april07b.indd


internet resources 
Bradford Lee Eden 

2D
and
3D
information
visualization


The
next
big
Internet
revolution



Tell me and I’ll forget… 
… Show me and I may remember… 
…Involve me and I’ll understand.1


As
a
species,
the
human
race
is
tremen­dously
 influenced
 by
 sensory
 percep­
tions.
 Visual
 metaphors
 are
 frequent
 and

common
 in
 our
 language
 and
 culture.
 “A

picture
is
worth
a
thousand
words”
is
one

such
example.


The
appearance
of
the
Internet
in
human

culture
just
over
ten
years
ago
has
produced

the
 capacity
 to
 graphically
 and
 visually

represent
ideas,
problems,
challenges,
solu­
tions,
 and
 results,
 not
 as
 one­dimensional

paradigms
 or
 presentations
 as
 in
 previous

centuries,
but
in
two
or
more
dimensions,

allowing
the
human
mind
to
radically
and

instantly
perceive
new
ways
of
solving
and

representing
 information.
 In
 addition,
 the

next
generation
has
been
preparing
itself
for

a
future
in
which
virtual
collaboration
with

others
globally
will
be
the
norm
instead
of

the
exception,
and
the
fields
of
secondary

and
 higher
 education
 are
 well
 behind
 the

curve
 in
 addressing
 the
 learning
 needs
 of

the
future.


The
field
of
information
visualization
is

very
new.
Since
its
beginnings
in
the
1980s,

when
bandwidth
and
server
storage
neces­
sitated
 high­end
 computer
 workstations
 in

order
to
play
with
advanced
and
real­time

interactive
 graphics
 for
 space
 exploration,

animation,
 and
 visual
 effects,
 2D
 and
 3D

formats
are
now
readily
available
to
anyone

with
a
standard
PC
platform
and/or
money

to
 purchase
 one
 of
 the
 many
 animation

and
multiplayer
gaming
systems.
3D
infor­
mation
visualization
is
poised
to
enter
the


mainstream
of
Internet
gaming
and
search

engine
retrieval;
the
market
is
only
waiting

for
 an
 affordable
 device
 or
 product
 that

will
 capture
 the
 public’s
 imagination
 and

push
 the
 envelope
 in
 this
 area.
 Once
 that

happens,
the
world
will
never
be
the
same.

Interacting
 online
 in
 one
 dimension
 will

become
 passé;
 users
 will
 want
 to
 be
 able

to
manipulate
and
search
and
present
their

content
in
multiple
dimensions.


Information
 organizations
 must
 quickly

begin
experimenting
and
be
ready
to
move

forward
offering
their
information
visually
in

2D
and
3D.
With
Google
and
other
informa­
tion
servers
already
controlling
much
of
the

user
 interaction
 and
 information
 patterns

online,
 and
 with
 the
 research
 and
 devel­
opment
 money
 to
 jump
 when
 necessary,

traditional
information
organizations
such
as

libraries
and
museums
will
be
hard­pressed

to
compete
and
maintain
market
share
in
the

coming
information
revolution.


These
sources
will
provide
the
basics
of

information
 visualization,
 showcase
 some

current
applications
and
software
products

that
may
assist
information
organizations
to

strategically
use
their
structured
metadata
in

new
and
exciting
visual
front­ends,
and
re­
think
how
to
prioritize
and
plan
for
a
future

3D
information
user
environment.


What is information visualization? 
The
most
common
definition
of
information

visualization
 is:
 the
 use
 of
 computer­sup­

Bradford Lee Eden is associate university librarian 
for technical services and scholarly communication 
at the University of California-Santa Barbara, e-mail: 
eden@library.ucsb.edu 
© 2007 Bradford Lee Eden 

April 2007  247 C&RL News 

mailto:eden@library.ucsb.edu


ported,
interactive,
visual
representations
of

abstract
data
to
amplify
cognition.2


Other
definitions
that
may
be
more
user­
friendly
 include:
 the
 process
 of
 analyzing

and
 transforming
 non­spatial
 data
 into
 an

effective
visual
form;
a
highly
effi
cient
way

for
 the
 mind
 to
 directly
 perceive
 data
 and

discover
knowledge
and
insight
from
it;
the

transformation
 of
 abstract
 data
 to
 a
 visual

representation,
which
is
rapidly
understood

by
the
user;
and
the
visual
appearance
of
data

objects
and
their
relationships.


