Component-based framework for virtual information materialization

Abstract

Various research fields in science and technology are now accumulating large amounts of data in databases, using recently developed computer controlled efficient data-acquisition tools for measurement, analysis, and observation. Researchers believe that such a huge extensive data accumulation in databases will allow them to simulate various physical, chemical, and/or biological phenomena on computers without carrying out any time-consuming and/or expensive real experiments. Information visualization for DB-based simulation requires each visualized record to work as an interactive object. Current information visualization systems visualize records without materializing them as interactive objects. Researchers in these fields develop their individual or community mental models on their target phenomena, and often like to visualize information based on their own mental models. We will propose in this paper a generic framework for developing virtual materialization of database records based on the component-ware architecture IntelligentBox that we developed in 1995 for 3D applications. This framework provides visual interactive components for (1) accessing databases, (2) specifying and modifying database queries, (3) defining an interactive 3D object as a template to materialize each record in a virtual pace, and (4) defining a virtual space and its coordinate system for the information materialization. These components are represented as boxes, i.e., components in the IntelligentBox architecture.