Improving spatial awareness for human trajectory visualization in space-time cubes

Abstract

With the increasing evolution of computer graphics, 3D visualizations have become more common and are nowadays seen as a promising way to represent complex types of information. In particular, space-time cubes (STC) have been proposed as an alternative to 2D maps for the visualization of spatio-temporal data, and they have become increasingly used to explore the dynamics and patterns of human movement. However, previous research has pointed out perceptual limitations that can condition the use of 3D views for decoding locations and spatial properties. We aim to address those issues by presenting a comparative study between three variants of the STC technique, with different methods to improve spatial awareness. Our results support that the use of a movable plane or an additional 2D map view improve users’ accuracy when performing common tasks, and are preferred over simpler, yet less cluttered approaches. Additionally, it also supports the possible advantages of combining 2D and 3D views for human trajectory visualization.