Information Visualization, Second Edition: Perception for Design

Most designers know that yellow text presented against a blue background reads clearly and easily, but how many can explain why, and what really are the best ways to help others and ourselves clearly see key patterns in a bunch of data? This book explores the art and science of why we see objects the way we do. Based on the science of perception and vision, the author presents the key principles at work for a wide range of applications--resulting in visualization of improved clarity, utility, and persuasiveness. The book offers practical guidelines that can be applied by anyone: interaction designers, graphic designers of all kinds (including web designers), data miners, and financial analysts. *First work to use the science of perception to help serious designers and analysts optimize understanding and perception of their data visualizations. * Major revision of this classic work, with a new chapter on visual thinking, new sections on face perception and flow visualization, and a much expanded chapter on color and color sequences. *New to this edition is the full color treatment throughout, to better display over 400 illustrations. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Figure Credits......Page 16 Foreword......Page 18 Preface......Page 20 Preface to the First Edition......Page 22 CHAPTER 1 Foundation for a Science of Data Visualization......Page 28 Visualization Stages......Page 31 Experimental Semiotics Based on Perception......Page 32 Semiotics of Graphics......Page 33 Pictures as Sensory Languages......Page 35 Sensory versus Arbitrary Symbols......Page 37 Properties of Sensory and Arbitrary Representation......Page 40 Arbitrary Conventional Representations......Page 42 The Study of Arbitrary Conventional Symbols......Page 44 Stage 1: Parallel Processing to Extract Low-Level Properties of the Visual Scene......Page 47 Stage 2: Pattern Perception......Page 48 Stage 3: Sequential Goal-Directed Processing......Page 49 Relationships......Page 50 Attributes of Entities or Relationships......Page 51 Operations Considered as Data......Page 52 Metadata......Page 53 Conclusion......Page 54 CHAPTER 2 The Environment, Optics, Resolution, and the Display......Page 56 Ecological Optics......Page 57 Optical Flow......Page 59 Textured Surfaces and Texture Gradients......Page 60 The Paint Model of Surfaces......Page 62 The Eye......Page 65 The Visual Angle Defined......Page 67 The Lens......Page 68 Optics and Augmented-Reality Systems......Page 69 Chromatic Aberration......Page 72 Receptors......Page 73 Simple Acuities......Page 74 Acuity Distribution and the Visual Field......Page 77 Brain Pixels and the Optimal Screen......Page 80 Spatial Contrast Sensitivity Function......Page 84 The Optimal Display......Page 89 Aliasing......Page 90 Superacuities and Displays......Page 92 Temporal Requirements of the Perfect Display......Page 93 Conclusion......Page 94 CHAPTER 3 Lightness, Brightness, Contrast, and Constancy......Page 96 Neurons, Receptive Fields, and Brightness Illusions......Page 97 Simultaneous Brightness Contrast......Page 99 The Chevreul Illusion......Page 101 Contrast Effects and Artifacts in Computer Graphics......Page 102 Edge Enhancement......Page 104 Luminance, Brightness, Lightness, and Gamma......Page 107 Luminance......Page 108 Brightness......Page 110 Adaptation, Contrast, and Lightness Constancy......Page 111 Contrast and Constancy......Page 113 Perception of Surface Lightness......Page 114 Lightness Differences and the Gray Scale......Page 115 Monitor Illumination and Monitor Surrounds......Page 117 Conclusion......Page 120 CHAPTER 4 Color......Page 124 Trichromacy Theory......Page 125 Color Blindness......Page 126 Color Measurement......Page 127 Change of Primaries......Page 129 CIE System of Color Standards......Page 130 Chromaticity Coordinates......Page 131 Color Differences and Uniform Color Spaces......Page 135 Naming......Page 137 Unique Hues......Page 139 Properties of Color Channels......Page 140 Color Appearance......Page 143 Saturation......Page 144 Brown......Page 