U.S. patent application number 15/827088 was filed with the patent office on 2018-07-05 for methods, apparatus and systems for data visualization and related applications.
The applicant listed for this patent is New BIS Safe Luxco S.a r.l. Invention is credited to Andrew John CARDNO, Peter Stewart INGHAM, Bart Andrew LEWIN, Ashok Kumar SINGH.
Application Number | 20180189990 15/827088 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41434581 |
Filed Date | 2018-07-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180189990 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CARDNO; Andrew John ; et
al. |
July 5, 2018 |
METHODS, APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS FOR DATA VISUALIZATION AND RELATED
APPLICATIONS
Abstract
In a data visualization system, a method of creating a visual
representation of data, the method including the steps of providing
instructions to an end user to assist the end user in: constructing
multiple graphical representations of data, where each graphical
representation is one of a predefined type and includes multiple
layers of elements that contribute to the end user's understanding
of the data; arranging multiple graphical representations of
different types within the visual representation in a manner that
enables the end user to understand and focus on the data being
represented; and displaying the visual representation.
Inventors: |
CARDNO; Andrew John; (San
Diego, CA) ; INGHAM; Peter Stewart; (Avalon, NZ)
; LEWIN; Bart Andrew; (Woodland Hills, CA) ;
SINGH; Ashok Kumar; (Henderson, NV) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
New BIS Safe Luxco S.a r.l |
Luxembourg |
|
LU |
|
|
Family ID: |
41434581 |
Appl. No.: |
15/827088 |
Filed: |
November 30, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13000323 |
Jul 12, 2011 |
9870629 |
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PCT/NZ2009/000114 |
Jun 19, 2009 |
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15827088 |
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61074347 |
Jun 20, 2008 |
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61093428 |
Sep 1, 2008 |
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61101670 |
Sep 30, 2008 |
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61101672 |
Sep 30, 2008 |
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61107665 |
Oct 22, 2008 |
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61115036 |
Nov 15, 2008 |
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61118211 |
Nov 26, 2008 |
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61140556 |
Dec 23, 2008 |
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61145775 |
Jan 20, 2009 |
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61146133 |
Jan 21, 2009 |
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61146525 |
Jan 22, 2009 |
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61146430 |
Jan 22, 2009 |
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61161472 |
Mar 19, 2009 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06T 11/206 20130101; G06Q 40/04 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06T 11/20 20060101
G06T011/20; G06Q 40/04 20060101 G06Q040/04; G06Q 10/10 20060101
G06Q010/10; G06Q 30/02 20060101 G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1-538. (canceled)
539. In a graphical analysis computing system, a method of
arranging a data set for graphical analysis, the method comprising
the steps of: a. a data retrieval engine retrieving data elements
from a data store that forms part of or which is in communication
with the graphical analysis computing system; b. a processing
module: i. carrying out a preliminary analysis of the retrieved
data, ii. forming an initial appropriate output style as a visual
document framework, iii. carrying out analysis of the retrieved
data for periodic or repeating patterns and adjusting the visual
document framework to emphasise desired visual attributes, and iii.
mapping the data on to the visual document framework; and c. a
rendering engine creating a visual document output display.
540. The method of arranging a data set as claimed in claim 539
wherein the default visual document framework is a spiral plot.
541. The method of arranging a data set as claimed in claim 539
wherein the desired visual attribute is clumping.
542. The method of arranging a data set as claimed in claim 539
wherein the desired visual attribute is contrast.
543. The method of arranging a data set as claimed in claim 540
wherein the desired visual attribute is radial concentration.
544. The method of arranging a data set as claimed in claim 540
wherein the desired visual attribute is radial sparseness.
545. The method of claim 539 wherein in the step of adjusting the
visual document framework, the processing module carries out
multiple iterations.
546. The method of claim 545 wherein the processing module carries
out a primary iteration, and subsequent iterations of identical
magnitude to the primary iteration, assessing the result after each
iteration until there is no improvement in the result or the result
degrades.
547. The method of claim 546 having the further step of stepping
the result back if the result has degraded.
548. The method of claim 546 having the further step of carrying
out a secondary iteration of lower magnitude than the primary
iteration, and subsequent iterations of identical magnitude to the
secondary iteration, assessing the result after each iteration
until there is no improvement in the result or the result
degrades.
549. The method of claim 548 having the further step of stepping
the result back if the result has degraded.
550. The method of claim 548 having the further step of carrying
out a tertiary iteration of lower magnitude than the secondary
iteration, and subsequent iterations of identical magnitude to the
tertiary iteration, assessing the result after each iteration until
there is no improvement in the result or the result degrades.
551. The method of claim 550 having the further step of stepping
the result back if the result has degraded.
552. The method of claim 545 wherein the method has the further
step of the processing module communicating the result after the
final iteration in which there is no improvement to the rendering
engine to create a visual document output.
553. In a graphical analysis computing system, a method of
graphically displaying a data set for graphical analysis, the
method comprising the steps of: a. a data retrieval engine
retrieving data elements from a data store that forms part of or
which is in communication with the graphical analysis computing
system; b. a processing module: i. developing a plurality of
spatial representations of the data elements wherein a dimension of
each spatial representation has a different periodicity, ii.
determining visual attributes of the spatial representations, and
iii. selecting one or more spatial representations having visual
attributes satisfying selection criteria; and c. a rendering engine
creating a visual document output display for the one or more
selected spatial representations.
554. The method of claim 553 wherein in the step of adjusting the
visual document framework, the processing module carries out
multiple iterations.
555. The method of claim 554 wherein the processing module carries
out a primary iteration, and subsequent iterations of identical
magnitude to the primary iteration, assessing the result after each
iteration until there is no improvement in the result or the result
degrades.
556. The method of claim 555 having the further step of carrying
out a secondary iteration of lower magnitude than the primary
iteration, and subsequent iterations of identical magnitude to the
secondary iteration, assessing the result after each iteration
until there is no improvement in the result or the result
degrades.
557. The method of claim 556 having the further step of carrying
out a tertiary iteration of lower magnitude than the secondary
iteration, and subsequent iterations of identical magnitude to the
tertiary iteration, assessing the result after each iteration until
there is no improvement in the result or the result degrades.
558. The method of claim 554 wherein the method has the further
step of the processing module communicating the result after the
final iteration in which there is no improvement to the rendering
engine to create a visual document output.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to methods, apparatus and
systems for data visualization and related applications.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A chart or graph is described in Wikipedia as a type of
information graphic or graphic organizer that represents tabular
numeric data and/or functions. Charts are often used to make it
easier to understand large quantities of data and the relationship
between different parts of the data. Charts can usually be read
more quickly than the raw data that they come from. They are used
in a wide variety of fields, and can be created by hand (often on
graph paper) or by computer using a charting application.
[0003] Traditional charts use well established and often poorly
implemented ways of representing data. Many tools exist to help the
user construct very sophisticated representations of data but that
sophistication typically results in less meaningful charts.
Embodiments of the present invention aim to overcome this
problem.
[0004] It is known to use charting wizards such as those that are
available in Excel and various other systems such as those provided
by, for example, IBM. In addition there are multiple Business
Intelligence (BI) tools available to users to enable users to
analyze data in an attempt to create meaningful feedback. However,
as the amount of data increases, so does the complexity of the
visual representations created by the analysis of the data. These
complex representations can end up swamping parts of the visual
representation that is most required and relevant to an end
user.
[0005] In addition, known systems provide a standardized list of
options to all users which the user then must wade through and try
and determine which of the options available are most suitable for
representing their particular data. This can result in the user
mismatching the data being represented with the chosen visual
representation so that the resultant representation does not
clearly, accurately and succinctly identify any issues with, or
convey information about, the data. This can result in the user
missing particularly important features of the data due to those
features not being represented in the most appropriate manner.
[0006] Also, although there are many sophisticated visualization
algorithms that do exist and are being developed for specific
functions, these algorithms are not provided to a user in a manner
that guides the user to easily pick the data to be represented,
pick the correct summaries of the data, pick the right dimensions
to be represented, pick the right forms of visual representation,
or choose unique visual designs to create a collection of
visualizations that help someone run their business.
[0007] Further, the focus of existing known methods is on providing
a single visual design, or type of visual or graphical
representation, to represent data. That is, to produce, for
example, a single bar graph to be displayed, or a single pie chart
to be printed. This is very limiting to a user who may want to show
various different aspects of the data in a single document.
[0008] Business measures are a well known means of identifying a
manageable number of algorithms for which to run a business.
However, these business measures merely represent a single
dimension of the data, or even only a single number, and so are
particularly limiting in respect of the data that they represent.
Further, the business measures merely represent data and do not
include any further functional capabilities.
[0009] This is particularly pertinent to at least any one of the
Gaming Industry, Retail Industry, Hospitality Industry, Financial
Services Industry, Entertainment Industry and Telecommunications
Industry. This is because gaming venues, retail venues, hospitality
venues (such as hotels etc.), financial institutions, entertainment
distributors and telecommunications companies can collect data,
which can be in large volumes, or diverse, detailed, timely or
accurate information, on their customers' (e.g. business to
customer) purchasing behavior and branch or outlet (business to
business) purchasing behavior, as well as movements and activities
(e.g. of customers or staff) within the facility in the normal
course of providing the relevant business or from external
sources.
[0010] For example, within the Gaming Industry, data may include
the amount gambled by game, how much time has been spent playing
each game, what has occurred (e.g., winning of jackpots) during
customers' game play. Additionally, similar data is collected
regarding non-gaming purchases (e.g., food and beverage, special
events, lodging). Finally, customers may be issued credit so data
associated with granting credit lines (e.g., credit rating, credit
limits, etc.) is also collected.
[0011] As a further example, within the Retail Industry, data may
include temporal aspects related to an individual transaction such
as day, time, day of the week, the proximity of the date of
purchase to known holidays. This data may also include special
aspects such as the location of the outlet, the relative location
of items on the shelves (e.g., aisle, placement within the aisle,
height of placement on the aisle). Further examples may include
data related to products such as quantity of each individual item
purchased, other items in the market basket purchased with the
item, price of the items, total value of the transaction, profit
margins of the items and an item's shelf life.
[0012] As a further example, within the hospitality industry, data
may include temporal aspects related to an individual transaction
such as day, time, day of the week, the proximity of the date of a
hotel/motel visit to known holidays. This data may also include
special aspects such as the location of the hotel, the
distributions of customers and the demographics of the surrounding
area, as well as feeder markets for the facility. Further examples
may include data related to products such as the number of room
nights a customer spent in the hotel/motel, other items in the
market basket purchased such as room service or in-room movies,
price of the items, total value of the transaction, profit margins
of the items etc.
[0013] As a further example, within the financial services
industry, data may include temporal aspects related to an
individual transaction such as day, time, day of the week, the
proximity of the date of purchase to known holidays. This data may
also include special aspects such as the location of the branch
office like the distributions of customers and the demographics of
the surrounding area. Further examples may include data related to
products such as quantity of each individual item purchased, other
items in the market basket purchased with the item, price of the
items, total value of the transaction, profit margins of the items
and an item's shelf life.
[0014] As a further example, within the entertainment industry,
data may include temporal aspects related to an individual
transaction such as day, time, day of the week, the proximity of
the date of purchase to known holidays. This data may also include
special aspects such as the location of the outlet, the relative
location of items on the shelves (e.g., aisle, placement within the
aisle, height of placement on the aisle). Further examples may
include data related to products such as quantity of each
individual item purchased, other items in the market basket
purchased with the item, price of the items, total value of the
transaction, profit margins of the items and an item's shelf
life.
[0015] As a further example, within the telecommunications
industry, data may include temporal aspects related to an
individual transaction such as day, time, day of the week, the
proximity of the date of purchase to known holidays. This data may
also include special aspects such as the location of the
telecommunication retail stores, areas of coverage, the
distribution of customers and the demographics of the surrounding
area. Further examples may include data related to products such as
quantity of each individual item purchased, other items in the
market basket purchased with the item, price of the items, total
value of the transaction, profit margins of the items and an item's
shelf life.
[0016] These potentially large or dispersed data collections may be
further refined by collecting the data so it is available from a
centrally accessible point. This centrally accessible capability
can be implemented in a number of ways including, a data warehouse
or a data mart or a federated information collection.
[0017] The often related or diverse and sometimes large volumes of
data collected by the Gaming Industry, Retail Industry, Hospitality
Industry, Financial Services Industry, Entertainment Industry and
Telecommunications Industry on a variety of areas of the business,
including data on their customers, outlets or branches (e.g.
locations), their operations or external data sets, and in the case
of telecommunications, call patterns, can all benefit from methods
for understanding this data. These methods may range from the
simple analytical views to sophisticated analytical methods as
herein described.
[0018] R-tree indexing methodologies, as well as other indexing
methodologies, are used in conjunction with databases to categorize
data and place the data in a hierarchical format. It is known to
use self organizing maps to visually represent data. However, self
organizing maps can be very difficult and arduous to interpret.
Also, it has not previously been known to use the indexing
methodologies, in particular the R-tree indexing, as a display
mechanism on its own.
[0019] Classification algorithms, such as fast clustering genetic
algorithms or dimension reduction algorithms, can result in highly
complicated structures. These may include 2 displays, the R-Tree,
which may provide interactive insight.
[0020] For example, in the gaming industry, insight into the
relationship between a customers' play, the types of games played,
and the location of the game relative to other games.
[0021] For example, in the retail industry, insight into the
relationship between the value of a customer's purchases, the types
of products purchased, and the location of the products purchased
relative to other products.
[0022] For example, in the hospitality industry, insight into the
relationship between the value of a customer's purchases, the types
of products and services purchased, and frequency of purchases and
each product's use (e.g., food items purchased in a restaurant,
in-room movies watched, spa services received) relative to other
products.
[0023] For example, in the financial industry insight into the
relationship between the value of a customer's purchases, the types
of products purchased, and frequency of purchases and each
product's use (e.g., drawing on a home equity loan, credit card
transactions) relative to other products.
[0024] For example, in the entertainment industry, insight into the
relationship between the value of a customer's purchases, the types
of products purchased, and the location of the products purchased
relative to other products.
[0025] For example, in the telecommunications industry, insight
into the relationship between the value of a customer's purchases,
the types of products purchased, and frequency of purchases and
each product's use (e.g., minutes used, data used, messages sent,
premium calls--e.g., foreign calls) relative to other products.
[0026] Various other references to the prior art and its associated
problems are made throughout the following description.
[0027] The present invention aims to overcome, or at least
alleviate, some or all of the mentioned problems, or to at least
provide the public with a useful choice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0028] Various concepts are herein disclosed as set out in the
claims at the end of the specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described,
by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[0030] FIG. 1A shows a NASDAQ Heat Map Example;
[0031] FIG. 1B shows a NASDAQ Heat Map Infra Day Data Example;
[0032] FIG. 1C shows a diagrammatical representation of some key
terms;
[0033] FIG. 2A shows a system concept diagram according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 2B shows an overview of the software modules in the
described system.
[0035] FIG. 3 shows a general overview of the data flow within the
system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0036] FIG. 4 shows an architectural overview of the described
solution according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 5 shows a high-level system delivery overview of the
described solution according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0038] FIG. 6A shows a general data flow diagram according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0039] FIG. 6B shows a flow diagram according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0040] FIG. 7 shows the concept of layers according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0041] FIG. 8A shows an R-tree representation according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0042] FIG. 8B shows a conceptual block diagram of a system
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0043] FIG. 8C shows a flow diagram of a method according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0044] FIG. 9A shows the alignment of data sets with different
periods according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0045] FIG. 9B shows a dodecagon spiral according to an embodiment
of the present invention;
[0046] FIG. 9C shows a box spiral according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0047] FIG. 9D shows a further dodecagon spiral according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0048] FIG. 9E shows a conceptual diagram of aligning data sets
with differing periodicities according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0049] FIG. 9F shows a known method of graphically representing
data points;
[0050] FIG. 9G shows a method of graphically representing data
points according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0051] FIG. 9H shows a conceptual diagram of aligning periodic
events according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0052] FIG. 9I shows a method of adjusting data according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0053] FIG. 9J shows a further method of adjusting data according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0054] FIG. 9K shows a further method of adjusting data according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0055] FIG. 9L shows a conceptual system diagram of a graphical
analysis computing system according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0056] FIG. 9M shows a flow diagram according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0057] FIG. 9N shows a temporal query system according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0058] FIG. 9O shows a flow diagram according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0059] FIG. 10 shows a spatial visual design according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0060] FIGS. 11A to L show diagrams relating to a composite surface
visualization according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0061] FIGS. 11M to 11P show various stages when creating the
surfaces according to various embodiments of the present
invention;
[0062] FIG. 11Q shows a conceptual system diagram according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0063] FIG. 11R shows a conceptual system diagram according to a
further embodiment of the present invention;
[0064] FIG. 12A shows the general flow of data according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0065] FIGS. 12B to D show an example of a spatial visual design
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0066] FIG. 12E shows a conceptual system diagram according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0067] FIG. 12F shows a flow diagram according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0068] FIG. 13 shows a further flow diagram according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0069] FIG. 14 shows a location based heatmap according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0070] FIG. 15A shows a flow diagram according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0071] FIGS. 15B and C show correlation diagrams according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0072] FIG. 15D shows a conceptual system diagram of a data
visualization system according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0073] FIG. 16A shows a general flow of data according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0074] FIG. 16B shows a system block diagram according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0075] FIGS. 17A to E show diagrams relating to pivotal
visualizations according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0076] FIG. 17F shows a flow diagram of a method according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0077] FIG. 17G shows a conceptual system diagram of a data
visualization system according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0078] FIGS. 18A to C show heatmap diagrams according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0079] FIG. 19 shows a system diagram of an interactive
visualization according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0080] FIG. 20A shows examples of widgets according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0081] FIGS. 20B and C show a prediction visualization according to
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0082] FIG. 21 shows tweens according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0083] FIG. 22 shows parallel processing of data frames according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0084] FIG. 23 shows a visual design example according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0085] FIG. 24 shows a system block diagram according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0086] FIGS. 25A and 25B show data flow diagrams according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0087] FIG. 26 shows a system block diagram according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0088] FIG. 27A shows a flow chart according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0089] FIG. 27B shows a visualization according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0090] FIG. 28 shows a visualization according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0091] FIG. 29 shows a caching design pattern according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0092] FIG. 30 shows a caching example according to an embodiment
of the present invention;
[0093] FIG. 31 shows an example of BPD history according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0094] FIG. 32 shows a visual document creation process from a
system perspective according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0095] FIG. 33 shows a parallelism engine according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0096] FIG. 34 shows a map management example according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0097] FIG. 35 shows a predictive modeling system according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0098] FIG. 36 shows a visual design management system according to
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0099] FIG. 37 shows a BPD management example according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0100] FIG. 38 shows an output management system according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0101] FIG. 39 shows an example of retrieving a Visual Document
list from a catalog according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0102] FIG. 40 shows a metadata management system according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0103] FIG. 41 shows configuration management components according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0104] FIG. 42 shows configuration management layers according to
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0105] FIG. 43 shows a use case model according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0106] FIG. 44 shows how embodiments of the present invention may
be incorporated within a gaming environment;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0107] Embodiments of the present invention are described herein
with reference to a data visualization system adapted or arranged
to perform various methods and processes.
[0108] In summary, the system includes at least a processor, one or
more memory devices or an interface for connection to one or more
memory devices, input and output interfaces for connection to
external devices in order to enable the system to receive and
operate upon instructions from one or more users or external
systems, a data bus for internal and external communications
between the various components, and a suitable power supply.
Further, the system may include one or more communication devices
(wired or wireless) for communicating with external and internal
devices, and one or more input/output devices, such as a display,
pointing device, keyboard or printing device.
[0109] The processor is arranged to perform the steps of a program
stored as program instructions within the memory device. The
program instructions enable the various methods of performing the
invention as described herein to be performed. The program
instructions may be developed or implemented using any suitable
software programming language and toolkit, such as, for example, a
C-based language. Further, the program instructions may be stored
in any suitable manner such that they can be transferred to the
memory device or read by the processor, such as, for example, being
stored on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium
may be any suitable medium, such as, for example, solid state
memory, magnetic tape, a compact disc (CD-ROM or CD-R/W), memory
card, flash memory, optical disc, magnetic disc or any other
suitable computer readable medium.
[0110] The system is arranged to be in communication with external
data storage systems or devices in order to retrieve the relevant
data.
[0111] It will be understood that the system herein described
includes one or more elements that are arranged to perform the
various functions and methods as described herein. The following
portion of the description is aimed at providing the reader with an
example of a conceptual view of how various modules and/or engines
that make up the elements of the system may be interconnected to
enable the functions to be implemented. Further, the following
portion of the description explains in system related detail how
the steps of the herein described method may be performed. The
conceptual diagrams are provided to indicate to the reader how the
various data elements are processed at different stages by the
various different modules and/or engines.
[0112] It will be understood that the arrangement and construction
of the modules or engines may be adapted accordingly depending on
system and user requirements so that various functions may be
performed by different modules or engines to those described
herein.
[0113] It will be understood that the modules and/or engines
described may be implemented and provided with instructions using
any suitable form of technology. For example, the modules or
engines may be implemented or created using any suitable software
code written in any suitable language, where the code is then
compiled to produce an executable program that may be run on any
suitable computing system. Alternatively, or in conjunction with
the executable program, the modules or engines may be implemented
using any suitable mixture of hardware, firmware and software. For
example, portions of the modules may be implemented using an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system-on-a-chip
(SoC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or any other suitable
adaptable or programmable processing device.
[0114] The methods described herein may be implemented using a
general purpose computing system specifically programmed to perform
the described steps. Alternatively, the methods described herein
may be implemented using a specific computer system such as a data
visualization computer, a database query computer, a graphical
analysis computer, a gaming data analysis computer, a manufacturing
data analysis computer, a business intelligence computer etc.,
where the computer has been specifically adapted to perform the
described steps on specific data captured from an environment
associated with a particular field.
[0115] The data provided as an input to the system may be of any
suitable type of data, for example, real world data including, but
not limited to, gaming or gambling data associated with a gaming
environment such as a casino, event data, test or quality control
data obtained from a manufacturing environment, business data
retrieved from an accounting system, sales data retrieved from a
company database, etc. All this data may be received by the system
in real time in a cache memory or may be stored in a more permanent
manner
[0116] As an alternative to, or in conjunction with, the display
module, further output modules may be provided to output the
results of the alignment module. That is, the raw data retrieved by
the data retrieval module is analyzed and converted to provide
output data in a specific format. The output data is provided to
the display and/or further output modules to enable a user to
visualize the raw data in a manner that conveys more useful or
hidden information that would otherwise be lost.
[0117] The further output module may be a printing device in
communication with the described system to receive print control
data so that representations of the data may be printed on any
suitable print medium. Alternatively, the further output module may
be an interface that enables the output data to be interfaced with
other data handling modules or storage devices.
[0118] The data retrieval module is configured to enable the
retrieval of data from a data storage module, which is in
communication with the herein described system. The data storage
module may be any suitable type of data storage system. For
example, it may be an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), a data mart,
a database, a storage array or any other suitable device or groups
of devices that can store data for later retrieval. Further, the
data storage module may be a cache memory used to temporarily store
incoming data captured in real time.
[0119] Further, it will be understood that the visual
representations produced by the herein described system are
specifically adapted to enable the visual representation of complex
data in order to convey useful information while minimizing the use
of production printing materials or limiting the space in which the
information may be conveyed. That is, by enabling the herein
described system to produce a visual representation that has one or
more characteristics as described to summarize a complex problem or
complex data, a number of technical advantages are immediately
provided. For example, the characteristics of the visual
representation may include the limitation of the size of the visual
representation, the use of a minimum amount of ink, or the creation
of the representation using a minimal or bounded area space or
minimum amount of time. These characteristics then may solve one or
more problems such as the excessive consumption of consumable items
by reducing the required consumption of consumables such as paper
and ink resources, as well as reducing the energy required to
produce the printouts of the visual representations or the
displaying of the information on a display module due to the
ability to provide the required information in a visual space of a
smaller size.
[0120] Therefore, the data visualization techniques described
herein transform the raw data received into various different
arrangements to enable further or hidden information within the raw
data to be visually represented in a manner that conveys the
information to a user in an efficient manner.
[0121] Four key terms (or concepts) form the foundation of the
specification set out in this document and accordingly have been
defined as follows:
[0122] The four key terms are:
[0123] Business Performance Drivers (BPD)
[0124] BPD Packages
[0125] Visual Designs
[0126] Visual Documents
[0127] The key terms are defined as follows:
[0128] Business Performance Drivers (BPDs):
[0129] A Business Performance Driver (BPD) is a business metric
used to quantify a business objective. For example, turnover,
sales. BPDs are Facts (sometimes referred to as measures). Facts
are data items that can be counted. For example, Gross Sales; Units
Sold. BPDs comprise of: [0130] 1. Measures: Data items that can be
counted. For example, Gross Sales; Units Sold. [0131] 2.
Dimensions: Data items that can be categorized. For example,
Gender; Locations. [0132] 3. Restrictions can be applied to BPDs.
These filter the data included. For example a restriction of
`State="CA"` may be specified to only include data for California.
[0133] 4. Normalizations can be applied to BPDs. These specify (or
alter) the time period the BPD refers to. For example--Daily Units
Sold, Monthly Profit.
[0134] The combination of BPDs, Restrictions and Normalizations
provides the flexibility to create many ways of looking at data
without requiring extensive definition effort.
[0135] In other words a Business Performance Driver (BPD) is a
`measure` that can be normalized. Measures are data items that can
be counted. For example, Gross Sales; Units Sold. BPDs might be
displayed on visualizations. For example, Revenue earned per store
on a map. Restrictions and/or Normalizations could be applied to a
BPD. The following table provides examples of these:
TABLE-US-00001 Scenario Business Example BPD (no Revenue
normalization or restriction) BPD with Revenue earned in the state
of California restriction BPD with Revenue earned in week 1 of 2008
normalization BPD with Revenue earned in the state of California in
restriction and week 1 of 2008 normalization
[0136] Examples of a BPD in the Gaming Industry include the
theoretical win per gaming position, the average number of rooms
cleaned by housekeepers during a single shift, average daily
revenue for hotel rooms, and the number of restaurant covers per
square foot.
[0137] Examples of a BPD in the Hospitality Industry may include
maximizing the hotel room occupancy rate for a time period or the
average revenue for an occupied room for a time period, maximizing
the average profitability of non-hotel room related transactions
over a period of time, or the average ratio of high profit items to
low profit items within the products and services mix available to
consumers.
[0138] Examples of a BPD in the Retail Industry may include the
maximizing gross sales per unit of area (e.g., square foot, square
meter), maximizing the average profitability of transactions over a
period of time, or the average ratio of high profit items to low
profit items within market baskets.
[0139] Examples of a BPD in the Financial Services Industry may
include maximizing gross loans issued or deposits processed per
unit of area (e.g., square foot, square meter) for example within
outlets, maximizing the average profitability of transactions over
a period of time, or the average ratio of high profit items to low
profit items within the financial product mix available to
consumers.
[0140] Examples of a BPD in the Entertainment Industry may include
the maximizing gross sales per unit of area (e.g., square foot,
square meter) for example within outlets, maximizing the average
profitability of transactions over a period of time, or the average
ratio of high profit items to low profit items within market
baskets.
[0141] Examples of a BPD in the Telecommunications Industry may
include maximizing the number of revenue text messages sent and
received during for example a single month, improving call dropped
rates, reducing network interconnect rates, maximizing the average
profitability of transactions over a period of time, or the average
ratio of high profit items to low profit items within the
telecommunications product mix available to consumers.
[0142] Data visualization techniques as herein described facilitate
management of all of these parameters and may include sophisticated
methods.
[0143] BPD Packages:
[0144] A BPD Package is made up from a set of related BPDs. This
relationship (between a BPD Package and its BPDs) is defined using
metadata.
[0145] BPD Packages can be thought of as the Visual Document's
vocabulary.
[0146] Visual Designs:
[0147] Visual Designs are a classification of the different types
of visualizations that a user may choose. Within each Visual
Design, there are a number of visualizations. For example, the
`spatial` category can have retail store location maps or
geographical location maps.
[0148] The software solution allows users to select one
visualization (one visual form within a Visual Design category) to
create a Visual Document.
[0149] Visual Document:
[0150] A Visual Document contains visual representations of data.
Access to the data used to construct the visual representation is
in many ways analogous to a textual document.
[0151] A Visual Document is constructed by applying BPD data to a
specific Visual Design. It is designed to illustrate at least one
specific point (using the visualization), supports the points made
with empirical evidence, and may be extended to provide
recommendations based on the points made. The Visual Document is a
deliverable to the user.
TABLE-US-00002 Dimensions Dimensions are data items that can be
categorized. For example, Gender; Locations. Dimensions might be
displayed on visualizations. For example product categories on a
shop floor. Fact See Business Performance Drivers (BPDs) Measure
See Business Performance Drivers (BPDs) Normalizations Can be
applied to BPDs. These specify (or alter) the time period the BPD
refers to. For example - Daily Units Sold, Monthly Profit. The
combination of BPDs, Restrictions and Normalizations provides the
flexibility to create many ways of looking at data without
requiring extensive definition effort. Refer to definition of BPDs
for examples. Restrictions Can be applied to BPDs or Dimensions.
These filter the data included. For example a restriction of `State
= "CA"` may be specified to only include data for California. A BPD
or Dimension could be restricted by Compound Statements (series of
restrictions using AND/OR statements). For example, Revenue from
all stores where state = California AND units sold >200 units.
Restrictions have the following types: Restriction Business Type
Definition Example Context = Equal to State = Revenue `CA` earned
within the state of California >= Greater Units Sold Revenue
than or >=200 earned from equal to stores where units sold were
greater than (or equal to) 200 units =< Less than Revenue
Revenue or equal to =<$50,000 earned from stores where Revenue
was less than (or equal to) $50,000 > Greater Units Sold Revenue
than >200 earned from stores where the number of units sold were
greater than 200units < Less than Units Sold Revenue <200
earned from stores where the number of units sold were less than
200units IN In (list) State IN Revenue (`CA`, earned from `NY`)
stores within the states of California and New York BETWEEN Values
Product Revenue between X Code earned from and Y between product
`124` and codes 124 to `256` 256 (inclusive) NOT = Not Equal State
NOT = Revenue to CA earned from stores outside the state of
California. NOT IN Not in State NOT Revenue (list) IN (`CA`, earned
from `NY`) outside the states of California and New York. NOT
Values not Store Revenue BETWEEN between X Code earned from and Y
NOT stores Between excluding 105 and stores with a 110 store code
between 105 and 110 (inclusive).
[0152] Heatmaps:
[0153] A heat map is a graphical representation of data where the
values taken by a variable in a two-dimensional map are represented
as colors. A very similar presentation form is a Tree map.
[0154] Heat maps are typically used in Molecular Biology to
represent the level of expression of many genes across a number of
comparable samples (e.g. cells in different states, samples from
different patients) as they are obtained from DNA microarrays.
[0155] Heat maps are also used in places where the data is volatile
and representation of this data as a heat map improves usability.
