An Interactive Metaphor for 3D Visualization of Large Data Sets Case Study: Diabetes Data

Abstract

Abstract In many areas of science and industry, the amount of data is growing fast and often already exceeds the ability to evaluate it. On the other hand, the unprecedented amount of available data bears an enormous potential for supporting decision making. As a consequence, the graphical representation, i.e., the visualization of data, established itself as a useful approach to investigate large datasets. With the development of Web3D technologies, the delivery and visualization of 3D models on the web is now possible and is bound to increase both in the industry and fro the general public. This thesis mainly explores the role of a primary metaphor in interactive visual analytics. The core concept of this research is to introduce a state machine for 3D visualization. Based on the proposed state machine this thesis attempts to describe the design and implementation of an interactive web application that accesses International Diabetes Federation (IDF) data, in conjunction with geographic location based data, using WebGL based 3D graphics visualize the resulting information. The application was designed with the intention of being usable as a generic web visualization tool, to take IDF information, across a range of topics and present that to the web user in an interactive 3D form. An experimental trial of 15 participants was carried out and involved each participants using three different forms of web based presentation of IDF data. These forms included tables, 2D and the proposed 3D metaphor. These results ensures that the use of a 3D interactive metaphor in the field of data visualization, in different fields through the reusable nature of the tool, offer the potential to enhance the users interaction with the data. Keywords: Interactive Data Visualization, 3D metaphor, Web application, WebGL, three.js