A visualization technique using loop animations

Abstract

Animation extends the dimensions of spaces for visual representations by adding a temporal dimension. Although various techniques using animation have been proposed, most of them use a temporal dimension in the representation space only for representing temporal data. To represent quantitative data, an animation technique is proposed. A short animation played repeatedly is called a “loop animation.” The frequency of loop animations can represent quantitative data. Four variations of loop animations were designed and an experiment was conducted to evaluate their accuracy in representing quantitative data. In the experiment, loop animations were compared with static visual representations. The results showed that animations, in which either marks were spun or sizes were vibrated, were more accurate than visual representations using brightness and area.