13 Zentrale Universitätseinrichtungen
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/handle/11682/14
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Item Open Access Datamator : an authoring tool for creating datamations via data query decomposition(2023) Guo, Yi; Cao, Nan; Cai, Ligan; Wu, Yanqiu; Weiskopf, Daniel; Shi, Danqing; Chen, QingDatamation is designed to animate an analysis pipeline step by step, serving as an intuitive and efficient method for interpreting data analysis outcomes and facilitating easy sharing with others. However, the creation of a datamation is a difficult task that demands expertise in diverse skills. To simplify this task, we introduce Datamator, a language-oriented authoring tool developed to support datamation generation. In this system, we develop a data query analyzer that enables users to generate an initial datamation effortlessly by inputting a data question in natural language. Then, the datamation is displayed in an interactive editor that affords users the ability to both edit the analysis progression and delve into the specifics of each step undertaken. Notably, the Datamator incorporates a novel calibration network that is able to optimize the outputs of the query decomposition network using a small amount of user feedback. To demonstrate the effectiveness of Datamator, we conduct a series of evaluations including performance validation, a controlled user study, and expert interviews.Item Open Access Touching data with PropellerHand(2022) Achberger, Alexander; Heyen, Frank; Vidackovic, Kresimir; Sedlmair, MichaelImmersive analytics often takes place in virtual environments which promise the users immersion. To fulfill this promise, sensory feedback, such as haptics, is an important component, which is however not well supported yet. Existing haptic devices are often expensive, stationary, or occupy the user’s hand, preventing them from grasping objects or using a controller. We propose PropellerHand, an ungrounded hand-mounted haptic device with two rotatable propellers, that allows exerting forces on the hand without obstructing hand use. PropellerHand is able to simulate feedback such as weight and torque by generating thrust up to 11 N in 2-DOF and a torque of 1.87 Nm in 2-DOF. Its design builds on our experience from quantitative and qualitative experiments with different form factors and parts. We evaluated our prototype through a qualitative user study in various VR scenarios that required participants to manipulate virtual objects in different ways, while changing between torques and directional forces. Results show that PropellerHand improves users’ immersion in virtual reality. Additionally, we conducted a second user study in the field of immersive visualization to investigate the potential benefits of PropellerHand there.Item Open Access Quantifying performance gains of DirectStorage for the visualisation of time-dependent particle datasets(2024) Müller, Christoph; Ertl, ThomasVisualisation is an essential tool for analysing unstructured particle data as they are produced, for instance, in molecular dynamics or astrodynamics simulations. Such simulations often comprise multiple time steps, and scientists produce datasets with more and more particles in each step. To handle the steadily increasing size of these simulations, many solutions based on organising the data efficiently or reducing their amount using compression have been proposed over the years. Recently, a new storage API called DirectStorage has been introduced on Xbox consoles and Windows. DirectStorage promises a dramatic reduction of loading times in games by making the transfer from NVMe drives to graphics memory more efficient. That begs the question of whether DirectStorage is also beneficial for visualising time-dependent particle data that have to be streamed from disc to the GPU and whether a potential improvement in throughput enables interactive streaming of frames that traditional APIs cannot handle. For that, we implemented a benchmarking application that supports different streaming methods. We report on the results of an extensive series of tests with varying parameters that influence the streaming performance, which show that the performance of DirectStorage is highly dependent on the choice of various parameters.Item Open Access Visually enriching and comparing runtime performance of visualization pipelines(2026) Tarner, Hagen; Gralka, Patrick; Reina, Guido; Beck, Fabian; Frey, SteffenIn many graphics and visualization frameworks, directed acyclic graphs are a popular way to model visualization pipelines. Pipeline editors provide a visual interface to modify the underlying graph and use, e.g., a node-link diagram to visualize the data and program flow. This paper proposes an interactive tool for post-mortem performance analysis and comparison of pipeline variants. We extend the node-link representation of a visualization pipeline and enrich it with fine-grained runtime performance metrics. Annotating this static structure with dynamic performance information lets the developer evaluate performance characteristics in depth. Our approach further supports a visual comparison of two user-selected states of the graph. The comparison allows us to identify the impact of (topological) changes on the graph’s performance. We demonstrate the utility of our approach with different scientific visualization use cases and report expert feedback.Item Open Access Desktop versus VR for collaborative sensemaking(2025) Yang, Ying; Dwyer, Tim; Swiecki, Zachari; Lee, Benjamin; Wybrow, Michael; Cordeil, Maxime; Wulandari, Teresa; Thomas, Bruce H.; Billinghurst, MarkImmersive environments enable people to share a workspace in a more spatial and embodied manner than traditional desktop collaboration platforms. However, it remains unclear whether such differences support collaborators in sharing information to build mutual understanding