%M C.AVI.98.13
%T Augmented reality: linking real and virtual worlds: a new paradigm for
interacting with computers
%S Invited papers and panel
%A Mackay, Wendy E.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 13-21
%K augmented reality, design space exploration, interactive paper,
participatory design
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948498
%X A revolution in computer interface design is changing the way we think about
computers. Rather than typing on a keyboard and watching a television monitor,
Augmented Reality lets people use familiar, everyday objects in ordinary ways.
The difference is that these objects also provide a link into a computer
network. Doctors can examine patients while viewing superimposed medical
images; children can program their own LEGO constructions; construction
engineers can use ordinary paper engineering drawings to communicate with
distant colleagues. Rather than immersing people in an artificially-created
virtual world, the goal is to augment objects in the physical world by
enhancing them with a wealth of digital information and communication
capabilities.

%M C.AVI.98.22
%T Remote evaluation for post-deployment usability improvement
%S Invited papers and panel
%A Hartson, H. Rex
%A Castillo, José C.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 22-29
%K critical incidents, evaluation method, remote usability evaluation, software
deployment, usability data, user-initiated, user-reported critical incident
method
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948499
%X Although existing lab-based formative evaluation is frequently and
effectively applied to improving usability of software user interfaces, it has
limitations that have led to the concept of remote usability evaluation.
Perhaps the most significant impetus for remote usability evaluation methods is
the need for a project team to continue formative evaluation downstream, after
deployment.
   The usual kinds of alpha and beta testing do not qualify as formative
usability evaluation because they do not yield detailed data observed during
usage and associated closely with specific task performance. Critical incident
identification is arguably the single most important source of this kind of
data. Consequently, we developed and evaluated a cost-effective remote
usability evaluation method, based on real users self-reporting critical
incidents encountered in real tasks performed in their normal working
environments. Results show that users with only brief training can identify,
report, and rate the severity level of their own critical incidents.

%M C.AVI.98.30
%T Selected ingredients in end-user programming
%S Invited papers and panel
%A Zloof, Moshe M.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 30-35
%K WYSIWYG programming, application abstractions, declarative programming
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948500
%X In the area of human computer interaction, over the last twenty years, we
have witnessed considerable progress in an ever-increasing bandwidth from the
computer to the user. Application screens evolved from static text only screens
to interactive GUI screens. These screens contain numerous graphical element or
"widgets", supporting multiple data types, such as text, voice, image, and
video. The widgets can range from simple ones like a combo box or slider to
more complicated OCX's such as interactive graphs or maps.
   On the other hand, the tools to program this application are still in the
domain of programmers. Although there has been much progress in various RAD
tools, visual language and 4GL to improve ease of use, they still mostly target
programmers. We believe that in order to allow end-users to develop their own
advanced UI applications, it is necessary to create higher-level application
abstractions or 'algebra' for stating the application in a declarative manner.
This can be compared to the relational algebra operators in the data base area.
They were created as abstractions for data base queries, enabling end users to
express their own queries in a declarative manner. In doing so, bugs are
minimized and program modifications and maintenance becomes trivial. In this
paper, we will motivate the reader to see the need for these abstractions and
classify them into categories, emphasizing areas ripe for further research.

%M C.AVI.98.36
%T Panel natural, cultural & cybercultural interfaces: points of view
%S Invited papers and panel
%A Levialdi, Stefano
%A Benking, Heiner
%A Bulterman, Dick
%A Moltedo, Laura
%A Veltman, Kim
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 36
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948501
%X The title of the panel implies a walk through on different interfaces based
on human-dependent assumptions that may condition their implementation, their
application and their usability. The nature of the problems encountered when
designing a system that should be used by different classes of users -- and
therfore must satisfy and facilitate access to information to people having
varied skills -- is manifold. Nevertheless, by designing user-centered
interfaces we are trying to improve the quality of work, reduce memory load,
enable the detection and extraction of the required information for making
evaluations, taking decisions and smoothly progress along a well-defined path
until the project termination.
   The people in the panel have a wide range of experiences in the broad area
of multimedia communication and, more particularly, have worked in different
communication domains where the spatial view, the environment and the
application determine the features of the interface, in some cases considering
management and inventory problems, artistic work, data search and navigation
activities, in others restoration (and relative documentation) projects with
the possibility of monitoring such projects. In particular, the importance of a
small scale prototype to verify some of the basic assumptions, which were
established at the beginning of the interface design project, must be strongly
considered. The purpose of the panel will be to review and discuss the nature
of communication for a given set of environments and cultural patterns,
debating the nature of some established guidelines and suggesting new ones
while also focusing on the specific applications stemming from Cultural
Heritage, where the nature of information is complex and multifold: numerical,
textual and pictorial. Likewise, the motivation for the users of the proposed
systems may differ from one time period to another, so changing goals, methods
and actions to be undertaken by such users according to the present status of
the activity. Restoration, classification, documentation and presentation are
some of the different functions that are typical of the application we are
considering and which will be analyzed by the panelists.

