Immersive Insights: A Hybrid Analytics System forCollaborative Exploratory Data Analysis

Abstract

Figure 1: Immersive Insights is a collaborative, hybrid analytics system for exploratory data analysis. The application, implemented in a Dataspace environment [18], leverages multimodal interaction and combines the use of technologies such as 1) high-resolution movable screens to visualize statistical information, 2) a central projection table providing an overview of the current analysis, and 3) an augmented reality view to visualize and interact with high-dimensional data. ABSTRACTIn the past few years, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies have experienced terrific improvements in both accessibility and hardware capabilities, encouraging the application of these devices across various domains. While researchers have demonstrated the possible advantages of AR and VR for certain data science tasks, it is still unclear how these technologies would perform in the context of exploratory data analysis (EDA) at large. In particular, we believe it is important to better understand which level of immersion EDA would concretely benefit from, and to quantify the contribution of AR and VR with respect to standard analysis workflows.In this work, we leverage a Dataspace reconfigurable hybrid reality environment to study how data scientists might perform EDA in a co-located, collaborative context. Specifically, we propose the design and implementation of Immersive Insights, a hybrid analytics system combining high-resolution displays, table projections, and augmented reality (AR) visualizations of the data.We conducted a two-part user study with twelve data scientists, in which we evaluated how different levels of data immersion affect the EDA process and compared the performance of Immersive Insights with a state-of-the-art, non-immersive data analysis system.

An Empirical Evaluation of Asymmetric Synchronous Collaboration Combining Immersive and Non-Immersive Interfaces Within the Context of Immersive Analytics

“…Rather than having one visualization approach that satisfies all of an analyst's needs, it is more likely to have multiple different ones for individual purposes that each strive from their own advantages, ideally allowing for a seamless transition and data analysis workflow along the way (Isenberg, 2014). Cavallo et al (2019) explored how analysts work in a colocated collaborative hybrid reality environment within the context of explorative data analysis. Their data visualization system incorporated Augmented Reality (AR), high resolution display, as well as interactive surface projection technologies.…”

“…Their data visualization system incorporated Augmented Reality (AR), high resolution display, as well as interactive surface projection technologies. A comparative evaluation of their hybrid reality environment with a desktop-based one, where both environments shared an overall similar design and almost equal functionalities, revealed trends towards the collaborative arrival at more insights in a shorter amount of time using the hybrid reality environment (Cavallo et al, 2019). Nevertheless, Cavallo et al (2019) conclude by encouraging the design and development of immersive data analysis solutions that aim to complement rather than replace non-immersive ones, in line with the vision as described by Wang et al (2019).…”

“…A comparative evaluation of their hybrid reality environment with a desktop-based one, where both environments shared an overall similar design and almost equal functionalities, revealed trends towards the collaborative arrival at more insights in a shorter amount of time using the hybrid reality environment (Cavallo et al, 2019). Nevertheless, Cavallo et al (2019) conclude by encouraging the design and development of immersive data analysis solutions that aim to complement rather than replace non-immersive ones, in line with the vision as described by Wang et al (2019). A distributed multi-user platform that incorporates different types of immersive technologies within the context of collaborative visualization has been presented by Khadka et al (2018).…”

A Composite Framework of Co-located Asymmetric Virtual Reality

“…Keep Talking is one of the first games someone may have purchased for showing VR to friends; rather than passively waiting for a turn with the HMD, the spectators found themselves engaged in the experience. Outside of video games, HMD-induced asymmetry has seen attention in collaborative 3D design [16], data analysis [12], and public experiences such as museums [15,17]. Similar to the idea of "blended classrooms" [7], asymmetric VR may also find application in HMD-based training and classroom education [49].…”

Personal Augmented Reality for Information Visualization on Large Interactive Displays

“…Cavallo et al's DataSpace [18] combines multiple large displays with AR and VR visualizations but with no strong spatial integration between content in AR and on the displays (also cf. [19]). Reipschläger and Dachselt [72] combine an interactive surface with an AR HMD for a stereoscopic 3D modeling tool.…”