VizThis : Rule-based Semantically Assisted Information Visualization

Information Visualization can be considered as the task of mapping data entities in a source file to representation artefacts in a target visualization format. As such, mapping plays a significant role in this process. The field of Ontology Mapping presents a wealth of work in the information mapping domain which we propose to exploit by applying it to Information Visualization for the Semantic Web. In this paper we describe a User Interface and a tool (VizThis) which demonstrates the proposed approach. We discuss the benefits which a mapping paradigm brings to Information Visualization, including automaticity and rule constraint. The system facilitates automatic mapping while still allowing users the ability to tweak the chosen mappings in order to improve the cognitive value of the visualizations. Additionally, the mapping choices available are constrained by rules governed by the characteristics of both the source and target format. A worked example is provided together with the results of a qualitative user evaluation of the resulting visualizations.