%M C.AVI.98.37
%T Design method of interaction techniques for large information spaces
%S Visualizing information spaces
%A Nigay, Laurence
%A Vernier, Frédéric
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 37-46
%K design method, ergonomic criteria, fisheye view, navigational task, software
architecture
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948503
%X Our work focuses on the design of interaction techniques for large
information spaces. Our goal is not to define yet another visualization
technique but to provide insights for the design of such techniques. Our design
approach is based on ergonomic criteria that arose from a study of how the user
perceives and manipulates a large information space. We then provide design
rules that should help the designer in devising an interaction technique that
verifies the ergonomic criteria. After the design of the interaction technique,
the next step is software design. We establish links between our design
rules/ergonomic criteria and the software architecture model. By applying our
PAC-Amodeus model, we show how the software architecture model helps to either
verify or assess the ergonomic criteria. We therefore adopt a predictive
evaluation approach to the design of interaction techniques for large
information spaces. We illustrate our design approach and results through our
VITESSE system.

%M C.AVI.98.47
%T Automatic graphical abstraction in intent-based 3D-illustrations
%S Visualizing information spaces
%A Krüger, Antonio
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 47-56
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948504
%X The purpose of this paper is to present models, methods and techniques to
control automatically the degree of details in graphics or animation in an
intelligent way. Instead of just aiming at the technical advantages of such a
reduction (i.e. saving computer memory and computational load), this work
focuses on clarifying the intention of graphics or animation with the means of
abstraction. The goal is to direct the viewer's attention to relevant parts of
the graphics, without using metaobjects or -- colours (e.g. arrows, blinking
objects etc.) and to reduce the probability of distracting the viewer's
attention by unimportant details.
   The paper describes the major problems of this task and provides a
knowledge-based solution to yield an intelligent control of the level of
detail, improving the expressivity of the graphics or animation and saving
computational resources at the same time. To emphasize the plausibility of
these ideas the graphical abstraction system ARP is presented and its results
are discussed.

%M C.AVI.98.57
%T Constant information density in zoomable interfaces
%S Visualizing information spaces
%A Woodruff, Allison
%A Landay, James
%A Stonebraker, Michael
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 57-65
%K clutter, information density, information navigation, interactive graphics,
visual interfaces, visualization, zoomable interfaces
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948505
%X We introduce a system that helps users construct interactive visualizations
with constant information density. This work is an extension of the DataSplash
database visualization environment. DataSplash is a direct manipulation system
in which users can construct and navigate visualizations. Objects' appearances
change as users zoom closer to or further away from the visualization. Users
specify graphically the point at which these changes occur.
   Our experience with DataSplash indicates that users find it difficult to
construct visualizations that display an appropriate amount of detail. In this
paper, we introduce an extension to DataSplash based on the Principle of
Constant Information Density. This extension gives users feedback about the
density of visualizations as they create them. We also introduce an extension
that suggests improvements to existing visualizations.
   We have performed an informal study of user navigation in applications with
and without constant information density. We suggest that designers take
density into account when designing applications to avoid biasing user
navigation in unexpected ways.

%M C.AVI.98.66
%T Intelligent visualization and dynamic manipulation: two complementary
instruments to support data exploration with GIS
%S Visualizing information spaces
%A Andrienko, Gennady L.
%A Andrienko, Natalia V.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 66-75
%K data exploration, dynamic manipulation, geographical information systems,
visual interaction, visualization
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948506
%X To analyze spatially referenced data, i.e. data referring to geographical
objects or locations, one should present them on a map. IRIS is a software
system that supports exploration of such data by providing two main services:
1) automated generation of maps and 2) interactive facilities to dynamically
manipulate the maps. Automated mapping is enabled by incorporation of generic
knowledge on map design. This prevents errors in map design resulting in
useless or even misleading presentations. It also helps save users' time and
efforts as compared to data visualization with the existing mapping software.
   Unlike paper maps, a map on the computer screen can dynamically change in
response to various interactive manipulations. It is possible to design such
interactive operations that will significantly promote data exploration. Within
IRIS project we develop for each data presentation method a specific
interactive tool that exploits the peculiarities of this method and facilitates
fulfilling the analysis tasks the method is best suitable for.
   Currently researches in automated data visualization design and in dynamic
manipulation are developed separately whereas these are two complementary
instruments to support data exploration. In this paper we show how we integrate
these two instruments in IRIS.