145 Application 1: Color Specification Interfaces and Color Spaces......Page 146 Application 2: Color for Labeling......Page 150 Application 3: Color Sequences for Data Maps......Page 154 Application 4: Color Reproduction......Page 165 Application 5: Color for Exploring Multidimensional Discrete Data......Page 167 Conclusion......Page 170 CHAPTER 5 Visual Attention and Information that Pops Out......Page 172 Useful Field of View......Page 173 Reading from the Iconic Buffer......Page 174 Preattentive Processing......Page 176 Coding with Combinations of Features......Page 181 Conjunctions with Spatial Dimensions......Page 182 Highlighting......Page 183 Designing a Symbol Set......Page 184 Neural Processing, Graphemes, and Tuned Receptors......Page 186 The Grapheme......Page 187 The Gabor Model and Texture in Visualization......Page 188 Tradeoffs in Information Density: An Uncertainty Principle......Page 190 Primary Perceptual Dimensions of Texture......Page 191 Generation of Distinct Textures......Page 193 Spatial-Frequency Channels, Orthogonality, and Maps......Page 194 Texture Resolution......Page 196 Other Dimensions of Visual Texture......Page 197 Texture Field Displays......Page 199 Glyphs and Multivariate Discrete Data......Page 203 Restricted Classification Tasks......Page 204 Speeded Classification Tasks......Page 205 Integral–Separable Dimension Pairs......Page 207 Monotonicity of Visual Attributes......Page 208 Multidimensional Discrete Data......Page 209 Stars, Whiskers, and Other Glyphs......Page 211 Conclusion......Page 212 CHAPTER 6 Static and Moving Patterns......Page 214 Proximity......Page 216 Similarity......Page 217 Continuity......Page 218 Symmetry......Page 219 Closure......Page 221 Figure and Ground......Page 223 More on Contours......Page 225 Perceiving Direction: Representing Vector Fields......Page 227 Comparing 2D Flow Visualization Techniques......Page 228 Perception of Transparency: Overlapping Data......Page 232 Pattern Learning......Page 233 The Grammar of Node–Link Diagrams......Page 237 The Grammar of Maps......Page 242 Patterns in Motion......Page 244 Form and Contour in Motion......Page 246 Moving Frames......Page 247 Expressive Motion......Page 248 Perception of Causality......Page 249 Perception of Animate Motion......Page 250 Enriching Diagrams with Simple Animation......Page 251 Conclusion......Page 252 CHAPTER 7 Visual Objects and Data Objects......Page 254 Image-Based Object Recognition......Page 255 Applications of Images in User Interfaces......Page 257 Silhouettes......Page 260 Faces......Page 264 The Object Display and Object-Based Diagrams......Page 266 The Geon Diagram......Page 268 Perceiving the Surface Shapes of Objects......Page 270 Spatial Cues for Representing Scalar Fields......Page 271 Integration of Cues for Surface Shape......Page 274 Interaction of Shading and Contour......Page 275 Guidelines for Displaying Surfaces......Page 279 Bivariate Maps: Lighting and Surface Color......Page 281 Integration......Page 282 Conclusion......Page 284 Depth Cue Theory......Page 286 Perspective Cues......Page 287 Pictures Seen from the Wrong Viewpoint......Page 290 Occlusion......Page 292 Cast Shadows......Page 293 Shape-from-Shading......Page 295 Structure-from-Motion......Page 296 Eye Convergence......Page 297 Stereoscopic Depth......Page 298 Problems with Stereoscopic Displays......Page 300 Making Effective Stereoscopic Displays......Page 301 Artificial Spatial Cues......Page 306 Depth Cues in Combination......Page 307 Task-Based Space Perception......Page 310 Tracing Data Paths in 3D Graphs......Page 311 Judging the Morphology of Surfaces and Surface Target Detection......Page 314 Patterns of Points in 3D Space......Page 315 Judging Relative Positions of Objects in Space......Page 316 Judging the Relative Movement of Self within the Environment......Page 317 Reaching for Objects......Page 318 Judging the......Page 319 The Aesthetic Impression of 3D Space (Presence)......Page 320 Conclusion......Page 321 Coding Words and Images......Page 324 The Nature of Language......Page 326 Visual and Spoken Language......Page 