Journal Home > Volume 18 , Issue 2
Tsinghua Science and Technology 2013, 18(2): 145-156 https://doi.org/10.1109/TST.2013.6509098
Open Access | Issue | Published: 30 April 2013

Edge Bundling in Information Visualization

Show Author's Information Hong Zhou( ),  Panpan Xu,  Xiaoru Yuan( ),  Huamin Qu
Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Keywords:
visual clutter, edge bundling, graph visualization, parallel coordinates, flow maps
Cite this article:
Zhou H, Xu P, Yuan X, et al. Edge Bundling in Information Visualization. Tsinghua Science and Technology, 2013, 18(2): 145-156. https://doi.org/10.1109/TST.2013.6509098
Download citation
EndNote(RIS)
BibTeX

633

Views

38

Downloads

Citations

90

Crossref

N/A

WoS

105

Scopus

0

CSCD

Abstract Full text About this article

The edge, which can encode relational data in graphs and multidimensional data in parallel coordinates plots, is an important visual primitive for encoding data in information visualization research. However, when data become very large, visualizations often suffer from visual clutter as thousands of edges can easily overwhelm the display and obscure underlying patterns. Many edge-bundling techniques have been proposed to reduce visual clutter in visualizations. In this survey, we briefly introduce the visual-clutter problem in visualizations. Thereafter, we review the cost-based, geometry-based, and image-based edge-bundling methods for graphs, parallel coordinates, and flow maps. We then describe the various visualization applications that use edge-bundling techniques and discuss the evaluation studies concerning the effectiveness of edge-bundling methods. An edge-bundling taxonomy is proposed at the end of this survey.


menu
Abstract
Full text
Outline
About this article

Edge Bundling in Information Visualization

Show Author's information Hong Zhou( ), Panpan Xu, Xiaoru Yuan( ), Huamin Qu
Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Abstract

The edge, which can encode relational data in graphs and multidimensional data in parallel coordinates plots, is an important visual primitive for encoding data in information visualization research. However, when data become very large, visualizations often suffer from visual clutter as thousands of edges can easily overwhelm the display and obscure underlying patterns. Many edge-bundling techniques have been proposed to reduce visual clutter in visualizations. In this survey, we briefly introduce the visual-clutter problem in visualizations. Thereafter, we review the cost-based, geometry-based, and image-based edge-bundling methods for graphs, parallel coordinates, and flow maps. We then describe the various visualization applications that use edge-bundling techniques and discuss the evaluation studies concerning the effectiveness of edge-bundling methods. An edge-bundling taxonomy is proposed at the end of this survey.

Keywords: visual clutter, edge bundling, graph visualization, parallel coordinates, flow maps

References(41)

