Interaction Techniques for Authoring Constructive Visualization in VR

Data visualization is an important approach to help people understand data by graphic representation of data. Along with the development of various electronic devices and sensors, big data era is coming to us. Data visualization plays an increasingly important role in this era. However, research indicated that it’s hard for non visualization experts to author their own visualizations. To address this challenge, a few studies explored how to create visualizations by using familiar elements in daily life, e.g. : tokens, since humans are used to building physical blocks to visually represent information. Our project will extend the design space to virtual reality (VR) due to the versatility of VR that goes beyond the physical world. We will combine the affordances of VR and tangible properties of tokens to create more accessible visualization authoring tools. The work will also compare virtual tokens with physical tokens and the results will provide insights for both virtual and physical constructive visualization.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ehud Sharlin

Student:

Partner:

Institut Polytechnique de Paris

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and Communications Technology; New and Digital Media; Technology

University:

University of Calgary

Program: