| A web-centric semantic mediation approach for spatial information systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 1-24 | |
| Kokou Yétongnon; Seksun Suwanmanee; Djamal Benslimane; Pierre-Antoine Champin | |||
| Semantics-related issues are at the heart of web-centric information systems
and emerging spatial applications that require an integrated access to
collections of heterogeneous data sources. We present an ontology-based
semantic mediation approach and its application to spatial system
interoperability. The approach is based on three contexts described by
ontologies used to capture the semantics of data sources and to resolve their
semantic discrepancies. The global ontology context defines generic application
domain mediation concepts while the ontology local contexts are devoted to the
description of local concepts. The cooperation contexts provide semantic
concepts that encapsulate three key components: (1) semantic roles defined by
ontological agreements on the global ontology, (2) virtual views defined on the
local ontologies, and (3) context transformation mappings used to define
inter-ontology relationships. We illustrate the proposed mediation approach on
spatial information systems, relying on the description and reasoning
capabilities of OWL to establish relations between concepts of the different
ontologies. Keywords: Ontologies; Semantic interoperability; Spatial data; OWL | |||
| VIREX: visual relational to XML conversion tool | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 25-45 | |
| Anthony Lo; Reda Alhajj; Ken Barker | |||
| Developing user-friendly transformation tools for converting all or part of
a given relational database into XML has not received enough consideration.
This paper presents a flexible user interface called VIREX (VIsual RElational
to XML), which facilitates converting a selected portion of a given underlying
relational database into XML. VIREX works even when the catalogue of the
underlying relational database is missing. For the latter case, VIREX extracts
the required catalogue information by analyzing the underlying database
content. From the catalogue information, whether available or extracted, VIREX
derives and displays on the screen a graph similar to the entity-relationship
diagram. VIREX provides a user-friendly interface to specify on the graph
certain factors to be considered while converting relational data into XML.
Such factors include: (1) selecting the relations/attributes to be converted
into XML; (2) specifying a predicate to be satisfied by the information to be
converted into XML; (3) deciding on the order of nesting between the relations
to be converted into XML. All of these are specified by a sequence of mouse
clicks with minimum keyboard input. As a result, VIREX displays on the screen
the XML schema that satisfies the specified characteristics and generates the
XML document from the underlying relational database. Finally, VIREX is
essential to optimize the amount of information to be transferred over a
network by giving the user the flexibility to specify the amount of relational
data to be converted into XML. Also, VIREX can be used to teach XML to
beginners. Keywords: Data conversion; Flexible interface; Graphical user interface; Relational database; Visual query language; XML | |||
| Coordination for multi-person visual program development | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 46-77 | |
| Jeffrey D. Campbell | |||
| Typically, visual programming has been limited to only one person developing
one program at a time. This article describes a technique for helping multiple
people coordinate working together on the same diagram at the same time. This
approach identifies transactions based on domain syntax. These transactions are
used to notify people when someone else changes the diagram in a way that is
likely to impact other people's work. In particular, the system assigns
ownership of each syntactically incorrect element to the person who last acted
upon that element. This ownership can be transferred between people. The
potential problem of incomplete transactions when work extends beyond a single
session is resolved by restarting transactions when work resumes. This
syntax-based approach is particularly appropriate for visual languages. Various
domain constraints are described as alternatives or supplements to the
syntactic criteria. The technique was validated with data from 20 groups of
three people using CoDiagram, a proof of concept system. Keywords: Computer supported cooperative work; Collaboration; Groupware; Semantic concurrency control; Consistency maintenance; Shared diagrams | |||
| On translating UML models into graph transformation systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 78-105 | |
| Karsten Hölscher; Paul Ziemann; Martin Gogolla | |||
| In this paper we present a concept of a rigorous approach that provides a
formal semantics for a fundamental subset of UML. This semantics is derived by
translating a given UML model into a graph transformation system, allowing
modelers to actually execute their UML model. The graph transformation system
comprises graph transformation rules and a working graph which represents the
current state of the modeled system. In order to support UML models which use
OCL, we introduce a specific graph transformation approach that incorporates
full OCL in the common UML fashion. The considered UML subset is defined by
means of a metamodel similar to the UML 1.5 metamodel. The concept of a system
state that represents the state of the system at a specific point in time
during execution is likewise introduced by means of a metamodel. The simulated
system run is performed by applying graph transformation rules on the working
graph. The approach has been implemented in a research prototype which allows
the modeler to execute the specified model and to validate the basic aspects of
the model in an early software development phase. Keywords: Graph transformation; UML semantics; Validation; CASE tool | |||
| Filter co-ordinations for exploring multi-dimensional data | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 107-125 | |
| Mark Sifer | |||
| Many interface designs have been developed for the exploration of
multi-dimensional data sets which are based on finding subsets by filtering
attribute values. Systems such as dynamic queries use a collection of
independent filters to interactively query by restricting attribute values.
