Multidimensional visualization method

• US 20020171646A1
• Filed: 05/18/2001
• Published: 11/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kandogan, Eser
• Granted Patent: US 7,659,895 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/23 Clustering techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/40 Software arrangements specially adapted for pattern recognition, e.g. user interfaces or toolboxes therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/762 using clustering, e.g. of similar faces in social networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/945 User interactive design; Environments; Toolboxes

Abstract

Multi-dimensional objects or data may be represented in two dimensions, thereby facilitating understanding of the information or data. This reduction in the number of dimensions is accomplished by constructing unit vectors corresponding to the dimensions, in which the unit vectors share a common plane. Information objects or multi-dimensional data are plotted and represented as small features such as points on a display tied to a processor or computer. A user may gain insight into how the information is structured by performing certain transformations on it, such as scaling one (or more) unit vectors or rotating one or more unit vectors, followed by replotting the points.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method of analyzing information objects, the information objects having at least four unique fields in common, wherein each field of each information object has a respective value, comprising:

defining unit vectors for each of the fields, wherein the unit vectors lie in a common plane;

providing a graphical representation for each of the unit vectors on a monitor interfaced with a processor;

for each information object, calculating field vectors for each field in the information object, each of the field vectors having a magnitude determined by the field'"'"'s value and an orientation determined by the field'"'"'s unit vector;

for each information object, summing the field vectors to determine an information object vector;

for each information object, displaying on the monitor a feature representing the end point of the corresponding information object vector, thereby displaying a first plot of features on the monitor;

changing at least one of the graphical representations using a graphical user interface (GUI);

using the processor to redefine the unit vector corresponding to the changed graphical representation in accordance with said changing;

using the processor to recalculate information object vectors in accordance with said redefinition of the unit vector; and

for each recalculated information object, displaying on the monitor a feature representing the end point of the corresponding recalculated information object vector, thereby displaying a second plot of features on the monitor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of fields is at least 5.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of fields is at least 9.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical representation includes a line segment or an arrow.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second plot is displayed while the first plot is not.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

displaying the first and second plots on the monitor simultaneously; and

displaying line segments on the monitor that connect the features of the first plot with the features of the second plot.

7. The method of claim 1, said changing comprising changing the length of said graphical representation, the processor changing the magnitude of the unit vector corresponding to said graphical representation in accordance with said change in the length of the graphical representation.

8. The method of claim 1, said changing comprising changing the orientation of said graphical representation, the processor changing the orientation of the unit vector corresponding to said graphical representation in accordance with said reorientation.

9. The method of claim 1, said changing comprising deselecting said graphical representation, the processor setting the unit vector corresponding to said deselected graphical representation to zero.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising examining the first plot to identify clusters of features.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising examining the first plot to identify outliers.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

examining the first plot for interrelationships between the features of the first plot; and

displaying the second plot to elucidate the interrelationships.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the unit vectors are linear.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising:

marking certain features in the first plot before said displaying the second plot; and

displaying the second plot so that the second plot includes features having markings, the marked features in the second plot corresponding to the marked features in the first plot.

15. The method of claim 1, comprising, for at least one of the fields, selecting a range of values, thereby marking features corresponding to the selected range.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the GUI includes a mouse.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the features has a glyph connected thereto, the glyph containing information related to at least one value in the fields.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a first group of features;

selecting a second group of features;

performing a logical operation between the first and second group of features, thereby defining a third group of features; and

displaying, on the monitor, the features in the third group as marked features.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein said changing at least one of the graphical representations is performed iteratively to investigate the information objects.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the features are displayed on the monitor as points.

26. A computer program product residing on a computer usable medium for carrying out the method of claim 1.

28. An information handling system, comprising:

a processor;

a monitor interfaced with said processor; and

a graphical user interface (GUI) interfaced with said processor, said GUI interacting with a display on said monitor, wherein said processor implements the method of claim 1.

21. A processor-implemented method of analyzing information, comprising:

providing a set of information objects that include fields, the information objects having at least four unique fields in common, in which each field of each information object has a respective value;

constructing a unit vector for each field, the unit vectors having a plane in common;

representing the unit vectors graphically on a monitor as rays emanating from a common origin, the rays having respective magnitudes and orientations corresponding to the magnitudes and orientations of the unit vectors;

for each information object, calculating a vector summation over the fields in the information object, in which each field contributes to the vector summation an amount equal to the field'"'"'s value times the field'"'"'s unit vector;

for each information object, displaying the end point of the corresponding vector summation as a feature on the monitor, thereby displaying on the monitor a first set of features corresponding to the information objects;

using a graphical user interface (GUI) to reconstruct at least one of the rays, so that at least one of the reconstructed ray'"'"'s magnitude and orientation is changed;

using the processor to reconstruct the unit vector corresponding to the reconstructed ray in accordance with the change made to the reconstructed ray;

for each information object, using the processor to recalculate the vector summation with the reconstructed unit vector; and

for each information object, displaying the end point of the corresponding recalculated vector summation as a feature on the monitor, thereby displaying on the monitor a second set of features corresponding to the information objects.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the number of fields is at least 5.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the number of fields is at least 9.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein said changing at least one of the graphical representations is performed iteratively to investigate the information objects.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the features are displayed on the monitor as points.

27. A computer program product residing on a computer usable medium for carrying out the method of claim 21.

29. An information handling system, comprising:

a processor;

a monitor interfaced with said processor; and

a graphical user interface (GUI) interfaced with said processor, said GUI interacting with a display on said monitor, wherein said processor implements the method of claim 21.