328 Images vs. Words......Page 330 Links between Images and Words......Page 333 Static Links......Page 334 Deixis......Page 336 Symbolic Gestures......Page 337 Visual Momentum in Animated Sequences......Page 338 Animated Visual Languages......Page 339 Conclusion......Page 342 CHAPTER 10 Interacting with Visualizations......Page 344 Choice Reaction Time......Page 345 2D Positioning and Selection......Page 346 Hover Queries......Page 347 Two-Handed Interaction......Page 348 Control Compatibility......Page 349 Vigilance......Page 351 Locomotion and Viewpoint Control......Page 352 Frames of Reference......Page 360 Map Orientation......Page 364 Focus, Context, and Scale......Page 365 Rapid Interaction with Data......Page 372 Conclusion......Page 376 CHAPTER 11 Thinking with Visualizations......Page 378 Visual Working Memory......Page 379 Visual Working Memory Capacity......Page 382 Rensink's Model......Page 389 Eye Movements......Page 390 Eye Movements, Search, and Monitoring......Page 391 Long-Term Memory......Page 393 Problem Solving with Visualizations......Page 397 Visual Problem Solving Processes......Page 398 Visual Query Construction......Page 399 The Pattern-Finding Loop......Page 400 Implications for Interactive Visualization Design......Page 401 Interfaces to Knowledge Structures......Page 406 Creative Problem Solving......Page 410 Conclusion......Page 412 APPENDIX A Changing Primaries......Page 414 APPENDIX B CIE Color Measurement System......Page 416 Research Goals......Page 420 Psychophysics......Page 421 Detection Methods......Page 422 Cognitive Psychology......Page 424 Testbench Application for Discovery......Page 425 Rating Scales......Page 426 Multidimensional Scaling......Page 427 Child Studies......Page 428 Experimenter Bias......Page 429 Combinatorial Explosion......Page 430 Getting Help......Page 431 Bibliography......Page 432 A......Page 478 B......Page 479 C......Page 480 D......Page 483 E......Page 485 F......Page 486 G......Page 487 I......Page 488 L......Page 490 M......Page 491 N......Page 492 O......Page 493 P......Page 494 R......Page 496 S......Page 497 T......Page 500 V......Page 502 W......Page 504 Z......Page 505 C......Page 506 H......Page 507 M......Page 508 S......Page 509 Z......Page 510 About the Author......Page 512 Cover 1 Contents 6 Figure Credits 16 Foreword 18 Preface 20 Preface to the First Edition 22 CHAPTER 1 Foundation for a Science of Data Visualization 28 Visualization Stages 31 Experimental Semiotics Based on Perception 32 Semiotics of Graphics 33 Pictures as Sensory Languages 35 Sensory versus Arbitrary Symbols 37 Properties of Sensory and Arbitrary Representation 40 Testing Claims about Sensory Representations 42 Arbitrary Conventional Representations 42 The Study of Arbitrary Conventional Symbols 44 A Model of Perceptual Processing 47 Stage 1: Parallel Processing to Extract Low-Level Properties of the Visual Scene 47 Stage 2: Pattern Perception 48 Stage 3: Sequential Goal-Directed Processing 49 Types of Data 50 Entities 50 Relationships 50 Attributes of Entities or Relationships 51 Operations Considered as Data 52 Metadata 53 Conclusion 54 CHAPTER 2 The Environment, Optics, Resolution, and the Display 56 The Environment 57 Visible Light 57 Ecological Optics 57 Optical Flow 59 Textured Surfaces and Texture Gradients 60 The Paint Model of Surfaces 62 The Eye 65 The Visual Angle Defined 67 The Lens 68 Optics and Augmented-Reality Systems 69 Optics in Virtual-Reality Displays 72 Chromatic Aberration 72 Receptors 73 Simple Acuities 74 Acuity Distribution and the Visual Field 77 Brain Pixels and the Optimal Screen 80 Spatial Contrast Sensitivity Function 84 Visual Stress 89 The Optimal Display 89 Aliasing 90 Number of Dots 92 Superacuities and Displays 92 Temporal Requirements of the Perfect Display 93 Conclusion 94 CHAPTER 3 Lightness, Brightness, Contrast, and Constancy 96 Neurons, Receptive Fields, and Brightness Illusions 97 Simultaneous Brightness Contrast 99 Mach Bands 101 The Chevreul Illusion 101 Simultaneous Contrast and Errors in Reading Maps 102 Contrast Effects and Artifacts in Computer Graphics 102 Edge