However, for large data sets there is a need for an alternative style of
filtering that better supports stepwise query refinement. This article
introduces a new filter coordination which supports both stepwise query
refinement and independent filters. Our filter visualization also supports the
visualization of attribute value hierarchies enabling multi-level data
distribution overviews to be given. Our coordination design is implemented in
our SGViewer query tool which we demonstrate with a multi-dimensional web log
data set. An evaluation of SGViewer showed that after a short learning period
users were able to use it to read trends and proportions and make drill-down
queries. Keywords: View co-ordination; Visual query; Query refinement multi-dimensional data | |||
| Anatomy-based face reconstruction for animation using multi-layer deformation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 126-160 | |
| Yu Zhang; Terence Sim; Chew Lim Tan; Eric Sung | |||
| This paper presents a novel multi-layer deformation (MLD) method for
reconstructing animatable, anatomy-based human facial models with minimal
manual intervention. Our method is based on adapting a prototype model with the
multi-layer anatomical structure to the acquired range data in an "outside-in"
manner: deformation applied to the external skin layer is propagated along with
the subsequent transformations to the muscles, with the final effect of warping
the underlying skull. The prototype model has a known topology and incorporates
a multi-layer structure hierarchy of physically based skin, muscles, and skull.
In the MLD, a global alignment is first carried out to adapt the position,
size, and orientation of the prototype model to align it with the scanned data
based on measurements between a subset of specified anthropometric landmarks.
In the skin layer adaptation, the generic skin mesh is represented as a dynamic
deformable model which is subjected to internal force stemming from the elastic
properties of the surface and external forces generated by input data points
and features. A fully automated approach has been developed for adapting the
underlying muscle layer which consists of three types of physically based
facial muscle models. MLD deforms a set of automatically generated skull
feature points according to the adapted external skin and muscle layers. The
new positions of these feature points are then used to drive a volume morphing
applied to the template skull model. We demonstrate our method by applying it
to generate a wide range of different facial models on which various facial
expressions are animated. Keywords: Face reconstruction; Facial animation; Multi-layer deformation; Anatomy-based model; Multi-layer skin/muscle/skull structure; Scanned data | |||
| Visual type inference | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 161-186 | |
| Martin Erwig | |||
| We describe a type-inference algorithm that is based on labeling nodes with
type information in a graph that represents type constraints. This algorithm
produces the same results as the famous algorithm of Milner, but is much
simpler to use, which is of importance especially for teaching type systems and
type inference.
The proposed algorithm employs a more concise notation and yields inferences that are shorter than applications of the traditional algorithm. Simplifications result, in particular, from three facts: (1) We do not have to maintain an explicit type environment throughout the algorithm because the type environment is represented implicitly through node labels. (2) The use of unification is simplified through label propagation along graph edges. (3) The typing decisions in our algorithm are dependency-driven (and not syntax-directed), which reduces notational overhead and bookkeeping. Keywords: Type-inference algorithm; Lambda calculus; Polymorphic type system; Graph | |||
| Impact of high-intensity negotiated-style interruptions on end-user debugging | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 187-202 | |
| T. J. Robertson; Joseph Lawrance; Margaret Burnett | |||
| Extending our previous work [T. Robertson, S. Prabhakararao, M. Burnett, C.