For example, NASDAQ uses heat maps to show the NASDAQ-100 index
volatility. Source: Wikipedia.sup.i
[0156] This is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1A. Some blocks are
colored green, which means the stock price is up and some blocks
are colored red, which means the stock price is down. The blocks
have a varying deepening of the relevant color to indicate the
direction that the stock is moving; the deeper the color, the
bigger the move.
[0157] If a user hovers over a stock, additional intra-day data is
presented--as shown in FIG. 1B: Source: Nasdaq.com.sup.ii
[0158] The key terms are set out diagrammatically in FIG. 1C.
Visual designs 110 are individual visualization techniques. One or
more are applied to visualize BPD packages 115 to create visual
documents 120.
[0159] Many organizations are facing massive and increasing amounts
of data to interpret, the need to make more complex decisions
faster, and accordingly are turning to data visualization as a tool
for transforming their data into a competitive advantage. This is
particularly true for high-performance companies, but it also
extends to any organization whose intellectual property exists in
massive, growing data sets.
[0160] One objective of the described solution is to put experts'
data visualization techniques in the customer's hands by skillfully
guiding the end user through choosing the right parameters, to
display the right data, and to create its most useful
visualizations to improve business performance.
[0161] In the gaming industry, the end user may include, for
example, the controlling entity in the casino environment. This may
be, for example, the casino gaming manager, hotel manager, catering
manager, housekeeping manager, entertainment manager or any other
person given the task of overseeing operations in the business
environment.
[0162] In the retail industry, the end user may include, for
example, the controlling entity in the store environment. This may
be, for example, the store manager, a department manager, or any
other person given the task of overseeing operations in the
business environment.
[0163] In the hospitality industry, the end user may include, for
example, the controlling entity in the hotel. This may be, for
example, the hotel manager, a food and beverage manager, or any
other person given the task of overseeing operations in the
business environment.
[0164] In the financial industry, the end user may include, for
example, the controlling entity in the branch office. This may be,
for example, the branch manager, a loan officer, or any other
person given the task of overseeing operations in the business
environment.
[0165] In the entertainment industry, the end user may include, for
example, the controlling entity in the store environment. This may
be, for example, the store manager, a department manager, or any
other person given the task of overseeing operations in the
business environment.
[0166] In the telecommunications industry, the end user may
include, for example, the store manager, or any other person given
the task of overseeing operations in the business environment.
[0167] The described solution is a generic tool and can apply to
multiple business areas that require decisions based on and
understanding massive amounts of data. The resulting browser-based
output is defined as a `Visual Document`.
[0168] The solution provided is summarized in FIG. 2A.
[0169] The system identifies user tasks 201 in the form of defining
visual documents, requesting visual documents, requesting rendered
documents, calls to action, and analyzing results. These tasks are
then detected by the system in conjunction with other systems 203,
which include CRM applications, third party Business Intelligence
(BI) Tools and other third party applications, all of which may
access data stored in an enterprise data warehouse (EDW). The
visual design layer concept 207 may be utilized within the visual
documents 205. The creation of the visual documents is made in
conjunction with a number of different defined visual design types
209, BPD packages 211, spatial analysis maps 213 and other
application components 215, such as application servers and
application infrastructure.
[0170] A Visual Document contains visual representations of data.
Access to the data used to construct the visual representation is
in many ways analogous to a textual document. It is constructed by
applying Business Performance Driver(s) (BPD) data to a specific
Visual Design (Visual Designs are grouped into ten
classifications).
[0171] A Visual Document is designed to illustrate at least one
specific point (using the visualization), support the points made
with empirical evidence, and may be extended to provide
recommendations based on the points made. The Visual Document is
the actual deliverable from the software to the software user.
Visual Documents may be stored, distributed or analyzed later, as
needed.
[0172] The Visual Document is fed by data and a metadata database
that stores definitions of BPDs--the BPDs are the focus of the
Visual Document. A Business Performance Driver is a business metric
used to quantify a business objective. Examples include, gross
sales or units sold. For instance, the Visual Document may be used
to graphically depict the relationship between several BPDs over
time.
[0173] In the gaming industry, examples of a gaming business
measure may include, for example, the total theoretical win per
gaming position for a particular category of game over a specific
period of time (e.g., day, month, year). The total theoretical win
per gaming position is usually equal to the total amount bet for
each game within the category for the period multiplied by the hold
percentage of that game. These amounts are summed for all games
within the category and then divided by the total number of games
(slots) or seats (table games).
[0174] In the retail industry, examples of a retail business
measure may include, for example, store profitability per square
foot (or square meter).
[0175] In the hospitality industry, examples of a hospitality
business measure may include, for example, the overall occupancy
rate.
[0176] In the financial industry, examples of a financial business
measure may include, for example, the total amount of outstanding
loans meeting a particular risk level.
[0177] In the entertainment industry, examples of a entertainment
business measure may include, for example, store profitability per
square foot (or square meter).
[0178] In the telecommunications industry, examples of a
telecommunications business measure may include, for example, the
total number of products a customer purchases.
[0179] In the Visual Document, data is rendered in up to seven
layers in one embodiment. However, it will be understood that the
number of layers may be varied as needed by the user. Specific
Visual Document Layers are described herein. However, it will be
understood that further Visual Document Layers may be included over
and above the specific types described.
[0180] Visual Designs are explicit techniques that facilitate
analysis by quickly communicating sets of data (termed BPD
Packages) related to BPDs. Once constructed, Visual Documents may
be utilized to feed other systems within the enterprise (e.g.,
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems), or directly
generate calls to action.
[0181] The described solution utilizes the best available technical
underpinnings, tools, products and methods to actualize the
availability of expert content.
[0182] At its foundation, the solution queries data from a high
performance enterprise data warehouse characterized by parallel
processing. This database can support both homogeneous (identical)
and heterogeneous (differing but intersecting) databases. The
system is adaptable for use with a plurality of third party
database vendors.
[0183] A scalable advanced web server framework can be employed to
provide the necessary services to run the application and deliver
output over the web. A flexible and controllable graphics rendering
engine can be used to maximize the quality and speed levels
required to support both static and dynamic (which could be, for
example, animated GIF, AVI or MPEG) displays. All components can
operate with a robust operating system platform and within secure
network architecture.
[0184] Pre-existing (and readily available) third party components
can be employed to manage user security (e.g. operating system
security), industry specific applications and OLAP (Online
Analytical Processing) or other more traditional reporting. The
described solution is designed to facilitate speedy and reliable
interfaces to these products.
[0185] A predictive modeling interface assists the user in
analyzing forecasted outcomes and in `what if` analysis.
[0186] Strict security, testing, change and version control, and
documentation standards can govern the development methodology.
[0187] Many organizations are facing massive and increasing amounts
of data to interpret, the need to make more complex decisions
faster, and accordingly are turning to data visualization as a tool
for transforming their data into a competitive advantage. This is
particularly true for high-performance companies, but it also
extends to any organization whose intellectual property exists in
massive, growing data sets.
[0188] This clash of (a) more data, (b) the increased complexity of
decisions and (c) the need for faster decisions was recently
recognized in an IDC White Paper (Gantz, John et. al.; IDC White
Paper; "Taming Information Chaos: A State-of-the-Art Report on the
Use of Business Intelligence for Decision Making" November 2007),
which described this clash as the "Perfect Storm" and that this
`storm` will drive companies to make a quantum leap in their use of
and sophistication in analytics.
[0189] Today's business tools and the way they operate barely allow
business users to, cope with historical internal data, let alone
internal real time, predictive, and external data.
[0190] Hence, a new paradigm in business intelligence solutions is
required.
[0191] System Overview
[0192] As explained above, FIG. 2A shows a high-level overview of
the system.
[0193] There are five key components to the system. These are:
[0194] 1. Visual Documents;
[0195] 2. Visual Designs;
[0196] 3. Business Performance Drivers (and BPD Packages);
[0197] 4. Spatial Maps;
[0198] 5. Application Components.
[0199] A description of each of these components is set out below
under the respective headings.
[0200] Visual Documents
[0201] The Visual Documents form the core of the solution from a
user perspective. This may include visualization(s), associated
data and/or metadata (typically the visual form) that the user
defines requests and interacts with. The Visual Documents may
consist of single frames or animated frames (which could be, for
example, implemented in AVI, GIF or MPEG format or a sequence of
still images).
[0202] The Visual Document is typically viewed in a dynamic web
browser view. In this interactive view the user may observe, select
and navigate around the document.
[0203] Once created, the Visual Documents may be stored in the
database and may be distributed to key persons (printed, emailed
etc.) or stored for later use and analysis.
[0204] Visual Designs
[0205] The Visual Designs are a classification of the different
types of visualizations that a user may choose. Within each Visual
Design category, there are a number of visualizations. For example,
the `spatial` category can have retail store location maps, network
maps or geographical location maps, such as, for example, maps
available from Google.TM. or Yahoo.TM..
[0206] The described system allows users to select one or more
visualizations (e.g. one visual form within a Visual Design
category) to create a Visual Document.
[0207] There are ten Visual Design categories defined below,
however it will be understood that further Visual Designs are
envisaged, as well as the number of visualizations within each
classification and the number of classifications.
[0208] Business Performance Drivers (and BPD Packages)
[0209] Business Performance Drivers (BPDs) are a metric applied to
data to indicate a meaningful measurement within a business area,
process or result. BPDs may be absolute or relative in their form
of measurement.
[0210] In the gaming industry, an example of a gaming metric may be
the theoretical win for all gaming positions for a particular
period.
[0211] In the retail industry, an example of a retail metric may be
the number of visits a customer makes to the store within a
period.
[0212] In the hospitality industry, an example of a hospitality
metric may be the average check (bill) amount for individual meals
or tables in a restaurant.
[0213] In the financial industry, an example of a financial metric
may be the number of and amount of credit card charges.
[0214] In the entertainment industry, an example of a entertainment
metric may be the number of visits a customer makes to the outlet
within a period.
[0215] In the telecommunications industry, an example of a
telecommunications metric may be the number of and amount of talk
time coverage charges.
[0216] The Business Performance Driver (BPD) concept differs from
the known KPI concept by introducing BPDs that
[0217] (1) may have multiple dimensions,
[0218] (2) place the BPD in the context of the factors used to
calculate them,
[0219] (3) provide well understood points of reference or metadata
around which visual document creation decisions can be made,
and
[0220] (4) may contain one or more methods of normalization of
data.
[0221] Common groups of BPDs are called BPD Packages. For example,
BPDs relating to one industry (say, telecommunications) can be
grouped into one BPD Package. BPDs may be classified into one or
more BPD Packages. For example, Net Revenue with normalizations
available of per customer or per month may be applicable in a
number of industries and hence, applicable to a number of BPD
Packages.
[0222] Spatial Maps
[0223] Spatial maps allow for a user-owned and defined spatial map
and/or for the user to use publicly available context maps such as
Google.TM. Maps or Yahoo.TM. Maps. In either case, the user can
display selected BPDs on the chosen spatial map.
[0224] Typically, a user-owned spatial map may be the inside floor
space of a business and a publically available context map may be
used for displaying BPDs on a geographic region e.g. a city,
county, state, country or the world.
[0225] Application Components
[0226] The described application includes two main components, the
Application Servers and the Application Infrastructure.
[0227] The Application Server includes a number of servers (or
server processes) that include the Rendering Engine (to make (or
render) the Visual Documents), Metadata Servers (for the BPD
Packages, the Visual Designs and the BPDs) and the Request
Queue.
[0228] The Application Infrastructure is also comprised of a number
of servers (or server processes) that may include a Listener (which
`listens` for document requests) and central error logging.
[0229] Based on the user selections made above (Visual Documents,
Visual Designs and BPDs), the user can click on an action and send
a communication to a third party system (CRM, Business Intelligence
or other application). The third party system could, for example,
load the list from the solution and then send out a personalized
email to all members on that list.
[0230] According to one embodiment, the described server components
of the application are a Java based application and utilize
application framework such as the IBM.TM. WebSphere application
server framework, other platforms and server applications may be
utilized as alternatives. The client application may be a mashup
that utilizes the server components or it could be a rich internet
application written using the Adobe.TM. Flash framework.
[0231] Other key elements of the system may include: [0232]
Parallelism--Parallel processing to increase responsiveness or to
increase workload scalability of queries or Visual Documents. This
parallelism may also decrease response time for larger visual
documents in particular animated images may be executed in a
parallel fashion. [0233] Security--System and user-access security.
This security may be a combination of authorization and
authentication. The security framework may be implemented using the
application framework. [0234] Map Updates--A map management tool to
update user-owned spatial maps. [0235] Predictive Modeling--This
may be an interface to third-party predictive models. [0236]
Configuration Tools--The application may be supported by
configuration tools to enable rapid deployment of the
application.
[0237] Modular Overview
[0238] Module Descriptions
[0239] The diagram shown in FIG. 2B shows an overview of the
software modules in the described system.
[0240] These modules are described in the subsequent table. More
detailed descriptions and diagrams of each of the software modules
are provided below.
[0241] The table below outlines the following four items in
relation to each module: [0242] 1. Technology System Component:
This is the name given to the system component; this name matches
the name in the above diagram. [0243] 2. High Level Functional
Description: Describes the role of the software module. [0244] 3.
Caching: Indicates whether this module uses caching to optimize
performance.
TABLE-US-00003 [0244] Technology System Component High Level
Functional Description Caching 1. Rendering Produces images and
animations; could use Yes Engine Google .TM. Maps or Yahoo .TM.
Maps for spatial context map. The development of Special Layers
enables Visual Document produced to have unique capabilities that
were not previously readily available. 2. Parallelism Enables
parallel execution of requests for high Yes Engine volume of Visual
Document output and rapid results delivery to users. The preferred
application framework selected is the IBM .TM. WebSphere product.
This framework enables the application to be scaled across multiple
servers. 3. Map Provides key map editing features Yes Management
(specifically CAD like) and map version Tool control (desktop and
enterprise) tools. 4. OLAP Industry standard online analytical
reporting. Yes Reporting For example, sorting, filtering, charting
and multi-dimensional analysis. It is desirable that the user
interaction with the data selection process in the data view is
seamless with the data visualization view. For example, if the user
selects 5 customers from the data view, the same 5 customers should
be selected in the visualization view. This means that the solution
may be a hybrid view (as discussed later). This hybrid view is a
`simple` view and is an interface to an industry leading OLAP tool.
One option includes interfacing to the OLAP tool via a JDBC
interface from the described solution or a web service model for
the selection management. 5. Predictive An interface to external
predictive modeling Yes Modeling engines; may also have some
modeling System systems. For example, Self Organizing Maps (SOM).
6. Visual Design Tools for users to manage the different Visual No
Management Designs. System 7. BPD Tools for users to manage the
different BPD No Management Packages and their associated BPDs. and
Data Contains Data Access capability that enables Access data to be
queried from RDBMS (or System potentially other data sources). 8.
Output For management of the documents (Visual Yes Management
Documents) within the system. System 9. Infrastructure Core system
management functions including Yes system logging and Request Queue
management. The Request Queue is also described under parallelism
and there may be crossover between these two module descriptions.
10. Security Enables access to the system (or parts thereof) No to
be properly controlled and administered. 11. Interfaces Allows
services to be called by (or to call) No external applications. 12.
Implementation Tools to deploy and configure the software Yes Tools
system.
[0245] Architectural Views of the System
[0246] This section contains descriptions and diagrams of the
architectural views of the system. The architecture shows how the
system components fit and operate together to create an operational
system. If compared to a vehicle, the wiring diagrams, the physical
body, the driving circle and key complex components like the engine
would be shown in architectural views.
[0247] This view does not describe how the system is written; it
describes the high-level architectural considerations.
[0248] Architectural considerations are typically implemented by
one or more software modules. The modular view described herein
lays out a high-level view of how the software modules are
arranged.
[0249] FIG. 3 shows a general overview of the data flow within the
system.
[0250] FIG. 4 shows the architectural overview of the described
solution. This diagram is elaborated by the diagrams and
descriptions in following sections of this document.
[0251] The following modules or components are shown:
[0252] Web interface Module 4105: User interfaces are browser based
or may be a web services client, a rich internet application or may
be a thick client. In all cases the user interface uses the same
interface to the back end services.
[0253] Rendering Definition Module 4110: The user interface is used
to define and request the rendering of Visual Documents
[0254] Rendering Use Module 4115: Visual Documents are used for
analysis, and precipitate calls to action.
[0255] Connectivity Services Module 4120: The definition and
rendering of Visual Documents is performed through a set of
programs or services called the Connectivity Services.
[0256] Configuration Management Tools Module 4125: Multiple
versions of the basic elements; BPD, Visual Design, Visual
Documents; are managed by a set of programs called the
Configuration Management Tools.
[0257] Visual Document Management Catalog 4130: One such
Configuration Management Tool (4125) is a set of programs that
manage a users' catalog of available Visual Documents.
[0258] Predictive Modeling Module 4135: Predictive modeling is used
for forecasting unknown data elements. These forecasts are used to
predict future events and provide estimates for missing data.
[0259] Map Management Tool 4140: Another of the Configuration
Management Tools (21125) is the Map Management Tool. It is designed
to manage versions of the spatial elements of a visual design such
as a geographic map or floor plan.
[0260] Visual Document Definitions Management Module 4145: Visual
Document Definitions are managed through the use of metadata
(4175).
[0261] Message Queue Submission Module 4150: Requests for Visual
Documents are handled through queued messages sent between and
within processes.
[0262] Visual Design Type Module 4155: Visual Documents are
comprised of one or many Visual Designs in these categories.
[0263] Visual Document Status Module 4160: The status of Visual
Documents is discerned from the metadata and displayed on the user
interface.
[0264] Interaction and Visual Document View Module 4165: The user
interacts with the Visual Documents through the user interface, and
appropriate changes to and requests to read are made to the
metadata.
[0265] List Production Module 4170: Where additional output such as
customer lists are required, they are requested using the user
interface and stored in the EDW (4215).
[0266] Data Packages Metadata Module 4175: Metadata is used to
describe and process raw data (data packages).
[0267] Message Queue Module 4180: Messages may be queued while
awaiting processing (4150).
[0268] Visual Design and BPD Metadata Module 4185: Metadata is used
to describe and process the BPD's and Visual Designs associated
with a particular Visual Document.
[0269] Visual Documents Module 4190: Visual Documents may be
comprised of layered Visual Designs.
[0270] Third Party Modules 4195: Visual Documents may be used with
or interact with other third party tools.
[0271] Listener Module 4200: The listener processes messages (4150)
in the message queue (4180)
[0272] Document Controller Module 4205: The document controller is
used to provide processed data to the rendering or query
engines.
[0273] Central Error Logging Module 4210: System errors are
detected and logged in the EWP (4215).
[0274] EDW 4215: All data is typically stored on a database,
typically, multiple fault tolerant processors in an Enterprise Data
Warehouse.
[0275] The following architectural components are described in more
detail.
TABLE-US-00004 Architectural Component Description Connectivity
This is a common communication service that is used Services when
sending messages between systems (i.e. the described solution and
3.sup.rd party tools) and between the described application layer
and the user interface layer. Configuration Allows specialized
users to configure Visual Designs and Management Visual Documents
to their needs - which differ from the Tools default configuration
provided. Manage Visual Gives selected users the ability to search,
sort, group, and Document delete Visual Documents in the Visual
Document Catalog Catalog. Predictive External modeling systems that
use data sent from the Modeling described solution to perform
complex calculations to produce predictive data. This predicted
data is piped through the described solution to the user. Map
Management This is an application that enables users to create
modify Tool and delete individual maps to manage the complete
sequences, this is very appropriate for management of floor plans.
Data Packages The services responsible for providing metadata that
Metadata enables the requester (typically, Data Collector) to
source the data for the BPD. Visual Design & The services
responsible for providing the metadata to the BPD Metadata
requester (typically the Rendering Engine) that enables the
construction of the Visual Documents. Request Queue The Request
Queue manages the communication of requests for rendering of Visual
Documents. These communications may be scheduled. Document The
Document Controller consists of two components. Controller The
first is the Data Collector responsible for reading the appropriate
metadata and retrieving the data from the EDW (Enterprise Data
Warehouse). This data is passed to the Rendering Engine that is
responsible for producing the Visual Document. Document Controllers
run parallel Visual Document requests, build and store documents.
Read/Write The described solution provides a common interface for
Interface for 3.sup.rd 3.sup.rd party tools to communicate with
e.g. CRM Party Tools applications. 3.sup.rd Party BI Tools One of
the 3.sup.rd party tools that the described solution may integrate
with is an external OLAP tool. Secret Databases Secret databases
are a method of sharing encrypted databases and providing a SQL
interface that enables end users to run queries against atomic data
without discovering the details of the data.
[0276] The following terms have been also been used in FIG. 4.
These are explained in more detail below.
TABLE-US-00005 Architectural Component Description Logging Logging
(for example, error logging and access logging) is an inherently
difficult activity in a parallel independent and predominantly
stateless system. The main issue that arises is that logging
presents potential links between systems and therefore
dependencies. Typically within the application, each server will be
responsible for its own logging. This ensures that the system
scales without degradation in performance. A separate process
(central log reader) may be used to consolidate these logs
dynamically as and when required. Web Server Web Servers respond to
requests from users to provide Visual Documents. They read any
required information from the metadata servers and Visual Document
storage servers. If necessary they write Visual Document requests
to the Request Queue. Metadata Metadata servers are responsible for
storage and Servers/Storage user views of metadata. The metadata
servers are also responsible for the validation of user rights to
read Visual Documents (within the application). Visual Document The
Visual Document Catalog is a secure storage for Storage all Visual
Documents. Access is only possible when security requirements are
met. Data Collector Typically the data collector queries the
customer's data warehouse. The data warehouse can be augmented with
additional subscribed embellishment data. This will provide the raw
data that is represented visually back to the user. BPD Packages
The described solution will use metadata to define Metadata groups
of BPDs. These groups of BPDs are called BPD Packages. BPD Packages
enable both internal data measures to be efficiently installed and
external datasets to be provided. BPD packages contain no data.
[0277] A further high-level system delivery overview of the
solution is set out as shown in FIG. 5.
[0278] The described solution 500 is hosted by the enterprise 510.
The figure shows the logical flow from the submission of a request
to the end result, viewing the rendered Visual Document.
[0279] The data being visualized belongs to the customer 512 and
the submitted request is unknown to the entity running the
visualization system 500.
[0280] The controlling entity, integrators and customers may wish
to have summaries of technical performance data (usage patterns,
errors etc) sent from the operational system back to the integrator
or controlling entity.
[0281] The system 500 has access to the data in a EDW 505. The
system utilizes a request queue 515 to control requests from a
corporate network 510. These requests are forwarded to a document
controller 520. The document controller 520 accesses both the EDW
505 and reads visual designs and BPD metadata services 525, as well
as data packages metadata services 530.
[0282] The system described thus enables various methods to be
performed. For example, data is transformed into visually
interpretable information. The visually interpretable information
is in the form of visual representations that are placed within one
or more visual documents.
[0283] FIG. 6A shows a general data flow diagram for the described
system.
[0284] The User Interface 610 allows the user to define BPD's 615
in terms of raw data 627, which become the focus of the Visual
Document 630.
[0285] Further, the User Interface 610 allows the user, through
automated expert help, to create the Metadata 620, the most
appropriate Visual Designs 635 that make up the Visual Document 625
in order to provide detailed analysis of data related to the BPD
615. The data acquisition, visual design rendering and visual
document rendering processes utilize massive amounts of raw data
627.
[0286] The Metadata 620 is used by the Processes 625 to optimize
the acquisition of the appropriate Data 627, processing of the data
into useful information, and to optimize the creation and rendering
of the Visual Designs 635 and the Visual Document 630 that contains
them.
[0287] This method includes the steps of providing comprehensive
yet easy to understand instructions to an end user that has
accessed the system and the visual design application. The
instructions assist the end user in obtaining data associated with
a theme, wherein the theme may be focused on objectives that have
been derived from the data. The objectives may be business
objectives, for example. In this way, the system guides a user
carefully through the many choices that are available to them in
creating the visual representations, and the system automatically
tailors its instructions according to not only what the user
requires, but also according to the data that is to be represented.
The system focuses on providing instructions to enable a visual
representation to be created that will enable an end user to more
effectively understand the data that has been collated.
[0288] In the gaming industry, the theme may include a gaming
theme, such as, for example, maximizing the theoretical win for all
gaming positions for a particular period.
[0289] In the retail industry, the theme may include a retail
theme, such as, for example, maximizing the total transactions
processed by cashiers.
[0290] In the hospitality industry, the theme may include a special
incentive, such as, for example, maximizing the total number of
check-ins performed by a room clerk.
[0291] In the financial industry, the theme may include a financial
theme, such as, for example, maximizing the total number of new
accounts opened by a teller or officer.
[0292] In the entertainment industry, the theme may include an
entertainment theme, such as, for example, maximizing the total
transactions processed by cashier.
[0293] In the telecommunications industry, the theme may include a
special, such as, for example, maximizing the total number of new
accounts opened by a retail outlet or independent dealer.
[0294] In the gaming industry, the business objectives may be, for
example, maximizing the total theoretical win per gaming position
for a particular category of game over a specific period of
time.
[0295] In the retail industry, the business objectives may be, for
example, maximizing the sales of the highest profit items for a
particular period.
[0296] In the hospitality industry, the business objectives may be,
for example, maximizing the average rate for the occupied rooms for
a period of time.
[0297] In the financial industry, the business objectives may be,
for example, maximizing the risk return ratio of a loan portfolio
for a particular period.
[0298] In the entertainment industry, the business objectives may
be, for example, maximizing the sales of the highest profit items
for a particular period.
[0299] In the telecommunications industry, the business objectives
may be, for example, maximizing the risk of dropped calls for a
particular period.
[0300] Further, the instructions assist the end user in determining
one or more summaries of the obtained data that enable the end user
to understand the theme, as well as organizing the determined
summaries into one or more contextual representations that
contribute to the end user's understanding of the theme.
[0301] Further, instructions are provided that assist an end user
in constructing one or more graphical representations of the data,
where each graphical representation is of a predefined type, as
discussed in more detail below, and includes multiple layers of
elements that contribute to the end user's understanding of the
theme.
[0302] Finally, instructions are provided to assist an end user in
arranging the produced multiple graphical representations in a
manner that enables the end user to understand and focus on the
theme being represented as well as to display or print the
organized graphical representations. The system assists in the
organization or arrangement of the representations, elements
thereof, within the visual document so as to ensure certain
criteria are met, such as, for example, providing a suitable
representation in the space available, using the minimum amount or
volume of ink to create the representation, and providing a
suitable representation that depicts the theme in a succinct
manner, or visually simplistic manner.
[0303] The data being processed to create the graphical
representations may be particularly relevant to the theme being
displayed, disparate information or indeed a combination of
relevant and disparate information.
[0304] There are multiple types of graphical representations that
may be included within the visual document. The types are discussed
in more detail below and include a hierarchical type, a spatial
type, a virtual type, a classical type, a navigational type, a
temporal type, a textual type, a structural type, a pivotal type,
and an interactive type.
[0305] Further, the instructions may assist an end user in
arranging the graphical representations in order to display high
density data in a manner that conveys important information about
the data, rather than swamping the end user with multiple
representations that look impressive but do not convey much
information.
[0306] In addition instructions may be provided to assist the end
user in arranging the graphical representations to allow
supplementary information to be added, where the supplementary
information may be provided in any suitable form. Particular
examples provided below depict the supplementary information being
provided in subsequent visual layers that overlay the graphical
representation. Alternatively, or in addition, supplementary
information may include additional elements to be displayed within
a single layer of the representation, for example, in the form of
widgets.
[0307] In the gaming industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the number of airline flights serving a casino's
location, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market. Further, the supplementary information may include the
geographical location of an individual, the spending habits of an
individual or the gaming habits of an individual.
[0308] In the retail industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may access
the entries, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[0309] In the hospitality industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the consumer confidence index or local
special event factors, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the hotels, and other general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[0310] In the financial industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the consumer confidence index or local real
estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that may access the
branches, and other general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[0311] In the entertainment industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the holidays or local special events
occurring during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the outlets, and general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[0312] In the telecommunications industry, the supplementary
information may include, for example the consumer confidence index
or local real estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that
may access the retail outlet, wireless network, and other general
economic factors affecting the primary market.
[0313] FIG. 6B shows a flow diagram according to this embodiment of
the invention.
[0314] Step 6105: Process Starts. User decides to manage the
business.
[0315] Step 6110: Available data is identified and analyzed.
[0316] Step 6115: Business Process Drivers (metrics defined in
terms of the data to indicate a meaningful measurement within a
business area, process or result).
[0317] Step 6120: Data influencing the BPD metrics are
identified.
[0318] Step 6125: BPD's are input into a computer system
[0319] Step 6130: BPD is categorized and appropriate metadata
describing it is generated.
[0320] Step 6135: Visual Designs to display the influential data
are created.
[0321] Step 6140: Visual Designs are aggregated into Visual
Documents and rendered. Adjustments are made based on the freshness
of all components (e.g., BPD, available data).
[0322] Step 6145: Visual documents are analyzed by the end
user.
[0323] Step 6150: The end user decides on and implements actions
based on the analysis in 6145.
[0324] As touched on above, business performance drivers (BPDs) are
used to enable more efficient data analysis so as to produce
accurate and relevant visual representations of the data. A BPD is
a form of advanced business measure wherein additional information
is included within the BPD that enables the system using the BPD to
understand how to manipulate the BPD. That is, one or more
intelligent attributes are included with the business measure to
form the BPD, where those attributes reference or include
information on how the BPD is to be processed or displayed. The
form of processing and display may also be varied according to the
device type or media upon which the business measures are to be
displayed.
[0325] The attributes are attached to the business measure by
storing the BPD in the form of a mark up language, such as, for
example, HTML or XML. It will however be understood that any other
suitable format for storing the BPD may be used where the
attributes can be linked to the business measure.
[0326] In the example of HTML, the attribute is included as a tag.
One such example would be to include the data or business measure
within the body of the HTML code and follow the business measure
with a tag that references the attributes, or dimensions,
associated with that business measure.
[0327] Further, the attributes may also be modified or deleted, or
indeed new attributes added, during or after the processing of the
BPD so that the attributes are maintained, or kept up to date,
bearing in mind the requirements of the entity using the BPD to
visualize their data.
[0328] The business performance drivers, or measurable business
objectives, are identified in order to create graphical
representations of the business objectives, where those
representations are placed within a visual document. A business
objective may be, for example, a metric associated with a
business.
[0329] Instructions are provided by the system to the end user, in
order to assist the end user in establishing multiple business
objectives as functions of available metrics, as well as assisting
the user in organizing the business objectives into a contextual
form that contributes to the end user's understanding of the
business objectives.
[0330] Further, instructions are provided to assist the end user in
constructing one or more graphical representations of the business
objectives, where each graphical representation is of a predefined
type, as mentioned above and described in more detail below.
Further, each graphical representation includes multiple layers of
elements that contribute to the end user's understanding of the
business objective.
[0331] The elements within the graphical representation may
include, for example, a shape, position, color, size, or animation
of a particular object.
[0332] Instructions are also provided by the system to assist the
user in arranging multiple graphical representations in a suitable
manner that enables the end user to understand and focus on the
business objectives being represented.