Enhancement 104 Luminance, Brightness, Lightness, and Gamma 107 Luminance 108 Brightness 110 Adaptation, Contrast, and Lightness Constancy 111 Contrast and Constancy 113 Perception of Surface Lightness 114 Lightness Differences and the Gray Scale 115 Monitor Illumination and Monitor Surrounds 117 Conclusion 120 CHAPTER 4 Color 124 Trichromacy Theory 125 Color Blindness 126 Color Measurement 127 Change of Primaries 129 CIE System of Color Standards 130 Chromaticity Coordinates 131 Color Differences and Uniform Color Spaces 135 Opponent Process Theory 137 Naming 137 Cross-Cultural Naming 139 Unique Hues 139 Neurophysiology 140 Categorical Colors 140 Properties of Color Channels 140 Color Appearance 143 Color Contrast 144 Saturation 144 Brown 145 Applications of Color in Visualization 146 Application 1: Color Specification Interfaces and Color Spaces 146 Application 2: Color for Labeling 150 Application 3: Color Sequences for Data Maps 154 Application 4: Color Reproduction 165 Application 5: Color for Exploring Multidimensional Discrete Data 167 Conclusion 170 CHAPTER 5 Visual Attention and Information that Pops Out 172 Searching the Visual Field 173 Useful Field of View 173 Tunnel Vision and Stress 174 The Role of Motion in Attracting Attention 174 Reading from the Iconic Buffer 174 Preattentive Processing 176 Rapid Area Judgments 181 Coding with Combinations of Features 181 Conjunctions with Spatial Dimensions 182 Highlighting 183 Designing a Symbol Set 184 Neural Processing, Graphemes, and Tuned Receptors 186 The Grapheme 187 The Gabor Model and Texture in Visualization 188 Texture Segmentation 190 Tradeoffs in Information Density: An Uncertainty Principle 190 Texture Coding Information 191 Primary Perceptual Dimensions of Texture 191 Generation of Distinct Textures 193 Spatial-Frequency Channels, Orthogonality, and Maps 194 Texture Resolution 196 Texture Contrast Effects 197 Other Dimensions of Visual Texture 197 Texture Field Displays 199 Glyphs and Multivariate Discrete Data 203 Restricted Classification Tasks 204 Speeded Classification Tasks 205 Integral–Separable Dimension Pairs 207 Monotonicity of Visual Attributes 208 Multidimensional Discrete Data 209 Stars, Whiskers, and Other Glyphs 211 Conclusion 212 CHAPTER 6 Static and Moving Patterns 214 Gestalt Laws 216 Proximity 216 Similarity 217 Connectedness 218 Continuity 218 Symmetry 219 Closure 221 Relative Size 223 Figure and Ground 223 More on Contours 225 Perceiving Direction: Representing Vector Fields 227 Comparing 2D Flow Visualization Techniques 228 Perception of Transparency: Overlapping Data 232 Pattern Learning 233 The Perceptual Syntax of Diagrams 237 The Grammar of Node–Link Diagrams 237 The Grammar of Maps 242 Patterns in Motion 244 Form and Contour in Motion 246 Moving Frames 247 Expressive Motion 248 Perception of Causality 249 Perception of Animate Motion 250 Enriching Diagrams with Simple Animation 251 Conclusion 252 CHAPTER 7 Visual Objects and Data Objects 254 Image-Based Object Recognition 255 Applications of Images in User Interfaces 257 Structure-Based Object Recognition 260 Geon Theory 260 Silhouettes 260 Faces 264 The Object Display and Object-Based Diagrams 266 The Geon Diagram 268 Perceiving the Surface Shapes of Objects 270 Spatial Cues for Representing Scalar Fields 271 Integration of Cues for Surface Shape 274 Interaction of Shading and Contour 275 Guidelines for Displaying Surfaces 279 Bivariate Maps: Lighting and Surface Color 281 Cushion Maps 282 Integration 282 Conclusion 284 CHAPTER 8 Space Perception and the Display of Data in Space 286 Depth Cue Theory 286 Perspective Cues 287 Pictures Seen from the Wrong Viewpoint 290 Occlusion 292 Depth of Focus 293 Cast Shadows 293 Shape-from-Shading 295 Eye Accommodation 296 Structure-from-Motion 296 Eye Convergence 297 Stereoscopic Depth 298 Problems with Stereoscopic Displays 300 Making Effective Stereoscopic Displays 301 Artificial Spatial Cues 306 Depth Cues in Combination 307 Task-Based Space Perception 310 Tracing Data Paths in 3D Graphs 311 Judging the Morphology of Surfaces and Surface Target Detection 314 Patterns of Points