UNIT-V

Data Visualization
Pixel-Oriented Visualization Techniques,

Geometric Projection Visualization Techniques,

Icon-Based Visualization Techniques,

Hierarchical Visualization Techniques,

Visualizing Complex Data and Relations

Data Visualization:
Data visualization is actually a set of data points and information that are represented graphically
to make it easy and quick for user to understand. Data visualization is good if it has a clear
meaning, purpose, and is very easy to interpret, without requiring context. Tools of data
visualization provide an accessible way to see and understand trends, outliers, and patterns in
data by using visual effects or elements such as a chart, graphs, and maps.

Characteristics of Effective Graphical Visualization

 It shows or visualizes data very clearly in an understandable manner.

 It encourages viewers to compare different pieces of data.

 It closely integrates statistical and verbal descriptions of data set.

 It grabs our interest, focuses our mind, and keeps our eyes on message as human brain
tends to focus on visual data more than written data.

 It also helps in identifying area that needs more attention and improvement.

 Using graphical representation, a story can be told more efficiently. Also, it requires less
time to understand picture than it takes to understand textual data.

Categories of Data Visualization

Data visualization is very critical to market research where both numerical and categorical data
can be visualized that helps in an increase in impacts of insights and also helps in reducing risk
of analysis paralysis. So, data visualization is categorized into following categories :
 1. Numerical Data :
Numerical data is also known as Quantitative data. Numerical data is any data where data
generally represents amount such as height, weight, age of a person, etc. Numerical data
visualization is easiest way to visualize data. It is generally used for helping others to
digest large data sets and raw numbers in a way that makes it easier to interpret into
action. Numerical data is categorized into two categories :

 Continuous Data –
It can be narrowed or categorized (Example: Height measurements).

 Discrete Data –
This type of data is not “continuous” (Example: Number of cars or children’s a
household has).

The type of visualization techniques that are used to represent numerical data visualization is
Charts and Numerical Values. Examples are Pie Charts, Bar Charts, Averages, Scorecards, etc.

2. Categorical Data :
Categorical data is also known as Qualitative data. Categorical data is any data where
data generally represents groups. It simply consists of categorical variables that are used
to represent characteristics such as a person’s ranking, a person’s gender, etc. Categorical
data visualization is all about depicting key themes, establishing connections, and lending
context. Categorical data is classified into three categories :

 Binary Data –
In this, classification is based on positioning (Example: Agrees or Disagrees).

 Nominal Data –
In this, classification is based on attributes (Example: Male or Female).
  Ordinal Data –
In this, classification is based on ordering of information (Example: Timeline or
processes).

The type of visualization techniques that are used to represent categorical data is Graphics,
Diagrams, and Flowcharts. Examples are Word clouds, Sentiment Mapping, Venn Diagram, etc.

Data visualization is the representation of data through use of common graphics, such as charts,
plots, infographics, and even animations. These visual displays of information communicate
complex data relationships and data-driven insights in a way that is easy to understand.

Dashboards are effective data visualization tools for tracking and visualizing data from multiple
data sources, providing visibility into the effects of specific behaviors by a team or an adjacent
one on performance. Dashboards include common visualization techniques, such as:

 Tables: This consists of rows and columns used to compare variables. Tables can show a
great deal of information in a structured way, but they can also overwhelm users that are
simply looking for high-level trends.

 Pie charts and stacked bar charts: These graphs are divided into sections that represent
parts of a whole. They provide a simple way to organize data and compare the size of
each component to one other.

 Line charts and area charts: These visuals show change in one or more quantities by
plotting a series of data points over time and are frequently used within predictive
analytics. Line graphs utilize lines to demonstrate these changes while area charts
connect data points with line segments, stacking variables on top of one another and
using color to distinguish between variables.

 Histograms: This graph plots a distribution of numbers using a bar chart (with no spaces
between the bars), representing the quantity of data that falls within a particular range.
This visual makes it easy for an end user to identify outliers within a given dataset.

 Scatter plots: These visuals are beneficial in reveling the relationship between two
variables, and they are commonly used within regression data analysis. However, these
can sometimes be confused with bubble charts, which are used to visualize three
variables via the x-axis, the y-axis, and the size of the bubble.

 Heat maps: These graphical representation displays are helpful in visualizing behavioral
data by location. This can be a location on a map, or even a webpage.