[0333] Finally, the end user is also assisted with instructions on
how to display the organized graphical representations.
[0334] The following section describes a method' of creating a
visual representation of data in the form of a visual design.
[0335] The method includes the steps of the system providing
instructions to an end user to assist the end user in constructing
multiple graphical representations of data, where each graphical
representation is one of a predefined type, as defined above and
explained in more detail below, and the graphical representation
includes multiple layers of elements that contribute to the end
user's understanding of the data
[0336] The system also provides instructions to an end user that
assist the end user with arranging multiple graphical
representations of different types within the visual representation
in a manner that enables the end user to understand and focus on
the data being represented, as well as providing instructions to
assist the end user in displaying the visual representation in a
suitable manner.
[0337] The visual representation may be displayed in a number of
different ways, such as on a color video screen or a printed page.
The information that is forwarded to the display device to create
the visual representation may differ according the type of display
device so that the visual representation is produced in the best
known suitable manner utilizing the advantages of the display
device, and avoiding any disadvantages.
[0338] The data being displayed may be based on a measured metric
or an underlying factor that affects a metric.
[0339] The elements within the graphical representation may include
a shape, position, color, size or animation of a particular
object.
[0340] Although a single visual document may include only one type
of graphical representation, either in the form of multiple
graphical representations or a single representation, there will
also be situations where multiple types of graphical
representations may be organized within a single visual document in
order to convey different aspects of the data, such as, for
example, temporal as well as spatial information. The inclusion of
different types of graphical representations within a single
document can provide an end user with a better understanding of the
data being visualized.
[0341] Further, the single visual representation may be arranged to
be displayed as an image on a single page or screen. This may be
particularly useful where space is at a premium yet the user
requires the visual representation to be provided in a succinct
manner. For example, the user may request certain information to be
displayed in a visual representation on a single mobile telephone
display, or a single screen of a computer display, in order to show
a customer or colleague the results of a particular analysis
without the need to flick between multiple screens which can result
in confusion, a waste of energy and ultimately a loss of
understanding of the visual representations.
[0342] The same issue applies to printed representations, where the
result of the system enabling a user to arrange a single
representation, which may include multiple elements or layers, on a
single page not only succinctly represents the data being analyzed
but also saves the amount of paper being printed on and the amount
of ink being used to print the document.
[0343] Further, the amount of ink required for a visual
representation may be further reduced by providing instructions to
the end user in a manner that directs them to control and use white
space in a representation in an efficient manner so as to reduce
the requirement of ink.
[0344] Multiple types of graphical representations may be merged
together within a single visual document, or representation.
[0345] As mentioned above, instructions can be provided by the
system to assist the end user in adding supplementary information
to the visual representation, and the supplementary information may
be provided in layers within the representation.
[0346] Visualization Framework
[0347] The following description provides the visualization
framework that will support embodiments of the present invention.
The description includes an overview of the importance of Visual
Design including a brief historical recount of a world-recognized
leading visualization. The description also sets out the Visual
Design classifications for the described solution.
[0348] It will be understood that the Visual Design examples
described in this section are examples for illustrative purposes to
identify the concepts behind how the visualization is produced.
Therefore, it will further be understood that the concepts
described can produce visual designs different to those
specifically described. The Visual Design examples shown are also
used to help the reader understand the narrative describing the
Visual Designs.
[0349] The system described is specifically adapted to create
actual specific visualization designs relevant to selected vertical
and horizontal industry applications being deployed.
[0350] A vertical industry application is one that is associated
with a solution directed at a specific industry, such as, for
example, the entertainment industry. In this example, BPDs relevant
to that industry are created, such as rental patterns of movies
over different seasons.
[0351] A horizontal industry application is one that is associated
with solutions across multiple industries. For example, the BPD may
be based on CRM analytics, which applies across a whole range of
different industries.
[0352] Due to the breadth of services offered by the various
industries discussed herein, their nature lends itself to both
horizontal (within area) and vertical applications (outside
area).
[0353] For example, in the gaming industry, in addition to
providing gambling activities, a typical gaming venue runs
significant and varied food service, entertainment, lodging, and
other applications. In the retail industry (in particular the
"super store" concept), in addition to providing traditional retail
product offerings, a retail venue provides significant and varied
services including food service, banking, grooming, garment care,
and other applications. In the hospitality industry (in particular
the on-line, kiosk or by mail delivery concept) in addition to
providing traditional hospitality product offerings, a hotel
provides significant and varied products including various
categories of car rentals, tour and travel services, business
services, and other specialized services for consumers and
businesses. In the financial industry (in particular the on-line,
kiosk or by mail delivery concept) in addition to providing
traditional financial product offerings, a branch office provides
significant and varied products including various categories of
loans, financial planning services, credit and gift cards, payroll
services, and other specialized services for consumers and small
businesses. In the entertainment industry (in particular the
on-line or by mail delivery concept) in addition to providing
traditional entertainment product offerings, an entertainment venue
provides significant and varied products including videos,
merchandise and audio products in various formats. In the
telecommunications industry (in particular the product offer
capability) in addition to providing traditional voice and data
product offerings, a retail outlet provides significant and varied
products including phones, phone accessories, entertainment
packages, and data, and other specialized services for consumers
and small businesses.
[0354] Design is now a fundamental part of almost every aspect of
how people live work and breath. Everything is designed from a
toothbrush to every aspect of a web site. Compare visual design to
architectural design--in both cases anybody can draw quite complex
pictures. The resulting pictures could have stimulating and well
drawn graphic elements. In both cases, the question is why does the
world need designers? Exploring this question more deeply one can
ask--does it make such a difference to how one perceives and
understands a design when it is made by a professional rather than
an amateur?
[0355] The trend in business intelligence is to design tools to
provide flexibility and leave the world of visual design to the
amateurs. Stephen Few comments in Information Dashboard
Design.sup.iii that "Without a doubt I owe the greatest debt of
gratitude to the many software vendors who have done so much to
make this book necessary by failing to address or even contemplate
the visual design needs of dashboards. Their kind disregard for
visual design has given me focus, ignited my passion, and
guaranteed my livelihood for years to come."
[0356] Visual Designs within the described framework are well
thought through in how the data is displayed. The described system
allows good information visualization design concepts to be
captured and delivered back to users as Visual Documents using
unique data processing and analysis techniques.
[0357] Visual Designs
[0358] Method or Visual Design Classifications
[0359] According to this embodiment, ten Visual Design types are
defined and incorporated into the described system. It will be
understood that additional Visual Designs may be further defined
including the creation of certain examples and actual Visual
Designs for specific industry applications.
[0360] The visual design types include: [0361] Hierarchical [0362]
Temporal [0363] Spatial [0364] Textual [0365] Virtual [0366]
Structural [0367] Classical [0368] Pivotal [0369] Navigational
[0370] Interactive
[0371] The following describes a method for the assessment of
Visual Design quality. In assessing the quality of a Visual Design
the following factors should be considered: [0372] Alternative
approaches--To assess the capability of a Visual Design it is
important to contrast it with other visualization methods. In
particular one should compare the visual design to a classical
graph or table of numbers. This comparison is important as many
data visualizations add considerable graphic weight but little
informational value. [0373] Visual simplicity--Looking at a
visualization should not overload the mind. The simplicity of the
visualization is important as it enhances interpretation and allows
common understanding without training. Some visualizations require
considerable training to be applied. In general, the described
solution will not use these visual designs. [0374] Data
density--the density of data in a visualization is a critical
measure of its overall value. Higher density visualizations, if
successful in maintaining their simplicity, have considerable
potential to increase the flow of information to end users. [0375]
Volume of ink used--Is the visual design using negative space to
show key information? This use of negative space allows lower
volumes of ink to be used while showing the same or higher density
of information. In addition, ink required is generally reduced as
the number of "views" or pages of data is reduced to convey the
same volume of data. [0376] Capability to be illuminated with
detail--In the end, data visualization becomes information
visualization when the specific details are shown. The ability of a
visualization to hold detailed information in specific places,
often achieved with labels, is a key element in determining its
value as an information visualization.
[0377] Visual Design Layers
[0378] There are seven defined Visual Design Layers which are set
out diagrammatically as shown in FIG. 7. Other visual design layers
may be added as appropriate.
[0379] These seven Visual Design Layers are described in the
following table:
TABLE-US-00006 Visual Design Layer Type Description 1.
Embellishment Embellishment Layers have labels, symbology Layers
and/or other detailed information that is used to illuminate
information that is displayed in the lower layers. The overlay can
also include controls such as progress bars or spark-lines. 2.
Selectable Layers Selectable Layers are interactive and consist of
items that can have associated data. On a retail spatial map it
includes store locations as they have associated data. Selectable
Layers are typically not obscured by thematic treatments. 3.
Thematic Layers Thematic Layers overlay colors or heatmaps on
Special Layers. These thematic treatments become the core visual
impact of the final Visual Document. 4. Transparent Transparent
Thematic Layers are very similar to Thematic Layers Thematic Layers
(in fact are an alternative). The only difference is that they are
graphically merged using a transparent overlay. For example, this
kind of layer is necessary to overlay heatmaps on maps.google.com.
5. Special Layers Special Layers construct the structure of the
data. Specifically the Special Layer understands how to
automatically draw the data so that other thematic treatments can
be applied. Special Layers include mundane layers such as layers of
polygons. 6. Context Layers These are the lowest level of the
visualization; they include background maps and other contextual
information. 7. Context Map This is a type of context layer that is
rendered from Layers a map such as Google .TM. Maps, Yahoo .TM.
Maps etc. This may be a road map, satellite map or any other map.
It is past as a set of tiled images and as such can only be used as
a Context Layer. Typically, a Transparent Thematic Layer will be
used to display thematic data on a context map layer.
[0380] In terms of the Special Layer, two examples of Special
Layers are set out below:
[0381] A. Classic Example of Special Layer: Voronoi Diagram
[0382] Source: Wikipedia.sup.iv
[0383] In mathematics, a Voronoi diagram, named after Georgy
Voronoi, also called a Voronoi tessellation, a Voronoi
decomposition, or a Dirichlet tessellation (after Lejeune
Dirichlet), is a special kind of decomposition of a metric space
determined by distances to a specified discrete set of objects in
the space, e.g., by a discrete set of points.
[0384] In the simplest and most common case, in the plane, a given
set of points S, and the Voronoi diagram for S is the partition of
the plane which associates a region V(p) with each point p from S
in such a way that all points in V(p) are closer to p than to any
other point in S.
[0385] A Voronoi diagram can thus be defined as a Special Layer,
where a set of polygons are generated from a set of points. The
resulting polygon layer can then be subjected to thematic
treatments, such as coloring.
[0386] B. Non Traditional Example of a Special Layer: Calendar
[0387] A calendar can be generated as a Special Layer for display
of a temporal visual document. This Special Layer would require a
`start date` and an `end date`, most other information regarding
the nature and structure of the Calendar could be determined
automatically. The thematic layers would then use the structure of
the calendar as a basis for thematic treatments such as coloring
and contouring.
[0388] In an example from ENTROP A.sup.v a calendar is shown that
can be created into a spiral. The structure and layout of this
spiral will be the subject of considerable design discussions by
information designers focused on issues such as aesthetics and
clarity of information. The result of this discussion is a visual
design of a spiral calendar Special Layer. This Special Layer can
then be used for thematic treatments such as coloring.
[0389] Visual Design Types
[0390] The ten defined types of visual design will now be described
in more detail below.
[0391] 1. Hierarchical Visual Designs
[0392] One purpose of a hierarchical visual design is to present
large scale hierarchical data in one display. It is a picture for
understanding, monitoring, exploring and analyzing hierarchical
data.
[0393] A tree structure is one example of a hierarchical visual
design. A typical hand drawn example of a tree structure is
available at Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wild/Tree_structure. A hand drawn example
of a tree structure of a French encyclopedia is shown. In this case
the detail of the actual topics in the encyclopedia becomes the
detail that allows the visual design to be useful.
[0394] It would be possible to overlay information on this visual
design such as the average cost per page of building the document
to show people the relationship between the natural structure of
the document and some financial measure.
[0395] The Hierarchical Visual Design is a hierarchical diagram
such as an organizational chart or a correlation matrix.
[0396] This Visual Design has at least one natural centre and
typically has a higher density toward the fringes of the
visualization. The Hierarchical Visual Design can typically be
considered as a `tree` structure. The nodes and vertices within the
tree structure are best if they are generated automatically from a
dataset. This tree structure is a good example of a Special
Layer.
[0397] The development process includes building a tree that is
optimized for this type of Visual Design including heat mapping
techniques.
[0398] Large scale hierarchical data is represented using various
techniques such as mapping to icons, shapes, colors and
heights.
[0399] Typical uses include mapping of web pages, organizational
charts, decision trees and menu options.
[0400] Generating a hierarchy from data may be completed with human
intervention. For example, when looking at the hierarchy of an
encyclopedia it would be possible to rearrange the density of
information so there is no overlap between trees. The decision on
how much overlap removal may be assisted with human input.
[0401] A hierarchy generated automatically often has more than one
solution, for example an organizational chart can be meaningfully
shown in a number of ways (e.g. horizontally or vertically). One
key challenge in automating the tree production is to also describe
the cartographic and layout decisions that can be captured into the
Special Layers that build the tree.
[0402] A specific example is described below in relation to the
determining of a hierarchy of data points in a textual type visual
design.
[0403] Typically tree views have relationships between nodes. These
relationships can be directional, bi-directional or
non-directional. Relationships may also exist between multiple
levels that complicate the process of drawing a useful visual
document. Tree views may also be drawn without relationships
between nodes. For example, in a fully connected network a
relationship is not useful; however, the fully connected nodes may
have a hierarchy that can be used to structure the Visual
Document.
[0404] Potential Layouts include linked hierarchy, single value
hierarchy and multiple value hierarchy.
[0405] The R-Tree is a traditional method for building an index of
a spatially arranged dataset--this is also a natural Special Layer.
By overlaying the creation of an R-Tree index over a data set, such
as a self organizing map (SOM) or other dimension reducing
representation, a hierarchy of the data can be constructed.
[0406] The generated R-Tree functions both as an index to
navigation of the unstructured data and a summarization of the key
components of the data.
[0407] It has not previously been known to use the dimensional
indexing methodologies, such as the R-tree indexing, the Quad Tree
or the Priority of R-tree as a display mechanism on its own. These
indexing methods can be used to more easily enable the
interpretation of visual representations, such as, for example, the
interpretation of self organizing maps or other dimension reducing
representation. Dimensional indexing can enable a user to interact
with visualizations in a more meaningful manner by selecting data
that is arranged in a hierarchical manner in the index and seeing
where that data is located within the visualization. The
combination of an indexing method and a display mechanism provide
for a computationally efficient and technically advanced method for
interacting with very large datasets.
[0408] Description of Dimensional Index: R-Tree [0409] As defined
in Wikipedia, R-trees are tree data structures that are similar to
B-trees, but are used for spatial access methods i.e., for indexing
multi-dimensional information; for example, the (X, Y) coordinates
of geographical data. A common real-world usage for an R-tree might
be: "Find all museums within 2 miles of my current location". The
data structure splits space with hierarchically nested, and
possibly overlapping, minimum bounding rectangles (MBR, otherwise
known as bounding boxes, i.e. "rectangle", what the "R" in R-tree
stands for). [0410] Each node of an R-tree has a variable number of
entries (up to some predefined maximum). Each entry within a
non-leaf node stores two pieces of data: a way of identifying a
child node, and the bounding box of all entries within this child
node. [0411] The insertion and deletion algorithms use the bounding
boxes from the nodes to ensure that "nearby" elements are placed in
the same leaf node (in particular, a new element will go into the
leaf node that requires the least enlargement in its bounding box).
Each entry within a leaf node stores two pieces of information; a
way of identifying the actual data element (which, alternatively,
may be placed directly in the node), and the bounding box of the
data element. [0412] Similarly, the searching algorithms (for
example; intersection, containment, nearest) use the bounding boxes
to decide whether or not to search inside a child node. In this
way, most of the nodes in the tree are never "touched" during a
search. Like B-trees, this makes R-trees suitable for databases,
where nodes can be paged to memory when needed.
[0413] A quad tree is a tree whose nodes either are leaves or have
4 children. The children are ordered 1, 2, 3, 4.
[0414] The advantage of indexes, such as the R-Tree, Priority
R-Tree or Quad-Tree indexes, is that they can classify a two (or
higher) dimensional space into a hierarchical tree. This hierarchy
is typically used to lookup values, for example to determine all
the customers that are near to a store location.
[0415] Within the R-Tree, nodes at the same level of the tree may
be balanced. This balancing provides for an insightful
classification of data within the tree since each layer of the
classification contains all data and an automatically generated
hierarchy. A similar balancing is desirable for other kinds of
spatial indexing functions such as the Priority free.
[0416] Embodiments of the present invention are described herein
with reference to a system adapted or arranged to perform a method
for creating a visual representation of data points from metric
data and determining a hierarchy of the data points.
[0417] In summary, the system includes at least a processor, one or
more memory devices or an interface for connection to one or more
memory devices, input and output interfaces for connection to
external devices in order to enable the system to receive and
operate upon instructions from one or more users or external
systems, a data bus for internal and external communications
between the various components, and a suitable power supply.
Further, the system may include one or more communication devices
(wired or wireless) for communicating with external and internal
devices, and one or more input/output devices, such as a display,
pointing device, keyboard or printing device.
[0418] The processor is arranged to perform the steps of a program
stored as program instructions within the memory device. The
program instructions enable the various methods of performing the
invention as described herein to be performed. The program
instructions may be developed or implemented using any suitable
software programming language and toolkit, such as, for example, a
C-based language. Further, the program instructions may be stored
in any suitable manner such that they can be transferred to the
memory device or read by the processor, such as, for example, being
stored on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium
may be any suitable medium, such as, for example, solid state
memory, magnetic tape, a compact disc (CD-ROM or CD-R/W), memory
card, flash memory, optical disc, magnetic disc or any other
suitable computer readable medium.
[0419] The system is arranged to be in communication with external
data storage systems or devices in order to retrieve the relevant
data.
[0420] It will be understood that the system herein described
includes one or more elements that are arranged to perform the
various functions and methods as described herein. The following
portion of the description is aimed at providing the reader with an
example of a conceptual view of how various modules and/or engines
that make up the elements of the system may be interconnected to
enable the functions to be implemented. Further, the following
portion of the description explains in system related detail how
the steps of the herein described method may be performed. The
conceptual diagrams are provided to indicate to the reader how the
various data elements are processed at different stages by the
various different modules and/or engines.
[0421] It will be understood that the arrangement and construction
of the modules or engines may be adapted accordingly depending on
system and user requirements so that various functions may be
performed by different modules or engines to those described
herein.
[0422] It will be understood that the modules and/or engines
described may be implemented and provided with instructions using
any suitable form of technology. For example, the modules or
engines may be implemented or created using any suitable software
code written in any suitable language, where the code is then
compiled to produce an executable program that may be run on any
suitable computing system. Alternatively, or in conjunction with
the executable program, the modules or engines may be implemented
using any suitable mixture of hardware, firmware and software. For
example, portions of the modules may be implemented using an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system-on-a-chip
(SoC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or any other suitable
adaptable or programmable processing device.
[0423] The methods described herein may be implemented using a
general purpose computing system specifically programmed to perform
the described steps. Alternatively, the methods described herein
may be implemented using a specific computer system such as a data
visualization computer, a database query computer, a graphical
analysis computer, a gaming data analysis computer, a manufacturing
data analysis computer, a business intelligence computer etc.,
where the computer has been specifically adapted to perform the
described steps on specific data captured from an environment
associated with a particular field.
[0424] According to this embodiment there is shown in FIG. 8B a
conceptual system diagram where a data visualization system 8901
includes various modules to provide visual designs (visual
representations) using any number of methods as described herein.
The visual designs are used to visually represent data in a form
that is useful to the end user.
[0425] The system further includes a data retrieval module 8903
which is arranged to retrieve metric data from a data storage
module 8909, which is in communication with the data visualization
system 8901.
[0426] The data provided as an input to the system may be of any
suitable type of data, for example, real world data including, but
not limited to, gaming or gambling data associated with a gaming
environment such as a casino, event data, test or quality control
data obtained from a manufacturing environment, business data
retrieved from an accounting system, sales data retrieved from a
company database, etc. All this data may be received by the system
in real time in a cache memory or may be stored in a more permanent
manner.
[0427] The data retrieval module is configured to enable the
retrieval of data from a data storage module, which is in
communication with the data visualization computing system. The
data storage module may be any suitable type of data storage
system. For example, it may be an enterprise data warehouse (EDW),
a data mart, a database, a storage array or any other suitable
device or groups of devices that can store data for later
retrieval. Further, the data storage module may be a cache memory
used to temporarily store incoming data captured in real time.
[0428] A determination module 8905 is provided that is arranged to
determine data points for the visualization based on the metric
data retrieved from the data storage module 8909. That is, specific
values associated with the retrieved metric data determine the data
points that are to be displayed in the visualization. For example,
the retrieved metric data may define specific manufacturing error
or tolerance information associated with specific process levels
used to manufacture a particular number of different products. Data
values associated with the metric data may be obtained by the
determination module and used to determine where the associated
data points are to be rendered in the visualization.
[0429] A display module 8907 arranges the determined data points to
enable them to be displayed or rendered on a display device 8911
according to a predetermined visual representation. The visual
representation may be in any suitable format.
[0430] Further, the display module 8907 arranges the data points
into a plurality of meta groups in a hierarchical manner, and also
arranges the meta groups into a plurality of layers, where each
layer represents the data points at different levels of
granularity. The hierarchy is determined from the metric data. Each
layer in the hierarchy is calculated to "contain" or encompass the
elements of the lower level. The hierarchy may be validly
calculated such that the parent either has exclusive or non
exclusive parenthood.
[0431] The system also includes a statistical distance
determination module 8917 that is controlled to determine a
statistical distance between items within the meta groups by
analyzing the metric data associated with the meta groups. Based on
this determined statistical distance output from the statistical
distance determination module 8917, the display module 8907 can
arrange the items within the meta groups such that the most
statistically similar items are arranged next to each other. This
enables more useful information associated with the meta groups and
metric data to be conveyed, which may not have otherwise been
available to the user.
[0432] The statistical determination by the statistical distance
determination module may be based on any suitable statistical
calculation, such as, for example:
[0433] i) analysis using a hierarchical force based algorithm,
[0434] ii) determining the statistical distance between data
groups,
[0435] iii) determining the statistical distance based on the
similarity of the data groups,
[0436] iv) determining the statistical distance based on the sum of
the squares of the data groups,
[0437] v) determining the statistical distance based on the output
of a heuristic algorithm, such as back propagation neural network
values or genetic algorithm associations,
[0438] vi) determining the statistical distance based on the output
of a neural network, and
[0439] vii) determining the statistical distance based on a
correlation factor between the data groups, for example by
calculating the value normalized by the sum of the squares.
[0440] Therefore, the display module may arrange the meta groups
into at least two, possibly more, layers wherein the arrangement of
meta groups in each layer represents all the data points at that
level of granularity. That is, for that level of hierarchy, all the
relevant data points associated with the metric data for that level
are represented in the visualization.
[0441] The display module may also arrange the data points to be
evenly distributed among all groups within each of the individual
layers, so that each meta group has an approximately equal number
of data points as other meta groups in the same layer.
[0442] Optionally, the display module may organize a meta group in
the first layer so that it represents a similar number of data
points as a further meta group in the first layer. Also, the
display module may arrange the data points so that common data
points are associated with multiple groups within the same
layer.
[0443] As an alternative to, or in conjunction with, the display
module, further output modules may be provided to output the
visualization. That is, the raw data retrieved by the data
retrieval module is analyzed and arranged to provide the
visualization output of the data in a specific format. The output
data is provided to the display and/or further output modules to
enable a user to visualize the raw data in a manner that conveys
more useful or hidden information that would otherwise be lost, as
well as to provide the user with the ability to correlate the data
hierarchy with the visualization.
[0444] The further output module may be a printing device in
communication with the described system to receive print control
data so that representations of the data may be printed on any
suitable print medium. Alternatively, the further output module may
be an interface that enables the data output to be interfaced with
other data handling modules or storage devices.
[0445] The system further includes an activation detection module
8913 that is arranged to detect the activation of a meta group. The
activation detection module detects an end user selecting a meta
group on the visualization through the use of an input device 8915.
The input device in this embodiment is a pointing device, such as a
computer mouse, that enables the system to recognize when the user
has selected a particular area on the visual representation that
corresponds with a meta group.
[0446] Upon the activation detection module detecting activation of
the meta group, the display module is controlled to provide an
indication of the data points associated with the activated meta
group in the visual representation. That is, the system determines
which meta group has been selected in the visual representation and
determines from data within the data storage module which portions
of the visual design (representation) are associated with the
selected meta group. The relevant portion of the visual design is
modified by the rendering engine to indicate to the user which meta
groups were selected. For example, the relevant portion of the
visual design may be modified so that it flashes, or changes color,
etc.
[0447] The display module may also overlay a graphical
representation of the hierarchy over the visual representation, or
display it side by side with the visual representation. According
to this embodiment, the display module arranges the groups as a
graphical tree representation along with the visual
representation.
[0448] Further, the system may be arranged to determine the
hierarchy of the metric data at substantially the same time as the
visual representation is being created by the visualization system.
This is accomplished by calculating the distribution of nodes in
the representation as they are rendered. This has the advantage of
"just in time" calculation and may result in a reduced calculation
overhead. For example, some nodes may not require adjustment as
they are not visible in the visualization.
[0449] Therefore, the display module may arrange icons to be
displayed in a tree structure within the visual representation,
where the icons represent the meta groups. Each meta group may be
arranged for display by the display module using a predefined icon
where a relative difference between each icon indicates a relative
difference in the metric data associated with each meta group. For
example, the relative size or shape of an icon can indicate that
the data associated with each meta group is or a larger or smaller
value.
[0450] As an example, the icon generated by the display module for
display on the display device may be a geometric shape, such as a
triangle, rectangle or quadrangle. It will be understood that, as
an alternative, the display module may create other shapes to
represent the data.
[0451] The system may also be arranged to enable the display module
to display overlapping icons. The overlapping icons may be used to
represent a similarity in metric data associated with each meta
group.
[0452] It will be understood that the data points may represent any
type of information that can be visually represented in a
hierarchy. For example, product hierarchies, customer segmentation,
document table of contents etc. may be represented using the data
points.
[0453] The display module is further arranged to adapt the visual
representation so that it represents data associated with a
physical world entity in the form of the physical world entity
itself. For example, the physical world entity may be one of a
geographic location, road location or road intersection, where the
physical arrangement of the locations and intersections are
represented in the visualization. Further, the geographic location
may be one or more stores or distribution centers, where the
representation shows the physical or geographic location of those
stores or centers. In order to display the physical location of
these elements, the system may incorporate various other databases
and systems to retrieve geographical location information and map
data in order to render the visualization.
[0454] The display module may utilize spatial algorithms to
determine the best way to display the data hierarchy on the
visualization. That is, the visual representation may be adapted by
the system in order to reduce the amount of display space required
to display the hierarchy.
[0455] According to the embodiments described above, a method is
provided that enables an end user to: create a visual
representation of data points from metric data, and determine a
hierarchy of the data points for displaying with the visual
representation.
[0456] As shown in FIG. 8C, this is carried out by retrieving the
metric data in step 81001, determining the data points based on the
retrieved metric data in step 81003, arranging the data points to
be displayed according to a predetermined visual representation in
step 81005, arranging the data points into a plurality of meta
groups in a hierarchical manner in step 81007, and arranging the
meta groups into a plurality of layers in step 81009, where each
layer represents the data points at different levels of
granularity.
[0457] Further, the method includes a statistical distance
determination module that is controlled to determine a statistical
distance between items in the meta groups in step 81011, and the
display module arranging the items within the meta groups based on
the determined statistical distance in step 81013.
[0458] In the gaming industry, the metric data is gaming metric
data, and may include, for example, theoretical win, actual win,
the amount of cash on hand, the amount of outstanding credit.
[0459] In the retail industry, the metric data is retail metric
data, and may include, for example, minimizing the value of the
inventory on the shelf and maximizing the retail value of each
transaction.
[0460] In the hospitality industry, the metric data is hospitality
metric data, and may include, for example, minimizing the number of
out of order rooms and maximizing the average occupied room
rate.
[0461] In the financial industry, the metric data is financial
metric data, and may include, for example, minimizing the risk of a
loan portfolio and maximizing the quantity of outstanding
loans.
[0462] In the entertainment industry, the metric data is
entertainment metric data, and may include, for example, minimizing
the value of the inventory on the shelf and maximizing the
entertainment value of each transaction.
[0463] In the telecommunications industry, the metric data is
telecommunications metric data, and may include, for example, the
demand for certain mobile phone device categories, and demand for
wireless services in an area.
[0464] In addition, the method includes the meta groups being
arranged into two or more layers, wherein the groups in each layer
represent all the data points at that level of granularity.
[0465] Also, data points may be arranged to be evenly distributed
among all groups within a single layer. Further, a group in the
first layer may represent a similar number of data points as a
further group in the first layer.
[0466] Common data points may be associated with multiple groups
within the same layer. Thus, when a user activates one of the
groups, for example by clicking on the group in the representation,
an indication is made in the visual representation of the data
points associated with the activated group.
[0467] The hierarchy or granularity may be created from the metric
data at substantially the same time as the visual representation is
created.
[0468] A graphical representation of the hierarchy may be displayed
over the visual representation. The groups may be arranged as a
graphical tree representation.
[0469] Referring to FIG. 8A, an example of a visualization in the
form of a tree diagram 800 is shown. The tree diagram visualization
is based on R-Tree principles, and may be used by the user to
navigate around a Visual Document 825, as well as to
proportionately display the significance of the leafs below each
hierarchical layer. Data points being visualized are arranged in a
plurality of meta groups in a hierarchy. The meta groups are
represented by icons, for example, rectangles.
[0470] Size is used when drawing the icons in order to represent
each level in a manner that indicates the size or significance of
the levels below. For example, at level 1 805, the width of the
icon (a rectangle in this example) is calculated to be equal to the
sum of the widths of the rectangles associated with it in its child
level 810. The widths of the rectangles in level 810 are equal to
the sum of the widths of the associated rectangles in its child
level 815. The width of a single rectangle (R1.1.2) with children
in level 815 is equal to the widths of its children (R1.1.2.1 and
R1.1.2.2) in level 820. However the widths of each rectangle in
each level vary depending on the associated data they represent
relative to the other nodes in their level and the parent node.
[0471] Although in this example, only the width of each rectangle
in the tree representation has been varied to represent the
relative relationship between the different rectangles (or meta
groups) in each level, it will be understood that other methods may
also be employed to display the relative relationship. For example,
the relative overall size of each rectangle may be used to indicate
the relative number of items associated with that node.
Alternatively, the height of each icon may be varied depending on
the values associated with the node.
[0472] As a further alternative, other shapes, lines, colors or
other graphical methods may be used to represent each icon
associated with each node in the free in order to indicate the
relative difference between nodes, i.e. between each meta group.