during sensemaking. To investigate this, we conducted a user study with groups of four participants - each given exclusive starting information - using mind maps as a medium for information sharing and collaborative sensemaking. Participants used both the VR and desktop systems we developed to complete sensemaking tasks. Our results reveal that the primary focuses of mind-mapping activities differed between VR and desktop: participants in VR engaged more in problem solving, whereas on desktop they concentrated more on mind map organisation. We synthesise our results from post hoc analysis, observations and subjective feedback, and attribute the discrepancies to the fundamental distinctions between the affordances of traditional desktop tools and embodied presence and interactions in VR. We therefore suggest additional features that facilitate mind map authoring and organisation such as automatic mechanisms be considered essential in future immersive mind-mapping systems.Item Open Access Visual analytics for nonlinear programming in robot motion planning(2022) Hägele, David; Abdelaal, Moataz; Oguz, Ozgur S.; Toussaint, Marc; Weiskopf, DanielNonlinear programming is a complex methodology where a problem is mathematically expressed in terms of optimality while imposing constraints on feasibility. Such problems are formulated by humans and solved by optimization algorithms. We support domain experts in their challenging tasks of understanding and troubleshooting optimization runs of intricate and high-dimensional nonlinear programs through a visual analytics system. The system was designed for our collaborators’ robot motion planning problems, but is domain agnostic in most parts of the visualizations. It allows for an exploration of the iterative solving process of a nonlinear program through several linked views of the computational process. We give insights into this design study, demonstrate our system for selected real-world cases, and discuss the extension of visualization and visual analytics methods for nonlinear programming.Item Open Access Uncertainty visualization : concepts, methods, and applications in biological data visualization(2022) Weiskopf, DanielThis paper provides an overview of uncertainty visualization in general, along with specific examples of applications in bioinformatics. Starting from a processing and interaction pipeline of visualization, components are discussed that are relevant for handling and visualizing uncertainty introduced with the original data and at later stages in the pipeline, which shows the importance of making the stages of the pipeline aware of uncertainty and allowing them to propagate uncertainty. We detail concepts and methods for visual mappings of uncertainty, distinguishing between explicit and implict representations of distributions, different ways to show summary statistics, and combined or hybrid visualizations. The basic concepts are illustrated for several examples of graph visualization under uncertainty. Finally, this review paper discusses implications for the visualization of biological data and future research directions.Item Open Access Editorial - visualizing big culture and history data(2025) Windhager, Florian; Koch, Steffen; Münster, Sander; Mayr, EvaItem Open Access Interactive molecular graphics for augmented reality using HoloLens(2018) Müller, Christoph; Krone, Michael; Huber, Markus; Biener, Verena; Herr, Dominik; Koch, Steffen; Reina, Guido; Weiskopf, Daniel; Ertl, ThomasImmersive technologies like stereo rendering, virtual reality, or augmented reality (AR) are often used in the field of molecular visualisation. Modern, comparably lightweight and affordable AR headsets like Microsoft’s HoloLens open up new possibilities for immersive analytics in molecular visualisation. A crucial factor for a comprehensive analysis of molecular data in AR is the rendering speed. HoloLens, however, has limited hardware capabilities due to requirements like battery life, fanless cooling and weight. Consequently, insights from best practises for powerful desktop hardware may not be transferable. Therefore, we evaluate the capabilities of the HoloLens hardware for modern, GPU-enabled, high-quality rendering methods for the space-filling model commonly used in molecular visualisation. We also assess the scalability for large molecular data sets. Based on the results, we discuss ideas and possibilities for immersive molecular analytics. Besides more obvious benefits like the stereoscopic rendering offered by the device, this specifically includes natural user interfaces that use physical navigation instead of the traditional virtual one. Furthermore, we consider different scenarios for such an immersive system, ranging from educational use to collaborative scenarios.Item Open Access Power overwhelming : the one with the oscilloscopes(2024) Gralka, Patrick; Müller, Christoph; Heinemann, Moritz; Reina, Guido; Weiskopf, Daniel; Ertl, ThomasVisualization as a discipline has to investigate its practical implications in a world steadily moving toward greener computing methods. Quantifying the power consumption of visualization algorithms is thus essential, given the ever-increasing energy needs of GPUs. Previous approaches rely on integrated sensors or invasive methods that require modifications and special test setups. However, they still suffer from imprecision from low sampling rates and integration over time. Using a high-precision, high-frequency setup via steerable oscilloscopes, we can objectively measure the resulting quality of previous approaches. This is essential to establish a ground truth, pave the way for improved modeling of power consumption in general, and enable better estimates based on the output of lower-quality sensors. We finally discuss benefits that can be drawn from the additional insight of the higher-precision setup and which additional use cases can justify the incurred costs.