Browsers Based on 2 D and 3 D Graph Drawing ( Demo )

Many problems in computer-aided design and graphics involve the process of setting and adjusting input parameters to obtain desirable output values. Exploring diierent parameter settings can be a diicult and tedious task in most such systems. In the Design Gallery TM (DG) approach, parameter setting is made easier by dividing the task more equitably between user and computer. DG interfaces present the user with the broadest selection, automatically generated and organized, of perceptually diierent designs that can be produced by varying a given set of input parameters. The DG approach has been applied to several diicult parameter-setting tasks from the eld of computer graphics: light selection and placement for image rendering; opacity and color transfer-function speciication for volume rendering; and motion control for articulated-gure and particle-system animation. The principal technical challenges posed by the DG approach are dispersion ((nding a set of input-parameter vectors that optimally disperses the resulting output values) and arrangement (arranging the resulting designs for easy browsing by the user). We show how eeective arrangement can be achieved with 2D and 3D graph drawing. While navigation is easier in the 2D interface, the 3D interface has proven to be surprisingly usable, and the 3D drawings sometimes provide insights that are not so obvious in the 2D drawings.