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Distortion Techniques

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Encyclopedia of Database Systems

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Synonyms

Fisheye views; Nonlinear magnification; Multiscale views; Detail-in-context; or Focus-plus-context

Definition

While the word “distortion” often has unfavorable connotations in terms of data, a distortion technique in digital information viewing or data exploration is the use of deformation of some aspect of the information or data in order to provide a better view or better access to some other aspect of the data.

Historical Background

The uses of distortion in digital information exploration interfaces have two independent starting points: Spence and Apperley’s Bifocal Display [18] and Furnas’ Generalized Fisheye Views [5]. From these origins, research initially focused on developing algorithmic solutions for distortion techniques. Well-known examples include: Sarkar and Brown’s Graphical Fisheyes [16], which expand upon Furnas’ approach creating spatial reorganizations of visual representations; Hyperbolic Display [9], which uses mathematical function to create...

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Recommended Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Carpendale Sheelagh

Authors
  1. Carpendale Sheelagh
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Sheelagh, C. (2009). Distortion Techniques. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_1127

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