[1]
G. Ellis and A. Dix, A taxonomy of clutter reduction for information visualisation, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 1216-1223, 2007.
DOI Google Scholar
[2]
H. Zhou, X. Yuan, W. Cui, H. Qu, and B. Chen, Energy-based hierarchical edge clustering of graphs, in Proceedings of IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium, Kyoto, Japan, 2008, pp. 55-61.
DOI
[3]
D. Holten and J. J. van Wijk, Force-directed edge bundling for graph visualization, Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 983-990, 2009.
DOI Google Scholar
[4]
H. Zhou, X. Yuan, H. Qu, W. Cui, and B. Chen, Visual clustering in parallel coordinates, Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 1047-1054, 2008.
DOI Google Scholar
[5]
W. Cui, H. Zhou, H. Qu, P. C. Wong, and X. Li, Geometry-based edge clustering for graph visualization, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 1277-1284, 2008.
DOI Google Scholar
[6]
A. Lambert, R. Bourqui, and D. Auber, Winding roads: Routing edges into bundles, Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 853-862, 2010.
DOI Google Scholar
[7]
A. Telea and O. Ersoy, Image-based edge bundles: Simplified visualization of large graphs, Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 843-852, 2010.
DOI Google Scholar
[8]
O. Ersoy, C. Hurter, F. V. Paulovich, G. Cantareira, and A. Telea, Skeleton-based edge bundling for graph visualization, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 2364-2373, 2011.
DOI Google Scholar
[9]
A. Inselberg, The plane with parallel coordinates, The Visual Computer, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 69-91, 1985.
DOI Google Scholar
[10]
A. Inselberg and B. Dimsdale, Parallel coordinates: A tool for visualizing multi-dimensional geometry, in Proceedings of IEEE Visualization, San Francisco, USA, 1990, pp. 361-378.
[11]
D. Phan, L. Xiao, R. Yeh, P. Hanrahan, and T. Winograd, Flow map layout, in Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization, Minneapolis, USA, 2005, pp. 219-224.
[12]
U. Brandes and D. Wagner, Using graph layout to visualize train interconnection data, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Montréal, Canada, 1998, pp. 44-56.
DOI
[13]
M. Dickerson, D. Eppstein, M. T. Goodrich, and J. Y. Meng, Confluent drawings: Visualizing non-planar diagrams in a planar way, Journal of Graph Algorithms and Application, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 31-52, 2005.
DOI Google Scholar
[14]
D. Eppstein, M. Goodrich, and J. Meng, Confluent layered drawings, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, New York, USA, 2004, pp. 184-194.
DOI
[15]
D. Holten, Hierarchical edge bundles: Visualization of adjacency relations in hierarchical data, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 741-748, 2006.
DOI Google Scholar
[16]
K. T. McDonnell and K. Mueller, Illustrative parallel coordinates, Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 1031-1038, 2008.
DOI Google Scholar
[17]
K. Verbeek, K. Buchin, and B. Speckmann, Flow map layout via spiral trees, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 2536-2544, 2011.
DOI Google Scholar
[18]
A. Noack, An energy model for visual graph clustering, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Perugia, Italy, 2003, pp. 425-436.
DOI
[19]
E. R. Gansner and Y. Koren, Improved circular layouts, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2006, pp. 386-398.
DOI
[20]
S. Pupyrev, L. Nachmanson, and M. Kaufmann, Improving layered graph layouts with edge bundling, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Konstanz, Germany, 2010, pp. 329-340.
DOI
[21]
E. R. Gansner, Y. Hu, S. North, and C. Scheidegger, Multilevel agglomerative edge bundling for visualizing large graphs, in Proceedings of IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium, Hong Kong, China, 2011, pp. 187-194.
DOI
[22]
S. Pupyrev, L. Nachmanson, S. Bereg, and A. E. Holroyd, Edge routing with ordered bundles, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 2011, pp. 136-147.
DOI
[23]
D. Selassie, B. Heller, and J. Heer, Divided edge bundling for directional network data, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 2354-2363, 2011.
DOI Google Scholar
[24]
Q. Nguyen, S.-H. Hong, and P. Eades, Tgi-eb: A new framework for edge bundling integrating topology, geometry and importance, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 2011, pp. 123-135.
DOI
[25]
K. Buchin, B. Speckmann, and K. Verbeek, Anglerestricted steiner arborescences for flow map layout, in Proceedings of the ISAAC, Yokohama, Japan, 2011, pp. 250-259.
DOI
[26]
W. R. Tobler, Experiments in migration mapping by computer, Cartography and Geographic Information Science, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 155-163, 1987.
DOI Google Scholar
[27]
H. Qu, H. Zhou, and Y. Wu, Controllable and progressive edge clustering for large networks, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2006, pp. 399-404.
DOI
[28]
A. Lambert, R. Bourqui, and D. Auber, 3D edge bundling for geographical data visualization, in Proceedings of International Conference on Information Visualization, London, UK, 2010, pp. 329-335.
DOI
[29]
A. Lambert, D. Auber, and G. Melancon, Living flows: Enhanced exploration of edge-bundled graphs based on gpu-intensive edge rendering, in Proceedings of International Conference on Information Visualization, London, UK, 2010, pp. 523-530.
[30]
A. Lambert, J. Dubois, and R. Bourqui, Pathway preserving representation of metabolic networks, Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 1021-1030, 2011.
DOI Google Scholar
[31]
S.-J. Luo, C.-L. Liu, B.-Y. Chen, and K.-L. Ma, Ambiguity-free edge-bundling for interactive graph visualization, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 810-821, 2012.
DOI Google Scholar
[32]
L. Shi, C. Wang, and Z. Wen, Dynamic network visualization in 1.5D, in Proceedings of IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium, Hong Kong, China, 2011, pp. 179-186.
DOI
[33]
E. D. Giacomo, W. Didimo, G. Liotta, and P. Palladino, Visual analysis of one-to-many matched graphs, Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 97-119, 2010.
DOI Google Scholar
[34]
M. Giereth, H. Bosch, and T. Ertl, A 3D treemap approach for analyzing the classificatory distribution in patent portfolios, in Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Analytics Science and Technology, Columbus, USA, pp. 189-190, 2008.
[35]
B. Cornelissen, A. Zaidman, D. Holten, L. Moonen, A. van Deursen, and J. J. van Wijk, Execution trace analysis through massive sequence and circular bundle views, Journal of Systems and Software, vol. 81, no. 12, pp. 2252-2268, 2008.
DOI Google Scholar
[36]
T. Moscovich, F. Chevalier, N. Henry, E. Pietriga, and J.-D. Fekete, Topology-aware navigation in large networks, in Proceedings of the SIGCHI, Boston, USA, 2009, pp. 2319-2328.
DOI
[37]
D. Holten, P. Isenberg, J. J. van Wijk, and J.-D. Fekete, An extended evaluation of the readability of tapered, animated, and textured directededge representations in node-link graphs, in Proceedings of IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium, Hong Kong, China, 2011, pp. 195-202.
DOI
[38]
D. Holten and J. J. van Wijk, A user study on visualizing directed edges in graphs, in Proceedings of the SIGCHI, Boston, USA, 2009, pp. 2299-2308.
DOI
[39]
D. Holten and J. J. van Wijk, Evaluation of cluster identification performance for different pcp variants, Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 793-802, 2009.
DOI Google Scholar
[40]
A. Telea, O. Ersoy, H. Hoogendorp, and D. Reniers, Comparison of node-link and hierarchical edge bundling layouts: A user study, presented at Visualization and Monitoring of Network Traffic, 2009.
[41]
K. Xu, C. Rooney, P. Passmore, D.-H. Ham, and P. H. Nguyen, A user study on curved edges in graph visualization, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 18, no. 12, pp. 2449-2456, 2012.
DOI Google Scholar
Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Rights and permissions

Publication history

Received: 08 December 2012
Accepted: 14 February 2013
Published: 30 April 2013
Issue date: April 2013

Copyright

© The author(s) 2013

Acknowledgements

We thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. This work is supported by Foundation for Distinguished Young Talents in Higher Education of Guangdong, China (No. LYM11113), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61103055 and 61170204, and 61232012).

Rights and permissions

Return