For example, each meta group may be represented using an icon of
any suitable geometric shape, such as a triangle, rectangle or
quadrangle, for example, or any other geometric shape of any number
of sides, or of an irregular shape. The meta groups may also be
represented using organic shaped icons.
[0473] It will be understood that one or a combination of the above
described methodologies could be implemented at any one time to
graphically depict the metric data in different ways
simultaneously. Further, each of the nodes may be arranged to
overlap with other nodes to indicate that there is similar or
overlapping data set associated with the nodes.
[0474] Symbols, shading or shapes within rectangles may also be
used to communicate information as illustrated in node R1.2.2 835,
and R1.1.1 845. For example, if the data being represented has been
detected to exceed a preset threshold by the system, the area may
be indicated.
[0475] The position of the node may also used to communicate
additional information. For example, a region of high importance
840 indicates that nodes in that area are significant.
[0476] If a node on the R-Tree is selected by an end user, the
associated area, such as an individual Visual Design 830 within the
associated Visual Document 825 is highlighted. Thus a user can
easily determine from the hierarchically arranged metric data where
the associated data points are located within the visualization, as
well as determining the relative importance of each group of metric
data.
[0477] Any changes that are made to the Visual Document 825 are
reflected in the Tree Diagram 800 and vice versa. This update
facility ensures that the tree hierarchy is kept in synchronization
with the displayed visualization.
[0478] Therefore, the data visualization techniques described
herein transform the raw data from the data storage module into
both a hierarchical tree like representation conveying structural
or hierarchical information about the data along with a visual
representation conveying value information obtained from the data.
This therefore enables further or hidden information within the raw
data to be visually represented in a manner that conveys the
information to a user in an efficient manner.
[0479] It will be understood that the graphical representation
being produced may be adapted specifically so that reproductions of
the representation minimize the use of production printing
materials. That is, by producing a reproduction or representation
that has one or more characteristics to summarize a complex problem
a number of technical advantages are immediately provided. For
example, the characteristics may include the limitation of the size
of the representation, the use of a minimum amount of ink, or the
creation of the representation using a minimal or bounded area
space or minimum amount of time. These characteristics then may
solve the problem of excessive consumption of consumable items, by
reducing the required consumption of consumables such as paper and
ink resources, as well as reducing the energy required to produce
the printouts due to the ability to provide the required
information on media space of a smaller size.
[0480] According to one example, the representation may be
recreated by efficiently utilizing white space rather than
producing the representation merely by applying ink to create the
representation. Also the representation may be arranged by the
display module of the system to reduce the amount of display space
required to display the hierarchical information.
[0481] As a system option, each of the nodes of the index may be
linked with summarized or cached query results. These stored values
may be used by the system to rapidly calculate and display business
performance drivers (BPDs) as the user interacts with the tree by
detecting which nodes are selected by the user and retrieving the
associated information.
[0482] 2. Temporal Visual Designs
[0483] One purpose of a temporal visual design is to present
temporal based data, such as, for example, revenue per day, in a
specially designed calendar or time series view. This calendar view
will enable users to view thematic layers that display BPD
information such as revenue or sales.
[0484] One example of a temporal representation is given by Lee
Byron, Megamu.sup.vi. The key elements show an approach on how to
create a histogram representing music listening history.
[0485] A further example of a temporal representation is given at
ENTROP A.sup.vii. This example shows a spiral data visualization
showing time periods in 2008 laid out into an increasing
spiral.
[0486] The display or use of multiple sets of information having a
different periodicity has been problematic in the past. For example
where calendar years vary it can be difficult to align events known
to have a correlation, such as leap years and movable holidays such
as Easter.
[0487] It would be desirable to graphically display or use data
sets having different periodicity so that correlated events are
aligned.
[0488] As the globalization of communication continues
understanding the basic measures of date and time is a key factor
in understanding global patterns. The current methods are focused
on conversion of one system to a second or third system, however
they do not create both a visual representation and a method of
interacting with these quite different systems.
[0489] When data sets have different periodicity it can be
difficult to visually represent the data sets so as to reveal the
correlation between events. For example a comparison of sales over
two years may lead to erroneous conclusions being drawn if the
holidays for each year are not correlated.
[0490] Temporal analysis techniques as herein described have
particular application to the various industries discussed herein.
Holidays, external events, individual days of the week, payday
events, family events, natural disasters, life milestones and
especially seasons to name a few, have significant impact on
revenue.
[0491] Because such calendar occurrences change from month to month
and year to year, it is difficult to compare periods using
traditional charting methods. Many industry operators work within
multiple temporal frequencies for analytical and operational
observations.
[0492] For example operators operate analytics across varied
calendars such as national (e.g. Chinese and European calendars),
religious (e.g., Jewish, Moslem, Christian) and personal calendars
based on data obtained from customers (e.g., anniversaries,
birthdays).
[0493] In a first case common events may be identified. This may be
public holidays or other relevant time based events. The data
relating to the common events may be aligned and the intervening
data reformatted (this may include omitting, compacting or
stretching intervening data). This alignment of data based on
events may vary depending upon the granularity at which the data is
viewed so that with increasing granularity the data sets are more
aligned. Alternatively the data sets may be aligned according to
events at all levels of granularity.
[0494] The events against which data sets are correlated need not
be natural time related events. For example, they could be business
events, cultural events, a level of completion etc. For example,
the events could relate to stages of a project (the x axis) and the
y axis could show the time to complete a stage or some other
measure.
[0495] According to another aspect the common periodicity between
data sets may be determined and all data sets correlated to the
common periodicity. For example one set of data may be based on a 5
day week and another set based on a 7 day week. These may both be
formatted to a weekly format with the 5 day data stretched to match
a 7 day week or nulls used for the weekend.
[0496] In another instance absolute time may be common aspect of
different calendars, for example Gregorian and Chinese calendars
have different periods of absolute time. This invention creates a
common representation and mathematical model that enables both the
viewing and the querying of data across these two (and potentially
other) calendars.
[0497] In a further embodiment of this invention the different
measures of time and date are used to construct queries in a
dataset. For example seasonal measures of time may be used to
create queries against a database.
[0498] In a further embodiment this invention can be used to show
the absolute and relative time of various events, enabling display
the personal date or time, the local date or time and the absolute
date or time on one easily understandable representation.
Furthermore this would enable the user to query information using
either personal, local or absolute date or time.
[0499] The data visualization techniques described herein transform
the raw data received into different temporal arrangements to
enable further or hidden information within the raw data to be
visually represented in a manner that conveys the information to a
user in an efficient manner.
[0500] FIG. 9A is a simple illustration showing how data sets for
different periods 905 and 910 may be aligned. Event 925 may be
aligned with event 930 by making a contraction 915 or 920 (or a
portion could be expanded). The degree of contraction or expansion
may increase with viewing resolution.
[0501] FIG. 9B shows a dodecagon spiral which is useful for
displaying data for a number of years 935 and 940, each year being
one ring of the spiral. In this case each month is allocated a
radial slice of 30.degree. (such as December 945) and contraction
or expansion adjustments are made within each month to conform to
this constraint. Within months dates may be aligned so that the
same dates are aligned for months of different length (i.e. April)
or holidays are aligned etc. A heat map 950 may be overlaid to
reveal meaning between data for different years (e.g. sales levels
or profitability).
[0502] FIG. 9C shows a box spiral variant in which the year is
broken into four quarters, each represented by a side of a cube:
955 for the first quarter, 960 for the second quarter, 965 for the
third quarter and 970 for the fourth quarter. Again each month is
allocated a radial slice of 30.degree. (such as December 975).
Again heat maps 980 and 985 may be overlaid to reveal meaning
between data for different years.
[0503] A more detailed description now follows.
[0504] Although the following example provides details of aligning
weekly periods with monthly periods it will be understood that the
inventive concept can be applied to align data of any periodicity
with data of other periodicities. For example, in test data and
error reporting, the test data sets retrieved may be obtained by
the system every 100 minutes using any suitable data measurement
technique, whereas, the error reporting may be required by the user
to be collated and reported every 24 hours at midnight. Therefore,
the system is required to align the data in order to take into
account the fact that the 100 minute periods do not wholly fit into
any 24 hour segment, and that the start times of the 90 minute
periods may not start exactly on the hour.
[0505] FIG. 9D shows a dodecagon spiral 9101 produced according to
the methods described herein. The dodecagon spiral is represented
as a dot density map, where each data point is represented by a
dot, or circle. The spiral depicts data on a month by month basis
9103 for a number of different years 9105. The data provided is
weekly accounting data 9107 for DVD rentals. Each weekly accounting
period is represented by the weekly dots 9107. The data visually
represents the spread of the revenue for the periods of interest:
The spiral includes 12 months, January through to December, shown
in a spiral format. Each month is provided with an approximately 30
degree area of space in which the data is to be represented. That
is 360 degrees divided by the 12 months being represented. Each
year provides a successive layer on the spiral, where each year
that passes is included as an outer layer. That is, the earlier
years are depicted as progressing towards the centre of the
spiral.
[0506] The map shows in a clear format the level of rental activity
throughout different time periods of the year. For activity beyond
a predetermined limit, a symbol 9113 is provided to represent that
activity. For example, if the revenue received for a weekly
accounting period exceeds a predefined monetary value, then a
circle of a particular dimension is displayed to depict that level
of revenue. The circle increases in size for increased activity. A
first level is depicted as a circle without any black filling, and
a second higher level is depicted as circle with a black filling.
Thus, a small black circle represents a higher revenue level than a
large white circle, the largest black circles represent the highest
revenue levels and the smallest white circles represent the lowest
revenue levels.
[0507] As each month in each year is aligned, it is possible to see
where similar peaks or troughs in activity occur throughout the
months and years. For example, it can be seen from the change in
map details that DVD rental activity around November and December
gradually increased from 2003 onwards for these months, with the
same levels of activity shown for April each year, both of these
time periods being a key promotional period for the release of
movies.
[0508] Looking at one particular month, such as February, in a
little more detail, the spread of the periodic data can be seen to
vary. In 2004, 5 weekly accounting periods are provided as shown by
the 5 dots, or circles, 9109. In 2006, only 4 weekly accounting
periods are provided as shown by dots 9111. The system determines
how many accounting periods are to be allocated to any particular
month based on a set of rules. In this way, the weekly periodic
accounting periods are aligned with the monthly periods. The
different methods of alignment are described in more detail below.
Therefore, aligning data sets of one periodicity with data sets of
a different periodicity provides a more accurate and repeatable
representation of the data to enable a better comparison of data
sets.
[0509] FIG. 9E shows conceptually how the data is aligned in the
data sets by modifying one or both of the data sets. Data 9201 is
provided to be analysed and aligned, and optionally graphically
represented. The data 9201 includes data of a number of different
periodicities. A first periodicity 9203 is, for example, a monthly
period. A number of second periodicities 9205 and 9207 are, for
example, weekly periods. The data associated with these
periodicities is arranged into data sets 9209 and 9211. The data
within the data sets may be of any type, for example, the data may
be accounting data for DVD rentals as depicted above, or test data
retrieved from a manufacturing plant identifying error rates for a
particular manufacturing process.
[0510] Each data set (9209 or 9211) is arranged according to its
periodicity. The monthly data set 9209 is arranged to show the
monthly data 9213. The weekly data set 9211, including data for a
number of weeks 9215, is arranged to align with the monthly data
9213. The weekly data 9215 will include a first portion of data
9217 for a first week, and a second portion of data 9219 for a
final week, where the first and final weeks are aligned with the
start and end points of the monthly data 9213. Also included in the
result, whether it is a data set output from the system or a
graphical representation, is the data for the intervening weeks
associated with the relevant month.
[0511] The data associated with the first week period and final
week period are particularly important as it does not align with
the start and end points of the monthly period.
[0512] The system initially analyses the data provided to check the
start and end points of the data sets of different periodicities to
see if the start and end points of the different periodicities are
in alignment and so directly correspond with each other. If the
start or end points do align, then no further alignment is required
for that point. That is, if the start of the weekly period aligns
with the start of the monthly period, and the end of the final
weekly period aligns with the end of the monthly period, then no
further alignment is required. Clearly this can only occur for
periodicities of weeks and months where the month has a total
number of days that is a multiple of 7 (the number of days in the
week), and so is only relevant in this particular embodiment when
dealing with the month of February in a non leap year.
[0513] On the other hand, if either of the start and end periods of
the data of one periodicity do not align with the start and end
points of the data of the second periodicity, the system follows a
set of predefined rules to align those points for the different
periodicities.
[0514] In this example, the data for the first week includes a
number of days at the beginning of that accounting week which do
not fall into the monthly data due to the dates of those days. For
example, the first two dates in the accounting week may be part of
a previous month. Therefore, according to one particular rule
discussed below, the system aligns the data associated with that
week's accounting data so that it fits within the monthly data,
regardless of the fact that the dates associated with the initial
part of that week's accounting data actually fall into the previous
month. In this case, the data for the first two days is compressed
into the rest of the data for that week in order to make it align
with the start of the monthly data.
[0515] Where the last day of the final week period does not fall on
the last day of the relevant month, the final week data is expanded
so as to fill in the gap that would otherwise exist at the end of
the month.
[0516] Various other rules may be utilized to provide similar
results whereby data of one periodicity is aligned with data of
another periodicity.
[0517] As described above, a data set of a first periodicity may be
restricted or expanded to align with another data set of a
different periodicity.
[0518] The restriction of the data sets may be by way of
compressing, deleting or moving at least a portion of one or other
of the identified data sets.
[0519] The expansion of the data sets may be by way of adding new
data to a data set, padding out the data set with zeros, arbitrary
values, average values or extrapolated values. Further, at least a
portion of one of the data sets may be moved in order to
effectively expand the data set that is to be aligned.
Alternatively, data from another different data set having the same
periodicity may be included in the data set being aligned.
[0520] In the case where the data is being extracted from a
manufacturing system for analysis purposes, such as for example in
a testing environment where test data is being analysed to detect
the results of a manufacturing process, the original data sets
being analyzed may be replaced by aligned data sets in order to
allow more accurate data analysis of the results retrieved from the
manufacturing process. The aligned data sets may permanently
replace the measured data sets, or be stored alongside the original
data sets, within a database in communication with the
manufacturing system. Further, the data associated with the aligned
data sets may be fed back into an analytical system that determines
an appropriate response, or the data may be used to provide an
output to alter the manufacturing process, based on the analysis of
the aligned data. In this way, the manufacturing process can be
more accurately controlled through the creation and provision of
more appropriately aligned periodic data to the analytical
unit.
[0521] In addition, or alternatively, the system described herein
can provide a graphical representation of the different data sets
after they have been aligned. That is, rather than changing the
associated data, the system may only modify the graphical
representation of the data to align the periods.
[0522] FIGS. 9F and 9G show one example of how a graphical
representation may be adjusted to visually align a data set of one
periodicity with one or more data sets of another different
periodicity.
[0523] FIG. 9F shows a portion of a graphical representation 9301
of sets of data having different periodicities, where the present
invention has not been applied. This example shows a spatial area
9303 of a dodecagon spiral allocated to represent the data
associated with a single month. It will be understood that
graphical representations other than a dodecagon spiral may be
used. One non limiting example is that a box spiral may be
used.
[0524] The slice is represented over an area spread out from a
centre point at an angle of 30 degrees 9305 to cover the 12 months
of the year evenly over the 360 degrees available. The start of the
month (i.e. the 1st) is at a start point of the area 9307, and the
end of the month (for example, the 30th) is at an end point of the
area 9309. Also in this example are represented data sets of a
weekly periodicity 9311. The first weekly data set 9313 can be seen
to overlap with the spatial area 9303 so it also enters, or is part
of the previous month, and the last weekly data set 9315 can be
seen to sit within the area, but leaves a gap between the end of
the weekly data set and the end of the month. Therefore, the weekly
accounting period data sets do not align with the monthly period
data sets.
[0525] Referring to FIG. 9G, an aligned graphical representation of
two data sets having different periodicities is shown. It can be
seen that the first weekly data set 9313 has been modified to align
the start of the weekly data sets associated with the start of the
graphical representation of the monthly data set. The interim
weekly data sets 9311 did not require any modification as it sits
wholly within the monthly representation. The final weekly data set
9315 has also been modified to close the gap previously shown in
the monthly graphical representation. In this example, the
graphical representation of the weekly data set has been condensed
in order to align it within the spatial area allocated for the
monthly data representation. The method of condensing may be by way
of reducing the size of the graphical representation along one or
more of the axes of the representation. Alternatively, the method
of condensing may be by way of deleting at least a portion of the
weekly data set to provide the condensed graphical representation
of the weekly data set. It will be understood that condensing may
include one or a combination of constricting, compressing or
compacting the data or representation.
[0526] In this example, the graphical representation of the final
week's data has been expanded in order to align the representation
with the available spatial area of the monthly representation. The
method of expansion may be, for example, by extending the size of
the graphical representation of the weekly data set along one or
more axes. Alternatively, new data may be added or inserted as part
of the graphical representation to provide an extended graphical
representation of the weekly data set. The new data added may be
arbitrary data, average data, interpolated data, extrapolated data,
data of a similar nature from a different data set or any other
data that the user selects for the purpose of alignment.
[0527] Also, the graphical representations of the first periodicity
may be aligned with the second by moving the graphical
representation of the weekly data set so that it is aligned with
the spatial area allocated to the monthly data set. Further, the
data within the weekly data set may be moved or swapped with
another weekly data set.
[0528] As can be seen on FIG. 9G, supplementary information 9401
and 9403 may be displayed alongside the graphical representations
of the data. The supplementary information may include information
associated with one or both of the first or second identified data
sets. For example, the supplementary information may identify and
label the different periodicities of the two different data sets,
and may provide more information as to the relationship between the
two. Also, the supplementary information may include information
associated with the methods used to align the two data sets.
[0529] The above described methods therefore show the distortion of
a graphical representation of a first data set of a first
periodicity to align it to a second data set of a second different
periodicity. The degree of distortion may be increased as the
graphical representation of the first identified data set is viewed
at increased granularity by the user. That is, as the user zooms
into the representation of the examples shown, it may be seen that
the daily data sets do not accurately align with the weekly data
sets due to the timing of the data retrieval, i.e. the end of day
finishes at a time other than midnight. In this case, either the
daily data sets or weekly data sets may be adjusted to align the
two as the user zooms into that level of granularity.
[0530] Although the examples above have described the adjustment of
the data or graphical representations of the weekly periodicities
or daily periodicities to align with the monthly or daily
periodicities respectively, it will be understood that the data or
graphical representations of the monthly or daily periodicities
could, as an alternative, be adjusted to align with the weekly or
daily periodicities respectively.
[0531] FIG. 9H shows conceptually how periodic events are aligned
in data sets in which they occur, by modifying one or both of the
data sets. Data 9501 is provided for analysis to detect the
periodic events and the periodic data sets in which the events
occur, as well as other periodic data sets. The aligned data sets
may optionally be graphically represented or stored for control
purposes. The data 9501 includes groups of data sets, where in one
group are monthly data sets 9503 for a particular year and in
another group are monthly data sets 9505 for another year, where
those data sets have the same periodicity. The periodicity of the
data sets 9503 and 9505 may be, for example, a monthly period. The
data associated with particular months is arranged into data sets
9507 and 9509. The data within the data sets may be of any type,
for example, the data may be accounting data for DVD rentals as
depicted above, or test data retrieved from a manufacturing plant
identifying error rates for a particular manufacturing process.
[0532] Each data set (9507 and 9509) is analysed to identify
instances of the periodic event, and the position of the periodic
event within the data set. For example, a first data set 9511 of a
monthly periodicity, for example April 2004, and a second data set
9513 of a monthly periodicity, for example April 2003, is shown.
Also identified are the instances of the regularly occurring Easter
Sunday that occurred in each of those periodicities. In the first
data set, Easter Sunday 9515 occurred on 11 Apr. 2004, whereas in
the second data set, Easter Sunday 9517 occurred on 20 Apr. 2003.
In this example, the alignment is made relatively easier due to the
two monthly data sets being associated with the same month (i.e.
April), or in the same relative position within the group of data
sets, where each group is for a year. Examples are also provided
below to show how the system operates to align periodic events when
they occur in groups that aren't associated, or aren't in the same
relative position within the group of data sets, for example, when
Easter does not occur in the same month.
[0533] FIG. 9I shows an example of aligning data associated with a
periodic event within two different monthly data sets 9511 and
9513. It will be understood that the alignment or the adjustment
discussed herein may be by way of aligning a graphical
representation, or changing the actual data in storage in order to
use the data for analytical purposes, such as in a manufacturing
environment using test data where, for example, the periodic event
is a shut down of a machine for maintenance purposes.
[0534] In the example shown in FIG. 9I it can be seen that the data
set 9511 and position of the data associated with Easter Sunday
9515 is unchanged. However, the relative position of the data for
Easter Sunday 9517 in data set 9513 in FIG. 9H has been moved to
position 9601 in FIG. 9I. The data has been moved by adjusting the
data in portions 9603 and 9605. In the data analysis embodiment,
the data associated with portions 9603 and 9605 are adjusted to
cause alignment, whereas in the graphical representation embodiment
the actual data associated with these portions may or may not be
adjusted and the alignment may be realized by merely adjusting the
graphical representation alone.
[0535] The following provides the description associated with data
analysis and adjustment without providing a change in the graphical
representation of the data. However, it will be understood that the
methods described in this section may be applied in conjunction
with the methods described below for the adjustment of the
graphical representation of the data.
[0536] In this embodiment, the data within the first portion 9603
and second portion 9605 of the data set 9513 associated with the
first instance of the event is modified to align the first and
second instances of the periodic event. For example, the first
portion of the data set 9603 may be restricted. Alternatively the
second portion of the data set 9605 may be expanded. Further, both
an expansion and restriction of different portions of the data sets
may be carried out.
[0537] The restriction of the data within the data sets may be
carried out by compressing at least a portion of the data within
that data set. Alternatively, at least a portion of the data maybe
deleted or moved.
[0538] The expansion of the data within the data sets may be
carried out by adding new data to the data set. For example, the
data set may be padded out by including null or zero values,
average values, extrapolated values, interpolated values, arbitrary
values, values from a similar data set, or any other data values
that the user selects for the purpose of alignment.
[0539] In this way, the data associated with the first instance of
the periodic event (Easter Sunday) can be aligned with the data
associated with the second instance of the periodic event by
restricting and expanding various portions of the data to align the
events.
[0540] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9J, a portion of the data
within the data set may be moved within the data set in order to
align the data associated with the event. The data associated with
the event 9701 in the first data set 9511 is moved to a new
position 9703 by swapping the data for that Easter Sunday with the
data for the day that aligns with the Easter Sunday in the other
data set 9513.
[0541] Alternatively, the system may determine the two boundaries
between the periodic events and average out the data between those
boundaries in each of the two data sets containing the instances of
the periodic event. Referring to FIG. 9K, a portion of data in the
data set 9511 is averaged out over the region 9801 starting at the
first identified instance of the event and ending with an
equivalent data position for the second identified instance of the
event. The same is applied to the second data set 9513 to average
out the values over the region 9803 up to an equivalent data point
that aligns with the first instance of the event 9515.
[0542] Also, the modified data set with the first instance of the
periodic event may be analyzed in conjunction with the other data
set containing the second instance of the periodic event in a
manner that takes into account the aligned data. Thus, the analysis
is not carried out on comparatively spurious or inaccurate data and
so enables a more accurate analysis.
[0543] Once the analysis has been carried out, the original data
set may be replaced by the modified data set or may be stored
alongside the modified data set.
[0544] Any number of identified data sets may be aligned relative
to one or more other identified data sets. Further, the step of
aligning data sets may include the step of aligning a start period
of a first data set with the start period of another data set.
Also, the step of aligning may include the step of aligning an end
period of a first data set with an end period of another data set.
Further, both the start and end periods of the data sets may be
aligned to enable the whole of one period to be aligned with
another period.
[0545] During the step of aligning, the determination module of the
system may first determine whether the first data set is wholly
encompassed within another data set.
[0546] If the determination module does not determine that a first
data set is wholly encompassed within another data set, the system
may align the first data set so that it is wholly encompassed
within the second data set.
[0547] Also, the system may modify the first data set so that it
aligns with the second data set. This may include restricting the
first data set so that it aligns with the second data set. The
restriction may be by way of compressing, deleting or moving at
least a portion of the first data set.
[0548] Also, the system may modify the first data set by expanding
it so that it aligns with the second data set. This expansion may
be by way of adding new data to the first data set. For example,
the new data may include one or a combination of null values,
average values, extrapolated values or interpolated values.
Alternatively, the expansion may be by way of moving at least a
portion of the first data set or including at least a portion of a
further data set that the system has detected as having the same
periodicity as the first data set.
[0549] The system may go on to perform any suitable analysis of the
data set once it has been modified or adjusted by the system.
Further, the system may replace the original data set with the
modified data set.
[0550] It will be understood that the periodicity detected by the
system may be associated with any period that can be measured. For
example, the periodicity may be time related or calendar
related.
[0551] Further the system is able to determine a lowest common time
base from the periodicities that have been determined from the data
sets. This enables the system to then base the first data set on
this determined lowest common time base. For example, if the
minimum time base in the analyzed data sets is in fortnightly
testing periods, then this becomes the common time base by which
the data sets are aligned.
[0552] The following describes how the system changes the graphical
representation of the data sets in order to adjust and align the
periodic events graphically or visually. However, it will be
understood that the methods described in this section may be
applied in conjunction with the methods described above for the
adjustment of the data in the data sets.
[0553] In the herein described data visualisation or graphical
analysis system, the modified data sets are arranged so that the
graphical representation of a periodic event aligns with the
graphical representation of other instances of the same periodic
event. This graphical alignment ensures that the user can view the
appropriate data associated with the events (and surrounding
periods) in the correct context.
[0554] The graphical representation may be of any suitable form for
graphically representing temporal data. For example, the
representations may be in the form of a spiral calendar, a box
calendar etc.
[0555] The system implements various steps to align the graphical
representations of the data, for example by controlling a
condensing module that is arranged to adjust or condense the
graphical representation of a data set so that a first instance of
a periodic event aligns with a second instance of the periodic
event. The adjusted or condensed version of the representation is
output in a visual form, such as on a graphical user interface,
display, printer etc.
[0556] This adjustment or condensing step may include one or a
combination of the steps of constricting, compressing or compacting
the graphical representation.
[0557] Further, the adjustment or condensing step may include the
step of reducing the size of the graphical representation of a data
set along one or more axes of the data set. For example, the
condensing module may reduce the x or y (or both) dimensions of the
graphical representation in order to align the data sets.
[0558] Further, the adjustment or condensing step may include the
step of deleting at least a portion of a data set to provide a
condensed graphical representation of the data set. For example, by
deleting a portion of the data set or representation, the periods
in the representation become fully aligned.
[0559] Alternatively, an expansion module may be controlled by the
system to enable the graphical representation of a data set to be
adjusted or expanded so that a first instance of a periodic event
is aligned with a second instance of the periodic event. Further,
the adjustment or expansion step may include the step of expanding
the size of the graphical representation of a data set along one or
more axes of the data set. For example, the expansion module may
increase the x or y (or both) dimensions of the graphical
representation in order to align the data sets.
[0560] The extension of a data set by the extension module may be
achieved by inserting new data into a data set in order to provide
an expanded graphical representation of the data set.
[0561] Alternatively, the extension may be achieved by moving at
least a portion of the graphical representation of a data set so
that a first instance of a periodic event aligns with a second
instance of the periodic event. For example, data may be moved from
within a first data set to a further data set that has the same
periodicity as the first data set.
[0562] The graphical representations discussed above may be of any
suitable form for displaying temporal information. For example, the
graphical representation may be a dodecagon spiral or a box spiral.
Further, the data sets may be displayed in any suitable form, for
example by being graphically represented in two or more calendar
systems.
[0563] Further, the various different data sets may be displayed in
a hierarchical manner to indicate their temporal relationship with
each other, for example.
[0564] The system described above may retrieve further information
associated with the data sets in the form of supplementary
information. This supplementary information is used to display
related information on the same visualization. For example, the
supplementary information may be used by the system to identify on
the graphical representation the different periodicities associated
with the various data sets. Alternatively, the supplementary
information may include information associated with how the first
and second event instances of the periodic event are aligned, i.e.
information that indicates which methods were used by the various
modules of the system to align the data.
[0565] It will be understood that the complex system described
above includes one or more elements that are arranged to perform
the various functions and methods as described herein. The
following portion of the description is aimed at providing the
reader with an example of a conceptual view of how various modules
and/or engines that make up the elements of the system may be
interconnected to enable the functions to be implemented. Further,
the following portion of the description explains in system related
detail how the steps of the herein described method may be
performed. The conceptual diagrams are provided to indicate to the
reader how the various data elements are processed at different
stages by the various different modules and/or engines.
[0566] It will be understood that the arrangement and construction
of the modules or engines may be adapted accordingly depending on
system and user requirements so that various functions may be
performed by different modules or engines to those described
herein.
[0567] It will be understood that the modules and/or engines
described may be implemented and provided with instructions using
any suitable form of technology. For example, the modules or
engines may be implemented or created using any suitable software
code written in any suitable language, where the code is then
compiled to produce an executable program that may be run on any
suitable computing system. Alternatively, or in conjunction with
the executable program, the modules or engines may be implemented
using any suitable mixture of hardware, firmware and software. For
example, portions of the modules may be implemented using an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system-on-a-chip
(SoC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or any other suitable
adaptable or programmable processing device.
[0568] The methods described herein may be implemented using a
general purpose computing system specifically programmed to perform
the described steps. Alternatively, the methods described herein
may be implemented using a specific computer system such as a data
visualization computer, a database query computer, a graphical
analysis computer, a gaming data analysis computer, a manufacturing
data analysis computer, a business intelligence computer etc.,
where the computer has been specifically adapted to perform the
described steps on specific data captured from an environment
associated with a particular field.
[0569] According to this embodiment there is shown in FIG. 9L a
conceptual system diagram where a graphical analysis computing
system 9901 includes at least the following elements, a data
retrieval module 9903, a periodicity determination module 9905 and
an alignment module 9907.
[0570] The data retrieval module is configured to enable the
retrieval of data from a data storage module 9909, which is in
communication with the graphical analysis computing system. The
data storage module may be any suitable type of data storage
system. For example, it may be an enterprise data warehouse (EDW),
a data mart, a database, a storage array or any other suitable
device or groups of devices that can store data for later
retrieval. Further, the data storage module may be a cache memory
used to temporarily store incoming data captured in real time.
[0571] The data provided as an input to the system may be any
suitable type of data, for example, real world data including, but
not limited to, gaming or gambling data associated with a gaming
environment such as a casino, event data, test or quality control
data obtained from a manufacturing environment, business data
retrieved from an accounting system, sales data retrieved from a
company database, etc. All this data may be received by the system
in real time within a cache memory or may be stored in a more
permanent manner prior to it being analyzed.
[0572] The data may be retrieved from the data storage module by
the data retrieval module 9903 using any suitable known technique,
such as, for example, SQL statements.
[0573] Further, the alignment module 9907 may be in communication
with a display module 9911 that is specifically adapted and
controlled by the system 9901 to display the output of the
alignment module in a graphical manner.
