OntoSketch: Towards Digital Sketching as a Tool for Creating and Extending Ontologies for Non-Experts

This paper introduces a sketch-based interaction concept called OntoSketch, enabling non-experts to create and extend formally represented knowledge. Contrary to current editors, OntoSketch is based on lightweight pen and paper-like interactions, including a visual vocabulary that supports non-experts in modeling knowledge about specific domain information. The visualization concept is based on previous work as well as insights from a user study with 20 participants. OntoSketch enables the user to work in three views with his data: created domain examples, related or emerging abstract concepts and a combination of both. This allows for reflection while creating formalized knowledge. An export function allows a non-expert to generate an ontology out of his sketch-based work, without the necessity to understand the concept of ontologies in detail. Our approach is demonstrated via a prototypical tablet-PC application.

[1]  Ivan E. Sutherland,et al.  Sketchpad a Man-Machine Graphical Communication System , 1899, Outstanding Dissertations in the Computer Sciences.

[2]  Ivan E. Sutherland,et al.  Sketch pad a man-machine graphical communication system , 1964, DAC.

[3]  Thomas R. Gruber,et al.  A translation approach to portable ontology specifications , 1993, Knowl. Acquis..

[4]  Barbara Tversky,et al.  What do Sketches Say about Thinking , 2002 .

[5]  Douglas C. Engelbart,et al.  XML Topic Maps: Creating and Using Topic Maps for the Web , 2002 .

[6]  Neil A. Ernst,et al.  Jambalaya: an interactive environment for exploring ontologies , 2002, IUI '02.

[7]  Lakhmi C. Jain,et al.  Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems , 2004, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[8]  J. Carroll,et al.  Jena: implementing the semantic web recommendations , 2004, WWW Alt. '04.

[9]  Dan Brickley,et al.  Rdf vocabulary description language 1.0 : Rdf schema , 2004 .

[10]  George W. Furnas,et al.  Making sense of sensemaking , 2005, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[11]  George W. Furnas,et al.  Sources of structure in sensemaking , 2005, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[12]  James A. Hendler,et al.  Swoop: A Web Ontology Editing Browser , 2006, J. Web Semant..

[13]  Martin J. Eppler A Comparison between Concept Maps, Mind Maps, Conceptual Diagrams, and Visual Metaphors as Complementary Tools for Knowledge Construction and Sharing , 2006, Inf. Vis..

[14]  Akrivi Katifori,et al.  Ontology visualization methods—a survey , 2007, CSUR.

[15]  Beryl Plimmer,et al.  A toolkit approach to sketched diagram recognition , 2007, BCS HCI.

[16]  David Kirsh Interaction, External Representation and Sense Making , 2009 .

[17]  Kawa Nazemi,et al.  SeMap: A Concept for the Visualization of Semantics as Maps , 2009, HCI.

[18]  Jason Hong,et al.  Computational Support for Sketching in Design: A Review , 2009, Found. Trends Hum. Comput. Interact..

[19]  Andreas Abecker,et al.  Designing a Knowledge Mapping Tool for Knowledge Workers , 2010, KES.

[20]  Jennifer Sampson,et al.  Ontology Visualization: Tools and Techniques for Visual Representation of Semi-Structured Meta-Data , 2010, J. Univers. Comput. Sci..

[21]  Yong Wang,et al.  Building Digital Ink Recognizers Using Data Mining: Distinguishing between Text and Shapes in Hand Drawn Diagrams , 2010, IEA/AIE.

[22]  Constantine Stephanidis,et al.  Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction , 2011 .

[23]  Marius Brade,et al.  Symbik - A New Medium for Collaborative Knowledge-Intensive Work , 2011 .

[24]  Daniel M. Russell,et al.  Introduction to this Special Issue on Sensemaking , 2011, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[25]  Sören Auer,et al.  The emerging web of linked data , 2011, ISWSA '11.

[26]  Aniket Kittur,et al.  Sensemaking : Improving Sensemaking by Leveraging the Efforts of Previous Users , 2012 .

[27]  Marius Brade,et al.  SketchViz: a sketching interface for domain comprehension tasks illustrated by an industrial network use case , 2012, i-KNOW '12.

[28]  Marius Brade,et al.  BrainDump: taking fluid interaction literally , 2012, AVI.

[29]  Leon Urbas,et al.  Using mobile technology for inter-organisational collaboration and end-customer integration , 2013, i-Know '13.