 Tree maps, which display hierarchical data as a set of nested shapes, typically rectangles.
Treemaps are great for comparing the proportions between categories via their area size.
Open source visualization tools

Access to data visualization tools has never been easier. Open source libraries, such as D3.js,
provide a way for analysts to present data in an interactive way, allowing them to engage a
broader audience with new data. Some of the most popular open source visualization libraries
include:

 D3.js: It is a front-end JavaScript library for producing dynamic, interactive data

visualizations in web browsers. D3.js (link resides outside IBM) uses HTML, CSS, and
SVG to create visual representations of data that can be viewed on any browser. It also
provides features for interactions and animations.

 ECharts: A powerful charting and visualization library that offers an easy way to add
intuitive, interactive, and highly customizable charts to products, research papers,
presentations, etc. Echarts (link resides outside IBM) is based in JavaScript and ZRender,
a lightweight canvas library.

 Vega: Vega (link resides outside IBM) defines itself as “visualization grammar,”
providing support to customize visualizations across large datasets which are accessible
from the web.

 deck.gl: It is part of Uber's open source visualization framework suite. deck.gl (link
resides outside IBM) is a framework, which is used for exploratory data analysis on big
data. It helps build high-performance GPU-powered visualization on the web.

pixel oriented visualization techniques

What is pixel oriented visualization?

The basic idea of pixel-oriented visualization techniques is to represent as many data objects as
possible on the screen at the same time by mapping each data value to a pixel of the screen and
arranging the pixels adequately.

Pixel-oriented visualization techniques in data analytics refer to approaches that use pixels as the
fundamental units for representing and displaying data. These techniques leverage the properties
of individual pixels, such as color, brightness, and position, to encode and communicate
information effectively. Here are a few examples of pixel-oriented visualization techniques
commonly used in data analytics:

Heatmaps: Heatmaps use variations in color intensity to represent data values. Each pixel in the
heatmap corresponds to a specific data point, and its color intensity reflects the value of that data
point. Heatmaps are often used to visualize patterns, correlations, and density distributions in
large datasets.
Pixel Bar Charts: Pixel bar charts represent data using horizontal or vertical bars made up of
individual pixels. Each pixel within the bar corresponds to a specific data value, and its color or
brightness indicates the magnitude of that value. Pixel bar charts are useful for visualizing
categorical or discrete data in a compact and informative way.

Pixel Matrix: A pixel matrix visualization technique represents data as a grid of individual
pixels. Each pixel in the grid corresponds to a single data point, and its color or brightness
represents the value of that point. Pixel matrices are commonly used to visualize images, time
series data, or multi-dimensional datasets.

Pixel Plots: Pixel plots are scatterplots where each data point is represented by a single pixel.
The position of the pixel indicates the x and y coordinates of the data point, while the color or
brightness represents an additional dimension of the data. Pixel plots are useful for visualizing
large datasets and identifying clusters or patterns.

Pixel-based Geospatial Visualization: In geospatial data analysis, pixel-oriented visualization

techniques can be used to represent geographic information. Each pixel on a map corresponds to
a specific location, and its color or brightness can represent attributes such as population density,
temperature, or elevation. This approach allows for the visualization of complex spatial patterns
and relationships.

Geometric projection techniques

Geometric projection techniques are a set of visualization methods that transform three-
dimensional (3D) geometric objects or scenes onto a two-dimensional (2D) plane. These
techniques help represent complex spatial relationships and structures in a more manageable and
interpretable format. Here are some commonly used geometric projection visualization
techniques:

1. Perspective Projection: Perspective projection mimics how the human eye perceives
objects in 3D space. It creates the illusion of depth by projecting points from a 3D scene
onto a 2D plane using a vanishing point and a projection center. This technique is often
used in architectural renderings, computer graphics, and virtual reality applications.

2. Orthographic Projection: Orthographic projection is a type of parallel projection that

preserves the relative sizes and shapes of objects. It projects each point of a 3D object
 onto a 2D plane along parallel lines perpendicular to the plane. Orthographic projections
are widely used in technical drawings, engineering, and industrial design.

3. Axonometric Projection: Axonometric projections are a family of parallel projections that

maintain equal scaling along each axis. These projections include isometric, dimetric, and
trimetric projections. Isometric projection, in particular, is commonly used to represent
3D objects in technical drawings and video games.

