Interactive Visualization of Large Graphs and Networks

1. Interactive Visualization of Large Graphs and Networks Tamara Munzner Stanford University Computer Science Department

2. Contributions • analysis of three software systems • relating intended tasks to spatial layout, visual encoding choices • two novel layout/drawing algorithms • scalable • targeted

3. general Three Visualization Systems domain specific graph drawing infovis H3 PM Const • Constellation • parsed dictionaries • refine algorithms • H3 • web hyperlinks • quasi-hierarchical • Planet Multicast • MBone tunnels • find poorly placed

4. Talk Outline • graph drawing, information visualization background • software systems • goal • previous work • video • discussion • evaluation • general discussion • conclusion

5. automatic layout and drawing of node-link graphs Gansner and North. Improved force-directed layouts. Hofstadter. Godel, Escher, Bach. Graph Drawing

6. Goal: help humans understand • aesthetic criteria • minimize crossings • expose structure: hierarchy, symmetry, circular Tom Sawyer Software. Hierarchical Toolkit Tom Sawyer Software. Symmetric Toolkit Tom Sawyer Software. Circular Toolkit

7. 100 0 10 1K 10K 100K 1M 10M 100M 1B System Scalability,Data Set Size previous systems H3 data sets my systems Planet Multicast mid-size web sites Constellation Web (pages) exceptional GD systems (dot, Gem3D) MBone (tunnels) Stanford graphics site most GD systems my site Net (routers) Net (hosts) dictionary GEB figure manual node count, log scale

8. Fundamental Idea • extend reach of graph drawing with information visualization approach • techniques • interactivity • incorporate domain-specific information

9. Information Visualization • external visual representation of data, exploits perceptual system to reduce human cognitive load • find appropriate visual metaphor for data that is not implicitly spatial

10. Interactivity • mimic reality • 2D paper: pan, zoom • 3D object: rotate, translate, scale • beyond • semantics impossible in real world • distortion, multi-scale

11. Domain/Task Focus • user-centered design, ethnography • understand high level goals • maintain web site • break down into lower level tasks • minimize user navigation to important pages • find and fix broken links • design visual encoding • evaluate effectiveness

12. Evaluating Visualization Systems • quantitative algorithmic improvements • conceptual framework analysis • impact/adoption • user studies • anecdotal evidence

13. System 1: H3 • time: 1996-8 • data: web hyperlinks • quasi-hierarchical graphs: can find reasonable spanning tree using domain-specific information • goal: scalability • method: 3D hyperbolic

14. Background: Hyperbolic Space • Focus+Context distortion • project from infinite hyperbolic to finite euclidean • pick best model for useful distortion conformal: geodesics warped projective: angles warped 4x4 matrix

15. Background: Hyperbolic Space • exponential room in space • exponential number of tree nodes 2D hyperbolic plane hyperbolic hemisphere area exponential: 2p sinh r 2 euclidean hemisphere area geometric: 2pr 2 Thurston and Weeks, The Mathematics of Three Dimensional Manifolds, Scientific American

16. Previous Work: Hierarchies • hierarchies Cone Trees [Robertson, Mackinlay, Card 91] Tree Maps [Johnson, Shneiderman 91] Robertson, Mackinlay and Card. "Cone Trees: Animated 3D visualizations of hierarchical information. Johnson and Shneiderman. Treemaps: A Space-filling Approach to the Visualization of Hierarchical Information • distortion: [Furnas, Brown, Carpendale, Keahey]

17. Previous Work: Distortion & Hierarchy • 2D Hyperbolic Tree • [Lamping, Rao, Pirolli 94,95] • scalability analysis later • Fractal [Koike, Yoshihara 93] • SHriMP [Storey, Muller 95] • don’t scale • taxonomy [Noik 94] Lamping, Rao, and Pirolli. A Focus+Content Technique Based on Hyperbolic Geometry for Viewing Large Hierarchies.

18. Concurrent Work: Nicheworks • Nicheworks [Wills 97] • layout scales to 1M nodes • linked views • multiple layout approaches • very different visual metaphor Wills et al. Nicheworks.

19. Concurrent Work: Skeletonization • Skeletonization [Herman 98] • abstractions for tree structure Herman et al. Skeletonization

21. H3 Layout • novel layout algorithm detailed in thesis • hemisphere surface instead of linear circumference • bottom-up pass: compute hemisphere sizes • top-down pass: place child on parent surface

22. Information Density: Scale Lamping, Rao, and Pirolli. A Focus+Content Technique Based on Hyperbolic Geometry for Viewing Large Hierarchies.

23. Information Density: Codimension • want balance between clutter and void • topological approach to describing density • difference between structure and surrounding space sparse dense Carpendale, Cowperthwaite, and Fracchia. Extending Distortion Viewing from 3D to 2D.

