dos sensores são representados sob forma linear e temporal. No entanto, existem outros métodos gráficos passíveis de transcreverem os dados num sistema distribuído.…”

Explore Multivariable Spatio-Temporal Data with the Time Wave: Case Study on Meteorological Data

“…Most temporal representation are either controlled by a timeline (linear time) (Mackinlay, Robertson et al 1991;Plaisant, Milash et al 1996;Silva and Catarci 2000;Wijk 2002) or a time wheel (cyclic time) (Mackinlay, Robertson et al 1994;Carlis and Konstan 1998;Harris 1999;Daassi, Fauvet et al 2002). However, this does not always result in satisfying solutions because many phenomena have both linear and cyclic characteristics.…”

“…This includes papers that offer an overview over existing visualization methods Aigner, Miksch et al 2007). Most of these focus on applications in the information visualization field or on discussions of specific aspects of temporal visualization such as static and dynamic representations (Muller 2003), linear time (Silva and Catarci 2000) and the visualization process (Chi 1998). Others take a more overall approach.…”

Chronos: A Tool for Interactive Scheduling and Visualisation of Task Hierarchies

“…However, as Gantt charts took on additional plan and schedule creation roles, they began to require additional features beyond static visualisation. Although it has been argued that the static visualisation metaphor employed by Gantt charts carries through seamlessly to interactive contexts as more general forms of timelines [24], most work on dynamic aspects of timeline visualisation to date has focused on dealing with screen space limitations (though zooming, overview plus detail and focus and context techniques [5,11,6]), or on enhancing the display to include visualisation of metadata in knowledge-rich domains [16,2]. An issue which has received far less attention is that of implementing effective visual feedback for creation and modification of schedules (specially in terms of hierarchy manipulation and what-if analysis) by making the overall impact of moving a task, its sub-tasks and dependencies along the timeline immediately visible to the user.…”