%M C.AVI.98.76
%T Rapid-fire image previews for information navigation
%S Navigating in information spaces
%A Wittenburg, Kent
%A Ali-Ahmad, Wissam
%A LaLiberte, Daniel
%A Lanning, Tom
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 76-82
%K images, information navigation, previewing, visualization
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948508
%X In this paper we consider the role of rapid-fire presentation of images in
the service of navigation in information spaces. We presume a model of
information navigation in which the user performs a cycle of (pre)viewing,
selecting, and moving. Our hypothesis is that images presented to the user in
rapid succession can significantly enhance the previewing step, thus optimizing
the selection step and improving navigability. We discuss two prototypes for
navigation tools in Web information spaces in which images are used as the
primary means for presenting meta-information about "upcoming" Web pages. The
presentation is modeled as a flow of information streaming to the user, and
orientation is visualized through positions in ordered sequences.

%M C.AVI.98.83
%T Information foraging models of browsers for very large document spaces
%S Navigating in information spaces
%A Pirolli, Peter
%A Card, Stuart K.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 83-93
%K cognitive models, information foraging theory, information retrieval
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948509
%X Information Foraging (IF) Theory addresses user strategies and technology
for seeking, gathering, and using on-line information. We present IF-based
models and evaluations of two interfaces: the Scatter/Gather browser for large
document collections, and the Butterfly interface for surfing the citation link
structure of scientific literatures. A computational cognitive model, ACT-IF,
models observed users by assuming that they have heuristics that optimize their
information foraging behavior in accordance with IF theory.

%M C.AVI.98.94
%T Re-engineering a distributed IR system through a disciplined, task-centered
approach based on evaluation and metrics
%S Working out usability
%A Dassovich, Piero
%A Giannetti, Anna
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 94-101
%K MUSiC methods and tools, evaluation and metrics, information retrieval,
interaction design, re-engineering of legacy systems, task analysis, usability
testing
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948511
%X System re-engineering of the Italian Tax Documentation Service smoothly
progressed through a phased set of stages:
 * Definition and refinement of key end-user-profiles through observational and
   contextual analysis
 * Previous version in-depth screening through focused usability-lab tests
 * Interface and interaction design through mock-up screen-shots and interaction
   graphs
 * Early prototype construction
 * Newer and older versions usability-lab pair-wise comparison.
The project served as a test-bed for the Esprit n.20857 Project MAPI (MUSiC
Assisted Process Improvement) aimed at engineering usability evaluation and
metrics methods and tools, as part of the MUSiC (Measuring Usability in
Context) method and toolset. The industrial experience which is reported in
this paper, shows that a challenge for the future resides in understanding and
modeling how to re-engineer legacy systems and turn the "legacy software life
cycle" into a new "user-oriented software life cycle", based on prototyping,
early evaluation and metrics collection within a cost-justifying usability
approach.

%M C.AVI.98.102
%T Linking surface error characteristics to root problems in user-based
evaluation studies
%S Working out usability
%A Springett, Mark
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 102-113
%K action cycle, error studies, phenotypes/genotypes
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948512
%X This paper reports a study of novice subjects using Word 5.1. for the
Macintosh. In particular, user errors were analysed. The intention was to
investigate the difficulty, that evaluators have in determining root error
causes from surface characteristics. Errors made by subjects were examined and
classified in phenotype and genotype categories[3]. An error was classified in
a genotype category if it was felt that system had failed to support that
particular user mental action. The utility of the analysis that was used for
analysing usability errors is then discussed.

%M C.AVI.98.114
%T Engineering the usability of visual formalisms: a case study in real time
logics
%S Working out usability
%A Lusini, M.
%A Vicario, E.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 114-123
%K computer aided verification, real time logics, usability engineering, visual
formalisms
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948513
%X A visual formalism for the presentation of a real time logic is introduced,
motivated, and evaluated.
   The visual formalism has been designed following a user-centered usability
engineering process, targeted to the students of higher education courses in
software engineering. On the one hand, heuristic design was applied to maximize
consistency, i.e. to minimize the complexity of the visual metaphor mapping
textual sentences to the visual representation. On the other hand, individual
metaphoric assumptions were defined by prototyping and exposing alternative
graphical representations to a representative sample of the target community of
expected users.
   The resulting notation has been implemented within an interactive
syntax-directed editor which integrates the visual presentation with the
conventional textual notation. The editor has been used to carry out a
competitive user-based evaluation of the usability of textual and visual
representations, by carrying out a readability test on a larger sample of
representative end-users.