[0574] As an alternative to, or in conjunction with, the display
module, further output modules may be provided to output the
results of the alignment module. That is, the raw data retrieved by
the data retrieval module is analyzed and converted to provide
output data in a specific format. The output data is provided to
the display and/or further output modules to enable a user to
visualize the raw data in a manner that conveys more useful or
hidden information that would otherwise be lost.
[0575] The further output module may be a printing device in
communication with the described system to receive print control
data so that representations of the data may be printed on any
suitable print medium. Alternatively, the further output module may
be an interface that enables the data output from the alignment
module to be interfaced with other data handling modules or storage
devices.
[0576] The retrieved data is processed by the periodicity
determination module 9905, which determines whether there are a
number of different periodicities within the retrieved data. Based
on the different periodicities detected, data sets are identified
where each data set is associated with a specific period.
[0577] These identified data sets are then aligned by the alignment
module as herein described.
[0578] FIG. 9M shows a flow diagram of the method steps carried out
by the system. The steps include at step 9M01 retrieving data from
the data store and forwarding the data to determination module. At
step 9M03, periodicities in the data are determined. At step 9M05,
data sets with certain periodicities are determined. That is, for
any data set, the system determines which periodicities occur
within the data of that data set. At step 9M07, the data sets are
aligned based on the periodicities of the data within the data
sets. At step 9M09, the aligned data sets are provided as an
output, such as being displayed on a graphical user interface.
[0579] Alternatively or in combination with the above example, the
retrieved data may be processed by the periodicity determination
module 9905 to identify whether the data sets include instances of
a periodic event. The alignment module may then align the data
associated with each of the identified periodic event instances
relative to each other.
[0580] The graphical analysis computing system 9901 is controllable
by any suitable pointing device operated by a user. The user may
therefore select an identified data set that is displayed on the
display module 9911 in order to view that data set at an increased
granularity. For example, the data sets shown may have
periodicities of weeks and months, whereas the user may wish to
drill down into one of these data sets to see other shorter
periodicities, such as days, hours, minutes or other non naturally
occurring periodicities that are not directly linked with the sun
such as a specific machine testing period or business accounting
period, for example.
[0581] By selecting one of the displayed data sets, the periodicity
determination module can analyse the data within the selected data
set and determine which other periodicities are present within the
selected data set.
[0582] Once the periodicity determination module has identified the
further data sets of an increased granularity, the identified data
set may then be aligned by the alignment module with one or more of
the other identified data sets.
[0583] The alignment of these new data sets may then be displayed
on the display module. In this manner a user is able to drill down
into the data using the graphical user interface and see the
aligned data sets at each level of granularity.
[0584] The periodicity determination module may be programmed,
controlled or adapted either by the user or developer to determine
a specific period or set of periods. For example, the user may
select from a drop down menu which individual or groups of periods
or types of periods the periodicity determination module is
required to search for in the retrieved data.
[0585] The periods may be changed so that the periodicity
determination module may determine periods of time, such as, for
example, any time period selected from a multiple, whole or portion
of a second, minute, hour, day, week, month, or year.
[0586] Alternatively, the periodicity determination module may be
controlled to determine a multiple, whole or portion of a calendar
period, such as a multiple, whole or portion of a day, week, month,
year, leap year, decade, century for example.
[0587] Further, the periodicity determination module may be
controlled to determine a social period such as a weekend or
holiday period etc. Further, the periodicity determination module
may be controlled to determine a business period such as, for
example, an accounting period, sales target period etc.
[0588] In relation to events, periodicity determination module may
be controlled to determine periodic business related events, such
as a product launch event, for example. Also, the event may relate
to a level of completion of a business event, such as, for example,
how far a certain business project has been completed.
[0589] Alternatively, the periodicity determination module may be
controlled to determine periodic cultural events, such as, for
example Labor Day or May Day etc. These cultural events may be a
measure of cultural development.
[0590] Further, the periodicity determination module may be
controlled to determine periodic religious events, such as, for
example, Christmas, Easter, Passover etc.
[0591] Further, the periodicity determination module may also
identify two separate instances of the periodic event within two
different data sets having the same periodicity. The periodicity
determination module is then arranged to determine the relative
positioning of each of the events in the different data sets.
[0592] For example, if the periodicity determination module
determines that a first data set is in a different relative
position to a second data set, then the alignment module is
instructed to align the two data sets, and the alignment module
aligns the data associated with the first instance of the periodic
event in the first data set with the data associated with the
second instance of the periodic event in the second data set.
[0593] Alternatively, if the periodicity determination module
determines that the first data set is in the same relative
position, the alignment module is instructed to align the data
associated with the first instance of the periodic event in the
first data set with the data associated with the second instance of
the periodic event in the second data set.
[0594] The alignment module may modify the data within the first
data set associated with the first instance to align the first and
second instances of the periodic event.
[0595] The modification step may be in the form of restricting,
compressing, deleting, moving or expanding at least a portion of
the data within the first data set to cause alignment.
[0596] The step of expanding the data may be implemented by the
alignment module adding new data into the data set, such as one or
a combination of null values and average, extrapolated or
interpolated values for the original data set.
[0597] Alternatively, the step of expanding the data may be
implemented by the alignment module moving at least a portion of
the data within the first data set.
[0598] Alternatively, the step of expanding the data may be
implemented by the alignment module including within the first data
set at least a portion of a further data set that has been
identified by the periodicity determination module as having the
same periodicity as the first data set.
[0599] In a further embodiment, the system herein described may
allow queries (such as database queries, for example) to be
constructed against data sets having different periodicities. This
temporal query computing system enables the determination of the
different periodicities within the data sets of the data that is
retrieved. A data set query, such as a query written in a database
query language, for example SQL, may be analysed, and the temporal
parameters within the query may be determined by any suitable
mechanism, such as parsing. The system may then resolve the
temporal parameters in the query and create data sets according to
the resolved parameters.
[0600] The temporal query computing system of this embodiment is
arranged to provide a method of constructing queries against data
sets having different periodicity. As shown in FIG. 9N, the
temporal query system 9N01 forms part of the herein described
system, and in its basic form includes at least the following
modules. A determination module 9N02 that is instructed to
determine the periodicity of the data sets that are, or are likely
to be, referenced in the query. The data sets are retrieved from a
storage module 9N09, which may be any suitable type of storage
system as described herein.
[0601] Data queries are provided to a query resolving module 9N03
from a query module 9N04 that receives data queries from a source
9N05. The source may be a graphical user interface where a user
enters queries manually, another module within the system or from a
different system. The queries may be of any suitable format, for
example an SQL format.
[0602] A query resolving module 9N03 then resolves the temporal
parameters passed in the query. The temporal parameters may be
resolved by an interpretation/parsing engine 9N06 that is arranged
to read the components of the query and either interpret or parse
the pieces relevant to the temporal parameters. The
interpretation/parsing engine may retrieve, from any suitable
storage medium, specific knowledge of temporal functions such as
month of year, day of week or other date functions. The resolving
process results in the construction of a query that includes
temporal components. This query may be written in SQL and submitted
to a relational database 9N08.
[0603] A data set creation module 9N07 is arranged to create data
sets according to the resolved temporal parameters provided by the
query resolving module 9N03. The data sets may be created by
submitting SQL statements to a relational database 9N08 or by
combining the results of several database queries.
[0604] The output from the data set creation module 9N07 may then
be forwarded to any suitable output device 9N10, such that the
resultant data sets can be stored, analyzed, displayed, interpreted
or processed.
[0605] Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9O, the system performs the
following steps:
[0606] At step 9O01, the data sets are retrieved from the data
store. At step 9O03, data queries are provided to the system.
[0607] It will be understood that the steps 9O01 and 9O03 may be
carried out in a different order, where 9O03 is carried out before
9O01, or substantially simultaneously with 9O01.
[0608] At step 9O05, the temporal parameters in the query are
resolved. At step 9O07, data sets are created based on the resolved
parameters.
[0609] According to one example, the temporal parameters in the
query may be times in different time zones.
[0610] It will be understood that the query resolving module may
use an extension of SQL to calculate temporal or relationship
functions, and so build the queries.
[0611] Also, the query resolving module may use metadata to provide
sensible or common-sense defaults in order to calculate temporal or
relationship functions for the interpretation of results.
[0612] The query resolving module may include a rules engine that
is used to resolve queries giving an answer that is most likely to
be correct based on a set of rules applied to the engine.
[0613] The system can be adapted to use an extended set of SQL
statements (i.e. they extend beyond the basic functions) to build a
SQL language where they resolution of the temporal functions and
relationships are expressed in the language and executed in a
database engine that understands the query. Therefore it can be
seen that visual or query results may be produced as a result of an
extended SQL query against an extended relational database.
[0614] The temporal parameters in the query may be resolved using
any of the techniques described above, wherein the temporal
parameters are aligned through modification, restriction or
expansion of the temporal parameters.
[0615] According to one example, the input parameters may be times
in different time zones, and so an alignment is required to ensure
the query takes this into account when accessing the database and
retrieving the associated data set that answers the query.
[0616] A method of resolving a query is therefore provided wherein
the temporal components of the query are arranged to handle the non
linear nature of time. This differs from traditional queries as the
user can run SQL statements where concepts such as financial
account period, Chinese New Year, and Easter are understood by the
database engine. This understanding enables the results to multiple
temporal sequences to be provided in an efficient manner.
[0617] The SQL Statement may be made up from any suitable SQL
definitions, including, for example, any of the following
clauses:
[0618] SELECT Clause
[0619] The "select" clause may include results such as count of
number of Easters, or days since Chinese New Year, for example.
[0620] FROM Clause
[0621] The "from" clause enables specific tables to be included in
the query. These tables have an implicit understanding of the
temporal non linear nature of time.
[0622] JOIN Clause
[0623] A table may be joined together using the non linear temporal
rules. For example join together sales based on weeks including a
religious holiday.
[0624] WHERE Clause
[0625] A restriction may restrict with questions that require
implicit knowledge of one or more temporal sequences. For example,
select the years where a full moon is within 3 days of Easter.
[0626] HAVING Clause
[0627] A "having" clause can be adjusted to answer temporal
questions such as where the sum of revenue for is greater than XX
on Christmas days that occur on a Sunday.
[0628] GROUP BY Clause
[0629] Group by is extended such that the queries have implicit
understanding temporal queries. For example group by year can now
include Chinese calendar years. Alternatively they can produce a
set of results one for each interpretation of calendar year.
[0630] ORDER BY Clause
[0631] Order by is extended such that queries can be ordered by
multiple temporal sequences, producing an array of results. For
example order by months and weeks produces two sets of interrelated
results where both sequences are correctly calculated.
[0632] Further examples of SQL definitions may be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL.
[0633] The forgoing methods may further include a hierarchical
display of the data sets using a related method, such as a tree
method.
[0634] These methods may be interactive methods assisting an end
user to construct one or more graphical representations of data
and/or their underlying attributes with multiple layers of elements
that include shape, position, color, size, and animation. This may
assist an end user to organize the graphical representations in
such a way as to contribute to the end user's understanding of the
data represented including assisting an end user to use proportion
and positioning to compare temporal events within periods that
contain disparate elements.
[0635] This type of visual design is a completely data defined
Visual Design. The key input values are typically `start` and `end`
dates along with the `number` of variables to be displayed.
[0636] The simplest, and potentially the most useful, Visual Design
Special Layer may be a carefully drawn calendar. The calendar may
then become a useful Visual Design for date-based Visual
Documents.
[0637] Temporal analysis is one of the fundamental methods of
almost all analysis. Using temporal high density visualizations,
users will be able to overlay high density Thematic Layers on well
designed Special Layers such as the spiral data visualization shown
in the above examples. This analysis can be applied in everything
from customer frequency and spend analysis to analysis of the
impacts of time of day on the management of a mobile phone
network.
[0638] It is considered that temporal design patterns are
particularly important in terms of analytics as the majority of
analytics are time based. Described herein are several examples of
producing temporal visual designs. [0639] Non Contiguous Time--For
example, weekends can be represented in some interesting ways. The
simplest way being not to show them. [0640] Non-linear Time--This
allows multiple years of history to be shown where the oldest data
is spatially compressed in the Visual Design. [0641] Temporal
Special Layers--These can be used to compare quite disjointed types
of data. For example, the relationship between external public
events, operational payroll sizes and sales revenue. There exists
no easy way to numerically join this data together, visually this
data can be joined. The technique combines well with simple
correlations as it is possible to combine these distinct datasets
to show correlations. [0642] Control--One important consideration
in visualizing temporal data is the gaining of scientific control.
For example, seasonal variables. This is particularly interesting
as one year is always different from the next. Quite simply, the
start date of each year is never the same as the next, and moving
external events such as Easter and `acts of God` such as weather
make precise comparison very difficult.
[0643] 3. Spatial Visual Designs
[0644] One purpose of a spatial visual design is to present an
overview of large scale numerical data in one spatial display (i.e.
a space) for understanding, monitoring and analyzing the data.
[0645] GIS and mapping tools have been part of business analytics
for over 10 years. Syed Nasirin.sup.viii states "In retailing, GIS
is also known as "geodemographics." It is derived from the
combination of both geographic and demographic terms. The system
was initially employed to support site selection decisions, but
have developed to support an array of marketing mix decisions. As
GIS `re-engineers` the traditional working approaches and involves
continuous commitment from all the parties (senior managers, system
developers and users) in the organization, the system fundamentally
changes the existing organizational working approach towards site
selection and other marketing mix decisions."
[0646] Nasirin's statement illustrates the common kinds of uses of
GIS for site selection and geodemographics.
[0647] The described solution is a next generation of thematic
mapping. It mashes together the base maps provided by third parties
with rendered thematic layers. These mash-ups are user definable
and accessible to users.
[0648] Third party base maps may include customer-owned spatial
maps or readily available base maps such as those provided by
Google.TM. Maps or Yahoo.TM. Maps. The system provides powerful
thematic layers over one of these spatial base maps.
[0649] One example of a spatial visual design is available at
www.weather.com.sup.ix. This map shows two layers--(1) an
underlying heat map overlaid with (2) actual temperature at
specific cities. The points are useful as the state boundaries
allow the user to determine with relative ease which city is being
referenced. The underlying heat map is useful as it allows the user
to see the overall trend at a glance.
[0650] A second example is available at Information
Aesthetics.sup.x. This example shows the travel time from the
centre of London outwards using various methods of travel. The use
of heat maps here shows very clearly the relationship between
distance from the centre of London and travel time.
[0651] Within the various industries discussed herein, games,
products, hotels, branch offices, retail stores have their position
or location frequently adjusted to optimize revenue.
[0652] For example, in the hospitality, financial and
telecommunications industries, hotels, branches and retail stores
are frequently located in areas where the location of competitors,
the availability of qualified workers, tax structure and, the
surrounding community demographics are conducive to profitable
operation.
[0653] Many factors are taken into account such as the proximity to
entrances, outlets (e.g. service outlets), entertainment venues,
kiosks, aisle positions and others.
[0654] Spatial visualization techniques as herein described will
provide information that enables the optimizing of floor
configurations. These spatial visualizations include specific
features on how to understand either the whole or part of the
operations of the business or optimal business or facilities
placement.
[0655] Numerical data may be independently mapped using parameters
such as hue, saturation, brightness, opacity and size distributed
across a defined geographical space.
[0656] Geographic mapping has a wide range of uses. In fact with
the wide availability of high quality base maps, the world is
becoming spatially enabled. Mapping applications can be used for a
huge variety of tasks, from customer relationship management to
drive time analysis, site selection to insurance risk analysis and
telecommunications network analysis.
[0657] The described solution provides a flexible way that users
can add geographic queries and analysis to their internal EDW
(Enterprise Data Warehouse) applications. These can be further
extended with the powerful animation capabilities of the described
solution. This animation capability enables the extension of the
spatial analysis to space/time analytical solutions.
[0658] Utilizing any of the visual design methodologies described
herein, further improvements can be made by providing indications
on a visualization to show an end user where the key areas of that
visualization are located. It is not always clear in visualizations
where data used to create the visualization correlates, and so
important information can easily be missed.
[0659] The system described herein can overcome this problem by
determining the location of one or more key areas within the
graphical representation, wherein the location of one or more of
these key areas is automatically determined by the system based on
at least one of a characteristic of the data that is being
graphically represented in those areas, related actions or related
events associated with the data.
[0660] That is, the system analyzes the data to detect the
characteristics of the data. Each characteristic of the data,
related event or related action may be given a different weighting
factor by the system. Certain actions, such as, for example,
customer centric actions may be detected that relate to the data.
Also, relevant or related events that could affect the data are
determined by the system using the data or related data. By
applying any number of these factors to a determination module, the
system is able to determine how data points in the visualization
correlate with neighboring data points.
[0661] For example, the determination module may be an artificial
intelligence engine, or fuzzy logic module that receives all the
data characteristics and associated information, and based on a
number of rules and weighting factors, determines which data points
in the representation correlate with other data points. The results
of this can be used to highlight within the representation areas
that have correlating data points.
[0662] Various different forms of highlighting can take place, such
as drawing shapes around the correlated data, overlaying a further
visualization, visually highlighting an area etc. Further, textual
references, graphical images and axes may be identified or used
within the visualization. Also, the key area may be identified in a
manner utilizing a shape, positional indicator, color, size,
texture, symbology, pattern or animation
[0663] The important element is that the key area is identified in
a manner that focuses the attention of the end user upon that key
area.
[0664] Therefore, the location of the key area may be determined
based on the correlation of the data graphically represented in
that area and a predefined threshold. The predefined threshold will
depend on the data being represented and will be associated with
the level of correlation between the data points.
[0665] The determination of the correlation of the data may be
based on a number of different algorithms, for example, an
R-squared algorithm, a least squares algorithm or a Kriging
algorithm can be used either alone or in combination.
[0666] The location of the key area may be determined based on the
relationship between the data graphically represented in that area
and neighboring data points. For example, by overlaying a heatmap
on top of a graphical representation of data, where that heatmap
that provides a further visual indication of how data points in the
graphical representation correlate with neighboring data points, it
becomes extremely easy to see where there is correlation between
the data shown. This provides a unique mechanism of receiving an
overall view of the data simultaneously with details of the
data.
[0667] In conjunction with the herein described hierarchical tree
representations it then becomes possible to view a hierarchical
meta data view of the data selected. Further, the indicated area or
areas may be adjusted by the user to include other data points if
the user feels they are relevant. For example, this adjustment may
be included within the R-tree representation. The hierarchical tree
may be used to display descriptive information about the identified
key area.
[0668] This type of visualization is particularly useful for high
density data visualizations, where the high density can easily
obscure important features. By providing indications on the data,
the user is able to interact with the data by, for example,
drilling down into the data to ascertain other characteristics.
[0669] Therefore, the identified key area may be adjusted by the
end user, for example to identify further key areas. Further, he
identified key area may be adjustable through an interaction of the
end user with an input device such as a mouse, or keyboard for
example.
[0670] Using the above described methodology, the key area may be
determined based on the variance of a displayed surface of the
graphical representation. Various different algorithms may be used
to enable this, such as, for example, Kriging.
[0671] Also, an interactive hierarchical diagram may be provided to
enable navigation of the graphical representation. The system
provides instructions to the end user that assist the end user in
selecting an area in the diagram to cause a corresponding area
within the graphical representation to be identified to the end
user.
[0672] FIG. 10 shows an example. 1000 indicates a heat map that
uses space, shape and color to depict related data (1005, 1010,
1015) as designed by an end user. 1020 is an automatically
generated transparent shape that uses an algorithm to point out
areas of correlated data.
[0673] Composite Surface
[0674] A method is now described that allows for different
densities of data to be displayed on a contiguous surface without
the points of data that are close together creating overlapping
effects to obscure the results.
[0675] This embodiment of the invention relates to a mathematical
calculation of a contiguous surface from discrete data. Traditional
methods of calculation of this contiguous surface involve applying
a formula to the data such as gravity model, these gravity models
create visual displays of data that enable much higher density of
information to be shown.
[0676] The simplest form of the gravity model is sometimes called
`Shepards Method` or Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) Method of
spatial interpolation (Isaaks and Srivastava, 1989), described
below.
[0677] Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) Interpolation
[0678] We are given n data points (X.sub.i, Y.sub.i) in
2-dimensional real space and also the value V.sub.i at thesw points
of a variable of interest. We will refer to these n points as
surface points. We need to calculate the value V at a point (X, Y),
which will be called an interpolation point.
[0679] We first define the notion of distance d.sub.i between two
points (X, Y) and (X.sub.i,Y.sub.i):
d.sub.pd=[|X-X.sub.i|.sup.p+|Y-Y.sub.i|.sup.p].sup.1/p,
p.gtoreq.1.
[0680] Taking p=2 gives us the Euclidean distance between two
points on the real plane.
d.sub.2,i= {square root over
((X-X.sub.i).sup.2+(Y-Y.sub.i).sup.2)}
[0681] We next calculate a set of weights W.sub.i to be used in
spatial interpolation:
[0682] W.sub.i=weight of the i-th surface point for calculating
V at ( X , Y ) = d p , i j = 1 n d p , j i = 1 n W i = 1
##EQU00001##
[0683] The value of V can now be calculated from the interpolation
equation
V ( X , Y ) = i = 1 n W i V i ##EQU00002##
Example 1
[0684] In the following table, we have n=10 surface points
(X.sub.i, Y.sub.1), i=1, 2, . . . , 10 with known values of the
variable V, and one point (X, Y) at which V needs to be calculated.
The weights are calculated using the Euclidean distance (p=2). The
value of V at the interpolation point (X,Y) is the sum of the last
column (54.99) of the following table.
TABLE-US-00007 X Y V h.sub.i 1/d.sub.i W.sub.i W.sub.i .times.
V.sub.i x1, y1 2 7 70 13 0.076923 0.079111 5.537756 x2, y2 2 9 61
25 0.04 0.041138 2.509395 x3, y3 3 1 47 20 0.05 0.051422 2.416835
x4, y4 6 6 64 2 0.5 0.51422 32.9101 x5, y5 6 10 19 26 0.038462
0.039555 0.751553 x6, y6 7 1 0 20 0.05 0.051422 0 x7, y7 7 9 52 20
0.05 0.051422 2.673945 x8, y8 7 10 40 29 0.034483 0.035463 1.418539
x9, y9 8 2 52 18 0.055556 0.057136 2.97105 x10, y10 8 3 48 13
0.076923 0.079111 3.797319 x, y 5 5 Total 0.972346 1 54.98649
[0685] FIG. 11A shows the locations of the 10 surface points and
the interpolation point (X, Y).
[0686] FIG. 11B shows the interpolated values V at a few selected
points on the vertical line X=7.
[0687] FIG. 11C shows a surface plot of V vs. (X, Y).
[0688] The visualization of this invention involves a modification
of the IDW method as described below.
[0689] Note that as (X,Y).fwdarw.(X.sub.i,Y.sub.i) for any surface
point i, the distance d.sub.p,i.fwdarw.0 and the weight
W.sub.i.fwdarw.1. In other words, the value of V at
(X.sub.i,Y.sub.i) calculated from the above formula will equal
V.sub.i. For visualization of this invention, in order to show
better resolution at each of the surface points, we may prefer to
use a surface that is not interpolatory. This can be achieved by
using the following weights:
W i ' = { 1 + b i if d p , i = 0 d p , i j = 1 n d p , j if d p , i
.noteq. 0 ##EQU00003##
[0690] where b.sub.i is a tuning constant.
[0691] FIG. 11D shows values of V calculated from the modified IDW
method on the vertical line X=7 (plotted vs. Y)
[0692] we can also add radius effect with weights defined as
follows:
W i = ( R - d i Rd i ) 2 j = 1 n ( R - d j Rd j ) 2
##EQU00004##
[0693] where
[0694] R=max(d.sub.i)=distance between (X, Y) and the farthest
point (X.sub.i, Y.sub.i)
[0695] FIG. 11E shows the value R on the plot of the surface
points, and shows the distance of the farthest surface point to the
interpolation point.
[0696] The value of R for the data of Example 1 is R=5.39, which is
the maximum of
[0697] the d.sub.i column in the following table. The calculated V
at (5,5) is 51.83.
TABLE-US-00008 X Y V d.sub.i 1/d.sub.i RH W VW x1, y1 2 7 70
3.605551 0.27735 1.419701 0.213068 14.91475 x2, y2 2 9 61 5 0.2
0.12789 0.019194 1.170809 x3, y3 3 1 47 4.472136 0.223607 0.574912
0.086282 4.055273 x4, y4 6 6 64 1.414214 0.707107 1.08748 0.163208
10.44533 x5, y5 6 10 19 5.09902 0.196116 0.073409 0.011017 0.209326
x6, y6 7 1 0 4.472136 0.223607 0.574912 0.086282 0 x7, y7 7 9 52
4.472136 0.223607 0.574912 0.086282 4.486685 x8, y8 7 10 40
5.385165 0.185695 0 0 0 x9, y9 8 2 52 4.242641 0.235702 0.810224
0.121598 6.323096 x10, y10 8 3 48 3.605551 0.27735 1.419701
0.213068 10.22726 x, y 5 5 Total 2.750141 6.663138 1 51.83253 R
5.385165
[0698] The Cardno Surface
[0699] The Cardno Surface is well suited for analysis within the
various industries discussed herein in that it allows important
distinctions to be discerned from data that is normally obfuscated
when aggregated.
[0700] For example, in the gaming industry, if a player plays for
10 hours on one type of machine, and tries out another type of
machine for 1 hour, the fact that he tried the other machine is
important information but will be missed when looking at a normal
aggregated representation of play.
[0701] For example, in the retail industry, if a customer buys a
large quantity of one type of product, and tries out another
product by buying a smaller quantity of it, the fact that he tried
the other product is important information but will be missed when
looking at a normal aggregated representation of purchases.
[0702] For example, in the hospitality industry, if a customer
segment buys a large quantity of one type of product (e.g.,
beverages), and tries out another product by buying a smaller
quantity of it (e.g, logo wear), the fact that they tried the other
product is important information but will be missed when looking at
a normal aggregated representation of purchasing behavior.
[0703] For example, in the financial industry, if a customer
segment buys a large quantity one type of product (e.g., home
loans), and tries out another product by buying a smaller quantity
of it (e.g, gift cards), the fact that they tried the other product
is important information but will be missed when looking at a
normal aggregated representation of purchasing behavior.
[0704] For example, in the entertainment industry, if a customer
buys a large quantity of one type of product, and tries out another
product by buying a smaller quantity of it, the fact that the other
product was tried is important information but will be missed when
looking at a normal aggregated representation of the
transactions.
[0705] For example, in the telecommunications industry, if a
customer segment buys a large quantity of one type of product
(e.g., data services), and a second customer tries out another
product by buying a smaller quantity of it (e.g. text messaging) at
a nearby area, the fact that they tried the other product is
important information but will be missed when looking at a normal
aggregated representation of purchasing behavior.
[0706] Viewing these distinctions is important in that it can show
both the overview to the data and the specific exceptions to the
trend within one analytical context.
[0707] Various embodiments of how a surface (Cardno Surface) is
created by the herein described system are provided. The
methodologies may involve multiple applications of different order
interpolation models as shown above and may optionally be modified
by combining the interpolated surface with a smoothing model as
described below with increasing levels of accuracy. The final
surface created or generated by the system may typically be an
interpolation surface that adjusts the smoothed models so that the
final data passes exactly through all data points, creating a
visualization that consists of minima and maxima, for example,
local minima and, local maxima or global minima and global
maxima.
[0708] As defined in Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxima_and_minima: [0709] Maxima and
minima are known collectively as extrema, and are defined as the
largest value (maximum) or smallest value (minimum), that a
function takes in a point either within a given neighbourhood
(local extremum, e.g. local minima or local maxima) or on the
function domain in its entirety (global extremum e.g. global minima
or global maxima).
First Embodiment
[0710] According to this embodiment there is shown in FIG. 11Q a
conceptual system diagram of a data visualization system 11Q01
which includes a data retrieval module 11Q03 configured to enable
the retrieval of data from a data storage module, which is in
communication with the data visualization system.
[0711] The system further includes a smoothing module 11Q05 and an
interpolation module 11Q07 which are arranged to receive the data
obtained by the retrieval module. Each of the smoothing module and
interpolation modules are controlled using specific algorithms to
create, from the input data, a smoothed surface and an interpolated
surface respectively. The smoothed and interpolated surfaces are
then combined by a surface combining module 11Q11. The output of
the surface combining module is provided to a rendering module
11Q13, which is arranged and controlled to create the appropriate
signals for the output device 11Q15, which in this embodiment is a
display module, which is used to visualize the data.
[0712] In summary, the smoothing module applies a smoothed model to
input data to create smoothed surfaces, and the interpolation
module applies an interpolation method to the input data to create
a precise interpolated surface around the data points.
[0713] The surface combining module is used to combine the smoothed
surface output from the smoothing module with the interpolated
surface output from the interpolation module. The surface combining
module 11Q11 incorporates a weighting module 11Q12 that calculates
a weighted average of the output of the smoothing and interpolation
functions so that the combined output creates a smooth
visualization at points for which data has not been observed. The
combined surface therefore shows local minima and maxima at the n
given points x.sub.1, x.sub.2, . . . , x.sub.n in the 2D plane.
[0714] This combined surface enables a user of the system to
visualize the overall pattern associated with the output of the
smoothing module, along with the surface points that correctly pass
through the source as output by the interpolation module. This
therefore enables the user to see, simultaneously, in the resultant
(i.e. combined) surface, both the overview and the details of the
input data provided to the system.
[0715] It is important to note that, in this embodiment, the
smoothed surface created by the smoothing module is generated so
that it does not appear near the data points. That is, the
smoothing function acts as a "weighted" mean of the data
points.
[0716] Examples of how the modules of the system may create a
combined surface of the smoothed and interpolated surfaces
according to this embodiment are described as follows.
[0717] Interpolation Step
[0718] The interpolating function applied by the interpolating
module in this embodiment is as described in the IDW interpolation
example as follows. That is, interpolation of the input data is
carried out by using the following IDW method.
[0719] Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) Interpolation Function
[0720] The Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) Interpolation function
is a gravity function. The function works by obtaining or
retrieving data that includes "n" data points (X.sub.i, Y.sub.i) in
2-dimensional real space, as well as the value (variable) V.sub.i
at each of these points of interest. The n points are referred to
as surface points. The value V is to be calculated at a point
(X,Y), which is an unknown point, and which is called the
interpolation point.
[0721] The notion of distance d.sub.i between two points (X,Y) and
(X.sub.i, Y.sub.1) is defined by the equation:
d.sub.p,i=[|X-X.sub.i|.sup.p+|Y-Y.sub.i|.sup.p].sup.1/p,
p.ltoreq.1.
[0722] Taking p=2 gives the Euclidean distance between two points
on the real plane, as follows:
d.sub.2,i=(X-X.sub.i).sup.2+(Y-Y.sub.i).sup.2
[0723] A set of weights W.sub.i to be used in spatial interpolation
is calculated where:
[0724] W.sub.i=weight of the i-th surface point for calculating V
at
( X , Y ) = ( 1 / d p , i ) a j = 1 n ( 1 / d p , j ) a
##EQU00005##
[0725] and where a, the exponent of inverse distance (1/d.sub.pi),
is a positive constant and
i = 1 n W i = 1. ##EQU00006##
[0726] The value of V can now be calculated from the interpolation
equation:
V ( X , Y ) = i = 1 n W i V i ##EQU00007##
[0727] The common choice for the exponent a=2 is used, as this
choice is computationally efficient. Therefore, the weight values
W.sub.i for each point are normalized against the total of the
multiplicative inverse or reciprocal of the squared distance
values, i.e. the weight value is a normalized version of the
reciprocal of squared distance function. That is, each weighting
value W.sub.i is the (1/d.sub.i).sup.2 value divided by the total
of all (1/d.sub.i).sup.2 values for all points.