4. Oblique Projection: Oblique projection is a type of parallel projection that combines

orthographic projection with a skew transformation. It allows for the inclusion of depth
cues by tilting the object's faces relative to the projection plane. Oblique projection can
be useful for emphasizing specific features of an object or for creating artistic renderings.

5. Stereographic Projection: Stereographic projection maps points from a sphere onto a

plane. It is often used to visualize spherical objects or data, such as celestial bodies or
crystal structures. Stereographic projections provide a way to view and analyze the
spatial relationships of 3D data in a 2D format.

6. Cylindrical Projection: Cylindrical projection is a type of map projection that maps points
on a sphere onto a cylinder, which is then unrolled onto a flat surface. This projection
preserves angles but introduces distortions in scale and shape. Cylindrical projections,
such as the Mercator projection, are commonly used for world maps and navigation
purposes.

7. Conic Projection: Conic projection maps points on a sphere onto a cone, which is then
unwrapped onto a flat surface. It preserves distances along certain lines (usually along a
cone's meridians or parallels) but introduces distortions elsewhere. Conic projections are
commonly used for regional or country-specific maps.

These geometric projection techniques provide different ways to represent and understand 3D
objects or spatial relationships in 2D formats. The choice of projection depends on the specific
requirements of the visualization task and the type of data being represented.

Icon-based visualization techniques

Icon-based visualization techniques utilize graphical icons or symbols to represent data or
concepts in a visual representation. These techniques are effective for conveying information
quickly and intuitively. Here are some commonly used icon-based visualization techniques:

1. Icon Arrays: Icon arrays use individual icons or pictograms to represent discrete
quantities or values. The icons are arranged in a grid or matrix, with each icon
representing a specific quantity. Icon arrays are useful for visualizing countable data or
displaying proportions.
 2. Bar Icons: Bar icons are similar to bar charts but use graphical icons instead of traditional
bars. Each icon represents a certain value or category, and their lengths or sizes are
proportional to the corresponding values. Bar icons are helpful for comparing values
across different categories.

3. Progress Icons: Progress icons depict the progress or completion of a task or goal using
visual icons. They often consist of a series of icons or symbols that gradually fill up or
change appearance to indicate progress. Progress icons are commonly used in project
management or task tracking applications.

4. Heatmap Icons: Heatmap icons combine icons with color gradients to represent data
values or intensities. Icons are arranged in a grid, and their colors or sizes vary based on
the data values they represent. Heatmap icons are useful for visualizing data patterns,
clustering, or intensity levels.

5. Treemaps Icons: Treemap icons combine the concept of treemaps with icons. Treemaps
use nested rectangles to represent hierarchical data, and icons can be incorporated into
these rectangles to provide additional information or visual cues. Treemap icons are
effective for displaying hierarchical data with associated icons.

6. Glyphs: Glyphs are simple, abstract icons or symbols that represent specific concepts or
data points. They can be used to visualize categorical or qualitative data, such as
representing different types of objects or attributes. Glyphs are commonly used in
information visualization, data dashboards, and data encoding.

7. Thematic Icons: Thematic icons use specific graphical symbols or icons to represent
thematic concepts or categories. These icons are carefully designed to visually represent
the intended meaning or concept. Thematic icons are often used in maps, signage
systems, or data visualizations to convey specific information or attributes.

8. Flow Icons: Flow icons visualize the flow or movement of data, resources, or processes.
These icons depict the direction and intensity of the flow using graphical elements, such
as arrows or connectors. Flow icons are useful for illustrating data flows, network traffic,
or process diagrams.

These icon-based visualization techniques offer concise and intuitive ways to represent data or
concepts. By leveraging the power of visual symbols, they enhance the understanding and
interpretation of information in a visually engaging manner. The choice of technique depends on
the nature of the data, the desired level of detail, and the intended message to be conveyed.

Hierarchical visualization techniques

Hierarchical visualization techniques are used to represent and explore hierarchical structures or
relationships within data. These techniques help visualize nested or hierarchical data in a way
that facilitates understanding and analysis. Here are some commonly used hierarchical
visualization techniques:

1. Tree Diagrams: Tree diagrams, also known as dendrograms or hierarchy diagrams, use a
tree-like structure to represent hierarchical relationships. Each node represents a category
or subcategory, and the branches depict the parent-child relationships. Tree diagrams are
widely used in fields like organizational charts, file systems, and biological
classifications.