Cook, J. Ruthruff, L. Beckwith, A. Phalgune, Impact of interruption style on
end-user debugging, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
(2004)], we delve deeper into the question of which interruption style best
supports end-user debugging. Previously, we found no advantages of
immediate-style interruptions (which force the user to divert attention to the
interruption at hand) over negotiated-style interruptions (which notify users
without actually preventing them from working) in supporting end-user
debugging. In this study, we altered our negotiated-style interruptions [A.
Wilson, M. Burnett, L. Beckwith, O. Granatir, L. Casburn, C. Cook, M. Durham,
G. Rothermel, Harnessing curiosity to increase correctness in end-user
programming, Proceedings of the CHI 2003 (2003), 305-312] (which were shown to
help end-user debuggers learn about and use debugging features of our
programming language) such that they were more intense (larger, blinking,
and/or accompanied by text). Keywords: Interruptions; End-user software engineering; Debugging; Surprise-Explain-Reward; Spreadsheets | |||
| Automatic visualisation of metro maps | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 203-224 | |
| Seok-Hee Hong; Damian Merrick; Hugo A. D. do Nascimento | |||
| We investigate the new problem of automatic metro map layout. In general, a
metro map consists of a set of lines which have intersections or overlaps. We
define a set of aesthetic criteria for good metro map layouts and present a
method to produce such layouts automatically. Our method uses a variation of
the spring algorithm with a suitable preprocessing step. The experimental
results with real world data sets show that our method produces good metro map
layouts quickly. Keywords: Metro map layout; Metro map labelling; Metro map metaphor | |||
| Clustering graphs for visualization via node similarities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 225-253 | |
| Xiaodi Huang; Wei Lai | |||
| Graph visualization is commonly used to visually model relations in many
areas. Examples include Web sites, CASE tools, and knowledge representation.
When the amount of information in these graphs becomes too large, users,
however, cannot perceive all elements at the same time. A clustered graph can
greatly reduce visual complexity by temporarily replacing a set of nodes in
clusters with abstract nodes. This paper proposes a new approach to clustering
graphs. The approach constructs the node similarity matrix of a graph that is
derived from a novel metric of node similarity. The linkage pattern of the
graph is thus encoded into the similarity matrix, and then one obtains the
hierarchical abstraction of densely linked subgraphs by applying the k-means
algorithm to the matrix. A heuristic method is developed to overcome the
inherent drawbacks of the k-means algorithm. For clustered graphs we present a
multilevel multi-window approach to hierarchically drawing them in different
abstract level views with the purpose of improving their readability. The
proposed approaches demonstrate good results in our experiments. As application
examples, visualization of part of Java class diagrams and Web graphs are
provided. We also conducted usability experiments on our algorithm and
approach. The results have shown that the hierarchically clustered graph used
in our system can improve user performance for certain types of tasks. Keywords: Graph clustering; Similarity metric; k-Means algorithm; Multilevel graph drawing; Graph visualization | |||
| Exploring personal media: A spatial interface supporting user-defined semantic regions | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 254-283 | |
| Hyunmo Kang; Ben Shneiderman | |||
| Graphical mechanisms for spatially organizing personal media data could
enable users to fruitfully apply their conceptual models. This paper introduces
Semantic regions, an innovative way for users to construct display
representations of their conceptual models by drawing regions on 2D space and
specifying the semantics for each region. Then users can apply personal
categorizations to personal media data using the fling-and-flock metaphor. This
allows personal media to be dragged to the spatially organized display and
automatically grouped according to time, geography, family trees, groups of
friends, or other spatially organized display representations of conceptual
models. The prototype implementation for semantic regions, MediaFinder, was
refined based on two small usability tests for usage and construction of
user-defined conceptual models. Keywords: User interfaces; Personal media management; Spatial information management; Fling-and-flock; Dynamic queries | |||
| Ten years of cognitive dimensions in visual languages and computing: Guest Editor's introduction to special issue | | BIB | Full-Text | 285-287 | |
| Alan F. Blackwell | |||
| Aims, achievements, agenda -- where CDs stand now | | BIB | Full-Text | 288-291 | |
| Thomas Green | |||
| Cognitive dimensions 'beyond the notation' | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 292-301 | |
| Marian Petre | |||
| This personal reflection on cognitive dimensions (CDs) over the past decade
is in three parts: an account of how empirical studies of professional software