in 3D Space 315 Judging Relative Positions of Objects in Space 316 Judging the Relative Movement of Self within the Environment 317 Reaching for Objects 318 Judging the 319 The Aesthetic Impression of 3D Space (Presence) 320 Conclusion 321 CHAPTER 9 Images, Words, and Gestures 324 Coding Words and Images 324 The Nature of Language 326 Visual and Spoken Language 328 Images vs. Words 330 Links between Images and Words 333 Static Links 334 Gestures as Linking Devices 336 Deixis 336 Symbolic Gestures 337 Expressive Gestures 338 Visual Momentum in Animated Sequences 338 Animated Visual Languages 339 Conclusion 342 CHAPTER 10 Interacting with Visualizations 344 Data Selection and Manipulation Loop 345 Choice Reaction Time 345 2D Positioning and Selection 346 Hover Queries 347 Path Tracing 348 Two-Handed Interaction 348 Learning 349 Control Compatibility 349 Vigilance 351 Exploration and Navigation Loop 352 Locomotion and Viewpoint Control 352 Frames of Reference 360 Map Orientation 364 Focus, Context, and Scale 365 Rapid Interaction with Data 372 Conclusion 376 CHAPTER 11 Thinking with Visualizations 378 Memory Systems 379 Visual Working Memory 379 Visual Working Memory Capacity 382 Rensink's Model 389 Eye Movements 390 Accommodation 391 Eye Movements, Search, and Monitoring 391 Long-Term Memory 393 Problem Solving with Visualizations 397 Visual Problem Solving Processes 398 The Problem Solving Strategy 399 Visual Query Construction 399 The Pattern-Finding Loop 400 The Eye Movement Control Loop 401 The Intrasaccadic Scanning Loop 401 Implications for Interactive Visualization Design 401 Interfaces to Knowledge Structures 406 Creative Problem Solving 410 Conclusion 412 APPENDIX A Changing Primaries 414 APPENDIX B CIE Color Measurement System 416 APPENDIX C The Perceptual Evaluation of Visualization Techniques and Systems 420 Research Goals 420 Psychophysics 421 Detection Methods 422 Method of Adjustment 424 Cognitive Psychology 424 Structural Analysis 425 Testbench Application for Discovery 425 Structured Interviews 426 Rating Scales 426 Statistical Exploration 427 Principal Components Analysis 427 Multidimensional Scaling 427 Clustering 428 Multiple Regression 428 Cross-Cultural Studies 428 Child Studies 428 Practical Problems in Conducting User Studies 429 Experimenter Bias 429 How Many Subjects to Use? 430 Combinatorial Explosion 430 Task Identification 431 Controls 431 Getting Help 431 Bibliography 432 Subject Index 478 A 478 B 479 C 480 D 483 E 485 F 486 G 487 H 488 I 488 J 490 K 490 L 490 M 491 N 492 O 493 P 494 R 496 S 497 T 500 U 502 V 502 W 504 Y 505 Z 505 Author Index 506 A 506 B 506 C 506 D 507 E 507 F 507 G 507 H 507 I 508 J 508 K 508 L 508 M 508 N 509 O 509 P 509 Q 509 R 509 S 509 T 510 U 510 V 510 W 510 X 510 Y 510 Z 510 About the Author 512 "This unique and essential guide to human visual perception and related cognitive principles will enrich courses on information visualization and empower designers to see their way forward. Ware's updated review of empirical research and interface design examples will do much to accelerate innovation and adoption of information visualization." Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland "Colin Ware is the perfect person to write this book, with a long history of prominent contributions to the visual interaction with machines and to information visualization directly. It goes a long way towards joining science to the practical design of information visualization systems." from the foreword by Stuart Card, PARC Most designers know that yellow text presented against a blue background reads clearly and easily, but how many can explain why, and what really are the best ways to help others and ourselves clearly see key patterns in a bunch of data? When we use software, access a web site, or view graphics, our understanding is greatly enhanced or impeded by the way information is presented. By explaining in detail how we think visually, this book provides guidance on how to construct effective interactive information displays. This book combines a strictly scientific approach to human perception with a practical