24. Evaluation: Scalability • drawing: constant • incremental • exception: precision • layout: linear in |E| • 110,000 edges in 12 seconds given DFS input • limits: • computational: global layout in main memory • cognitive: disorientation past ~100K nodes • large neighborhood not global overview • future: landmarks, LOD, abstraction

25. Evaluation: Impact • product from SGI • Site Manager aimed at web content creators • bundled starting with Irix 6.3 • research use of library • interface for Skitter Internet tomography data • analysis of Autonomous System data • viewer use • 6 researchers converted data to use viewer • image use • 6 reprint requests

26. Evaluation: User Study • [Risden, Czerwinski, Munzner, Cook 00] • compared 3 browsers for adding content to collection of web pages snap portal (Yahoo style) XML3D: H3 + lists collapsible tree

27. User Study Results • reliably faster for existing category task • no decline in quality for new category task differences statistically significant differences statistically insignificant

28. System 2: Planet Multicast • time: 1996 • joint work: • Hoffman, Claffy, Fenner • data: MBone tunnels • task: find badly placed tunnels • goal: simple baseline • method: 3D geographic

29. Previous Work: Geographic Network • SeeNet3D • [Cox, Eick 95] • arcs on globe layout Cox and Eick. 3D Displays of Network Traffic. • SeeNet • [Becker, Eick, Wilks 95] • NSFNet • [Cox, Patterson 92] Becker, Eick, and Wilks. Visualizing Network Data Cox and Patterson. Visualization Study of the NSFNet.

31. Geographic Layout • distance as stand-in for resource usage • partially correlated • geographical determination arduous • major scalability problem • immediate comprehension • evocative, many image reprints • Wired, National Geographic • still picture captures much of function

32. Evaluation: Anecdotal Insights … > pen-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(204.213.238.11) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/64/tunnel] > elm.can.net(199.246.170.7) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/64/tunnel] > boston.terra.net(199.103.128.254) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/0/tunnel/querier] > NS.FLSIG.ORG(192.153.117.162) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/64/tunnel] > ace.mid.net(198.247.225.251) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/64/tunnel] > fw-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.61.106.99) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/16/tunnel] > gateway10.crawford.com(198.69.210.2) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/32/tunnel] > csce-2--rngm-nb-f-1.net.tamu.edu(128.194.1.11) dc-mbone-1.sprintlink.net(206.229.87.99) [1/64/tunnel] ...

33. System 3: Constellation • time: 1998-9 • joint work: • Guimbretière • data: MindNet query results • task: plausibility checking for linguists • method: 2D custom • goal: targeted

34. Definition Graph • dictionary entry sentence • nodes: word senses • links: relation types

35. Semantic Network • definition graphs as building blocks • unify shared words • large network • millions of nodes • grammar checking now, translation future • global structure known: dense • probes return local info

36. Path Query • best N paths between two words • words on path itself • definition graphs used in computation

37. Task: Plausibility Checking • paths ordered by computed plausibility • researcher hand-checks results • high-ranking paths believable? • believable paths high-ranked? • stop words

38. Top 10 Paths: kangaroo - tail

39. Goal • create unified view of relationships between paths and definition graphs • shared words are key • thousands of words (not millions) • special-purpose algorithm debugging tool • not understand the structure of English

40. Previous Work: Semantic Networks • SemNet • [Fairchild, Poltrock, Furnas 88] • multiple 3D layouts • Visual Thesaurus • [Thinkmap applet] • casual browsing, constant motion • < 20 nodes Fairchild, Poltrock, and Furnas. SemNet: Three-Dimensional Graphic Representations of Large Knowledge Bases. Thinkmap applet. www.thinkmap.com cited 3/09/00.

42. Traditional Layout • avoid crossings • reason: avoid false attachments A A B B C D C artifact salience ambiguity

43. Information Visualization Approach • spatial position is strongest perceptual cue • encode domain specific attribute • plausibility gradient

44. Constellation Semantic Layout • novel layout algorithm detailed in thesis • paths as backbone, definition graphs attached • curvilinear grid • iterative design for maximum semantics with reasonable information density • allow crossings for long-distance proxy links

45. Selective Emphasis • highlight sets of boxes and edges • interaction • additional perceptual channels • avoid perception of false attachments

46. Evaluation: Layout Effectivness

47. dot H3 Evaluation: Layout Comparison

48. Talk Outline • graph drawing background • software systems • goal • previous work • video • discussion • evaluation • general discussion • conclusion

49. Visual Salience • Planet Multicast • long-distance tunnels • H3 • distant points of possible interest • fringe: aggregate information • Constellation • selective emphasis • word size tied to importance

50. Canonical Word Size