Exploratory Visualization
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Exploratory Visualization M ENNO -JAN K RAAK Department of Geo-Information Processing, ITC – International Institute for Geoinformation and Earth Observation, Enschede, The Netherlands Synonyms Geovisualization; Exploratory cartography; Scientific visualization; Information visualization; Visual data exploration; Visual thinking; Private visual thinking; Reexpression; Temporal ordered space matrix Definition Exploratory visualization is the process that involves a discipline expert creating maps and other graphics while dealing with relatively unknown geographic data. These maps are generally for a single purpose, and function as an expedient in the expert’s attempt to solve a (geo) problem. While dealing with the data, the expert should be able to rely on cartographic expertise, which allows her or him to look at the data from different perspectives to create a fresh view on the data. As such, the maps and graphics, which should be available in an interactive viewing environment, stimulate the visual thinking of the expert and should support (spatial) decision making. Historical Background Visualization means to make visible. Traditionally the cartographic discipline has been active with the visualization of geospatial data. Maps were designed and produced with the presentation of geospatial data in mind. Here, the starting point is facts to be presented, and based on the nature of the data and according the cartographic theory, one would select an appropriate visualization technique. This would result in high-quality visualizations, the single best map. In this process, the emphasis is on map design. However, recent technological developments have given the word visualization an enhanced meaning. The word is linked to the specific ways in which modern computer technology can facilitate the process of “making visible” in real time. The key words here are interaction and dynamics. This new meaning leads to the term exploratory visualization. The starting point is unknown data without any preconceived ideas about them. The process is an interactive, undirected search for structures and trends. This results in visualizations that, based on different alternative views, can provide a hypothesis. The emphasis is on map use. These developments have been influenced and stimulated by other disciplines. In the 1990s, scientific visual-
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ization [1] contributed to the enhanced meaning of visualization to facilitate the process of making data visible in real time in order to strengthen knowledge. The relations between the fields of cartography and geographic information science, on the one hand, and scientific visualization on the other have been discussed in depth in [2,3]. Next to scientific visualization, which deals mainly with medical imaging, process model visualization, and molecular chemistry, another branch of visualization that influenced mapping can be identified: information visualization [4,5]. It focuses on visualization of non-numerical information. Today, both presentation (the communication role of the m
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