[0728] The following describes a first IDW example of calculating
V(X,Y) using the above IDW method.
[0729] In the following table, n=10 surface points are shown
(X.sub.i, Y.sub.i), i=1, 2, . . . , 10 with known values of the
variable V, and one point (X, Y) at which V needs to be calculated.
The weights are calculated using the Euclidean distance (p=2) and
exponent a=2.
[0730] Therefore, the weight values gradually increase for points
that are closer to the interpolation point X,Y.
[0731] The value of V at the interpolation point (X,Y) is the sum
of the weighted variable values Wi.times.Vi in the last column
(54.99) of the following table, where h=d.sup.2.
TABLE-US-00009 X Y V h.sub.i 1/h.sub.i W.sub.i W.sub.i .times.
V.sub.i x1, y1 2 7 70 13 0.07692 0.07911 5.53775 x2, y2 2 9 61 25
0.04 0.04113 2.50939 x3, y3 3 1 47 20 0.05 0.05142 2.41683 x4, y4 6
6 64 2 0.5 0.51422 32.9101 x5, y5 6 10 19 26 0.03846 0.03955
0.75155 x6, y6 7 1 0 20 0.05 0.05142 0 x7, y7 7 9 52 20 0.05
0.05142 2.67394 x8, y8 7 10 40 29 0.03448 0.03546 1.41853 x9, y9 8
2 52 18 0.05555 0.05713 2.97105 x10, y1 8 3 48 13 0.07692 0.07911
3.79731 x, y 5 5 Total 0.97234 1 54.9864
[0732] FIG. 11A shows the locations of the 10 surface points and
the interpolation point (X, Y).
[0733] FIG. 11B shows the interpolated values V at a few selected
points on the vertical line X=7.
[0734] FIG. 11C shows a surface plot of V vs. (X, Y).
[0735] Tuning Constant
[0736] A tuning constant may also be included for the reasons as
described herein. Note that as (X, Y).fwdarw.(X.sub.i,Y.sub.i) for
any surface point i, the distance d.sub.p,i approaches 0 and the
weight W.sub.i approaches 1. In other words, the value of V at
(X.sub.i,Y.sub.i) calculated from the above formula will equal
V.sub.i. For visualization of this invention, in order to show
better resolution at each of the surface points, it is preferred to
use a surface that is not interpolatory. This can be achieved by
using the following weights:
W i ' = { 1 + b i if d p , i = 0 d p , i j = 1 n d p , j if d p , i
.noteq. 0 ##EQU00008##
[0737] where b.sub.i is a tuning constant.
[0738] The tuning constant may be used to calculate values at the
source point only. This is because at the source point, when the
distance d=0, an error would occur by causing the system to
calculate a value divisible by 0. Therefore, the function is
modified at the source point to make d=1 at the source point.
[0739] For example, as shown in FIG. 11D, values of V are shown
where V is calculated from the modified IDW method on the vertical
line X=7 (plotted vs. Y). That is, the distance d=0 at Y=1, 9 and
10 (for x=7) as can be seen in the above table at data points
(x6,y6), (x7,y7) and (x8,y8). Therefore a tuning constant b has
been selected to be a constant 0.5 when y=1, and a value of
0.1.times.V (i.e. 10% of V) when y=9 or 10. This ensures that
erroneous values are not calculated by causing the system to
compute numbers divisible by 0.
Radius Effect Example
[0740] As an alternative to the IDW example described above, a
further IDW example is provided that incorporates a radius effect
to calculate the weight factor as described below.
[0741] According to this example, the radius effect may be used to
calculate the weight factor W.sub.i. The radius value R is
calculated based on the direct radial distance to the furthest
point. That is, it is calculated by determining the distance for
all points by taking the square root of the sum of the squares of
the x and y difference values, and using the largest of these
distance values. For example, the radius value between points x,y
(5,5) and x8,y8 (7,10) is the square root of
(5-7).sup.2+(5-10).sup.2=5.385165, as shown in the table below.
[0742] The weight factor is calculated as follows using the
calculated R value:
W i = ( R - d i Rd i ) 2 j = 1 n ( R - d j Rd j ) 2
##EQU00009##
[0743] where R=max(d.sub.i)=distance between (X, Y) and the
farthest point (X.sub.i, Y.sub.i)
[0744] Therefore, the weight given to the furthest point is 0,
whereas the weight given to points as they approach X,Y increases
up to a maximum value of 1. The weight value W for each point is
normalized against the total of the R.sub.d column in the table
below, calculated by the formula:
R d = ( R - d i Rd i ) 2 . ##EQU00010##
[0745] FIG. 11E shows the value R on the plot of the surface
points, and shows the distance of the farthest surface point to the
interpolation point.
[0746] FIG. 11H shows the distances of (X,Y) from the surface
points.
[0747] FIG. 11I shows an IDW method using radial effect.
[0748] FIG. 11J shows the surface points and interpolation point
(X,Y).
[0749] The value of R for the data used in the first IDW example 1
above is R=5.39 for point x8,y8. This is the maximum value in the d
column for each of points x1,y1 through to x10,y10 in the following
table. The calculated V at (5,5) is therefore 51.83, which is the
sum of the weighted V values VW for each of the points x1,y1
through to x10,y10.
[0750] The sum of the weights is equal to one, and W is defined in
the example shown as R.sub.d/0.295797=W (where 0.295797=sum of
R.sub.d)
TABLE-US-00010 X Y V d R.sub.d W VW x1, y1 2 7 70 3.605551 0.008401
0.0284 1.987992 x2, y2 2 9 61 5 0.000205 0.000692 0.042198 x3, y3 3
1 47 4.472136 0.001437 0.004859 0.228373 x4, y4 6 6 64 1.414214
0.27187 0.91911 58.82306 x5, y5 6 10 19 5.09902 0.000109 0.000367
0.006975 x6, y6 7 1 0 4.472136 0.001437 0.004859 0 x7, y7 7 9 52
4.472136 0.001437 0.004859 0.252668 x8, y8 7 10 40 5.385165 0 0 0
x9, y9 8 2 52 4.242641 0.002501 0.008454 0.439613 x10, y10 8 3 48
3.605551 0.008401 0.0284 1.363194 x, y 5 5 Total 0.295797 1
63.14407 R 5.385165
[0751] As an alternative, the weighting module may apply a function
of the distance from the source points to the output to take into
account that the surface should preferably drop off between known
data points. For example, an interpolation piecewise function may
be used as described in the fifth embodiment below.
[0752] As a further alternative, the system may use an adapted
interpolation module that is controlled using a Kriging algorithm
(for example, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriging).
[0753] Smoothing Step
[0754] According to this embodiment, the smooth approximation is
implemented by the smoothing module by applying functions of
increasing accuracy to the input data. The function applied to the
input data is the method of least squares polynomials of increasing
degrees that is applied to the input data. The output of the
smoothing module is then provided to the surface combining
module.
[0755] Smoothing Alternatives
[0756] However, there may be situations where the least squares
polynomials method may provide a poor fit to the data, depending on
the type of data being analyzed, in which case an alternative
algorithm described below may be implemented by the smoothing
module by using a least squares approximation using a Radial Basis
Function (RBF) Network as described below.
[0757] An RBF network (Landasse et al., 2003; Wang and Liu, 2002)
with three layers (input layer 1101, a hidden layer of non-linear
RBF functions 1103, and a linear output layer 1105) is shown in
FIG. 11K. The RBF network looks very similar to neural networks;
neural networks in fact can use radial basis functions in its
hidden layer.
V ^ ( x _ ) = j = 1 m w j .rho. ( x _ - c _ j ) ##EQU00011##
[0758] where in =number of components (neurons) in the hidden
layer
[0759] c.sub.j=center vector for j-th neuron
[0760] w.sub.j=weight of j-th neuron in the output
[0761] .parallel.x-c.sub.j.parallel.=Euclidean distance
[0762] .rho.(.)=radial basis function
[0763] Any of the following radial basis function .rho.(.) can be
used in the RBF network:
.PHI.(r.sub.j)=exp(-.beta.r.sub.j.sup.2) (Gaussian)
.phi. {square root over ((r.sub.j)=r.sub.j.sup.2+.beta.2)}
(Multiquadric)
.PHI.(r.sub.j)=r.sub.j.sup.2 ln(r.sub.j) (Thin plate spline)
where
r.sub.j=|x-c.sub.j.parallel. and .beta.>0 is a constant.
[0764] Least Squares Approximation by RBF:
[0765] An RBF network may be used by the system to implement the
smoothing step in the smoothing module as described below. The
system controls the smoothing module to make the required
calculations, as follows
[0766] As there is usually no obvious choice for centers; the width
.beta., and the centers c.sub.j are obtained first using steps 1
and 2 below, and then the weights w.sub.j are determined by
training the network as shown in step 3 below.
[0767] That is, the smoothing module is controlled to perform the
following three steps:
[0768] Step 1) Determining the Centers c.sub.j
[0769] Centers for the basis functions can be randomly generated,
or cluster analysis (Johnson and Wichern, 2002) can be used on the
sample points and their centroids can be used as the centers
c.sub.j.
[0770] Step 2) Determining the Widths .beta..sub.j
.beta..sub.j=.beta.=c.sub.j.-c.sub.j..parallel.=maximum separation
between the cluster means.
[0771] Step 3) Determining the Weights w.sub.j
[0772] After the center and the widths of the basis functions are
determined, the weights can be obtained from the equation
[0773] w=G.sup.+V where G.sup.+ is a pseudoinverse of G, and the
n.times.m matrix G is given by
G=(g.sub.ij)=.rho.(.parallel.x.sub.i-c.sub.j.parallel.)
[0774] An example of an output produced by the smoothing module
arranged to perform least-squares approximation of a function of
one variable on the data is shown in FIG. 11L. The example was
created using a JAVA applet available at
http://lcn.epfl.chkutorial/english/rbf/html/index.html.
[0775] In FIG. 11L, the blue circles 1107 are the data points to be
approximated, the 10 Gaussian curves 1109 shown in the bottom panel
are the Gaussian basis functions with common width 1, and 10
equally spaced centers are being used. In the top panel, the
Gaussian curves 1111 shown in green are the individual Gaussian
functions multiplied by their respective weights, and the red curve
1113 is the least-squares approximation using the RBF network.
[0776] The system performs the following calculations:
[0777] Given n data points
( v - i , V i ) , i = 1 , 2 , . . . , n , where x - i = ( x 1 i , x
2 i ) ##EQU00012##
is a point in a 2D plane, compute
[0778] (a) an interpolating function for use in the interpolation
module, where the function is {circumflex over
(V)}=f(x.sub.1,x.sub.2) that passes through the n given points.
Either the IDW method or an RBF network can be used for this
interpolation step.
[0779] (b) a smoothing function for use in a smoothing module,
where function approximations {circumflex over (V)}.sub.2k minimize
the sum of squares of errors based on the following equation
i = 1 n ( V ^ 2 i - V i ) 2 , ##EQU00013##
[0780] (least squares polynomials of degrees 1, . . . k, or least
squares RBF with 3, . . . , k hidden layers may be used)
[0781] It will be understood that steps a) and b) above may be
implemented by the interpolating and smoothing modules at separate
times or simultaneously.
[0782] (c) compute a combined surface using the surface combining
module from the expression:
h ( x _ ) = a ( x _ ) V ^ 1 + all k b k ( x _ ) V ^ 2 k
##EQU00014##
where a(x) and b.sub.k(x) are weights assigned to the interpolating
function and the least squares approximations, respectively, with
a(x)=1, and b.sub.k(x)=0 if x=x.sub.i, i=1, 2, . . . , n, and
a ( x _ ) + all k b k ( x _ ) = 1 ##EQU00015##
[0783] As an alternative, a further step b2 may be applied by the
smoothing module, where additional zero data points may be added to
the data set to encourage the smoothing line to drop to zero when
the smoothing moves away from the source points.
[0784] As a further alternative, a least squares smoothing function
may be obtained by using a computer search method to estimate the
coefficients of the smoothing function.
[0785] Interpolation Alternatives
[0786] As an alternative for the interpolation step, the RBF
network may also be used to implement the interpolation step in the
interpolation module as described below. The system controls the
interpolation module to make the required calculations, as
follows.
[0787] Given n data points (x.sub.i, V.sub.i), i=1, 2, . . . , n,
where x.sub.i=(x.sub.1i, x.sub.2i) is a point in 2D plane, find an
interpolating function {circumflex over (V)}.sub.1=f(x.sub.1,
x.sub.2) that passes through then given points. Taking .beta.=1 and
centers c.sub.j to be the given points x.sub.j=(x.sub.1i,x.sub.2i)
the interpolating equations can be expressed as
V i = j = 1 n w j .rho. ( x _ i - c _ j ) = j = 1 n w j .rho. ( x _
i - x _ j ) = j = 1 n w j g ij or ##EQU00016## w 1 g 11 + w 2 g 12
+ + w n g 1 n = V 1 ##EQU00016.2## w 1 g 21 + w 2 g 22 + + w n g 2
n = V 2 ##EQU00016.3## ##EQU00016.4## w 1 g n 1 + w 2 g n 2 + + w n
g nn = V n ##EQU00016.5##
[0788] which can be expressed in matrix notation as
[0789] Gw=V, with G.sub.n.times.n=(g.sub.ij) is an n.times.n matrix
and V is the n.times.1 column vector of V-values.
[0790] The weights w.sub.j can be obtained from the following
equation:
w=G.sup.-1V
[0791] Note: The matrix G is known to be non-singular and hence it
has an inverse.
[0792] In an embodiment where the smoothing and interpolation are
performed by the smoothing and interpolation modules using an RBF
network, it will be understood that the modules may be combined to
produced the outputs simultaneously.
[0793] As shown in FIG. 11M, three plots (1, 2 and 3) are shown
depicting graphically how the final surface is created. In plot 1,
data points 1001A are located, and a smoothed line 1003A based on
the data points is plotted underneath the data points.
[0794] In plot 2, an interpolated function is applied to the data
points to produce the interpolated line 1005A.
[0795] In plot 3, the lines 1003A and 1005A are combined or
accumulated with appropriate weightings to produce a surface that
shows the fine details 1007A, and the general detail 1009A
associated with the data points.
Second Embodiment
[0796] In a second embodiment, the data visualization system 11R101
as shown in FIG. 11R includes a data retrieval module 11R102
arranged to retrieve data from a data store 11R103. Further, a
surface cumulating module 11R104 is controlled to produce a
cumulative surface. For example, each source point has applied to
it a drop off function, for example, a function that produces a
conic drop off, and the surface cumulating module 11R104 is
arranged to combine or accumulate the drop off functions to provide
a cumulative surface.
[0797] The resultant cumulative surface is then analyzed using a
residual surface module 11R105 to produce residuals and a residual
surface.
[0798] The residuals are produced by the residual surface module
11R105 by calculating the difference value between the cumulative
surface output from the surface cumulating module 11R104 and the
actual source points. These residuals are then used by the residual
surface module 11R105 to generate the residual surface by applying
an IDW function to the residuals.
[0799] Finally, the outputs from the residual surface module 11R105
and surface cumulating module 11R104 are weighted by a weighting
module 11R107 to produce two weighted outputs (one a weighted
cumulative surface, and the other, a weighted residual surface).
These two weighted surfaces are then combined using a surface
combining module 11R109.
[0800] The output of the surface combining module 11R109 is
provided to a rendering module 11R111 that is arranged to render
the data in any suitable required format, and forward the rendered
data to an output module 11R113, such as a display device or
printer. The combination of these two surfaces effectively provides
dimples in the cumulative surface that touch on or pass through
(depending on the weighting values) the source points, to provide
an overall view of the data along with a detailed view around the
source points.
[0801] A further example is now provided as follows.
[0802] Step 1
[0803] A surface is generated by the surface cumulating module
using a simple cumulative function.
[0804] As an example: Function (cumulative)=(the effect of a source
point)/(distance function1)
[0805] The effect of a source point here may be the sum of the
surrounding source points. This creates a surface that is often
above the value of the source points.
[0806] Step 2
[0807] A secondary process is applied with distance function2 where
distance function2 is typically > than distance function1. That
is, distance function2 is a higher order function than distance
function1. This secondary process adjusts the surface created in
step 1 by creating local dimples in the surface such that the
bottom of the dimple is a local minima that touches, or passes
through, the source points.
[0808] Optionally, the system may include a further step before
step 2 (step 1 a), wherein the system thresholds the surface
created by step 1 so that the surface is forced not to go above the
highest source point.
[0809] Further, other decay functions or higher order functions may
be used as an alternative for step 1a.
[0810] A further detailed example of how the system creates a
surface according to this embodiment is now provided.
[0811] The system generates the surface as follows: [0812] 1.
Create a cumulative surface using the surface cumulating module,
where the surface falls above the given points by using the
following expression:
[0812] V ^ 1 ( x , y ) = all points P i within distance r of point
P ( w i V i ) where ##EQU00017## w i = ( a + dist ( P , P j ) ) - 1
j = 1 k ( a + dist ( P , P j ) ) - 1 ##EQU00017.2## [0813] a is a
positive constant and dist(P,P.sub.i) is a distance function
between the points P and P.sub.j. [0814] 2. Compute residuals using
the residual surface module by applying the following expression
e.sub.i=V.sub.i-{circumflex over (V)}.sub.1(x.sub.i,y.sub.i). That
is, by subtracting the surface obtained in Step 1 (which falls
above the known values, and hence is not an interpolating surface)
from the known values Vi, the residual values are calculated. Note
that all residuals will be negative. [0815] 3. Create a surface for
the residuals computed in Step 2 using the residual surface module
by applying the following function, as follows:
[0815] V ^ 2 ( x , y ) = all points P i within distance r of point
P ( u i e i ) where ##EQU00018## u i = ( b + dist ( P , P i ) ) - x
j = 1 k ( b + dist ( P , P j ) ) - x , ##EQU00018.2## [0816] where
x is a positive number, b is a positive constant, b<a, and
u.sub.i are another set of weights >w.sub.i, so that the sum of
the weights is =1. [0817] That is, the residual surface module
applies an IDW method to the residual points to create the residual
surface. [0818] 4. The final surface is created by adding the
residuals (weighted) from Step 3 to the surface (weighted) computed
in Step 1 using the surface combining modules and weighting
modules.
[0819] As shown in FIG. 10B, three plots (1, 2 and 3) are shown
depicting graphically how the final surface is created. In plot 1,
data points 1011 are located, and a smoothed line 1013 based on the
data points is plotted above the data points.
[0820] In plot 2, an interpolated function is applied to residual
points to produce the interpolated line 1015, or residual surface.
That is, the line 1014 in plot 2 represents the smoothed line 1013,
and the line 1015 represents the difference between the smoothed
line 1013 and the data point values.
[0821] In plot 3, the lines 1013 and 1015 are combined or
accumulated with appropriate weightings to produce a surface that
shows the fine details 1017, and the general detail 1019 associated
with the data points.
Third Embodiment
[0822] In a third embodiment, the system generates the surface
using a three step process wherein a first step includes generating
a surface that has primary smoothing, a second step includes
secondary smoothing adjustments in order to get a smoother surface,
and a third step includes a final interpolation adjustment that
makes the surface pass exactly through the data points
[0823] The first smoothing step may be calculated with a very large
radius, for example (more smoothing is applied), whereas subsequent
smoothing may use a smaller radius in order to show finer smoothed
details. Using this process may on some datasets reduce the visual
anomalies caused by varying densities in data points.
[0824] The system modules as described, above and in FIG. 11Q may
be used to implement the following steps.
[0825] Step 1
[0826] The smoothing module is used to apply a primary smoothing
step to the input data to create a surface that is near to the
source points. A function, such as a weighting function, may then
be applied, using a weighting module, to the primary surface to
lower the surface so that the entire surface is less than or equal
to the source points.
[0827] Step 2
[0828] This process is repeated with secondary smoothing functions
where functions created a smoothed surface to reduce the difference
between the surface and source points. As in the primary smoothing
technique, a function such as a weighting function is applied to
ensure the adjustments are below the actual surface.
[0829] Step 3
[0830] Finally the interpolation module applies an interpolation
surface to create local minima and maxima that are used to display
the surface.
[0831] According to this embodiment, a surface that shows local
minima and maxima is created by the system applying the following
steps:
[0832] 1. A smooth approximating polynomial or a smooth
approximating RBF network (such as by using the method of least
squares) is first obtained using the smoothing module.
[0833] 2. The smooth surface of Step 1 is multiplied by a constant
c1<1 so that the entire (adjusted) smooth surface is below the
known points.
[0834] 3. A second higher order smoothing function is applied to
the surface of step 2, by applying a weighted smoothing function to
the source data and the surface of the reduced surface generated in
step 2. This ensures that the resultant smoothed surface is closer
to the source points.
[0835] 4. This smooth surface of step 3 is multiplied by a constant
c2<1 so that the entire (adjusted) smooth surface is below the
known points.
[0836] 5. The residuals are calculated by the residual surface
module by subtracting the surface obtained at Step 4 from the known
points V.sub.i, and then a least squares polynomial or a least
squares RBF network is fitted to these residuals to produce an
interpolated surface.
[0837] 6. The surface for residuals is then added back to the
smooth surface obtained in Step 4 using the surface combining
module and a final interpolation surface is applied using an IDW
technique, for example.
[0838] As shown in FIG. 10C, six plots (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) are
shown depicting graphically how the final surface is created.
[0839] In plot 1, data points 1021 are located, and a smoothed line
1023 using a first smoothing function is plotted around the data
points.
[0840] In plot 2, the smoothed line 1023 is lowered below the data
points.
[0841] In plot 3, a second smoothed line 1025 using a second
smoothing function applied to the line 1023 is plotted.
[0842] In plot 4, the second smoothed line 1025 is lowered below
the data points.
[0843] In plot 5, an interpolated function is applied to residual
points to produce the interpolated line 1027, or residual surface.
That is, the line 1026 in plot 5 represents the smoothed line 1025,
and the line 1027 represents the difference between the smoothed
line 1025 and the data point values.
[0844] In plot 6, the lines 1025 and 1026 are combined or
accumulated with appropriate weightings to produce a surface that
shows the fine details 1029, and the general detail 1031 associated
with the data points.
Fourth Embodiment
[0845] In a fourth embodiment the system generates the surface
using similar processes to the third embodiment. However, in this
embodiment, the constants applied to the smoothed surfaces are
>1 so that the smoothed surfaces appear above the data points.
Subsequently, the residual surface is added to the smoothed line to
create dimples in the surface.
[0846] Therefore, the system applies several processes whereby in a
first step a smoothing module generates a surface that has primary
smoothing, a second step whereby a smoothing module generates
secondary smoothing adjustments and a third step where an
interpolation module makes a final interpolation adjustment using
calculated residuals.
[0847] Step 1
[0848] The primary smoothing step creates a surface that is near to
the source points. The surface may be either above or below the
source points
[0849] Step 2
[0850] This process is repeated with secondary smoothing functions
where functions create a smoothed surface to reduce the difference
between the surface and source points.
[0851] Step 3
[0852] Finally an interpolation surface is applied to create local
minima and maxima that are used to display the surface. In this
embodiment the primary and secondary surfaces may be above the
source points.
[0853] In the following example of this embodiment, the system
creates a surface that shows local minima and maxima using the
following steps:
[0854] 1. A smooth approximating polynomial or a smooth
approximating RBF network (such as by using the method of least
squares) is first obtained.
[0855] 2. The smooth surface of Step 1 is multiplied by a constant
c1>1 so that the entire (adjusted) smooth surface is above the
known points.
[0856] 3. A second higher order smoothing function is applied to
the surface of step 2 by applying a weighted smoothing function to
the source data and the surface of the reduced surface generated in
step 2. This ensures that the resultant smoothed surface is closer
to the source points.
[0857] 4. This smooth surface of step 3 is multiplied by a constant
c2>1 so that the entire (adjusted) smooth surface is above the
known points
[0858] 5. The residuals are calculated by subtracting the surface
obtained at Step 4 from the known points V.sub.i
[0859] 6 The residuals are then added back to the surface obtained
in step 4 and a final interpolation surface is applied using an IDW
technique, for example.
[0860] As shown in FIG. 10D, six plots (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) are
shown depicting graphically how the final surface is created.
[0861] In plot 1, data points 1033 are located, and a smoothed line
1035 using a first smoothing function is plotted around the data
points.
[0862] In plot 2, the smoothed line 1035 is raised above the data
points.
[0863] In plot 3, a second smoothed line 1037 using a second
smoothing function applied to the line 1035 is plotted.
[0864] In plot 4, the second smoothed line 1037 is raised above the
data points.
[0865] In plot 5, an interpolated function is applied to residual
points to produce the interpolated line 1039, or residual surface.
That is, the line 1040 in plot 5 represents the smoothed line 1037,
and the line 1039 represents the difference between the smoothed
line 1037 and the data point values.
[0866] In plot 6, the lines 1037 and 1039 are combined or
accumulated with appropriate weightings to produce a surface that
shows the fine details 1041, and the general detail 1043 associated
with the data points.
Fifth Embodiment
[0867] According to this embodiment, the system uses similar
modules as described with reference to FIG. 11Q, where the
interpolation module is adapted to apply a series of gravity models
and the smoothing module is adapted to smooth using a cubic
process. The smoothed surface and interpolated surface are combined
to yield a smooth surface that is also capable of showing local
minima and maxima.
[0868] For example, the interpolation steps carried out by the
interpolation module of the third and fourth embodiments above may
be replaced by the interpolation module and steps described in this
embodiment.
[0869] The interpolation module is adapted to implement various
embodiments through the use of a combination of multiple order
gravity models. In these gravity model embodiments, a series of
gravity models with different P-values may be used (say P.sub.1,
P.sub.2, . . . , P.sub.k), where, as the P value increases, the
order increases from low to high.
[0870] A weighted average of the resulting k surfaces is then
calculated by the interpolation module to form a Composite
(Cumulative) Surface made up of a combination or accumulation of
multiple component surfaces. For example, as shown in FIG. 11F,
three surfaces, 1, 2 and 3 from a low, to medium to high order are
shown that may be combined or accumulated, using appropriate
weighting, to form a cumulative resultant surface.
[0871] It will be understood that, as an alternative, an
interpolated function other than weighted average may be used, such
as, for example, an average or linear function.
Gravity Model Example 1
[0872] In this example, the interpolation module implements an IDW
model as the gravity model. That is, the interpolation module
receives the input data from the data retrieval module, and applies
a gravity model to the input data to produce the required output
surface. The output of the interpolation module is forwarded to a
rendering module to produce an output on an output device, in the
same manner as described above.
[0873] The following portion of the description provides a first
example of how the gravity model is applied using the interpolation
module.
[0874] Two surfaces are produced by the interpolation module, a
first surface V1 having a lower order of P=2 and the second surface
V2 having a higher order of P=3. These two surfaces are combined to
produce the output surface.
[0875] The terms higher and lower order are used in this
description in the same sense as it is used in relation to
polynomial functions, in that a higher order interpolated surface
depicts a higher rate of change of the interpolated data than that
of a lower order interpolated surface. For example, a lower order
function may produce a line, whereas higher order functions may
produce a gradient, or a rate of change of a gradient etc.
[0876] In the following example, there are 2 surfaces (k=2) that
are to be combined, where the P value for surface 1, P.sub.1,=2,
and the P value for surface 2, P.sub.2,=3;
[0877] The interpolation module applies IDW weights using P.sub.1=2
and P.sub.2=3 as follows:
W 1 i ' = { 1 + b i if d 2 , i = 0 d 2 , i j = 1 n d 2 , j if d 2 ,
i .noteq. 0 W 2 i ' = { 1 + b i if d 3 , i = 0 d 3 , i j = 1 n d 3
, j if d 3 , i .noteq. 0 ##EQU00019##
[0878] where b.sub.i is the tuning constant.
[0879] The composite IDW surface is then calculated by the
interpolation module by using a weighted average of the two IDW
surfaces V1 and V2 as follows:
V = .alpha. i = 1 n W 1 i ' V 1 i + ( 1 - .alpha. ) i = 1 n W 2 i '
V 2 i ##EQU00020##
[0880] where a is weight for the first surface V1 and (1-a) is the
weight for the second surface V2, such that the total weight
applied to the two IDW surfaces is equal to one. That is, the
interpolation module produces an output surface V that is a
weighted sum of a first weighted IDW surface combined with a
weighted sum of a second weighted IDW surface.
[0881] It will be understood that, as an alternative, modules
separate from the interpolation module may be used to apply weights
and combine the surfaces, such as a surface combining module and
weighting module.
Gravity Model Example 2
[0882] A second example of how an interpolation module may be
adapted to perform an alternative gravity model is now provided to
show how the system may be used to produce a further example of a
surface. Data used for this example is shown in the table below,
where J indicates nodes 1 to 8 in a data set, X and Y indicates the
axis position of each node and V indicates the value for that data
point.
TABLE-US-00011 J X Y V 1 7 8 466 2 7 8.5 560.375 3 7 9 200 4 7 9.5
180 5 7 10 600 6 7 24 440 7 7 27 470 8 7 30 700
[0883] It can be seen that, in this data set, there is a wide gap
between Y=10 and Y=24. In order to compensate for this gap, i.e. to
ensure that the surface produced accurately depicts the gap, an
interpolation piece wise function is implemented
[0884] The interpolation piecewise function f1(Y) is used by the
interpolation module as follows:
[0885] The interpolation module applies the IDW method for f1(Y)
for the following values:
8.ltoreq.Y.ltoreq.10and 24.ltoreq.Y.ltoreq.30.
[0886] The interpolation function f1(Y) in the range
10.gtoreq.Y.gtoreq.24 is selected so that it has a bathtub shape
for the gravity model to indicate that there are no values V
associated for Y values between 10 and 24.
[0887] The interpolation module may automatically adapt for
different data sets in the input data set by detecting which
portions of the data set are not associated with any values, such
as the range in the above data set for Y between 10 and 24.
[0888] The interpolation function f1(Y) used in this example in the
range 10.ltoreq.Y.ltoreq.24 is calculated as follows:
f 1 ( Y ) = { ( Y - 17 ) 4 / 4.001666667 , 10 .ltoreq. Y .ltoreq.
17 ( Y - 17 ) 4 / 5.456818182 , 17 < Y .ltoreq. 24
##EQU00021##
[0889] In this example, the value 17 has been selected by the
interpolation module as it is the half way point between 10 and 24,
and the function f1(Y) is being applied over two portions of the
data set.
[0890] It will be understood that more steps may be applied
depending on how large the data gap is in the data and how the data
is apportioned.
[0891] A first constant value (4.001666667) in the function f1(Y)
is calculated by inserting an end point value of Y=10 into the
function and calculating a constant value that results in the
equation (Y-17).sup.4/cons tan t=600, where 600 is the value of V
at Y=10.
