Visualization of and interaction with complex graphs on large-scale and high-resolution displays: models, metaphors, and interaction paradigms

Applicant:

Professor Dr. Peter Liggesmeyer, Kaiserslautern
Technische Universität Kaiserslautern
Arbeitsgruppe Software Engineering

Professor Dr. Achim Ebert
Technische Universität Kaiserslautern
Fachbereich Informatik
Kaiserslautern

Project:

Visualization of and interaction with complex graphs on large-scale and high-resolution displays: models, metaphors, and interaction paradigms (Publications)

Summary: 

The system to be developed shall allow software engineers to analyze software systems efficiently. The data to be analyzed consist of the structure of the software system represented by graphs and the measurements of its entities represented as multi-dimensional data. Both are extracted from the source code, while the measurements are also taken manually (number of errors, effort, …).
The structure will be visualized using topology- and area-aware drawings of graphs. The multi-dimensional data will be embedded in these drawings. For large software system, the resulting data is very large and complex. Normal desktop computers cannot display an overview and detailed information satisfactorily. Therefore, large-scale and high-resolution displays are used. They allow showing a maximum of information. A human-centered approach will be used to solve possible problems like information overload. Gesture-based interaction will be used to manipulate these graphs and the associated information efficiently. Further, an HCI-driven development cycle approach will be used to validate the approaches and assess their efficiency.
The research will be performed in close cooperation with Prof. Hans Hagen (TU Kaiserslautern), the members of the IRTG, Prof. Gerik Scheuermann (Universität Leipzig), Prof. Thomas Wischgoll (Wright State University), and Prof. Charles Hansen (University of Utah).
Presentations: