Quantitative data graphics in 3D desktop-based virtual environments – an evaluation

Abstract

3D desktop-based virtual environments provide a means for displaying quantitative data in context. Data that are inherently spatial in three dimensions may benefit from visual exploration and analysis in relation to the environment in which they were collected and to which they relate. We empirically evaluate how effectively and efficiently such data can be visually analyzed in relation to location and landform in 3D versus 2D visualizations. In two experiments, participants performed visual analysis tasks in 2D and 3D visualizations and reported insights and their confidence in them. The results showed only small differences between the 2D and 3D visualizations in the performance measures that we evaluated: task completion time, confidence, complexity, and insight plausibility. However, we found differences for different datasets and settings suggesting that 3D visualizations or 2D representations, respectively, may be more or less useful for particular datasets and contexts.

Keywords:

• 3D
• geovisualization
• quantitative data graphics
• visual data analysis
• empirical evaluation

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Swiss National Park, especially Dr. Ruedi Haller, for providing the deer data. The background map data of the experiments is reproduced with authorization of swisstopo (map data 1:25000 © 2014 swisstopo [BA14010]). We are very grateful to the participants for taking part in the experiments, investing their time, and thus facilitating this research. The authors also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions, which have been used to improve this article.