%M C.AVI.98.124
%T Starting simple: adding value to static visualisation through simple
interaction
%S Working out usability
%A Dix, Alan
%A Ellis, Geoffrey
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 124-134
%K information visualisation, interactive graphics, visual interaction
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948514
%X Interactive visualisation has been one of the most exciting areas in HCI
over recent years. The key term here is 'interactive', and in this paper we
assert that virtually any static representation can become more powerful by the
addition of simple interactive elements. This is demonstrated by adding
interactivity to standard representations including stacked histograms, pie
charts and scatter plots. We show how adding interactivity can help resolve
many of the trade-offs inherent in static visualisations by allowing multiple
options to be available and most importantly for them to be interactively
related. Many years of creativity and effort have been invested in traditional
generic and bespoke visualisations. Adding interactivity leverages this
accumulated experience, but also adds an extra dimension.

%M C.AVI.98.135
%T Model-based heuristic evaluation of hypermedia usability
%S Working out usability
%A Garzotto, Franca
%A Matera, Maristella
%A Paolini, Paolo
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 135-145
%K heuristic evaluation, hypermedia evaluation, hypermedia modeling, usability
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948515
%X This paper presents a systematic approach to the heuristic evaluation of
hypermedia that specifically addresses the peculiar features of this class of
systems. We propose a set of hypermedia-specific usability attributes and
define general "patterns of evaluation activities" called abstract tasks that
can be performed by usability experts to check such attributes systematically.
The usage of abstract tasks makes application inspection more effective, since
it guides the work of evaluators and supports standardization across different
evaluators. Our approach is model-based since we use a hypermedia design model
(HDM) to identify the constituents of an application that represent the "focus
of interest" for the evaluation, to decompose general usability principles into
hypermedia-specific attributes, and finally to formulate abstract tasks in a
precise way. To show the effectiveness of our method, we discuss the most
significant usability problems discovered in eight commercially available
hypermedia CD-ROM's.

%M C.AVI.98.146
%T Visual representation of hypermedia links according to their types
%S Working out usability
%A Noirhomme-Fraiture, Monique
%A Serpe, Vincent
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 146-155
%K WWW interface, hypermedia links, link typology, navigation aids, visual
representation
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948516
%X In this paper, we present the first results of the HyperNavi project which
is dedicated to the conception of tools to help users navigating in hypermedia
systems and thus fight against the two well-known drawbacks: disorientation and
cognitive overhead.
   To this end, we suggest providing users with useful information about links
in the interface of such systems. So, in this paper, we discuss the two
following points:1. What information or link types are relevant for users
whenever they browse hypermedia systems such as the World Wide Web (WWW)?2.
What are practical ways to provide visually this information through the
interface of such systems? We list different possibilities (text appearance,
button, icon, cursor, sound, tooltip, textfield of the status bar, preview and
description windows) and make suggestions for a particular domain: the minutes
of the Belgian Parliament sessions.

%M C.AVI.98.156
%T Multimodal communication between synthetic agents
%S Interacting through different modalities
%A Pelachaud, Catherine
%A Poggi, Isabella
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 156-163
%K 3D synthetic agents, facial expression, speech acts, visual modality
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948518
%X Dialoging with a synthetic agent is a vast research topic to enhance
user-interface friendliness. We present in this paper an on-going project on
the simulation of a dialog situation between two synthetic agents. More
particularly we focus our interest on finding the appropriate facial
expressions of a speaker addressing to different types of listeners (tourist,
employee, child, and so on) using various linguistic forms such as request,
question, information. Communication between speaker and listener involves
multimodal behaviors such as the choice of words, intonation and paralinguistic
parameters for the vocal ones; facial expressions, gaze, gesture and body
movements for the non-verbal ones. The choice of each individual behavior,
their mutual interaction and synchronization produce the richness and subtlety
of human communication.
   In order to develop a system that computes automatically the appropriate
facial and gaze behaviors corresponding to a communicative act for a given
speaker and listener, our first step is to categorize facial expressions and
gaze based on their communicative functions rather than on their appearance.
The next step is to find inference rules that describe the "mental" process
ongoing in the speaker while communicating with the listener. The rules take
into account the power relation between speaker and listener and the beliefs
the speaker has about the listener to constrain the choice of performative
acts.

