GraSp: Combining Spatially-aware Mobile Devices and a Display Wall for Graph Visualization and Interaction

Abstract

Going beyond established desktop interfaces, researchers have begun re-thinking visualization approaches to make use of alternative display environments and more natural interaction modalities. In this paper, we investigate how spatially-aware mobile displays and a large display wall can be coupled to support graph visualization and interaction. For that purpose, we distribute typical visualization views of classic node-link and matrix representations between displays. The focus of our work lies in novel interaction techniques that enable users to work with personal mobile devices in combination with the wall. We devised and implemented a comprehensive interaction repertoire that supports basic and advanced graph exploration and manipulation tasks, including selection, details-on-demand, focus transitions, interactive lenses, and data editing. A qualitative study has been conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses of our techniques. Feedback showed that combining mobile devices and a wall-sized display is useful for diverse graph-related tasks. We also gained valuable insights regarding the distribution of visualization views and interactive tools among the combined displays.