System and method for placing thematically-related clusters into a display

• US 20080007556A1
• Filed: 09/17/2007
• Published: 01/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuix North America Inc. (Nuix Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: FTI Consulting Technology LLC (FTI Consulting Incorporated)
• Inventors: Evans, Lynne
• Granted Patent: US 7,609,267 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/287 Visualization; Browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/30 of unstructured textual data document management systems G06F16/93
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/358 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

A system and method for determining a spatial arrangement of thematically-related clusters is provided. A convex cluster is selected from a set of convex clusters, which each include shared concepts and terms. A center of mass is determined for the selected convex cluster. An anchor point including at least one open edge formed at an intersection of a segment measured from the center of mass and an edge of the convex cluster is located. One or more of the remaining convex clusters in the convex clusters set is selected. The one or more remaining convex clusters are arranged with a center of mass originating outside of the anchor point and on the segment of the selected convex cluster. Overlap of the arranged convex clusters is limited. The arranged convex clusters are displayed.

Claims

1. A system for placing thematically-related clusters into a display, comprising:

a cluster module to group stored clusters sharing a common theme comprising shared concepts and terms, comprising;

a determination submodule to determine an anchor point on one of the stored clusters located on an open edge and at an intersection of a vector defined from a center of the one stored cluster; and

a placement submodule to place a center of a further one of the stored clusters outside of the anchor point and on the vector, to limit overlap of the one cluster and the further one cluster, and to arrange the remaining stored clusters into an arrangement having a center originating outside of the anchor point and on the vector; and

a display module to display the grouped clusters.

2. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a grouping module to form a cluster spine comprising those of the clusters having their center on the same vector.

3. A system according to claim 2, further comprising:

a grafting module to form a further cluster spine comprising those of the clusters having their center on the same vector and to place the further cluster spine at an anchor point on one of an endpoint cluster and a midpoint cluster in the cluster spine.

4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a measurement module to measure a radius of each stored cluster and to place each stored cluster along the vector based on the radius of that stored cluster.

5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a grouper module to display singleton clusters that were not placed with the grouped clusters.

6. A method for placing thematically-related clusters into a display, comprising:

grouping stored clusters sharing a common theme comprising shared concepts and terms, comprising;

determining an anchor point on one of the stored clusters located on an open edge and at an intersection of a vector defined from a center of the one stored cluster;

placing a center of a further one of the stored clusters outside of the anchor point and on the vector and limiting overlap of the one cluster and the further one cluster; and

arranging the remaining stored clusters into an arrangement having a center originating outside of the anchor point and on the vector; and

displaying the grouped clusters.

7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising:

forming a cluster spine comprising those of the clusters having their center on the same vector.

8. A method according to claim 7, further comprising:

forming a further cluster spine comprising those of the clusters having their center on the same vector; and

placing the further cluster spine at an anchor point on one of an endpoint cluster and a midpoint cluster in the cluster spine.

9. A method according to claim 6, further comprising:

measuring a radius of each stored cluster; and

placing each stored cluster along the vector based on the radius of that stored cluster.

10. A method according to claim 6, further comprising:

displaying singleton clusters that were not placed with the grouped clusters.

11. A computer-readable storage medium holding code for performing the method according to claim 6.

12. A system for determining a spatial arrangement of thematically-related clusters, comprising:

a selection module to select a convex cluster from a set of convex clusters, which each comprise shared concepts and terms;

a determination module to determine a center of mass for the selected convex cluster and to locate an anchor point comprising at least one open edge formed at an intersection of a segment measured from the center of mass and an edge of the convex cluster;

a placement module to select one or more of the remaining convex clusters in the convex clusters set and to arrange the one or more remaining convex clusters with a center of mass originating outside of the anchor point and on the segment of the selected convex cluster, wherein overlap of the arranged convex clusters is limited; and

a display module to display the arranged convex clusters within a display.

13. A system according to claim 12, wherein each convex cluster represents visualized data for a semantic concept space.

14. A system according to claim 12, further comprising:

an organizer to order the convex clusters by a number of concepts contained in each convex cluster; and

a concept module to select those convex clusters sharing at least one semantically relevant concept from the ordered convex clusters, wherein the selected convex clusters are thematically-related.

15. A system according to claim 14, further comprising:

a list generator to generate a list of convex clusters sharing the semantically relevant concept; and

a placement submodule to place the list of convex clusters into a grouping with one or more lists of other convex clusters.

16. A system according to claim 12, further comprising:

a grouping module to form a cluster spine with the arranged convex clusters comprising at least one of a same type of convex clusters and different types of convex clusters.

17. A method for determining a spatial arrangement of thematically-related clusters, comprising:

selecting a convex cluster from a set of convex clusters, which each comprise shared concepts and terms;

determining a center of mass for the selected convex cluster;

locating an anchor point comprising at least one open edge formed at an intersection of a segment measured from the center of mass and an edge of the convex cluster;

selecting one or more of the remaining convex clusters in the convex clusters set;

arranging the one or more remaining convex clusters with a center of mass originating outside of the anchor point and on the segment of the selected convex cluster, wherein overlap of the arranged convex clusters is limited; and

displaying the arranged convex clusters within a display.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein each convex cluster represents visualized data for a semantic concept space.

19. A method according to claim 17, further comprising:

ordering the convex clusters by a number of concepts contained in each convex cluster; and

selecting those convex clusters sharing at least one semantically relevant concept from the ordered convex clusters, wherein the selected convex clusters are thematically-related.

20. A method according to claim 19, further comprising:

generating a list of convex clusters sharing the semantically relevant concept; and

placing the list of convex clusters into a grouping with one or more lists of other convex clusters.

21. A method according to claim 17, further comprising:

forming a cluster spine with the arranged convex clusters comprising at least one of a same type of convex clusters and different types of convex clusters.

22. A computer-readable storage medium holding code for performing the method according to claim 17.