While
 information
 visualization
 is
 fairly

new,
there
are
a
number
of
subgenres
within

the
 visualization
 field
 that
 are
 much
 more

mature,
and
have
become
fairly
standardized

in
the
last
20
years.
They
are:


•
 Data visualization: the
 graphical
 rep­
resentation
of
data,
meaning
the
manipula­
tion
of
graphical
entities
(like
lines,
images,

shapes,
text,
etc.)
and
attributes
(like
position,

size,
shape,
and
color).


•
Geographic visualization:
the
graphical

representation
 of
 spatial
 and
 geographical

information.
Spatial
metaphors
have
become

one
of
the
most
fundamental
design
models

of
virtual
environments.


• Scientifi c visualization: has
 the
 most

extensive
 literature
 associated
 with
 it,
 and

dates
 back
 to
 the
 1987
 National
 Science

Foundation
 (NSF)
 report
 “Visualization
 in

Scientifi
c
Computing.”


•
Software visualization: a
branch
of
sci­
entific
visualization
that
focuses
on
software

objects,
 such
 as
 programs,
 algorithms,
 and

parallel
processes.


There
are
eight
dimensional
data
types
as­
sociated
with
information
visualization.
These

can
be
found
at
OLIVE,
the
On­line
Library
of

Information
Visualization
Environments:3


•
temporal


•
one­dimensional
(1D)


•
two­dimensional
(2D)

•
three­dimensional
(3D)

•
multi­dimensional
(MultiD)

•
trees

•
network

•
workspace

When
 working
 in
 2D
 and
 3D
 informa­

tion
visualization
environments,
there
are
a

number
of
presentation
techniques
to
visually

illustrate
 the
 information.
 Explaining
 each

one
would
be
rather
tedious,
so
a
number
of

them
are
listed
here,
and
more
information

regarding
how
these
presentation
techniques

work,
as
well
as
representative
Web
sites,
is

provided
in
the
footnote
below:4


•
benediktine
space

•
cityscapes

•
cluster
maps

•
concept
mapping

•
fi
sh­eye
views

•
graphs

•
landscapes

•
networks

•
perspective
walls

•
rooms

•
spheres

•
topic
maps

•
trees


Current resources and Web sites 
All
information
related
to
the
area
of
2D
and

3D
 information
 visualization
 is
 time­sensi­
tive.
Since
the
“Library
Technology
Report”

was
published,
two
years
have
gone
by,
and

much
 new
 information
 has
 appeared,
 and

much
more
information
previously
cited
has

disappeared.
 Information
 presented
 here

is
 current
 and
 accessible
 as
 of
 November

20,
2006.


Journals 
Access
 to
 these
 journals
 is
 not
 necessarily

available
via
their
Web
sites,
but
may
be
by

subscription
 only.
 Check
 your
 local
 library

for
information.


•
Association for Computing Machin­
ery (ACM) Transactions on Computer­
Human Interaction. Since
1994,
this
journal

has
published
research
related
to
the
fi
eld
of

human­computer
interaction.
Access:
http://

www.acm.org/pubs/tochi


•
ACM Interactions. A
bimonthly
maga­
zine
 for
 designers
 of
 interactive
 products.

Back
 issues
 are
 available
 for
 free
 from

the
 Web
 site.
 Access: http://www.acm.org

/interactions.


248C&RL News April 2007

http:http://www.acm.org
www.acm.org/pubs/tochi


•
Human­Computer Interaction (HCI). 
Covers
theoretical,
methodological,
and
em­
pirical
issues
of
user
science
and
of
system

design.
Access:
http://hci­journal.com.


•
IEEE Transactions on Visualization 
and Computer Graphics (TVCG). Origi­
nally
 published
 quarterly,
 this
 bimonthly

journal
 focuses
 on
 user
 interface
 issues,

software,
hardware,
and
systems
related
to

computer
 graphics
 techniques
 and
 visual­
ization.
Access
to
full­text
of
the
articles
is

restricted
 to
 subscribers
 only,
 but
 anyone

can
review
the
abstract
and
references
of
any

current
 or
 archived
 article.
 Access: http://

www.computer.org/tvcg/index.htm.


•
Info@Vis!: The digital magazine of 
InfoVis.Net. An
online
journal
devoted
to

information
visualization,
available
in
both

English
 and
 Spanish.
 Access: http://www.

infovis.net/index.php?lang=2.


•
 Information Visualization. This

journal
 has
 quickly
 become
 one
 of
 the

major
 journals
 in
 the
 field
 of
 information

visualization
since
its
launch
in
2002.
It
acts

as
 a
 dedicated
 forum
 for
 the
 methodolo­
gies,
 evaluations,
 theories,
 and
 techniques

of
information
visualization
and
its
applica­
tions.
Access: http://www.palgrave­journals.

com/ivs.