[0892] A different constant value for the function f1(Y) is
calculated in the same manner for the other end point where Y=24,
i.e. where V=440.
[0893] For smoothing, the smoothing module produces a least squares
smooth surface of the V values by fitting a cubic equation in Y to
the V-values as follows.
[0894] Values for Y=11, 12, . . . , 23 are added to the data set by
the smoothing module by detecting where there are missing values
form the input data set. The smoothing module then applies a V
value of V=0 for each of the additional data points added to the
data set, i.e. where Y=11 to 23.
[0895] A least squares method is used to fit a cubic equation to
the V values. For example, the following model was obtained using a
statistical software package to apply a least squares method to the
Y and V values:
f2(Y)=2279-320Y+13.14Y.sup.2-0.14031.sup.3
[0896] It will be understood that the smoothing module may apply
different smoothing models depending on the input data being
analyzed, where the smoothing module may be automatically
calculated using any suitable known statistical software
package.
[0897] A weight function w(Y) as shown in the table below is
calculated using a weighting module as follows:
w ( Y ) = { 1 - 2 ( Y - Y j ) ( Y j + 1 - Y j ) , Y j .ltoreq. Y
.ltoreq. m j - 1 + 2 ( Y - Y j ) ( Y j + 1 - Y j ) , m j .ltoreq. Y
.ltoreq. Y j + 1 , j = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ##EQU00022##
[0898] where
m j = Y j + Y j + 1 2 ##EQU00023##
is the middle point of the interval [Y.sub.j,Y.sub.j+1].
[0899] Here Y.sub.1=8, Y.sub.2=Y.sub.3=9, . . . , Y.sub.7=27,
Y.sub.8=20.
[0900] That is, the weight function w(Y) is chosen so as to put
more weight on f1(Y) near the above 8 nodes (J=1 to 8), and less
weight on the smooth function f2(Y). The weight function inside the
interval [10, 24], i.e., for j=5, is 1.
[0901] The final surface V_hat is calculated by combining or
accumulating the two surfaces f1(Y) and f2(Y) using a surface
combining module where:
V_hat=w(Y)f1(Y)+[1-w(Y)]f2(Y).
[0902] That is, the final surface output by the interpolation
module is a sum of the weighted functions f1(Y) and f2(Y), where
f1(Y) is a piecewise interpolated function adapted to operate over
different portions of the data set based on the data values in
those portions, and f2(Y) is a smoothing function applied to the
data points.
[0903] The following table shows values calculated using the above
processes.
TABLE-US-00012 Y f1 (y) f2(y) w(Y) V_hat 8 466 488.1264 1 466 8.1
471.5515 474.5542 0.6 472.7526 8.2 495.0385 461.1767 0.2 467.949
8.3 531.3365 447.9929 0.2 464.6616 8.4 554.8235 435.002 0.6
506.8949 8.5 560.375 422.2033 1 560.375 8.6 539.1765 409.5957 0.6
487.3442 8.7 449.4904 397.1786 0.2 407.641 8.8 310.8846 384.9511
0.2 370.1378 8.9 221.1985 372.9122 0.6 281.884 9 200 361.0613 1 200
9.1 198.8235 349.3974 0.6 259.0531 9.2 193.8462 337.9197 0.2
309.105 9.3 186.1538 326.6273 0.2 298.5326 9.4 181.1765 315.5195
0.6 234.9137 9.5 180 304.5953 1 180 9.6 204.7059 293.8539 0.6
240.3651 9.7 309.2308 283.2946 0.2 288.4818 9.8 470.7692 272.9164
0.2 312.4869 9.9 575.2941 262.7185 0.6 450.2639 10 600 252.7 1 600
10.5 446.0798 205.2702 1 446.0798 11 323.8651 162.2007 1 323.8651
11.5 228.6703 123.3862 1 228.6703 12 156.1849 88.7216 1 156.1849
12.5 102.4729 58.10156 1 102.4729 13 63.97334 31.4209 1 63.97334
13.5 37.5 8.574388 1 37.5 14 20.24157 -10.5432 1 20.24157 14.5
9.761558 -26.0371 1 9.761558 15 3.998334 -38.0125 1 3.998334 15.5
1.265098 -46.5747 1 1.265098 16 0.249896 -51.8288 1 0.249896 16.5
0.015618 -53.8801 1 0.015618 17 0 -52.8339 1 0 17.5 0.011454
-48.7953 1 0.011454 18 0.183257 -41.8696 1 0.183257 18.5 0.927738
-32.162 1 0.927738 19 2.932112 -19.7777 1 2.932112 19.5 7.158476
-4.82196 1 7.158476 20 14.84382 12.6 1 14.84382 20.5 27.5 32.38296
1 27.5 21 46.91379 54.4217 1 46.91379 21.5 75.14681 78.61099 1
75.14681 22 114.5356 104.8456 1 114.5356 22.5 167.6916 133.0203 1
167.6916 23 237.501 163.0299 1 237.501 23.5 327.1252 194.7691 1
327.1252 24 440 228.1328 1 440 24.1 440.0356 234.9912 0.933333
426.366 24.2 440.1523 241.9095 0.866667 413.7199 24.3 440.3659
248.8869 0.8 402.0701 24.4 440.6936 255.9226 0.733333 391.4214 24.5
441.1538 263.0157 0.666667 381.7745 24.6 441.7647 270.1653 0.6
373.1249 24.7 442.5433 277.3706 0.533333 365.4627 24.8 443.5036
284.6308 0.466667 358.7715 24.9 444.6552 291.9451 0.4 353.0291 25
446 299.3125 0.333333 348.2083 25.1 447.5311 306.7323 0.266667
344.2786 25.2 449.2308 314.2036 0.2 341.209 25.3 451.0699 321.7255
0.133333 338.9714 25.4 453.0088 329.2973 0.066667 337.5448 25.5 455
336.9181 0 336.9181 25.6 456.9912 344.587 0.066667 352.0806 25.7
458.9301 352.3032 0.133333 366.5201 25.8 460.7692 360.0659 0.2
380.2065 25.9 462.4689 367.8741 0.266667 393.0994 26 464 375.7272
0.333333 405.1515 26.1 465.3448 383.6242 0.4 416.3124 26.2 466.4964
391.5643 0.466667 426.5326 26.3 467.4567 399.5466 0.533333 435.7653
26.4 468.2353 407.5703 0.6 443.9693 26.5 468.8462 415.6346 0.666667
451.109 26.6 469.3064 423.7386 0.733333 457.155 26.7 469.6341
431.8815 0.8 462.0836 26.8 469.8477 440.0625 0.866667 465.8763 26.9
469.9644 448.2806 0.933333 468.5188 27 470 456.5351 1 470 27.1
470.2732 464.8251 0.933333 469.91 27.2 471.1675 473.1498 0.866667
471.4318 27.3 472.8049 481.5083 0.8 474.5456 27.4 475.3179 489.8998
0.733333 479.2064 27.5 478.8462 498.3234 0.666667 485.3386 27.6
483.5294 506.7784 0.6 492.829 27.7 489.4983 515.2638 0.533333
501.5222 27.8 496.8613 523.7788 0.466667 511.2173 27.9 505.6897
532.3226 0.4 521.6695 28 516 540.8944 0.333333 532.5963 28.1
527.7386 549.4932 0.266667 543.692 28.2 540.7692 558.1183 0.2
554.6485 28.3 554.869 566.7689 0.133333 565.1822 28.4 569.7345
575.4439 0.066667 575.0633 28.5 585 584.1428 0 584.1428 28.6
600.2655 592.8645 0.066667 593.3579 28.7 615.131 601.6082 0.133333
603.4112 28.8 629.2308 610.3732 0.2 614.1447 28.9 642.2614 619.1585
0.266667 625.3193 29 654 627.9633 0.333333 636.6422 29.1 664.3103
636.7868 0.4 647.7962 29.2 673.1387 645.6282 0.466667 658.4664 29.3
680.5017 654.4865 0.533333 668.3613 29.4 686.4706 663.361 0.6
677.2267 29.5 691.1538 672.2508 0.666667 684.8528 29.6 694.6821
681.1551 0.733333 691.0749 29.7 697.1951 690.073 0.8 695.7707 29.8
698.8325 699.0036 0.866667 698.8553 29.9 699.7268 707.9463 0.933333
700.2748 30 700 716.9 1 700
[0904] FIG. 11G shows a plot of the values of f1(Y), f2(Y), and
V_hat calculated in the above table for points on the vertical line
X=7.
[0905] It will be understood that, as an alternative, gravity
models may be applied to the input data using other functions. For
example, a series of gravity models may be applied and a weighted
average may then taken to obtain the final surface.
[0906] In one further example, a gravity model using L.sub.p,
Manhattan and Chebychev Distances is provided as follows:
[0907] Given n points (P.sub.i=(x.sub.i, y.sub.i) and the value of
some function V.sub.i, i=1, 2, . . . , n gravity models for the
value of V at an unsampled point P=(x, y) can be created by the
following equations:
V ^ p ( x , y ) = i = 1 n w p 1 i V i , w 1 i = ( d p ( P , P i ) )
- 1 i = 1 n ( d p ( P , P i ) ) - 1 , p = 2 , 3 , 4 , ##EQU00024##
V ^ 1 ( x , y ) = i = 1 n w 1 1 i V i , w 1 i = ( d 1 ( P , P i ) )
- 1 i = 1 n ( d 1 ( P , P i ) ) - 1 ##EQU00024.2## V ^ .infin. ( x
, y ) = i = 1 n w .infin. 1 i V i , w 1 i = ( d .infin. ( P , P i )
) - 1 i = 1 n ( d .infin. ( P , P i ) ) - 1 ##EQU00024.3##
[0908] Two different composite surface models may then be computed,
for example, by using the following algorithms applied to the
modules:
V ^ ( x , y ) = p = 2 4 .alpha. p V ^ p ( x , y ) , .alpha. p = 1 /
3 , ##EQU00025##
composite surface using L.sub.p distances for p=2, 3, 4.
[0909] {circumflex over (V)}(x, y)=0.5{circumflex over
(V)}.sub.1(x,y)+0.5{circumflex over (V)}.sub.2(x, y), composite
surface using L.sub.1 and L.sub..infin. distances
[0910] It can be seen that the various embodiments described herein
may be used to solve various technical problems within a number of
different industries.
[0911] For example, within a manufacturing environment that
contains several work processes in different manufacturing lines,
measurement data may be obtained from these processes that depicts
the quality of the products being produced. For example, automatic
testing procedures may be in place that analyse products being
manufactured to see if they conform to the quality standards that
the manufacturer adheres to. For example, the testing may be by way
of making specific measurements on a physical product (for example.
measuring the dimensions of a precise engineering product in use in
a car engine), or measuring the output of a product (for example,
the output of produced LEDs).
[0912] This measurement data may be used to determine a quality
value associated with the manufactured products, where the quality
value can be, for example, associated with specific product lines,
specific manufacturing areas in a manufacturing environment,
specific factories, regions or countries etc.
[0913] Embodiments of the herein described system enable a
graphical visualization to be produced that can not only show the
quality values for individual products at specific times, but also
a general overall quality value for a whole manufacturing
environment. This enables a user to see how well different
individual aspects of the manufacturing environment are doing
within the environment as a whole (for example, if certain work
stations or areas in the factory are producing lower or higher
quality products than average), as well as the overall picture of
how well the whole environment is performing.
[0914] These results may be fed back into the manufacturing systems
either automatically or manually to adjust how the systems operate
to compensate for any consistent detected errors.
[0915] Causal Space Allocation
[0916] When visual representations are created, a user may wish to
adjust variable data that has been used to form data elements
within the representation to see how the overall representation is
affected by that adjustment. By enabling a user to adjust the
variable data directly through the graphical representation, the
user gets a better understanding of how the data interacts with
other data elements and also provides a greater insight into how
those changes affect their business.
[0917] According to this embodiment there is shown in FIG. 12E a
conceptual system diagram of a data visualization system 12E01
arranged to carry out a method of creating a visual representation
of data.
[0918] The system 12E01 includes a data retrieval module 12E03
arranged to retrieve data from a data storage module 12E05.
[0919] The data retrieval module 12E03 is configured to enable the
retrieval of data from the data storage module 12E05, which is in
communication with the data visualization system. The data storage
module 12E05 may be any suitable type of data storage system. For
example, it may be an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), a data mart,
a database, a storage array or any other suitable device or groups
of devices that can store data for later retrieval. Further, the
data storage module 12E05 may be a cache memory used to temporarily
store incoming data captured in real time from an external
source.
[0920] The system 12E01 further includes a display module 12E07 in
communication with a display device 12E09 to provide a visual
output and a processing module 12E11 to receive instructions. The
processing module 12E11 is arranged to provide instructions via the
display module and device (12E07 & 12E09) to an end user in
order to assist the end user in constructing multiple visual
designs (graphical representations) of the data retrieved from the
data storage module 12E05.
[0921] Each visual design may be one of a predefined type, such as
a hierarchical type, a spatial type, a virtual type, a classical
type, a navigational type, a temporal type, a textual type, a
structural type, a pivotal type, and an interactive type.
[0922] The visual design is produced or created by the processing
module 12E11 by including, within the visual design, multiple
layers of elements that contribute to the end user's understanding
of the data retrieved from the storage module. Multiple visual
designs, which may be the same or a different type, are then
arranged in a visual representation by the display module 12E07 and
output to the display device 12E09 to enable the end user to
understand and focus on the data being represented.
[0923] A determination module 12E13 is in communication with the
processing module 12E11 and is arranged to determine one or more
data elements within the graphical representations that are based
on variable data.
[0924] Once the determination module 12E13 has detected which
elements are related or associated with variable data, instructions
are provided by the processing module 12E11 to the display module
12E07 to display on the display device 12E09 that detected data
element in such a manner or form that will indicate that the user
may adjust the variable data associated with that data element.
[0925] For example, the data element may be displayed in a
highlighted or flashing manner to draw attention to the user that
this data element includes data that may be adjusted. It will be
understood that, as an alternative, the data element may be
displayed in any suitable manner to show that it is associated with
variable data. Further, signals other than visual signals may be
provided to indicate adjustments may be made, such as audio signals
for example.
[0926] The data element is also displayed to enable adjustment of
the data using any suitable input device 12E15, such as a mouse,
keyboard etc. For example, specific data points making up the data
element may be displayed to enable the user to move the data points
by clicking on them and moving them with a mouse.
[0927] The system also includes an adjustment detection module
12E17 in communication with the processing module 12E11. The
adjustment detection module 12E17 is arranged to detect the
adjustment of the variable data, for example by detecting signals
received from an input device, such as a mouse, that is causing the
data points to move, and feedback this adjustment data to the
processing module 12E11.
[0928] The processing module 12E11, based on the data received from
the adjustment detection module 12E17, provides instructions to the
display module to refresh the graphical representation on the
display device based on the detected adjustment of the variable
data.
[0929] That is, all data points in the data element that are caused
to change due to the adjustment of the variable data made by the
user are displayed in their new positions in the visual
representation.
[0930] Optionally, the processor may send instructions to the
display module to display on the display device the original data
alongside the adjusted variable data in the refreshed graphical
representation.
[0931] Further, the adjustment detection module may detect the user
identifying a region within the graphical representation via
signals received from the input device. Upon detection of this
region, the adjustment detection module may then detect the
selection of variable data within the identified region via signals
received from the input device.
[0932] Alternatively, the system may rely on information concerning
changes to data variables coming from external sources, such as
other systems that are in communication with the data visualization
system. The processing module and adjustment detection module are
arranged to automatically detect any of these changes based on the
information received, and as such, the display module may be
instructed to display the changes to all associated data points on
the display device, as described herein.
[0933] FIG. 12F shows a flow diagram of the steps taken in the
description above. At step 12F01 data is retrieved from the store
and forwarded to processing module.
[0934] At step 12F03, multiple graphical representations are
arranged in a visual representation.
[0935] At step 12F05, data elements that are based on variable data
are determined. At step 12F07, the determined data elements are
displayed.
[0936] At step 12F09, the adjustment of the variable data is
detected.
[0937] At step 12F11, the display is refreshed based on the
detected adjustment of the variable data.
[0938] FIG. 12A indicates the general flow of data according to
this embodiment.
[0939] The User Interface 1210 provides access to raw data and
allows the user to define BPD's 1215 in terms of the raw data,
which then becomes the focus of the Visual Document 1230. This
allows the user, through automated expert help, to create the
metadata 1220, as well as the most appropriate Visual Designs 1235
that make up the Visual Document 1230 in order to provide detailed
analysis of data related to the BPD 1215. The data acquisition,
visual design rendering and visual document rendering processes
utilize massive amounts of raw data 1227.
[0940] The metadata 1220 is used by the processes 1225 to optimize
the acquisition of the appropriate data 1227, process the data into
useful information, and to optimize the creation and rendering of
the Visual Designs 1235 and the Visual Document 1230 that contains
them.
[0941] When the data is modified 1240, the modified data is applied
to the Visual Document to represent the changes made.
[0942] FIGS. 12B, 12C and 12D show a simple representative example
of how the changes to the data can be made using the visual
representation, and how those adjustments can easily indicate the
effect on correlated data within the representation.
[0943] FIG. 12B shows a visual representation 1250 rendered by the
display module for display on the display device. The visual
representation includes a data element 1260 represented using data
points (see 1270 and 1290A, for example).
[0944] The data points are positioned according to the variable
data being analyzed. That is, the system renders the visual
representation based on the values of the data retrieved. The data
points are plotted according to their associated values.
[0945] Data points 1275A are also placed within the visual
representation to represent other data, which may or may not be
correlated with the data element 1260 and its data points. An icon
1280 is positioned within the representation 1250 to indicate that
at least a portion of the data used to create the representation is
of a variable type. The user is then able to select a specific data
point using a pointing device, for example, and scroll over the
icon 1280 in order to adjust the position of that selected data
point.
[0946] Referring to FIG. 12C, it can be seen that the user has
moved data point 1290 to a new position to indicate changes made to
the data for that data point. These changes may be due to new
information received, the user detecting an error in the old data,
an automatic detection of an error in the data or through any other
suitable methods. Also, as the data point 1290B has been moved, the
user is able to see data points 1275B being moved to a new position
by the system from their original position as depicted by data
points 1275A.
[0947] The visual indication of the movement by the system may be
enhanced by causing the icon or data points (or any other portion
of the visual representation) to flash, change in color or by
utilizing other visual features to highlight the movement.
[0948] Therefore, the user can see that the data points 1275B
correlate with the moved data point 1290B, thus providing a greater
incite into the information presented.
[0949] An alternative arrangement is shown in FIG. 12D, which shows
the new positions of the data points (1275B & 1290B) visually
overlaid with the old positions of the data points (1275A &
1290A). This type of overlay may include any form of thematic
treatment. For example, these may include changes to the visual
display such as an overlay of graduated symbols, transparent layers
or added texture to the final display. These treatments enable the
user to see how much change in the representation has occurred due
to the adjustment. Therefore the original data and adjusted
variable data are displayed alongside each other in the refreshed
representation.
[0950] FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of the method according to this
embodiment. At step 1305 the system determines whether one or more
data elements that are based on variable data are located within
the graphical representation being presented to the user. If so,
the adjustable elements are indicated on the screen to allow
adjustment, at step 1310. The indication may be made on the screen
by the system using any suitable means, such as for example
changing the color of the adjustable element, highlighting the
adjustable element, include arrows to indicate changes made to
graduated symbols, creating visual texture overlays of classical
graphs such as bar graphs or trend lines.
[0951] The system first detects an adjustment of the data points
by, for example, detecting a variation in the amounts shown being
outside of a defined tolerance level or another trigger event such
as a system interaction or alert. Upon the system detecting the
adjustment to the position of the data points at step 1315, the
graphical representation is refreshed at step 1320. The refresh
step may include moving and re-rendering other data elements that
correlate with the adjusted data elements. Alternatively,
additional thematic treatments may be added to the visual
representation such as overlays of graduated symbols or classical
mapping techniques.
[0952] It will be understood that the actions of the end user may
be detected using any form of input device, such as a mouse,
keyboard, eye sensor module, tracker ball, voice recognition module
etc.
[0953] Information conveying the changes and its effects becomes
more easily discernible to the user by allowing the user to see how
those changes cause interactions between various portions of data.
This becomes increasingly beneficial when dealing with high
densities of data. The ability to forecast data in this manner
provides increased benefits to the user not only due to the
information being provided in a single representation but also
because the forecasting of the data becomes more intuitive to the
user by enabling them to see how changes affect other parts of the
data.
[0954] Affinity analysis is a data analysis and data mining
technique that discovers the degree of correlation among
transaction attributes of specific items. In market basket analysis
retailers use it to understand the purchase behavior of groups of
customers, for cross-selling, store design, discount plans and
promotions.
[0955] The algorithms for performing market basket analysis are
typically limited to avoid combinatorial explosions (a supermarket
may stock 100,000 or more line items).
[0956] A major difficulty is that a large number of the
relationships found may be trivial for anyone familiar with the
business. Although the volume of data has been reduced, a user may
be trying to find a needle in a haystack. Requiring correlations to
have a high confidence level risks missing some exploitable
results.
[0957] It would be desirable to provide visualization tools to
enable a user to understand and explore relationships in an
intuitive manner.
[0958] According to another aspect of the invention methods and
visualization tools are provided to enable users to have a greater
understanding of relationships and explore them via an interactive
graphical interface. In a preferred embodiment all correlations
between all market baskets (groups of transactions) for all
transaction attributes will be determined, whilst it will be
understood that great benefits will also be derived when only a
subset of market baskets and/or a subset of transaction attributes
are considered. By looking at all correlations a user can be
presented with correlations that they may not have even considered
exploring to reveal unexpected insights. However, where resources
are limited a subset of correlations may still reveal useful
information.
[0959] According to a preferred method correlations between
transaction items (e.g. products sold in a retail outlet,
telecommunication services or other vendible items) for transaction
attributes (location, time, attribute of the item such as category,
branding, market segment etc.) are classified using a dimension
reduction or classification method (for example, a self-organizing
map as described elsewhere in this document). This classification
may then be displayed in a hierarchical representation such as the
R-tree representation 1415 shown in FIG. 14. This provides the user
with a hierarchical index of transaction items with the nodes
forming categories that can be labeled by a user or automatically
labeled.
[0960] Correlation information can be overlaid over a map of
transaction attributes in the form of a heat map. In FIG. 14 a
location based heat map is displayed in the form of a department
store 1400 having product shelves 1405 and 1410 containing products
1420, 1425, 1435, 1440 and 1445. A heat map indicates high purchase
value or volume areas 1455 and highlights products 1430 and 1440.
In this embodiment a basket consisting of products 1430 and 1440 is
highlighted as a correlation threshold has been exceeded. This
threshold may be a magnitude, frequency, time or business
performance threshold which may be varied by a user. All
correlations between transaction items may be displayed in a more
complex heat map. A user may then explore areas of interest by
clicking a cursor on the area etc. For example clicking on 1440 may
reveal an icon 1450 showing that mainly men buy the item.
Supplementary information in numerical, literal or visual form may
be displayed as a user explores a region of the heat map. Further
detailed information upon which the heat map has been generated may
also be displayed.
[0961] In the gaming industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the number of airline flights serving a casino's
location, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market. Further, the supplementary information may include the
geographical location of an individual, the spending habits of an
individual or the gaming habits of an individual.
[0962] In the retail industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may access
the entries, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[0963] In the hospitality industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the consumer confidence index or local
special event factors, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the hotels, and other general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[0964] In the financial industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the consumer confidence index or local real
estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that may access the
branches, and other general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[0965] In the entertainment industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the holidays or local special events
occurring during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the outlets, and general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[0966] In the telecommunications industry, the supplementary
information may include, for example the consumer confidence index
or local real estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that
may access the retail outlet, wireless network, and other general
economic factors affecting the primary market.
[0967] Information obtained from such analysis may be used to
optimize store layout, understand sales associations, supply chain
management, marketing campaigns, market segmentation, shrinkage or
optimize stocking.
[0968] There are some well known thematic treatments for spatial
maps; these include coloring, gravity modeling, and graduated
symbols. These different thematic treatments that form a part of
the described solution are well documented elsewhere, and therefore
not repeated in this document. References can be found at
Wikipedia.sup.xi and .sup.xii.
[0969] There are opportunities for Special Layers that address
specific business areas, for example specific visualization methods
relating to the use of RFID inside retail stores or mapping
movement of people using tracks generated from face recognition and
tracking systems.
[0970] 4. Textual Visual Designs
[0971] One purpose of textual visual designs is to enable business
users to interact and query seamlessly from the structured to the
unstructured world.
[0972] While it is possible to do basic numeric analysis on
variables such as hit frequency and number of clicks per hour, the
key method is to use a special layer to construct a sensible
schematic of the unstructured data then overlay BPDs. Simply put,
the described solution will leverage information visualization to
bring structure to the unstructured world.
[0973] One textual design example is found at
Crazyegg.com.sup.xiii. This example shows the behavior of visitors
to a website using a heatmap. More popular sections, which are
clicked more often, are highlighted as `warm`--in red color.
[0974] Another example may be found at Visual Methods
Blogs.sup.xiv. This example shows the visualization of the
political debates in the U.S. elections. Each line represents a
reference from one candidate to another, while the length of each
circle segment represents the total words spoken by each candidate
during the debates.
[0975] A further example may be found at Wikipedia'. Shown here are
twenty different self organizing maps. Each map is independently
calculated, and presented as a thumbnail in an attempt to show how
different political parties vote on different issues. In order to
understand the maps the user should spend time studying each one
and build an image of what the voting pattern is. The complexity of
this method illustrates the need for visualization methods such as
the R-Tree visualization methodology as described herein.
[0976] An example of where a textual visual design is very
effective is the assisting of the marketing department in analyzing
its named marketing campaigns. For instance, the provision of a
heat map over text using position to indicate time is very useful
in quickly determining the most successful campaigns as a function
of many parameters. This could further be used to show how
alterations in the structure of the text affect characteristics
such as customer behavior or the response to marketing surveys.
[0977] Unstructured textual information is a huge area of growth in
data storage and intuitively, the business intelligence industry
expects this data to become a valuable asset. The described
solution provides information visualization capabilities that
overlay and draw out the non-numeric, but actionable, observations
relating to unstructured data, in order to link the numeric data
warehouse to the unstructured world.
[0978] It will be appreciated that the number of applications of
visual intelligence in this area are vast and varied. The uses may
extend, for example, from value analysis of patent portfolios to
high density views of the skill-sets of employees in an
organization. Further examples arise when extending to include
examples where the analytics understand key elements of the data,
such as those described in the second example above.
[0979] There are a multitude of Special Layers that may be used
with textual data. These textual Special Layers extend from
building self organizing maps of textual information to diagrams
showing the syntax hierarchy of the words used in a document.
[0980] A self organizing map (SOM) consists of components called
nodes or neurons. Associated with each node is a weight vector of
the same dimension as the input data vectors and a position in the
map space. The usual arrangement of nodes is a regular spacing in a
hexagonal or rectangular grid. The self-organizing map describes a
mapping from a higher dimensional input space to a lower
dimensional map space. The procedure for placing a vector from data
space onto the map is to find the node with the closest weight
vector to the vector taken from data space and to assign the map
coordinates of this node to our vector--Source:
Wikipedia.sup.xv.
[0981] Normally, constructing SOMs creates visualizations that are
difficult to interpret. However, the described solution overcomes
this setback by providing methods of navigation and analysis of the
SOM.
[0982] As discussed above, the R-Hierarchical perspective provides
one method of doing this.
[0983] 5. Virtual Visual Designs
[0984] One example of a 3D representation is that of a virtual
environment. 3D worlds generate far more accurate and complete data
than the real world. As these 3D worlds grow in popularity and
become more immersive, the potential for business intelligence
tools to be applied to this environment grows significantly.
[0985] A further example is provided at Mayarealities.com.sup.xvi.
This visualization shows data generated from a 3D environment.
Whilst this example breaks most of the conventions for design of
information visualization, it does illustrate the need for
analytical tools for data from a 3D environment and how best to
present that information.
[0986] One example application of the use of a virtual visual
design is a retail space analysis tool where transaction data is
under-laid as the color of the carpet or shelves. In the case of
the shelves, the shelves can also show representations of the
products on the shelves.
[0987] It is generally well known in the various industries
discussed herein that the placement of assets has a significant
impact on operating costs and revenue. For example, the assets
placed may include games, outlets, hotel rooms, hotels, branch
offices, processing centers, product formats and products falling
within different branches of the product hierarchy (e.g., movie
categories or sound tracks), retail outlets and wireless
networks.
[0988] Providing a familiar context, such as a virtual depiction of
the asset overlaid with other visual designs depicting relevant
data, will quickly bring to light important correlations relative
to position.
[0989] As mentioned above, FIG. 14 is an example of a Visual
Document used for Retail Space Analysis depicting an Aisle 1415 in
a particular Retail Store Department 1400.
[0990] Product Shelf 1 1405 faces Product Shelf 2 1410 in the
retail store.
[0991] Product Hierarchy 1415 depicts the product hierarchy
associated with the individual products depicted on the shelves are
depicted on the shelves 1420, 1425, 1430, 1435, 1440, 1445. In one
embodiment the SKU on the Product Hierarchy 1415 can be selected
with and input device such as a mouse and the display will
highlight the SKU (e.g., 1425) on a shelf (e.g., 1410).
[0992] The shapes associated with the SKU's communicate
information. For example, SKU 2 1425 is an octagon shape, and this
may indicate, for example, the number of items sold per hour.
[0993] The colors or patterns within the shapes also have meanings.
For example, the solid white background used for SKU 4 1425 may
indicate that this item is usually bought as a single item in the
market basket.
[0994] Icons 1450 within the SKUs may communicate information such
as a strong selling item (higher than average sales for a
particular period).
[0995] SKU 1 1420 contains numeric information (e.g., 1.35 UPH)
which may indicate that 1.35 product units were sold per hour.
[0996] Other icons such as cloud shapes 1455 may be used to
indicate areas within the aisle where many products are selected
for purchased by customers.
[0997] Retail space managers could interact with the data in the 3D
world, simulate new store layouts and analyze shrinkage and other
retail performance attributes. Combined with security camera
tracking systems and RFID, the virtual world can become a proxy for
monitoring and management of the real world.
[0998] Fly through of a location or destination, customer flows and
predictions become possible.
[0999] Special layers include, 3D surfaces, 3D representations of
the data as it is collected in the data warehouse.
[1000] Numeric data is transformed to 3D formation enabling 3D
exploration of the data in the virtual environment.
[1001] 6. Structural Visual Designs
[1002] One purpose of a structural visualization is to illustrate
the structure of the data. For example, network topology or
interconnection between data elements. The interconnections in the
examples below show how a simple Special Layer construct can be
used to illustrate quite complex connections.
[1003] One example of a structural type visual representation is
that of the London underground map. The London underground map is a
key historic map showing the schematic topology of the London
underground. Using this map travelers can intuitively plan out
complex routes and interconnects. Without this visualization,
navigating the London underground system would be significantly
more difficult and complex to understand.