developers informed the development of CDs in the early 1990s; an articulation
of unresolved issues 'beyond the notation' which were emphasized by the
empirical studies and which might yet be addressed by CDs; and a speculation on
the application of facet theory to CDs as a possible approach to those issues. Keywords: Cognitive dimensions; Empirical studies; Software development; Facet theory | |||
| Using cognitive dimensions: Advice from the trenches | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 302-327 | |
| Jason Dagit; Joseph Lawrance; Christoph Neumann; Margaret Burnett; Ronald Metoyer; Sam Adams | |||
| Many researchers have analyzed visual language design using Cognitive
Dimensions (CDs), but some have reinterpreted the purpose, vocabulary, and use
of CDs, potentially creating confusion. In particular, those who have used CDs
to convince themselves or others that their language is usable have tended to
ignore or downplay the tradeoffs inherent in design, resulting in evaluations
that provide few insights. Researchers who do not consider who, when, and how
best to analyze a visual language using CDs are likely to miss the most useful
opportunities to uncover problems in their visual languages. In this paper, we
consider common breakdowns when using CDs in analysis. Then, using three case
studies, we demonstrate how the who, when, and how circumstances under which
CDs are applied impact the gains that can be expected. Keywords: Cognitive dimensions; Visual programming language; Language design; Case study; Pitfalls | |||
| Cognitive dimensions: Achievements, new directions, and open questions | | BIBA | Full-Text | 328-365 | |
| T. R. G. Green; A. E. Blandford; L. Church; C. R. Roast; S. Clarke | |||
| The cognitive dimensions framework has inspired research both more and less varied than expected. In this paper, we revisit the original aims and briefly describe some subsequent research, to consider whether the original aims were too austere in rejecting knowledge-based dimensions; whether the dimensions can be shown to have real-world relevance; and whether their definitions can be improved, either piecemeal or by refactoring the entire set. We mention some issues that remain unexplored, and conclude by describing two different ventures into defining clear procedures for real-life application, operating in very different milieux but both accepting that the framework should be developed from its original formulation. | |||
| Correlates of the cognitive dimensions for tangible user interface | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 366-394 | |
| Darren Edge; Alan Blackwell | |||
| We describe an application of the cognitive dimensions (CDs) of notations
framework to tangible user interfaces (TUIs) -- interaction with computers
using physical devices other than mice and keyboards. We are particularly
interested in situations where the TUI is used to construct some information
structure (a manipulable solid diagram) and where that structure is intended to
specify computer behaviour other than by direct manipulation (a tangible
programming language). We analyse several tangible programming languages that
have been described in previous research, considering the ways in which their
physical properties influence the manipulability of the diagrammatic structure.
This is the contribution that a CDs analysis would provide for any notation,
but we find consistent ways in which particular dimensions can be predicted to
apply to any solid diagram. We describe these as the tangible correlates of
those dimensions. We then demonstrate that the tangible correlates can be used
for both generative and analytic purposes in early stages of TUI design, much
as CDs are applicable to the design of visual notations, but more immediately
recognisable in their physical implications. Keywords: Cognitive dimensions; Tangible user interfaces; Tangible programming languages | |||
| Introduction to the special issue on "Context and Emotion Aware Visual Computing" | | BIB | Full-Text | 395-397 | |
| Nadia Bianchi-Berthouze; Piero Mussio | |||
| Mediators in visual interaction: An analysis of the "Poietic Generator" and "Open Studio" | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 398-429 | |
| Elisa Giaccardi | |||
| The Poietic Generator and Open Studio are examples of interactive art, a
form of art intended for the viewer's direct participation. They are based on
distributed applications for visual interaction enabling to collaborate on the
creation of visual images and narratives. This paper reports the analysis of
the visual activity generated by their users. Such an analysis is founded on
the phenomenological hypothesis that the visual activity generated by the
participants in the Poietic Generator and Open Studio allows the study of the
interaction process in terms of a co-determining relationship between
perception and action. The results of this analysis indicate five classes of
mediators capable of tuning the development of the interaction process
according to the context and emotional state of the participants. These classes
are based on: (1) spatial relationships, (2) chromatic relationships, (3)
figurative elements, (4) textual elements, and (5) temporal events.
