Visiview: A system for the visualization of multi-dimensional data

Abstract

Results, generated by simulation of computer systems, are often presented as a multi-dimensional data set, where the number of dimensions may be greater than 4 if sufficient system parameters are modelled. This paper describes a visualization system intended to assist in understanding the relationship between, and effect upon system behaviour of, the different values of the system parameters.

The system is applied to data that cannot be represented using a mesh or isosurface representation, and in general can only be represented as a cloud of points. The use of stereoscopic rendering and rapid interaction with the data are compared with regard to their value in providing insight into the nature of the data.

A number of techniques are implemented for displaying 3, 4 and 5 dimensional projections of the data set, and for allowing intuitive manipulation of the remaining dimensions. In this way the effect of changes in one variable in the presence of a number of others can be explored.

The use of these techniques, when applied to data from computer system simulation, results in an intuitive understanding of the effects of the system parameters on system behaviour.

Participants

Conference Papers (peer reviewed)

[1] Shaun Bangay. Visiview; a system for the visualization of multi-dimensional data. In Proceedings of Visual Data Exploration and Analysis, Volume 3298, pages 80–89, San Jose, California, USA, January 1998. SPIE, Bellingham. [PDF] [BibTeX]

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