Visual Highlighting Methods for Geovisualization

A key advantage of interactive geovisualization tools is that users are able to quickly view data observations across multiple views. This is usually supported with a transient visual effect applied around the edges of an object during a mouse selection or rollover. This effect, commonly called highlighting, has not received much attention in geovisualization research. Today, most geovisualization tools rely on simple color-based highlighting. This paper proposes additional visual highlighting methods that could be used in geovisualizations. It also presents a typology of interactive highlighting behaviors that specify multiple ways in which highlighting techniques can be blended together or modified based on data values to enhance visual recognition in multiple coordinated view applications.