Cognitively Plausible Information Visualization

Information Visualization is concerned with the art and technology of designing and implementing highly interactive, computer supported tools for knowledge discovery in large non-spatial databases. Information Visualization displays, also known as information spaces or graphic spatializations, differ from ordinary data visualization and geovisualization in that they may be explored as if they represented spatial information. Information spaces are very often based on spatial metaphors such as location, distance, region, scale, etc., thus potentially affording spatial analysis techniques and geovisualization approaches for data exploration and knowledge discovery. Two major concerns in spatialization can be identified from a GIScience/ geovisualization perspective: the use of space as a data generalization strategy, and the use of spatial representations or maps to depict these data abstractions. A range of theoretical and technical research questions needs to be addressed to assure the construction of cognitively adequate spatializations. In the first part of this chapter we propose a framework for the construction of cognitively plausible semantic information spaces. This theoretical scaffold is based on geographic information theory and includes principles of ontological modeling such as semantic generalization (spatial primitives), geometric generalization (visual variables), association (source– target domain mapping through spatial metaphors), and aggregation (hierarchical organization). In the remainder of the chapter we discuss ways in which the framework may be applied towards the design of cognitively adequate spatializations.