Exploration of Motion to Visualize Large-Scale Online Discussions Francis Lam Sociable Media Group MIT Media Lab

Abstract In this project we present our exploration of several visualization techniques which use motion as the primary visual element for depicting online discussions. Visual attention appeals most strongly to motion. Since motion changes the immediate environment conditions, it is more likely than static visual cues to attract our attention. Motion is dynamic and vibrant; it is intuitive and suitable for representing large-scale online social data such as online discussions. We present a series of design explorations that use motion to depict information behaviors and features within online social settings. We found that the beauty of motion is its ability to tell stories, and at the same time, it can vary across numerous dimensions, each of which is potentially an information-bearing element in the display. We describe our designs and findings, which shed light on choosing the mappings between motion and social characteristics for creating intuitive and legible visualizations. Video Click here to play the video (15Mb QT) Stills Depicting topics - Seascape Depicting topics - Volcano Depicting topics - An improved version that shows temporal properties Depicting participants - Active, focused discussions Depicting participants - Sporadic, dispersed discussions Some stills of the motion sketches { Francis Lam 2005 }