By sustaining the intersubjective processing of information among participants, mediators sustain their socially intelligent ability of constructing and sharing meaningful activities; that is, they sustain co-creation. For this reason, mediators are particularly important in the design of social interactive systems that have purposes but not explicit goals (as in the case of art and creative activities in general). Keywords: Interactive art; Visual interaction; Distributed applications; Collaborative systems; Poietic Generator; Open Studio; Phenomenology; Intersubjectivity; Embodied interaction; Mediator; Co-creation | |||
| MAUI avatars: Mirroring the user's sensed emotions via expressive multi-ethnic facial avatars | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 430-444 | |
| Fatma Nasoz; Christine L. Lisetti | |||
| In this paper we describe the multimodal affective user interface (MAUI) we
created to capture its users' emotional physiological signals via wearable
computers and visualize the categorized signals in terms of recognized emotion.
MAUI aims at (1) giving feedback to the users about their emotional states via
various modalities (e.g. mirroring the users' facial expressions and describing
verbally the emotional state via an anthropomorphic avatar) and (2) animating
the avatar's facial expressions based on the users' captured signals. We first
describe a version of MAUI which we developed as an in-house research tool for
developing and testing affective computing research. We also discuss
applications for which building intelligent user interfaces similar to MAUI can
be useful and we suggest ways of adapting the MAUI approach to fit those
specific applications. Keywords: Affective intelligent user interfaces; Emotion recognition | |||
| Expressive image generation: Towards expressive Internet communications | | BIBA | Full-Text | 445-465 | |
| Zhe Xu; David John; A. C. Boucouvalas | |||
| The use of the Internet as a means to socialize and to communicate is now widespread. In real life we have learnt to 'read' faces and guess feelings. However, in cyberspace it is not as easy to conduct similar behaviour. The use of expressive images to accompany text may provide some of the missing visual cues. In this paper, we describe an expressive image generator for generating a set of expressive images from a single default image. For each expression category the generator can generate images with three different intensities. Our method requires users to provide only one default image, six control points and three control shapes. A series of experiments is presented that tested the recognition rates of the expressions depicted in the generated images. The results demonstrate that more than 60% of the participants correctly recognized the synthesized human facial expressions in the middle- and high-intensity expression categories and more than 70% correctly recognized the cartoon expressions in all intensities. | |||
| A diagrammatic approach to investigate interval relations | | BIBAK | Full-Text | Erratum for Figure 2 | 466-502 | |
| Zenon Kulpa | |||
| This paper describes several diagrammatic tools developed by the author for
representing the space of intervals and especially interval relations. The
basic tool is a two-dimensional, diagrammatic representation of space of
intervals, called an MR-diagram. A diagrammatic notation based on it, called a
W-diagram, is the main tool for representing arrangement (or Allen's) interval
relations. Other auxiliary diagrams, like conjunction and lattice diagrams, are
also introduced. All these diagrammatic tools are evaluated by their
application to various representational and reasoning tasks of interval
relations research, producing also certain new results in the field. Keywords: Interval relations; Interval algebra; Time intervals; Interval diagrams; Diagrammatic representation; Diagrammatic reasoning; Diagrammatic notation | |||
| Visual modeling for software intensive systems | | BIB | Full-Text | 503-507 | |
| Kendra M. L. Cooper; Holger Giese; Ingolf H. Krüger | |||
| AutoGen: Easing model management through two levels of abstraction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 508-527 | |
| Guanglei Song; Jun Kong; Kang Zhang | |||
| Due to its extensive potential applications, model management has attracted
many research interests and gained great progress. To provide easy-to-use
interfaces, we have proposed a graph transformation-based model management
approach that provides intuitive interfaces for manipulation of graphical data
models. The approach consists of two levels of graphical operators: low-level
customizable operators and high-level generic operators, both of which consist
of a set of graph transformation rules. Users need to program or tune the
low-level operators for desirable results. To further improve the ease-of-use
of the graphical model management, automatic generation of low level of
operators is highly desirable. The paper formalizes specifications of low- and
high-level operators and proposes a generator to automatically transform
high-level operators into low-level operators upon specific input data models.
