sexta-feira, 2 de março de 2012

EdgeMaps - Philosophers

EdgeMaps is a new visualization technique that integrates the representation of explicit and implicit data relations. Explicit relations are specific connections between entities already present in a given dataset, while implicit relations are based on the similarity measures derived from shared properties in multidimensional data. EdgeMaps combine spatialization and graph drawing techniques to visualize both types of relations. By activating only one node at a time and distinguishing between incoming and outgoing edges, interesting visual patterns emerge resembling fireworks and waves.


Freebase provides data about interests, professions, birthdates, influence connections, and other relations from Wikipedia. For the purpose of this paper, we have constrained the dataset to philosophers that influenced at least one other philosopher, resulting in 42 philosophers. For each philosopher we store the name, birthdate, description, an image, interests, and professions. Furthermore, we store the directed influence links between philosophers. Go to the EdgeMaps page, click on the "open demo" button, and explore. The button in the top left switches between a timeline view and an influence "yarnball".