<title>Design of 3D visualization of search results: evolution and evaluation</title>

Abstract

We discuss the evolution of the NIST Information Retrieval Visualization Engine (NIRVE). This prototype employs modern interactive visualization techniques to provide easier access to a set of documents resulting from a query to a search engine. The motivation and evaluation of several design features, such as keyword to concept mapping, explicit clustering, the use of 3-D vs. 2-D, and the relationship of visualization to logical structure are described. In particular, the results of an extensive usability experiment show how visualization may lead to either increased or decreased cognitive load. Background and MotivationFor the past four years, the Information Technology Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has supported a small project1'2 to explore the potential value of visualization for information access. In particular, we were interested in exploiting 3-D technology to help users understand and manipulate search results, i.e. the set of documents returned by a search engine in response to some query.There have been some attempts to provide an overview of the design space3'4'5 for information visualization. These offer a top-down framework within which particular visualizations may be categorized. As opposed to a "unified field theory" of information visualization design, this paper takes a bottom-up approach: we present a case study of iterative design, from which some familiar and some novel lessons emerged. We hope that this detailed critique of various prototypes can serve as a guide to other researchers who wish to do meaningful test and evaluation of new approaches to document visualization.

Semantic alignment of documents with 3D city models

“…Many researches have been done in the 3D visualisation of search results, such as Periscope [4], based on the Adaptive Visualisation Environments (AVE) method [5] and NIRVE [6]. The NIRVE 1 project displays the resulting set of documents of a search query from the NIST's PRISE [7] search engine.…”

Visuelle Exploration digitaler Datenbestände

“…Das erste Forschungsprojekt 6 , das hier vorgestellt werden soll, hatte die Entwicklung eines visuellen Suchsystems für das Web zum Gegenstand (Reiterer et al 2000;Reiterer et al 2001 (Cugini et al 2000). Der Benutzer kann mittels Karteireiter wählen, ob er komplementär zur Tabelle das 2D oder 3D Punktdiagramm angeboten bekommt.…”

Knowde: A Visual Search Interface

“…Earlier approaches, the information space prototype by Rohrer and Swing (1997) , SENTINEL and NIRVE (Cugini, Laskowski, & Sebrechts, 2000), attempted 3D visualizations, requiring the user to navigate a three-dimensional space, using mouse and keyboard input and a 2-dimensional computer monitor. User evaluation yielded mixed results.…”