•
 International Journal of Human­
Computer Studies (IJHCS). Published
on

a
 monthly
 basis
 by
 Elsevier,
 this
 journal

encompasses
a
wide
range
of
topics
related

to
virtual
reality,
graphic
interaction,
innova­
tive
designs
and
applications
of
interactive

systems,
and
visualization,
among
many
oth­
ers.
 Access:
 http://www.elsevier.com/wps

/fi
nd/journaldescription.cws_home/622846

/description#description.


Practical applications 
The
 economics
 of
 exploring
 2D
 and
 3D

applications
 in
 information
 visualization

are
not
out
of
reach
for
most
libraries.
At
a

minimum,
setting
aside
a
certain
percentage

of
one
person’s
time,
and
providing
access
to

a
high­end
personal
computer
or
laptop
with

extensive
memory
and
storage
capacity,
is

all
a
library
needs
to
do
to
begin
to
explore


the
possibilities.
If
this
computer
can
be
set

aside
in
a
secured
separate
room,
then
other

people
can
also
participate
and
assist
in
this

process.
The
computer
should
also
be
able

to
download
various
open­source
and
trial

software
packages,
as
well
as
various
plug­
ins
and
programs
such
as
Flash,
RealPlayer,

Shockwave,
etc.


There
are
many
software
products,
both

open­source
and
commercial,
that
allow
one

to
explore
2D
and
3D
applications.
Many
of

the
commercial
products
come
with
free
trial

periods,
so
that
they
can
be
downloaded
and

experimented
with
before
purchasing.
This

is
where
the
dedicated
computer
comes
in.

Since
 there
 is
 structured
 metadata
 already

available
 in
 every
 library’s
 OPAC,
 the
 ap­
plication
of
a
plug­in
or
software
product
to

display
this
information
in
new
and
exciting

ways
 is
 a
 good
 first
 step
 in
 showing
 your

users
 that
 your
 library
 is
 keeping
 current

with
futuristic
applications.


See,
for
example,
how
the
Lexington
Pub­
lic
Library
uses
the
power
of
their
structured

metadata
to
provide
the
user
with
a
2D
topic

map
to
their
OPAC,
through
the
use
of
the

Aquabrowser
software
product.5
Just
type
a

keyword
in
the
“What
are
you
looking
for?”

box
 on
 their
 front
 webpage,
 and
 see
 the

power
 of
 the
 Aquabrowser
 software
 pres­
ent
 their
 OPAC
 information
 in
 a
 new
 way

to
the
user.


Below
are
some
of
the
more
useful
open­
source
 and
 commercial
 products
 currently

available.


Open-source 2D and 3D information 
visualization products 

• 3DNA. Access: http://3dna.net.

•
 3DTop. Access: http://www.3dtop.


com/what.htm.

•
 3D vir tual reality wor lds. Access: 

http://vw.indiana.edu.

•  C r o q u e t  P r o j e c t .  A c c e s s :  h t t p : / / 


croquetproject.org.

•
 CubicEye. Access: http://www.2ce.


com.

•
 Fedora Project. Access: http://www.


fedora.info.


April 2007  249 C&RL News 

http://www
http://www.2ce
http:croquetproject.org
http:http://vw.indiana.edu
http://www.3dtop
http:http://3dna.net
http://www.elsevier.com/wps
http://www.palgrave-journals
http://www
http:InfoVis.Net
www.computer.org/tvcg/index.htm
http:http://hci-journal.com


•
 FSN. Access: http://www.sgi.com/fun

/freeware/3d_navigator.html.


•
 IHMC concept-mapping software. 
Access: http://cmap.ihmc.us.


•
OpenDX. Access: http://opendx.org.

•
 Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI) at 

MIT. Access: http://www.okiproject.org.

•
 S o u r c e F o r g e .  A c c e s s :  h t t p : / / 


sourceforge.net.

•
 To u c h g r a p h  p r o d u c t s  ( D y n a m i c  

Graph Layout, Planet-Wissen Navigator, 
GoogleBrowser, Wiki Browser). Access: 
http://www.touchgraph.com.


•
 Visualization Toolkit. Access: http://

www.vtk.org.


•
 Visual Understanding Environments 
(VUEs). Access: http://vue.tccs.tufts.edu.


•
 Wor lds.com. Access: http://www.

worlds.net.