2. Sunburst Charts: Sunburst charts are radial diagrams that represent hierarchical data in a
circular format. The innermost circle represents the root category, and subsequent rings
represent subcategories. The size of each ring or arc is proportional to the data values
associated with the category or subcategory. Sunburst charts are effective for visualizing
hierarchical data with multiple levels.

3. Treemaps: Treemaps divide the screen or a designated area into nested rectangles, with
each rectangle representing a category or subcategory. The size or color of each rectangle
represents a data attribute, allowing for easy comparison and identification of patterns.
Treemaps are commonly used for visualizing hierarchical data with varying attribute
values.

4. Nested Pie Charts: Nested pie charts are a hierarchical variation of traditional pie charts.
Each level of the hierarchy is represented by a nested pie, with slices within each pie
representing subcategories. The size or angle of each slice corresponds to the proportion
or value associated with the category or subcategory. Nested pie charts provide an
intuitive representation of hierarchical relationships.

5. Collapsible/Expandable Nodes: This technique allows users to interactively explore

hierarchical data by collapsing or expanding nodes. The initial view shows only the top-
level categories, and users can expand a node to reveal its subcategories or collapse it to
hide the details. This technique is often used in interactive tree diagrams or folder
structures.

6. Indented Lists: Indented lists represent hierarchical relationships through indentation.

Each level is indented further to the right, making it visually apparent which categories
are nested within others. Indented lists are commonly used for displaying hierarchical
data in text-based formats, such as outlines or file directories.

7. Network Graphs: Network graphs can also be used to visualize hierarchical relationships.
In this case, nodes represent categories or entities, and edges represent the connections or
relationships between them. By using different colors or shapes for nodes at different
levels, hierarchical relationships can be visually represented in the network graph.
 8. Radial Tree Diagrams: Radial tree diagrams are similar to traditional tree diagrams, but
they use a radial layout instead of a horizontal or vertical layout. The root category is
placed at the center, and the subsequent levels branch out in a circular pattern. Radial tree
diagrams provide a compact and visually appealing representation of hierarchical
structures.

These hierarchical visualization techniques offer different ways to represent and explore
hierarchical relationships within data. The choice of technique depends on factors such as the
complexity of the hierarchy, the amount of data, and the desired visual representation.

EXPLAIN DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATA VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES:

Pixel oriented visualization techniques:

 A simple way to visualize the value of a dimension is to use a pixel where the color of the
pixel reflects the dimension’s value.

 For a data set of m dimensions pixel oriented techniques create m windows on the screen,
one for each dimension.

 The m dimension values of a record are mapped to m pixels at the corresponding

position in the windows.

 The color of the pixel reflects other corresponding values.

 Inside a window, the data values are arranged in some global order shared by all windows

 Eg: All Electronics maintains a customer information table, which consists of 4

dimensions: income, credit_limit, transaction_volume and age. We analyze the
correlation between income and other attributes by visualization.

 We sort all customers in income in ascending order and use this order to layout the
customer data in the 4 visualization windows as shown in fig.

 The pixel colors are chosen so that the smaller the value, the lighter the shading.

 Using pixel based visualization we can easily observe that credit_limit increases as
income increases customer whose income is in the middle range are more likely to
 purchase more from All Electronics, these is no clear correlation between income and
age.

Fig: Pixel oriented visualization of 4 attributes by sorting all customers in income

Ascending order.

Geometric Projection visualization techniques

 A drawback of pixel-oriented visualization techniques is that they cannot help us much in

understanding the distribution of data in a multidimensional space.

 Geometric projection techniques help users find interesting projections of

multidimensional data sets.

 A scatter plot displays 2-D data point using Cartesian co-ordinates. A third dimension can
be added using different colors of shapes to represent different data points.

 Eg. Where x and y are two spatial attributes and the third dimension is represented by
different shapes

 Through this visualization, we can see that points of types “+” &”X” tend to be
collocated.
Fig: visualization of 2D data set using scatter plot

Icon based visualization techniques:-

Visualization of the data values as features of icons

Typical visualization methods

 Chernoff Faces
 Stick Figures

General techniques

 Shape coding: Use shape to represent certain information encoding

 Color icons: Use color icons to encode more information
 Tile bars: Use small icons to represent the relevant feature vectors in document retrieval

Chernoff Faces

A way to display variables on a two-dimensional surface, e.g., let x be eyebrow slant, y be eye
size, z be nose length, etc.