%M C.AVI.98.164
%T Visual display, pointing, and natural language: the power of multimodal
interaction
%S Interacting through different modalities
%A De Angeli, Antonella
%A Gerbino, Walter
%A Cassano, Giulia
%A Petrelli, Daniela
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 164-173
%K cross-modal integration, referent identification strategies
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948519
%X This paper examines user behavior during multimodal human-computer
interaction (HCI). It discusses how pointing, natural language, and graphical
layout should be integrated to enhance the usability of multimodal systems. Two
experiments were run to study simulated systems capable of understanding
written natural language and mouse-supported pointing gestures. Results allowed
to: (a) develop a taxonomy of communication acts aimed at identifying targets;
(b) determine the conditions under which specific referent identification
strategies are likely to be produced; (c) suggest guidelines for designing
effective multimodal interfaces; (d) show that performance is strongly
influenced by interface graphical layout and by user expertise. Our study
confirms the value of simulation as a tool for building HCI models and supports
the basic idea that linguistic, visual, and motor cues can be integrated to
favor effective multimodal communication.

%M C.AVI.98.174
%T The craft of movement in interaction design
%S Designing multimedia
%A Bacigalupi, Michelle
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 174-184
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948521
%X Interaction designers don't often discuss the aesthetics of movement in
digital media. There is no vocabulary nor method -- as there is for color and
typography -- to use in the generation or evaluation of digital compositions.
Dewey offers us a philosophical aesthetic towards the communicative experience
of art. His abstract theory provides the inspiration to create a practical
method for designers of interactive media in a realistic design context. To
build the bridge from abstraction to application I have turned to literature
that analyzes the aesthetics of movement in visual arts, particularly for
vocabularies of both formal and expressive movement qualities. Both
vocabularies explore how we map our 3-D kinetic experience to make sense of 2-D
qualities in artifacts. Isolated sets of kinetic qualities, as single mappings
between experience and formal and expressive movement qualities, are
identified. Communication design is comprised of large clusters of these
mappings. This method of movement analysis provides the designer with a set of
tools to control movement through the manipulation of its properties, both
formal and expressive, thereby acting as a conduit that generates the link
between designer, artifact, and viewer experience. Building blocks needed to
create a communicative system and provide a method for practitioners to analyze
and apply movement appropriately in digital compositions are presented. I
conclude by briefly sketching how integration might be plausibly gauged by
applying the vocabularies to examples of both static and kinetic compositions.

%M C.AVI.98.185
%T Dynamic key frame presentation techniques for augmenting video browsing
%S Designing multimedia
%A Tse, Tony
%A Marchionini, Gary
%A Ding, Wei
%A Slaughter, Laura
%A Komlodi, Anita
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 185-194
%K display rate, divided attention, dynamic displays, interface design, key
frames, representations, video browsing
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948522
%X Because of unique temporal and spatial properties of video data, different
techniques for summarizing videos have been proposed. Key frames extracted
directly from video inform users about content without requiring them to view
the entire video. As part of ongoing work to develop video browsing interfaces,
several interface displays based on key frames were investigated. Variations on
dynamic key frame "slide shows" were examined and compared to a static key
frame "filmstrip" display. The slide show mechanism displays key frames in
rapid succession and is designed to facilitate visual browsing by exploiting
human perceptual capabilities. User studies were conducted in a series of three
experiments. Key frame display rate, number of simultaneous displays, and user
perception were investigated as a function of user performance in object
recognition and gist determination tasks. No significant performance
degradation was detected at display rates up to 8 key frames per second, but
performance degraded significantly at higher rates. Performance on gist
determination tasks degraded less severely than performance on object
recognition tasks as display rates increased. Furthermore, gist determination
performance dropped significantly between three and four simultaneous slide
shows in a single display. Users generally preferred key frame filmstrips to
dynamic displays, although objective measures of performance were mixed.
Implications for visual interface design and further questions for future
research are provided.