•
 X3D (Example applications, viewers, 
and utilities for experimentation). Access: 
http://www.web3d.org/x3d.


• Xcr uiser. Access: http://xcruiser.

sourceforge.net.


Commercial 2D and 3D information 
visualization products 

•
 ActiveWorlds ($6.95 per month). Ac­
cess: http://www.activeworlds.com/#.


•
 Advanced Visual Systems (AVS). Ac­
cess: http://www.avs.com/index_wf.html.


•
 ADVIZOR Solutions. Access: http://

www.advizorsolutions.com.


•
 Aquabrowser. Access: http://www.me­
dialab.nl.•
 Anacubis (free ten-day trial). 
Access:http://www.anacubis.com.


•
 DataDescription, Inc. Access: http://

www.datadesk.com.


•
 Grokker (free 30-day trial). Access: 
http://www.groxis.com/service/grok.


•
ILOG Discovery. Access: http://www2.

ilog.com/preview/Discovery.


•
 I n x i g h t  ( a n d  o t h e r  v i s u a l i z a t i o n  
tools). Access: http://www.inxight.com

/about.


•
MAYA Viz. Access: http://www.mayaviz.

com/web.


•
 Mercur y Computer Systems, Inc . 
Access: http://www.tgs.com.


• Miner3D. Access: http://miner3d.com.

•
 Pacific Northwest National Labora-

tory (PNNL) Galaxies, ThemeView, Star-
light, OmniViz Pro, and IN-SPIRE. Access: 
http://www.pnl.gov/infoviz.


•
 Research Systems, Inc. (RSI). Access: 
http://www.rsinc.com.


• Rooms. Access: http://rooms3d.com.

•
 SemTalk. Access: http://www.semtalk.


com.

• VisuaLinks. Access: http://www.


visualanalytics.com/products/visuaLinks

/index.cfm.


•
 VisualMine. Access: http://www.

visualmine.com.


•
 V i s u a l n e t .  A c c e s s :  h t t p : / / w w w . 

antarctica.net/products/visualnet.shtml.


•
 Visual T hesaur us and T hinkMap 
(free fi ve-click demo). Access: http://www.

visualthesaurus.com,
http://www.thinkmap.

com.


•
 Vivisimo. Access: http://vivisimo.com,

http://clusty.com


•
 Webbook and Web Forager. Access: 
http://www.parc.com/research/default.

html.


•
 Webbrain 2.0. Access: http://www.

webbrain.com/html/default_win.html.


•  xr efer Research Mapper (fr ee 30-
day trial). Access: http://www.xrefer.com

/research.


Here
are
the
steps
a
library
organization

can
take
to
begin
the
process
of
becoming

familiar
 with
 2D
 and
 3D
 information
 visu­
alization:


•
Identify
people
in
the
organization
to

lead
the
experimentation
and
exploration.


•
 Set
 aside
 a
 high­end
 computer
 or

computers
for
these
people
to
conduct
their

experimentation
on,
with
minimal
interrup­
tions.


•
 Begin
 learning
 about
 this
 area,
 and

begin
 experimentation
 with
 a
 few
 of
 the

open­source
and
trial
versions
of
the
com­
mercial
products
pointed
to
above.


•
 Give
 a
 presentation
 to
 the
 staff
 and

administration
 of
 the
 library
 organization,

providing
 a
 simple
 introduction
 to
 the


250C&RL News April 2007

http:http://www.xrefer.com
http://www
http://www.parc.com/research/default
http:http://clusty.com
http:http://vivisimo.com
http://www.thinkmap
http:visualthesaurus.com
http://www
http://www
http:visualmine.com
http://www
http://www
http://www.semtalk
http:http://rooms3d.com
http:http://www.rsinc.com
http://www.pnl.gov/infoviz
http:http://miner3d.com
http:http://www.tgs.com
http://www.mayaviz
http:http://www.inxight.com
http://www2
http://www.groxis.com/service/grok
http:www.datadesk.com
http:Access:http://www.anacubis.com
http:http://www.me
http:www.advizorsolutions.com
http://www.avs.com/index_wf.html
http:http://www.activeworlds.com
http:sourceforge.net
http://xcruiser
http://www.web3d.org/x3d
http:worlds.net
http://www
http:Worlds.com
http:http://vue.tccs.tufts.edu
http:www.vtk.org
http:http://www.touchgraph.com
http:sourceforge.net
http:http://www.okiproject.org
http:http://opendx.org
http:http://cmap.ihmc.us
http://www.sgi.com/fun


topic,
and
showcasing
one
to
three
software

products
by
illustrating
how
they
work
and

why
 this
 topic
 is
 so
 important
 within
 the

organization.