concern for the rules governing the effective visual presentation of information. Surveying the research of leading psychologists and neurophysiologists, author Colin Ware isolates key principles at work in vision and perception, and from them derives specific and effective visualization techniques suitable for a wide range of scenarios. Information Visualization offers practical guidelines that can be applied by anyone, and covers all facets of visual perception: color, organization, space perception, motion, and texture. * Major revision of this classic work, with a new chapter on visual thinking, new sections on face perception and flow visualization, an appendix on how to evaluate visualizations,and a greatly expanded chapter on color and color sequences. *New to this edition is the full-color treatment throughout, to better display over 400 illustrations. *From a leading researcher in the field of human perception who has brought together, in a single resource, all current scientific insight into the question of data visualization. Information Visualization is the major revision of a classic work on information visualization. This book explores the art and science of why we see objects the way we do. Based on the science of perception and vision, the author presents the key principles at work for a wide range of applications - resulting in visualization of improved clarity, utility, and persuasiveness. This is the first work to use the science of perception to help serious designers and analysts optimize understanding and perception of their data visualizations. This unique and essential guide to human visual perception and related cognitive principles will enrich courses on information visualization and empower designers to see their way forward. Its updated review of empirical research and interface design examples will do much to accelerate innovation and adoption of information visualization. New to this edition are a new chapter on visual thinking, new sections on face perception and flow visualization, and a much-expanded chapter on color and color sequences. This book will appeal to interaction designers; graphic designers of all kinds (including web designers); financial analysts; research scientists and engineers; data miners; and managers faced with information-intensive challenges.•First work to use the science of perception to help serious designers and analysts optimize understanding and perception of their data visualizations.• Major revision of this classic work, with a new chapter on visual thinking, new sections on face perception and flow visualization, and a much expanded chapter on color and color sequences. •New to this edition is the full color treatment throughout, to better display over 400 illustrations. Most designers know that yellow text presented against a blue background reads clearly and easily, but how many can explain why, and what really are the best ways to help others and ourselves clearly see key patterns in a bunch of data?

This book explores the art and science of why we see objects the way we do. Based on the science of perception and vision, the author presents the key principles at work for a wide range of applications--resulting in visualization of improved clarity, utility, and persuasiveness. The book offers practical guidelines that can be applied by anyone: interaction designers, graphic designers of all kinds (including web designers), data miners, and financial analysts.

*First work to use the science of perception to help serious designers and analysts optimize understanding and perception of their data visualizations.

* Major revision of this classic work, with a new chapter on visual thinking, new sections on face perception and flow visualization, and a much expanded chapter on color and color sequences.

*New to this edition is the full color treatment throughout, to better display over 400 illustrations. This work brings together all scientific insight into the question of data visualization. It covers all facets of visual perception, including colour, organization, space, motion, and texture.