%M C.AVI.98.195
%T Comparing MMVIS to a timeline for temporal trend analysis of video data
%S Designing multimedia
%A Hibino, Stacie
%A Rundensteiner, Elke A.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 195-204
%K dynamic queries, multimedia visual information seeking, temporal analysis,
user interface evaluation, video analysis
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948523
%X Our MultiMedia Visual Information Seeking (MMVIS) environment provides an
exploratory visual paradigm for temporal trend analysis. In this paper, we
present the results of a user interface study evaluating the utility of MMVIS.
We compare MMVIS to a timeline-based approach for analyzing temporal trends in
real video data. We evaluate the quantity, complexity and accuracy of temporal
trend observations made within each interface, compare the number of positive
versus negative trends found, and collect feedback on user satisfaction. Our
results show that subjects made interesting and complex observations of
temporal trends using either interface. The results also indicate some
advantages and biases of each interface, such as 1) timeline subjects make more
errors during analysis and 2) timeline subjects are biased against identifying
negative trends such as exceptions. At the same time, however, subjects
appreciate the familiarity of timelines. Because we designed the MMVIS
architecture to provide users with a library of visualizations, we thus include
a discussion on enhancing the utility of MMVIS through incorporating a timeline
into it in the future.

%M C.AVI.98.205
%T Design of multimedia semantic presentation templates: options, problems and
criteria of use
%S Designing multimedia
%A Aloia, Nicola
%A Bendini, Tullio
%A Paternò, Fabio
%A Santoro, Carmen
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 205-215
%K model-based user interface design, multimedia templates, query result
presentation, user tasks
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948524
%X This paper presents and discusses the use of Semantic Multimedia
Presentation Templates which capture presentation structures that are suitable
for communicating semantic data relationships occurring across many
applications. The identification of the space of the possible presentation
templates along with criteria to evaluate them that depend on the current task,
data cardinality and other aspects, is very useful for supporting the automatic
generation of effective query result multimedia presentations.

%M C.AVI.98.216
%T A system for supporting and managing same-time/different-place group
interactions
%S Enhancing visual interaction
%A Antunes, Pedro A.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 216-225
%K CSCW, group interaction
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948526
%X This paper describes a user-interface system developed to support group
interactions for same-time/different-place cooperative applications. We address
three fundamental aspects of these kind of systems: information sharing,
coordination and multiuser-interface. The proposed approach defines four types
of objects. Contents store application data. Containers are dedicated to
organise and structure application data. Connections manage group coordination.
And, finally, Monitors are concerned with users awareness of cooperative
activities. One important characteristic of the approach is that it identifies
and maps into the above objects two basic properties of group interaction
support: visibility (public/private information) and durability
(durable/transient information). The system eases the design of complex group
interaction processes because it defines simple actions that allow programmers
and users to define and combine object properties. An example of system usage
is given for an application that supports brainstorming activities.

%M C.AVI.98.226
%T Manipulating concept maps with constrained regions
%S Enhancing visual interaction
%A Carriço, Luís
%A Guimarães, Nuno
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 226-234
%K concept maps, direct manipulation, visual constraints, visual languages
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948527
%X This paper addresses the direct manipulation of concept maps. These maps are
visually supported by graph-based diagrams. Constraints on nodes, visual
attributes and arcs, reflect the syntax and semantic of the underlying
conceptual model. Tools allowing the manipulation of concept maps convey these
constraints by offering simple feedback hints to user actions. Particular
application domains require the use of spatial regions (contexts) to convey
equivalence on concept properties or types. In these cases, further
restrictions are imposed. Therefore, richer feedback must be supported for
effective direct manipulation.
   The paper proposes an approach to handle spatial contexts in concept maps.
The approach provides means to define enhanced feedback on direct manipulation
of concepts and relations within and over context boundaries. The technique is
based on the separtion of the feedback representations for device and action.
It controls their relative distance, mobility and visual attributes.
Manipulation of contexts and simultaneous views over contexts are also
discussed. Specific behaviors are proposed and a technique to offer coherent
views on multiple contexts is presented. The architecture of the system that
supports these features is described.

%M C.AVI.98.235
%T Figure captions in visual interfaces
%S Enhancing visual interaction
%A Preim, Bernhard
%A Michel, Rainer
%A Hartmann, Knut
%A Strothotte, Thomas
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 235-246
%K dynamic figure captions, geographic maps, interactive figure captions,
medical illustrations
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948528
%X We present a general concept for the enhancement of visual interfaces with
automatic figure captions describing a visualization. The incorporation of
figure captions in interactive systems raises some fundamentally new questions
as these images are exposed to changes. The dynamic aspects to be considered
include the update and customization of figure captions.
   We employ figure captions not only for the description of images but also
for their modification leading to the introduction of interactive figure
captions. A general architecture is developed and comprehensively described
referring to two application domains: medical illustrations and geographic
maps.

