An Information-Theoretic Approach to the Cost-benefit Analysis of Visualization in Virtual Environments

Abstract

Visualization and virtual environments (VEs) have been two interconnected parallel strands in visual computing for decades. Some VEs have been purposely developed for visualization applications, while many visualization applications are exemplary showcases in general-purpose VEs. Because of the development and operation costs of VEs, the majority of visualization applications in practice have yet to benefit from the capacity of VEs. In this paper, we examine this status quo from an information-theoretic perspective. Our objectives are to conduct cost-benefit analysis on typical VE systems (including augmented and mixed reality, theater-based systems, and large powerwalls), to explain why some visualization applications benefit more from VEs than others, and to sketch out pathways for the future development of visualization applications in VEs. We support our theoretical propositions and analysis using theories and discoveries in the literature of cognitive sciences and the practical evidence reported in the literatures of visualization and VEs.

Breaking the Curse of Visual Analytics: Accommodating Virtual Reality in the Visualization Pipeline

“…According to Chen and Golan [13], this can be seen as an optimization of the cost-benefit ratio. Chen et al [12] specifically target the cost-benefit analysis for visualizations in VREs. As pointed out in previous work [42], it is important that the analyst can verify the applicability of knowledge generated in the VA process to the investigated real-world scenario.…”

The Validity, Generalizability and Feasibility of Summative Evaluation Methods in Visual Analytics

“…Another set of rational studies, which are more sophisticated, rely on information theory premises [13]. Most remarkably, these works present an abstraction activity for solutions that are not abstract by nature [12,14]. The three activities we report for rational methods do not introduce any risk to the validity and generalizability criteria.…”

An Ontological Framework for Supporting the Design and Evaluation of Visual Analytics Systems

“…The information‐theoretic metric for analyzing the cost‐benefit ratio of VA workflows [CG16] is naturally a candidate for providing the basis of such optimization efforts. The cost‐benefit metric was recently used to analyze a wide range of visualization tasks in virtual environments (e.g., virtual reality, mixed reality, and non‐immersive environments) [CGJM19], demonstrating its applicability to practical scenarios.…”