An interactive visualization method of numerical data based on natural language requirements

This paper proposes an interactive visualization method to support the exploration of data in decision-making and problem solving. Since this method employs an asymmetric communication mode, i.e. taking queries and requests expressed in a natural language as input and answering them with statistical charts, it can convert the normally tedious repetitive human-computer interaction into a felicitous dialogue. This is because the natural language interface allows users to articulate their requests directly and intuitively, and charts and graphics have many benefits when analysing a large amount of data in order to determine overall characteristics or to resolve user questions. The proposed method resolves the conundrum that the appropriateness of a chart depends on the context. In this method, two factors are considered in choosing chart type so as to satisfy the user requirement represented in a natural language: the type of chart displayed and the type of user utterance. Our proposed method allows the data to be visualized interactively to match the changes in the user's viewpoint without interrupting the thinking process.

[1]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Readings in information visualization - using vision to think , 1999 .

[2]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Visual information seeking: tight coupling of dynamic query filters with starfield displays , 1994, CHI '94.

[3]  Ramana Rao,et al.  The Hyperbolic Browser: A Focus + Context Technique for Visualizing Large Hierarchies , 1996, J. Vis. Lang. Comput..

[4]  Jaime G. Carbonell,et al.  Recovery Strategies for Parsing Extragrammatical Language , 1983, CL.

[5]  Mitsunori Matsushita,et al.  A frame representation of user requirements for automated data visualization , 2000 .

[6]  Christopher Ahlberg,et al.  IVEE: an Information Visualization and Exploration Environment , 1995, Proceedings of Visualization 1995 Conference.

[7]  Stephen M. Casner,et al.  Task-analytic approach to the automated design of graphic presentations , 1991, TOGS.

[8]  Steven F. Roth,et al.  Data characterization for intelligent graphics presentation , 1990, CHI '90.

[9]  Mitsunori Matsushita,et al.  Criteria to Choose Appropriate Graph-Types , 2000, PRICAI.

[10]  Johanna D. Moore,et al.  Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 1989 .

[11]  F. Hartwig,et al.  Exploratory Data Analysis , 2008, Using Science in Cybersecurity.

[12]  Jock D. Mackinlay,et al.  Automating the design of graphical presentations of relational information , 1986, TOGS.

[13]  Johanna D. Moore,et al.  A Media-Independent Content Language for Integrated Text and Graphics Generation , 1998 .

[14]  Jock D. Mackinlay,et al.  The cost-of-knowledge characteristic function: display evaluation for direct-walk dynamic information visualizations , 1994, CHI Conference Companion.

[15]  Roy Goldman,et al.  DataGuides: Enabling Query Formulation and Optimization in Semistructured Databases , 1997, VLDB.

[16]  Paul E. Haeberli,et al.  ConMan: a visual programming language for interactive graphics , 1988, SIGGRAPH.

[17]  Steven F. Roth,et al.  Efficient multi-object dynamic query histograms , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization (InfoVis'99).

[18]  Vibhu O. Mittal.  Visual Prompts and Graphical Design: A Framework for Exploring the Design Space of 2-D Charts and Graphs , 1997, AAAI/IAAI.

[19]  Guy Lapalme,et al.  PostGraphe: A System for the Generation of Statistical Graphics and Text , 1996, INLG.

[20]  Ramana Rao,et al.  The table lens: merging graphical and symbolic representations in an interactive focus + context visualization for tabular information , 1994, CHI '94.

[21]  Austin Henderson,et al.  RABBIT: An Intelligent Database Assistant , 1982, AAAI.

[22]  Gary G. Hendrix,et al.  Developing a natural language interface to complex data , 1977, TODS.

[23]  Steven F. Roth,et al.  Mapping communicative goals into conceptual tasks to generate graphics in discourse , 2000, IUI '00.