%M C.AVI.98.247
%T Kaleidoquery: a visual query language for object databases
%S Enhancing visual interaction
%A Murray, Norman
%A Paton, Norman
%A Goble, Carole
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 247-257
%K OQL, object databases, three-dimensional interface, visual query language
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948529
%X In this paper we describe Kaleidoquery, a visual query language for object
databases with the same expressive power as OQL. We will describe the design
philosophy behind the filter flow nature of Kaleidoquery and present each of
the language's constructs, giving examples and relating them to OQL. The
Kaleidoquery language is described independent of any implementation details,
but a brief description of a 3D interface currently under construction for
Kaleidoquery is presented. The queries in this implementation of the language
are translated into OQL and then passed to the object database O<sub>2</sub>
for evaluation.

%M C.AVI.98.258
%T VisTool: a visual tool for querying relational databases
%S Description of prototypes
%A Benzi, Francesca
%A Maio, Dario
%A Rizzi, Stefano
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 258-260
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948531
%X In this paper we describe VisTool, a prototype tool for querying relational
databases by means of the visual query language VISIONARY.

%M C.AVI.98.261
%T A completely visual environment for agent-based computing
%S Description of prototypes
%A Bottoni, P.
%A Mussio, P.
%A Olivieri, B.
%A Protti, M.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 261-263
%K agents, visual programming
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948532
%X A visual environment for end-user visual programming and computing with
populations of agents is presented.

%M C.AVI.98.264
%T Towards a distributed 3D virtual museum
%S Description of prototypes
%A Ciabatti, E.
%A Cignoni, P.
%A Montani, C.
%A Scopigno, R.
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 264-266
%K 3D widgets, VRML, Web application, automatic acquisition of 3D objects,
works of art archives
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948533
%X The paper addresses the problem of the representation of three-dimensional
works of art (e.g. sculptures, architectural elements, vases, etc.) in a
web-based environment. Specifically, we propose a system for the visual
presentation of the 3D results of a standard SQL query to distributed archives.
The system solves the general problem of the remote visualization of dynamic
result sets on the Internet using standard and low cost processing
architectures. It provides the user with an innovative visual metaphor for the
analysis and investigation of the objects presented. Moreover, the system has
been designed to provide capabilities which go beyond visualization (e.g.
manipulation), and further extensions are possible. We describe the
methodologies used for the acquisition, storing, and manipulation of 3D
artistic objects together with details on the system's implementation in a web
environment, using the VRML2.0 specification language.

%M C.AVI.98.267
%T A distributed web-based virtual reality interface to database systems
%S Description of prototypes
%A Jacobsen, Colette
%A Kaugher, Susan
%A Fotouhi, Farshad
%A Narula, Aashima
%A Jadhav, Nitan
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 267-269
%K World Wide Web, database interfaces, scientific databases, virtual reality
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948534
%X A principal problem facing users of scientific or engineering databases is
that of finding the correct data, due to a lack of detailed knowledge about the
structure or schema of the available data. This paper discusses an approach to
the design and development of a web-based interface that incorporate a visual
model to access database information. This interface links a VRML (Virtual
Reality Modeling Language) world to a database, creating an accessible 3D query
interface that eliminates the need to know database query language syntax,
database structure, and VRML. The user views the virtual world and retrieves
information from a connected database with the click of a button. The interface
offers the ability to create dynamic 3D anchors and associates queries that
relate to parts of a VRML world. The main advantage of this virtual design is
the simplicity of data retrieval for the end user.

%M C.AVI.98.270
%T "Thin" vs. "fat" visualization clients
%S Description of prototypes
%A Jern, Mikael
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 270-273
%K "Fat" client, VRML, Web components, information drill-down
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948535
%X A thin client, by definition, have minimal software requirements necessary
to function as a user interface front-end for a Web enabled application and
raises the issue of client vs. server data visualization rendering. Real-time
visual data manipulation doesn't translate well into a "thin" client. While the
VRML file format allows distribution of visualization scenes to the Web, the
user has no access to the actual underlying data source. The "mapping" of
numerical data into geometry format (VRML) takes place at the server side.
   Local data manipulation, information drill-down technique, context sensitive
menus, object picking and other interactive user interface functions that
traditionally have been available on the client are now controlled by the
visualization server. In the "thin" client model, nearly all functionality is
delivered from the server side of the visualization engine while the client
perform very simple display and querying functions.
   Web components and Plug-ins are now being used to overcome some of these
limitations. Java allows the creation of "applets" and "JavaBeans" and we have
Windows/COM components. These components together with data reduction methods
can significantly increase the data interaction between the client application
and user, and allow tasks to be executed on the client. Highly interactive user
interface tasks are delivered that provide point-and-click navigation through
multidimensional data structures. Visual data interfaces such as information
drilling, moving a cutting plane through a volume data set etc can be
supported.
   The implication of using a static VRML environment with reduced geometry is
compared to sending compressed data to the client and perform interactive
client data visualization on a desktop.