The figure shows faces produced using 10 characteristics–head eccentricity, eye size, eye
spacing, eye eccentricity, pupil size, eyebrow slant, nose size, mouth shape, mouth size, and
mouth opening): Each assigned one of 10 possible values.
 Chernoff Faces

Stick Figure

 A census data figure showing age, income, gender, education

 A 5-piece stick figure (1 body and 4 limbs w. different angle/length)
 Age, income are indicated by position of the figure.
 Gender, education are indicated by angle/length.

Hierarchical visualization techniques (i.e. subspaces)

The subspaces are visualized in a hierarchical manner.

For a large data set of high dimensionality, it would be difficult to visualize all dimensions at the
same time. Hierarchical visualization techniques partition all dimensions into subsets (i.e.,
subspaces). The subspaces are visualized in a hierarchical manner “Worlds-within-Worlds,” also
known as n-Vision, is a representative hierarchical visualization method. To visualize a 6-D data
set, where the dimensions are F,X1,X2,X3,X4,X5. We want to observe how F changes w.r.t.
other dimensions. We can fix X3,X4,X5 dimensions to selected values and visualize changes to
F w.r.t. X1, X2

Visualizing Complex Data and Relations

Most visualization techniques were mainly for numeric data. Recently, more and more non-
numeric data, such as text and social networks, have become available. Many people on the Web
tag various objects such as pictures, blog entries, and product reviews.

A tag cloud is a visualization of statistics of user-generated tags. Often, in a tag cloud, tags are
listed alphabetically or in a user-preferred order.

The importance of a tag is indicated by font size or color.

Visualizing complex data and relations can be a challenging task, but it is crucial for gaining
insights and understanding patterns within the data. Here are some approaches and techniques for
visualizing complex data and relations:

1. Scatter plots: Scatter plots are useful for visualizing the relationship between two
variables. Each data point is represented by a point on the plot, with one variable mapped
to the x-axis and another to the y-axis. By examining the distribution and clustering of
points, you can identify patterns or correlations.

2. Network diagrams: Network diagrams, also known as graph visualizations, are ideal for
representing relationships between entities. Nodes represent entities, such as people or
objects, and edges represent connections or interactions between them. Network diagrams
can be used to visualize social networks, organizational structures, or any other
interconnected system.

3. Heatmaps: Heatmaps are effective for displaying large amounts of data in a tabular
format. They use color gradients to represent values, allowing you to identify patterns or
clusters within the data. Heatmaps are commonly used in fields like genomics, finance,
and weather forecasting.

4. Sankey diagrams: Sankey diagrams visualize flow or movement between different states
or categories. They are particularly useful for understanding processes or systems
involving inputs, outputs, and transitions. Sankey diagrams show the flow of data,
energy, money, or any other quantifiable resource.
5. Tree maps: Tree maps display hierarchical data structures by representing each level of
the hierarchy as nested rectangles. The size of each rectangle can be proportional to a
certain attribute or value, making it easy to compare and visualize different levels or
categories.

6. Parallel coordinates: Parallel coordinates plots are useful for visualizing multivariate
data. Each variable is represented by a vertical axis, and data points are connected by
lines that intersect these axes. Parallel coordinates plots allow you to identify patterns,
relationships, or clusters in high-dimensional data.

7. Chord diagrams: Chord diagrams illustrate relationships or flows between entities in a

circular layout. The thickness of the chords represents the strength or magnitude of the
relationship, while the colors can indicate different categories or groups. Chord diagrams
are commonly used to visualize network traffic, migration patterns, or trade flows.

8. Geospatial visualizations: Geospatial visualizations use maps to represent data in a spatial

context. They are effective for displaying location-based data, such as demographics,
sales figures, or disease outbreaks. Techniques like choropleth maps, dot maps, or heat
maps can be employed to visualize geospatial data effectively.

9. Time series plots: Time series plots are ideal for visualizing data that changes over time.
They display data points along a timeline, allowing you to observe trends, seasonality, or
patterns. Line charts, area charts, or candlestick charts are commonly used to represent
time series data.