Visualive: Representing Synchronized Visualization Interactions

The Visualive synchronized visualization system. Left: several users are interacting simultaneously with the view, with the current user following another user as they brush and zoom into the visualization. Right: the viewing user has hovered over a remote user’s bubble, resulting in the appearance of the purple tracking window that represents the remote user’s screen area.

Abstract

Visualization researchers have begun exploring real-time visualization synchronization, but the focus has been on the technology supporting such synchronizations, and very little research looks at the front-end. In this paper, we present Visualive, an exploration of the representation of real-time users in the space of a visualization. Visualive represents online users by embedding dynamic color-coded widgets within a visualization, allowing viewers to easily identify remote actions being performed without leaving the context of a visualization. Visualive is an initial dive into merging collaboration and synchronization with data visualization without compromising on the latter experience.