Futures 
2D
 and
 3D
 information
 visualization
 is
 so

powerful
because
it
is:


•
manipulable
and
interactive;

•
enables
perceptual
inference
and
per­

ceptual
monitoring;

•
enhances
the
recognition
of
patterns;

•
reduces
the
time
element
in
searching


for
information;
and

•
 brings
 numerous
 resources
 to
 the


user
of
expanded
memory
and
perceptual

processing


Some
interesting
applications
foreseen
in

this
area
include:


•
visual
data
mining;

•
collaborative
visualization;

•
Web
visualization;

•
 real­time
 visualization
 of
 large
 datas­

ets;

•
 virtual
 reality
 navigation
 using
 virtual


user
interface
technology;

•
visualization
on
the
desktop,
including


desktop
3D
for
3D
worlds,
with
3D
objects

on
a
2D
display,
and
handheld
3D
navigation

devices
(for
use
in
architecture,
manufactur­
ing
design,
and
medical
fi
elds);


•
desktop
3D
for
novel
information
spaces

(applied
 to
 various
 landscapes
 like
 cities,

themes,
walls,
rooms,
hard
disk
fi
les)
using

various
techniques;


•
desktop
3D
for
artificial
worlds,
to
rep­
resent
 information
 content
 in
 fi
le
 cabinets,

shopping
malls,
library
shelves
and
catalogs,

Web
spaces,
etc.;


•
Chartjunk
3D
applied
to
various
charts

such
as
histograms,
financial
data,
bar
charts,

pie
charts,
icons,
etc.;


•
 immersive
 virtual
 environments
 (with

head­mounted
gear);
and


•
 semi­immersive
 environments
 (with

special
 glasses
 and/or
 large
 projection

screens).


In
conclusion,
information
organizations

are
 lagging
 far
 behind
 the
 curve
 when
 it


comes
to
what
our
users
are
experiencing
and

using
daily
in
regards
to
learning,
recreation,

and
social
activities.
2D
and
3D
environments

have
been
in
the
marketplace
now
for
more

than
ten
years,
and
the
current
generation
has

grown
up
interacting
and
collaborating
with

these
technologies
on
a
daily
basis.


When
they
walk
into
our
one­dimensional

text
environments
represented
by
our
OPACs

and
books,
they
quickly
become
bored
and

frustrated
with
our
“medieval”
and
“antiquat­
ed”
ways
to
provide
access
to
information.


We
need
to
step
up,
and
become
experi­
menters
and
innovators
with
our
information

resources,
presenting
them
in
new
and
ex­
citing
 ways
 to
 our
 users.
 If
 we
 do
 not,
 we

consign
ourselves
to
the
oblivion
of
becoming

“museums
 of
 knowledge”
 that
 make
 little

difference
 or
 use
 to
 the
 everyday
 human

experience
of
life.


For
more
information
in
this
area,
see
the

author’s
 3D Visualization Techniques: 2D 
and 3D Information Visualization Resources, 
Applications, and Future (Library Technology 
Reports,
v.
41,
no.
1,
January/February
2005,

ALA
TechSource).


Notes 
1.
Ancient
Chinese
proverb.
Also
quoted,


in
paraphrase,
at
the
beginning
of
Peter
Co­
chrane,
“…
I
see
and
I
remember…,”
in
The 
Internet in 3D: Information, Images and In­
teraction. Ed.
Rae
Earnshaw
and
John
Vince.

(San
Diego:
Academic
Press,
1997):
2.


2.
Readings in Information Visualization: 
Using Vision to Think, Ed.
S.
Card,
J.
Mackin­
lay,
 and
 B.
 Shneiderman
 (San
 Francisco:

Morgan
Kaufmann,
1999):
6.
See
Table
1.1,

from
which
this
information
is
quoted.


3.
 Available
 at
 www.otal.umd.edu

/Olive/.
Although
not
updated
since
1997,

it
has
excellent
definitions,
links
to
projects,

products,
videos
and
citations.


4.
 See
 the
 author’s
 “3D
 Visualization

Techniques:
2D
and
3D
Information
Visual­
ization
Resources,
Applications
and
Future,

Library Technology Report
 (January/Febru­
ary
 2005)
 (v.
 41,
 no.
 1),
 ALA
 TechSource,

p.
13–14.


April 2007  251 C&RL News 

http:www.otal.umd.edu