Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Living Edition
| Editors: Ling Liu, M. Tamer Özsu

Distortion Techniques

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_1127-2
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Synonyms

Detail-in-context; Fisheye views; Multiscale views; Nonlinear magnification; 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...

Keywords

Transformation Function Perspective Projection Visual Integration Display Space Verbal Clue 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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© Springer Science+Business Media LLC 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of CalgaryCalgaryCanada