Based on graph transformation theoretical foundation, we design an algorithm
for the generator to automatically produce low-level operators from input data
models and mappings according to a high-level operator. The generator, called
AutoGen, therefore eliminates many tedious specifications and thus eases the
use of the graphical model management system. Keywords: Model management; Graph transformation; Graph grammar; Visual programming; Schema interoperation | |||
| A survey of approaches for the visual model-driven development of next generation software-intensive systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 528-550 | |
| Holger Giese; Stefan Henkler | |||
| Software-intensive systems of the future are expected to be highly
distributed and to exhibit adaptive and anticipatory behavior when operating in
highly dynamic environments and interfacing with the physical world. Therefore,
visual modeling techniques to address these software-intensive systems require
a mix of models from a multitude of disciplines such as software engineering,
control engineering, and business process engineering. As in this concert of
techniques software provides the most flexible element, the integration of
these different views can be expected to happen in the software. The software
thus includes complex information processing capabilities as well as hard
real-time coordination between distributed technical systems and computers.
In this article, we identify a number of general requirements for the visual model-driven specification of next generation software-intensive systems. As business process engineering and software engineering are well integrated areas and in order to keep this survey focused, we restrict our attention here to approaches for the visual model-driven development of adaptable software-intensive systems where the integration of software engineering with control engineering concepts and safety issues are important. In this survey, we identify requirements and use them to classify and characterize a number of approaches that can be employed for the development of the considered class of software-intensive systems. Keywords: Survey; Software-intensive systems; Adaptable; MDD; MDA; Visual modeling | |||
| Integrating visual goal models into the Rational Unified Process | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 551-583 | |
| K. Cooper; S. P. Abraham; R. S. Unnithan; L. Chung; S. Courtney | |||
| The Rational Unified Process is a comprehensive process model that is
tailorable, provides templates for the software engineering products, and
integrates the use of the Unified Modeling Language (UML); it is rapidly
becoming a de facto standard for developing software. The process supports the
definition of requirements at multiple levels. Currently, the early
requirements, or goals, are captured in a textual document called the Vision
Document, as the UML does not include a goal modeling diagram. The goals are
subsequently refined into software requirements, captured in UML Use Case
Diagrams. Given the well documented advantages of visual modeling techniques in
requirements engineering, including the efficient communication and
understanding of complex information among numerous diverse stakeholders, the
need for an enhanced version of the Vision Document template which supports the
visual modeling of goals is identified. Here, an Enhanced Vision Document is
proposed which integrates two existing visual goal models: AND/OR Graph for
functional goals and Softgoal Interdependency Graph for non-functional goals. A
specific approach to establishing traceability relationships from the goals to
the Use Cases is presented. Tool support has been developed for the Enhanced
Vision Document template; the approach is illustrated using an example system
called the Quality Assurance Review Assistant Tool. Keywords: Goal-oriented requirements engineering; Rational Unified Process; Unified Modeling Language; Visual modeling; Requirement traceability | |||
| Modeling real-time communication systems: Practices and experiences in Motorola | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 584-605 | |
| Michael Jiang; Michael Groble; Andrij Neczwid; Allan Willey | |||
| Visual modeling languages and techniques have been increasingly adopted for
software specification, design, development, and testing. With the major
improvements of UML 2.0 and tools support, visual modeling technologies have
significant potential for simplifying design, facilitating collaborations, and
reducing development cost. In this paper, we describe our practices and
experiences of applying visual modeling techniques to the design and
development of real-time wireless communication systems within Motorola. A
model-driven engineering approach of integrating visual modeling with
development and validation is described. Results, issues, and our viewpoints
are also discussed. Keywords: UML modeling; SDL modeling; MDE code generation; Model validation; Real-time communication systems; TTCN; Structured methods | |||