%M C.AVI.98.274
%T Designing GUIs by sketch drawing and visual programming
%S Description of prototypes
%A Lecolinet, Eric
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 274-276
%K interface builders, sketching, user interface design, visual programming,
visual/textual equivalence
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948536
%X This paper presents a new interactive UIDE that is based on visual
programming and constrained sketch drawing. At the early stages of the
iterative conception process, GUIs are interactively designed by drawing a
"rough sketch" that acts as a first draft of the final description. This
drawing is interpreted in real time by the system in order to produce the
corresponding widget view (i.e. the actual visible GUI) and a graph of abstract
objects that represents the GUI structure. This graph can then be easily
modified by mixing visual and textual programming in a fully iterative and
incremental way. This system is also based on the use of generic objects which
are dynamically instantiated into actual widgets according to their structural
and functional context. This scheme makes it possible to define very generic
GUIs that can then be deeply refined in an efficient way at any stage of the
conception process.

%M C.AVI.98.277
%T Visual interfaces for high level hardware synthesis
%S Description of prototypes
%A Mohamed, Shamim
%A Solomon, Erric
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 277-279
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948537
%X We present a proposal to demonstrate some of the visual interfaces used in
the suite of High-Level Hardware Synthesis tools developed by Synopsys Inc.
Hardware Synthesis is the process of converting a high-level description of the
hardware in a "hardware description language" (HDL) like Verilog or VHDL into a
list of gates that can be fabricated in silicon.

%M C.AVI.98.280
%T Interfacing with C.H.A.A.T. (Cultural Heritage Assisted Analysis Tools)
%S Description of prototypes
%A Moltedo, Laura
%A Mortelliti, Giuseppe
%A Salvetti, Ovidio
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 280-282
%K computer aided imaging, interactive simulation, system interface
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948538
%X User-interface and functionality's of a system oriented to support the
analysis of the conservation state of historical building monuments are
presented. A main aspect of the system is its capability to simulate possible
visual scenarios of evolution.

%M C.AVI.98.283
%T A user-centered WWW application for macroseismic data dissemination and
rapid re-use
%S Description of prototypes
%A Rinaldi, Giuliana Rubbia
%A Padula, Marco
%A Zerga, Angela
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 283-285
%K code re-use, data re-use, earthquakes, macroseismic data, user-centered
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948539
%X The paper discusses a concrete WWW application providing historical
seismicity data of the Italian area. The application is user-centered in that
it makes data available through working metaphors adopted by domain experts who
cooperated in interface prototyping and testing. An example of data and
software re-use is given, as a tool for timely disseminating specific
information during the seismic crisis of September/October 1997 in Central
Italy.

%M C.AVI.98.286
%T An epistemological display query interface
%S Description of prototypes
%A Shin, Dong-Guk
%A Grajewski, Wally
%A Chu, Lung-Yung
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 286-288
%K visual query interface
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948540
%X Database users without sufficient understanding of database schemas are
normally daunted by the task of query formulation. To alleviate these concerns,
we have come up with a visual query system that allows users to express queries
at the conceptual level. This interface works by representing a targeted
database schema at the conceptual level and allows the user to enter
restriction, projection and join conditions in an interactive fashion. The
mapping between the conceptual level and the relational schema of a targeted
database is accomplished via the usage of the knowledge representation language
L<sub>k</sub>. We have built a prototype that works with human genome
databases.

%M C.AVI.98.289
%T SIAMOA: a system for visual programming, program visualisation and debugging
%S Description of prototypes
%A Van de Veire, Frederic
%A Szmal, Przemyslaw
%A Francik, Jaroslaw
%B Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces
%D 1998
%P 289-291
%* (c) Copyright 1998 ACM
%W http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/948496.948541
%X The paper presents SIAMOA, a system dedicated for design, debugging and
visualisation of algorithms. It combines elements of an algorithm visualisation
system and an environment for visual programming. Programs may be created
graphically by connecting modules represented in form of icons. Individual
modules correspond either to sequences of operations written in a traditional,
textual form, or to complex blocks of operations created graphically. The main
concern of the visualisation of the algorithm execution process is data
visualisation; it may be done as a basic or a synthetic one. The architecture
of the visualisation engine has been designed with use of the P. Os.T. model,
previously used to build interactive platforms for simulation of industrial
processes.