[1004] Another example of a structural type visual representation
is that by Martin Wattenberg.sup.xvii. This example shows the
`Technique for visualizing & analyzing complex graph
structures, such as social networks`.
[1005] A further example is provided by Lee Fleming.sup.xviii. In
this example node sizes reflect the importance of the inventors'
patents (as measured by the number of prior art citations from
future patents) and the width of ties indicates the number of
collaborations. This hierarchy is generated using the Kamada-Kawai
algorithm, which is an algorithm that enables the auto generation
of a network by minimizing a distance from a particular point in
that network. The algorithm iterates on the network to reduce the
force between nodes (adjust the maximum) on each iteration.
Iterations continue until a minimum is achieved. This is a
heuristic algorithm. Kamada-Kawai states that the total balance of
the layout which is related to the individual characteristics of
the graph is just as important, or can be considered more important
than the reduction of edge crossings in the graph given a
particular scenario. Kamada and Kawai calculate the total balance
of the graph, as the square summation of the differences between
the ideal distance and the actual distance for all vertices.
[1006] The various industries discussed herein organize their
product and service offerings based on hierarchical structures.
[1007] For example, in the gaming industry, there is typically a
Casino Department, over Slot and Table Game Departments. The Slot
Department divides its offerings into several product categories
and sub-categories.
[1008] For example, in the retail industry, there is typically a
Pharmacy Department the Prescription Drug and Health and Beauty
Departments. The Health and Beauty Department divides its offerings
into several product categories and sub-categories.
[1009] For example, in the hospitality industry, there are room
categories, which may include various suites, and standard rooms,
just to name a few. The categories may also have subcategories
including smoking rooms, rooms with particular views, or various
bed type configurations.
[1010] For example, in the financial industry, there are load
categories, which may include home loans, auto loans, and small
business loans to name a few. The loan categories may also have
subcategories including lines of credit or revolving credit.
[1011] For example, in the entertainment industry, there are movie
categories (e.g., Family, Action), formats, and merchandise. The
movie categories may also have subcategories including versions of
the movie in a variety of foreign languages, or director's cut
version divides.
[1012] For example, in the telecommunications industry, categories
may include talk time, home television services, and data services
to name a few. These categories may also have subcategories
including high, medium or low data transmission rate products.
[1013] The herein described system facilitates operational and
marketing analysis when presented within this context.
[1014] When arranging the data points in a graphical representation
it is usual to merely arrange them in a predefined order, such as
alphabetically, or some other arbitrary order. Although this still
effectively shows the values of those data points individually,
there is a large amount of information that can be missed due to
the data points not being arranged in a more effective manner. This
is due to data within the representation being related across only
a single axis. This problem can be exacerbated depending on the
type of visualization being used, and in particular with structural
visualization types.
[1015] For example, a heatmap can show how neighboring data points
correlate with each other. However, unless the data points are
arranged in a manner that takes into account how those neighboring
points correlate, the heatmap can convey spurious information which
may lead to false data reporting or analysis.
[1016] Therefore, a system that provides analysis of the data
points or groups of data points or their metadata in order to
determine an optimal or definitive order of the datapoints, groups
or metadata is beneficial.
[1017] According to this embodiment there is shown in FIG. 15D a
conceptual system diagram of a data visualization system 15D01. The
system 15D01 is arranged to create a visual representation of data
points from metric data in order to provide users with greater
understanding of their vast amounts of stored data. The system
15D01 is also arranged to determine an improved positioning of data
groups associated with the metric data in the visual representation
to provide an optimum positioning arrangement.
[1018] The system includes a data retrieval module 15D03 that is
configured to enable the retrieval of metric data from a data
storage module 15D09, which is in communication with the data
visualization system 15D01. The data storage module 15D09 may be
any suitable type of data storage system. For example, it may be an
enterprise data warehouse (EDW), a data mart, a database, a storage
array or any other suitable device or groups of devices that can
store data for later retrieval. Further, the data storage module
may be a cache memory used to temporarily store incoming data
captured in real time.
[1019] The data provided as an input to the system may be of any
suitable type of data, for example, real world data including, but
not limited to, gaming or gambling data associated with a gaming
environment such as a casino, event data, test or quality control
data obtained from a manufacturing environment, business data
retrieved from an accounting system, sales data retrieved from a
company database, etc. All this data may be received by the system
in real time in a cache memory or may be stored in a more permanent
manner.
[1020] The system includes a data grouping module 15D05 that is
configured to arrange the metric data into a plurality of data
groups. That is, the data grouping module defines relevant groups
of metric data based on the content of the data. The data grouping
module may group the metric data by analyzing meta data that is
associated with the metric data and using this analysis to group
the metric data into relevant groups so that metric data of a
similar nature is grouped together. It will be understood that the
term group may consist of a single data element.
[1021] For example, the grouping of metric data may be by way of
specifically located manufacturing plants within a specified region
or country.
[1022] As another example, the grouping of metric data may be by
way of certain product categories where the metric data is test or
quality control data associated with those products.
[1023] Further, as another example, the metric data may be grouped
according to specific financial entities within a business
environment. For example, various entities within a casino
environment may include gaming machine control, hotel systems,
retail systems, business accounts etc.
[1024] According to an alternative embodiment, the metric data may
be grouped by the data grouping module 15D05 using any suitable
classification algorithm associated with the metric data.
[1025] It will be understood that the system may apply the herein
described methodology to non-sequential data groups. That is the
adjustment may not take place in a linear sequence but may, for
example, run in parallel.
[1026] Optionally, the data grouping module may redefine data
groups based on the received determined statistical distance from
the statistical distance determination module. That is, the data
points associated with the data groups may be rearranged by the
system so that the hierarchical structure is optimized.
[1027] The system also includes a statistical distance
determination module 15D07 which receives the data groups as an
input, and analyzes those groups to determine a minimal statistical
distance between the data groups. That is, the statistical distance
determination module 15D07 determines how each of the groups may be
positioned next to each other in the visual representation in a way
that minimizes the statistical distance between the neighboring
groups. The statistical distance determination module 15D07
analysis uses a hierarchical force based algorithm on the input
data as described below to provide an optimal output.
TABLE-US-00013 Hierarchical Force Based Algorithm (pseudocode) Set
up initial node positions randomly // The initial positions may be
arranged into hierarchical structure reflecting the R-Tree Make
sure no 2 nodes are in exactly the same position loop
total_kinetic_energy := 0 // running sum of total kinetic energy
over all particles for each node net-force := (0, 0) // running sum
of total force on this particular node for each layer in the
Hierarchy for each other node in the layer and one higher layer
link-weight := 1 if on this layer otherwise interlayer-link- weight
//interlayer-link-weight is typically higher than one to attach
child nodes together. net-force := net-force + Coulomb_repulsion(
this_node, other_node, link_weight ) * ( 1+
Statistical_Distance(this_node, other_node)) //Statistical-Distance
tends to zero when points should be very near, this will draw
similar points together. next node next layer for each spring
connected to this node net-force := net-force + Hooke_attraction(
this_node, spring ) next spring // without damping, it moves
forever this_node.velocity := (this_node.velocity + timestep *
net-force) * damping this_node.position := this_node.position +
timestep * this_node.velocity total_kinetic_energy :=
total_kinetic_energy + this_node.mass *
(this_node.velocity){circumflex over ( )}2 next node until
total_kinetic_energy is less than some small number //the
simulation has stopped moving
[1028] The system further includes a data visualization module
15D11 which receives the output from the statistical distance
determination module 15D07 and uses this output to control how the
data visualization is rendered. In this embodiment, the output is
rendered by visually arranging the data groups on a visual display
module 15D13. The data groups are rendered in a hierarchical manner
based on the determined statistical distance in order to create the
visual representation.
[1029] As an alternative to, or in conjunction with, the display
module 15D13, further output modules may be provided to output the
results of the data visualization module. That is, the raw data
retrieved by the data retrieval module is analyzed and converted to
provide output data in a specific format. The output data is
provided to the display and/or further output modules to enable a
user to visualize the raw data in a manner that conveys more useful
or hidden information that would otherwise be lost.
[1030] The further output module may be a printing device in
communication with the described system to receive print control
data so that representations of the data may be printed on any
suitable print medium. Alternatively, the further output module may
be an interface that enables the data output from the data
visualization module to be interfaced with other data handling
modules or storage devices.
[1031] The data visualization techniques described herein transform
the raw data received into different (and preferably optimal)
spatial arrangements to enable further or hidden information within
the raw data to be visually represented in a manner that conveys
the information to a user in an efficient manner.
[1032] The statistical distance determination module is not only
arranged to determine the minimal statistical distance between data
groups within each level, e.g. a single level, of the hierarchy,
but may also be arranged to determine the minimal statistical
distance between data groups located within different levels (i.e.
between levels) of the hierarchy. Therefore, the data visualization
module can utilize the output from the statistical distance
determination module to adjust the visual position of each parent
and sibling data group pair at different hierarchical levels based
on the determined minimal statistical distance between data groups
at different hierarchical levels.
[1033] It will be understood that the system may be set up to only
determine the minimal statistical distance within individual layers
or levels of the hierarchy, or only determine the minimal
statistical distance between layers or levels of the hierarchy.
[1034] The statistical distance determination module may determine
the statistical distance based on a number of different methods,
algorithms or processes other than the hierarchical force based
algorithm described above. For example, the statistical distance
determination module may:
[1035] i) determine the statistical distance between data
groups,
[1036] ii) determine the statistical distance based on the
similarity of the data groups,
[1037] iii) determine the statistical distance based on the sum of
the squares of the data groups,
[1038] iv) determine the statistical distance based on the output
of a heuristic algorithm, such as back propagation neural network
values or genetic algorithm associations,
[1039] v) determine the statistical distance based on the output of
a neural network, and
[1040] vi) determine the statistical distance based on a
correlation factor between the data groups, for example by
calculating the value normalized by the sum of the squares.
[1041] Further, the system may also include an indexing module
15D15 that is adapted to arrange, within an index, the order in
which the data groups are positioned. The indexing module receives
the grouping information from the data group module and creates an
index from which the statistical distance determination module may
determine the statistical distance between data groups. The
statistical distance determination module may then determine the
minimal statistical distance for each individual hierarchical layer
using the index.
[1042] The indexing module may group the hierarchical layers in an
index according to a first specified statistical distance, and then
group sub-layers in the index according to a second smaller
specified statistical distance. This enables the lower levels in
the hierarchy to be grouped more aggressively, meaning that child
nodes will tend to cluster around parent nodes.
[1043] The data visualization module is also enabled so that it can
create the visual representation by positioning the data points in
the visual representation in a first dimension (such as the x-axis)
based on a first pre-determined characteristic, and then position
the data points in a second dimension (such as the y-axis) based on
the determined statistical distance. Further, the data
visualization module is enabled so that it can position the data
points in a third dimension (such as a z-axis on a 3D model) based
on a third pre-determined characteristic.
[1044] The data visualization module is also arranged to create the
visual representation by representing the data groups within the
visual representation in a hierarchical manner. That is, the data
groups are arranged hierarchically, for example in the form of a
tree. The data groups are arranged in the visualization according
to one or more of a number of factors, such as, for example, the
group's position, order, size or color. It will be understood that
any other factors may be taken into account when arranging the data
groups.
[1045] The data visualization module may also be controlled to
visually arrange the data groups in a number of different visual
formats, such as for example in the form of an R-tree
representation, a skewed R-tree representation, a Ward's
correlation representation, a Kamada-Kawai representation, an
organizational chart, a table of contents or an index
hierarchy.
[1046] FIG. 15A shows a flow diagram of a method according to this
embodiment. Metric data associated with the data being represented
in the visualization is retrieved at step 1505. The metric data is
then arranged into data groups at step 1510. Using a suitable
algorithm as described above, the statistical distance between the
data groups is determined at step 1515. The data groups are then
arranged in a hierarchical manner according to the statistical
distances calculated, as shown at step 1520.
[1047] By arranging the metric data data groups in this manner the
correlation of the data is taken into account when arranging the
groups. This reduces the effect of data points being placed
adjacent non correlated neighboring data points.
[1048] In other words, non-sequential data groups may be arranged
to create a visual representation of data points within the data
groups, the method may include the steps of determining a
statistical distance between the data groups, and arranging the
data groups in an order that is based on the determined statistical
distance. It will be understood that the term group may consist of
a single data element.
[1049] By determining how data groups correlate with each other
using the above described algorithm, it then becomes possible to
arrange the data groups in a more suitable order that enables
information to be conveyed to the user that would otherwise not
have been conveyed.
[1050] FIG. 15B shows one example of the calculated similarity, or
correlation, between different variables (film categories) when
placed in a random order in a visual representation. The y-axis
represents the amount of similarity or correlation between
different categories. The smaller the number indicated on the
y-axis, the less similar the categories. The value is determined by
following the links in the figure, which are created using, in this
example, a Ward diagram. Where the links join between the
categories, this is the calculated correlation value. For example,
Thriller and Crime join together at a value of -7.54, which clearly
shows that there is no correlation between these two data groups,
yet they are still placed at a position adjacent to each other.
[1051] For example, correlation may indicate how often, when one of
the movie categories is hired from a DVD rental shop, another movie
category is also hired.
[1052] FIG. 15C shows a re-ordering of the groups in FIG. 15B
according to the determined correlation values. This clearly shows
that the worst correlation value is that between Adventure and
Romance categories, thus providing a better and more viable
representation of the data across all dimensions.
[1053] By grouping data sets in this manner based on correlation,
an extra dimension is introduced which provides an in increase in
the data density within the visual representation. This increase in
data density thus enables the user to have a greater understanding
of the data in less space and with the use of less processing time.
Further, by providing an increase in data density within the
representations, the amount of ink required to produce the
information is reduced, for example, by enabling a representation
to be placed on a single page rather than over multiple pages.
[1054] These types of structural visualizations are very powerful
and are closely related to spatial visualization types. Most of the
thematic treatments that can be applied to a spatial visualization
are equally applicable to a structural visualization.
[1055] Examples of uses for such a visual design type would be for
visualizing call routing across a network, electricity grid
management and route optimization.
[1056] It will be understood that a wide variety of Special Layers
may be created in this space. These Special Layers essentially
generate the structural schematic from the base data.
[1057] The hierarchy consists of nodes arranged into layers, and
these nodes are the arranged individual items. Interconnections may
be explicit or implicit. Often the parent and child nodes are shown
as interconnected. Typically the interconnections between nodes are
used to generate the structure. One important aspect of the
structural Special Layer is building the structure in such a way
that interconnect line crossing is minimized.
Second Embodiment
[1058] Further to the above described embodiment where the
methodology is applied to data sets, it is also possible to apply
the same methodology to the placement of nodes within a graphically
represented tree structure in order to optimize the positioning of
those nodes. Therefore, all the relevant steps discussed above may
also apply to the arrangement of nodes in a tree structure as
described in the example below, rather than the arrangement of data
groups. Nodes are the individual items being arranged into the tree
structure. Except for leaf nodes, all nodes contain other nodes.
This containment defines the R-Tree structure.
[1059] A full description on a system that enables the graphical
representation of a tree structure in association with a visual
design is provided in a co-pending PCT application submitted by the
applicant. In summary, a data visualization system is arranged to
retrieve data from a data storage system, determine data points
based on the retrieved metric data, arrange the data points to be
displayed according to a predetermined visual representation,
arrange the data points into a plurality of meta groups in a
hierarchical manner, arrange the meta groups into a plurality of
layers, where each layer represents the data points at different
levels of granularity.
[1060] By applying the herein described methodology to nodes in a
tree structure, the data visualization system can create a
hierarchical representation of the data that is displayed within
the visual representation. The hierarchical representation may be a
tree like representation showing the hierarchical arrangement of
the data used in the visual representation. The user may interact
with the hierarchical representation (e.g. by selecting a node on
the tree) to see where the associated data has been visually
represented in the visual representation.
[1061] According to this example, at each hierarchical level where
there are multiple nodes, the nodes in that level are arranged to
be positioned next to the most relevant nodes rather than in an
arbitrary fashion as carried out in the prior art. For example, the
references in FIGS. 15B and 15C to the movie categories may be
graphically represented tree nodes in an index for movies.
[1062] The herein described methodology can be applied to any
suitable tree structure, such as an R-tree, a standard relationship
tree, Quad-Tree, Kamada-Kawai Tree, Wards Linkage Diagram,
catalogues, organizational charts, product master files, a system
of accounts, etc.
[1063] By using this methodology, the nodes are positioned so that
they sit next to the most relevant of the other nodes (i.e. they
are positioned at a minimum statistical distance to other nodes
using the herein described algorithm). This may prove particularly
useful in graphical representations of tree structures so that
users can navigate the tree structure in a more logical manner by
moving through similarly associated nodes that are next to each
other.
[1064] It will be understood that the system may apply the herein
described methodology to non-sequential nodes. That is the
adjustment may not take place in a linear sequence but may, for
example, run in parallel.
[1065] The above described method may also be applied to the
printing or publication of more relevant indexes in various
different kinds of publications, such as encyclopedias, study
guides, reference texts etc, whether in paper form or on the
Internet.
[1066] These structural visualizations are very powerful and are
closely related to spatial visualizations. Most of the thematic
treatments that can be applied to a spatial visualization are
equally applicable to a structural visualization.
[1067] Examples of uses for such a visual design type would be for
visualizing call routing across a network, electricity grid
management and route optimization.
[1068] It will be understood that a wide variety of Special Layers
may be created in this space. These Special Layers essentially
generate the structural schematic from the base data.
[1069] Typically the interconnections between nodes are used to
generate the structure. One important aspect of the structural
Special Layer is building the structure in such a way that
interconnect line crossing is minimized.
[1070] 7. Classical Visual Designs
[1071] Traditional charts provide a simple, common and
well-established way of presenting data. However, traditional
charts are user-skill dependent and the goal is to apply guided
Visual Design techniques to traditional charts to significantly
extend their usefulness.
[1072] One example would be to show a line chart of Speed Vs Time
in a simple two dimensional line graph. This type of basic graph
shows the data clearly and allows the user to observe any geometric
trends.
[1073] In the various industries described herein, the ability to
incorporate familiar forms (e.g., pie charts, bar graphs, line
graphs) into Visual Documents as herein described will assist in
quickly pinpointing key values within the visualization.
[1074] Some common charts are as follows: [1075] Scatterplots--Are
Cartesian coordinates to show the relation of two or more
quantitative variables. [1076] Histograms--Typically show the
quantity of points that fall within various numeric ranges (or
bins). [1077] Bar graphs--Use bars to show frequencies or values
for different categories. [1078] Pie charts--Show percentage values
as a slice of a pie. [1079] Line charts--Are a two-dimensional
scatterplot of ordered observations where the observations are
connected following their order.
[1080] 8. Pivotal Visual Designs
[1081] Different visualization methods have been suggested for
high-dimensional data. Most of these methods use latent variables
(such as principal components) to reduce the dimensionality of the
data to 2 or 3 before plotting the data. One problem with this
approach is that the latent variables sometimes are hard to
understand in terms of the original variables.
[1082] Customers within the various industries discussed herein are
segmented and their value ranked based on a large number of
parameters--many of which are not applicable to other service
industries.
[1083] For example, in the gaming industry, not only are there are
wide variety of products available, but also each game has a large
number of characteristics affecting profitability, attractiveness
to particular segments, etc.
[1084] For example, in the retail, hospitality, financial,
entertainment and telecommunications industries, not only are there
a wide variety of products available, but also each product class
has a large number of characteristics affecting profitability,
attractiveness to particular segments, etc
[1085] Pivotal analysis as herein described is well suited for
quickly correlating this disparate data.
[1086] The parallel coordinate (PC) scheme due to Inselberg and
others attempts to plot multivariate data in a completely different
manner. Since plotting more than 3 orthogonal axis is impossible,
parallel coordinate schemes plot all the axes parallel to each
other in a plane. Squashing the space in this manner does not
destroy too much of the geometric structure. The geometric
structure is however projected in such a fashion that most
geometric intuition has to be relearned, this is a significant
drawback, particularly for visualization of business data.
[1087] The method of an embodiment of this invention allows the
user to display higher dimensional data in a lower dimensional
plot. This method may for example be used to display 3D data in a
2D plot.
[1088] According to specific embodiments of the invention, various
methods are provided that use the referenced system to allow the
user to display higher dimensional data in a lower dimensional
plot. The methods may for example be used to display 3D data in a
2D representation but is not limited to this, and may be used to
display any suitable higher dimensional level of data in a lower
dimension plot. The displaying (visual representation) of
information may be via any suitable output device, such as a
display device, printing device or any other suitable device that
can be used to visually represent information to a user. The system
described within the reference and herein arranges the data in a
suitable format for it to be rendered in a correct manner prior to
it being visualized in the chosen format.
[1089] In broad terms, the herein described methods involve ranking
data based on one variable, while distributing data based on
another variable. This enables multi dimensional data to be
represented in fewer dimensions in a manner that allows a user to
easily discern the context of the data.
[1090] Although the method may be applied by ranking data based on
a first variable and distributing data based on a second variable,
the following example shows a method being applied to data having 3
variables V1, V2, and V3. Wherein the data is stored in a database
which has N records; it is assumed that there are no missing values
for any of the three variables.
[1091] The method can be carried out using the following steps, as
indicated in FIG. 17F:
[1092] The data is retrieved from a data store in step 17F01.
[1093] 1) In step 17F03, rank a variable, such as the third
variable V3.
[1094] 2) In step 17F05, sort the remaining two variables, such as
the first two variables V1 and V2, each by the ranked variable
V3.
[1095] 3) In step 17F07, calculate cumulative sums of V1 and V2 in
the order in which they have been sorted in step 2.
[1096] 4) Let T1=total of V1. Use the cumulative-sum column of V1
to split the N sorted values of V1 into two approximately equal
halves. In other words, find an integer N1 between 1 and N so that
the sum of values of V1 in rows 1, 2, . . . , N1 approximately
equals T1/2, as shown in FIG. 17A. Thus, data points are
distributed along the horizontal axis in step 17F09, as shown in
FIG. 17A, while retaining the ranking information determined in
step 1 above.
[1097] FIG. 17A shows splitting of N records into two parts so the
sum of V1 in each part is at least approximately equal to T1/2.
[1098] 5) Calculate the sum of V2 values in the rows 1-N1; let T1a
be this sum. Next split the records 1, 2, . . . , N1 into two parts
so that the sum of V2 in each part is approximately T1a/2. In other
words, find an integer N1a between 1 and N1 such that the sum of V2
for the records 1, 2, . . . , N1a approximately equals T1a/2, and
the sum of V2 for the records N1 a+1, . . . , N1 approximately
equals T1a/2 (as shown in FIG. 17B). Thus, data points are
distributed along the vertical axis in step 17F11, as shown in FIG.
17B, while retaining the ranking information determined in step 1
above.
[1099] FIG. 17B shows splitting of N1 records 1, 2, . . . , N1 into
two parts so the summed totals of V2 in each part are equal or
approximately equal.
[1100] 6) In step 17F13, repeat Step 5 above for the remaining V2
records N1+1, N1+2, . . . , N. The records 1, 2, . . . , N have
therefore been placed in 4 quadrants, labeled 0, 1, 2, 3 in FIG.
17B.
[1101] In step 17F15, steps 4-6 above are then repeated for each of
the 4 quadrants 0, 1, 2, 3 so that each of the four quadrants is
further split into four quadrants, as shown in FIG. 17C.
[1102] FIG. 17C shows splitting of each quadrant 0, 1, 2, 3 into
four quadrants.
[1103] This process may be iterated further to divide the quadrants
into smaller and smaller quadrants. This iteration may be continued
until each quadrant contains only a single data point.
[1104] In more general terms the "ranking function", such as that
used for the variable V3, can be any sorting function that is
deterministic in nature. For example, the variables may be sorted
to minimize the statistical distance between the variables, or
items associated with the variables. Alternatively, the variables
may be sorted in association with more than one variable. Also, the
results of a principal components analysis, or similar function,
may be used to rank the variables. It is also possible to use a
further variable, V4, which may be used to rank a first axis while
V3 ranks a second axis.
[1105] In more general terms the "splitting function", such as that
used for the variables V1 and V2, can be replaced by any function
or set of functions or system of equations that generates a value
for the set of items. For example the function might be a log of
the total values, or a polynomial function.
[1106] An example is where V3 is frequency, V4 is frequency and V1
and V2 are profit. In more general terms the splitting function
could be used to split the whole axis into any fraction. For
example, the splitting function may use a higher number than 2 (any
value is acceptable). Therefore, the axis could be split into
multiple portions greater than 2, such as in 10ths, 3rds etc. The
number of splits used will follow the same basic rules as defined
herein but the value is allocated according to the higher number.
Alternatively, any other method of deterministically splitting the
items into buckets of equal or approximately equal but ranked
values could be used.
[1107] This iteration process may create some regions which do not
contain data points. Such empty regions may be used to display
further information. For example, an empty region could be used to
display visual designs of any suitable kind, including any of the
various visual designs disclosed or referenced in this
specification. The visual design used for an empty region may be of
a type different to the particular design described in this
example.
[1108] A further processing step may be applied to spread the data
from source points into surrounding grid cells, this optional step
reduces the accuracy of the individual point data but increases the
accuracy of the overall image display. One example of the spread
function is to half the data from the singleton cell and to create
a pseudo point in the adjacent and empty cell with a value equal to
half of the total.
[1109] In general, data is arranged in n dimensions. The
"quadrants" are more generally n-dimensional regions. The data may
have n+1 or more variables. The ranking and distribution steps can
be applied to any number of axes.
[1110] Where n is greater than two, it may be necessary to apply
any suitable filtering or dimension reduction technique (such as a
projection or a section) to the arranged data before the data can
be displayed. This allows higher dimensional data to be displayed
in two dimensions. The filtering or dimension reduction process can
be chosen to maximize the display of information of interest to a
user. In particular, the filtering or dimension reduction process
can be designed to maximize display of particular variables of
interest. This process may be an integrated part of the method
described herein. It can results in a reduction of the data to a
point where the values can be displayed. [1111] Principal component
analysis (PCA), as described by Wikipedia, involves a mathematical
procedure that transforms a number of possibly correlated variables
into a smaller number of uncorrelated variables called principal
components. The first principal component accounts for as much of
the variability in the data as possible, and each succeeding
component accounts for as much of the remaining variability as
possible. Depending on the field of application, it is also named
the discrete Karhunen-Loeve transform (KLT), the Hotelling
transform or proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). [1112] PCA was
invented in 1901 by Karl Pearson. Now it is mostly used as a tool
in exploratory data analysis and for making predictive models. PCA
involves the calculation of the eigenvalue decomposition of a data
covariance matrix or singular value decomposition of a data matrix,
usually after mean centering the data for each attribute. The
results of a PCA are usually discussed in terms of component scores
and loadings (Shaw, 2003). [1113] PCA is the simplest of the true
eigenvector-based multivariate analyses. Often, its operation can
be thought of as revealing the internal structure of the data in a
way which best explains the variance in the data. If a multivariate
dataset is visualised as a set of coordinates in a high-dimensional
data space (1 axis per variable), PCA supplies the user with a
lower-dimensional picture, a "shadow" of this object when viewed
from its (in some sense) most informative viewpoint. [1114] PCA is
closely related to factor analysis; indeed, some statistical
packages deliberately conflate the two techniques. True factor
analysis makes different assumptions about the underlying structure
and solves eigenvectors of a slightly different matrix.
[1115] Therefore, if there are k variables in the data on which PCA
is performed, then k PCs (principal components) can be computed.
All k PCs together explain 100% of variability in the data. If p1,
p2, . . . , pk are proportions of variability in the data explained
by PC1, PC2, . . . , PCk, respectively, then p1.gtoreq.p2.gtoreq. .
. . .gtoreq.pk, and p1+p2+ . . . +pk=1.
[1116] Data may be displayed so as to: provide a "complete view" of
all variables; provide a partial view which provides complete
information for selected variables; or provide a partial view which
provides partial information for selected variables. Additional
variables may be displayed over the two dimensional plot.
[1117] For example a supplementary information map such as a heat
map or contour map could be applied. Alternatively (or even in
addition to an information map) variables could be displayed using
numbers appropriately positioned over the plot. This overlay can be
of an additional variable, for example, profit. This will enable
visual data discovery based on the herein described method in terms
of the additional metric (profit).
[1118] It has been determined through analysis that all the
different values for the splitting function produce essentially the
same location for the data points and that using a splitting order
of 2 is computationally most efficient. In particular, where the
allocation within the grid is run in parallel across various
threads, processors or services using a binary splitting function
provide for the maximum amount of parallel processing.
Example
TABLE-US-00014 [1119] TABLE 1 data Items Customer Total No. of
visits purchased No. revenue (ranking) Profit (ranking) 50 5000 1
1000 2 38 3000 2 2000 9 40 5000 3 1000 7 99 6000 4 500 10 98 2000 5
1000 8 103 1000 6 500 6 94 12000 7 1000 5 81 9000 8 1000 3 73 10000
9 100 4 68 11000 10 500 1
[1120] Table 1 shows a set of data values. The customer no. column
shows a number identifying a particular customer. For each
customer, revenue and profit data is provided. The customers have
also been ranked with respect to both a number of visits and a
number of items purchased.
[1121] FIG. 17E shows a two dimensional display of the data from
Table 1.
[1122] The data values are ranked with respect to the x axis using
the number of visits variable. The data values are distributed
along the x axis using the revenue variable.
[1123] The data values are ranked with respect to the y axis using
the number of items purchased variable. The data values are
distributed along the y axis using the profit variable.
[1124] The summed value of all the revenue data values is 64000.
The summed value of all the profit values is 8600.
[1125] The position of each data point in FIG. 17D is indicated by
a number, corresponding to the customer number of Table 1. In this
example, the position of each data point has been determined as
follows.
[1126] From Table 1 we already know the rankings of data points
with respect to both the number of visits and number of items
purchased variables.
[1127] Step 1: The system splits (or divides) the customers along
the X axis of the visual representation so that the sum of the
total revenue for customers before the split is either equal to 50%
of the total, or greater than and close to 50% of the total. That
is, the system monitors the cumulative revenue values of the ranked
customers and splits the ranked customers after the first
cumulative value that is equal to or greater than 50% of the total
cumulative value. This is to ensure that the customers are split as
evenly as possible, such that each split includes substantially
half the total revenue.
[1128] For example, referring to the following table 2 of ranked
cumulative revenue values for customers 50, 38, 40, 99, 98, 103,
94, 81, 73 and 68 the split would occur after customer 94, so that
all customers in the table above and including customer 94 are
positioned on the left hand side of the split, and customers 81, 73
and 68 are positioned on the right hand side of the split. That is,
the total revenue is 64000, 50% of this is 32000, and 34000 (the
cumulative value when reaching customer 94 in the ranking) is the
first cumulative value that is greater than 50%
TABLE-US-00015 TABLE 2 Customer Revenue Rank Cumulative ID (per
customer) (No of visits) Revenue value 50 5000 1 5000 38 3000 2
8000 40 5000 3 13000 99 6000 4 19000 98 2000 5 21000 103 1000 6
22000 94 12000 7 34000 81 9000 8 43000 73 10000 9 53000 68 11000 10
64000
[1129] Alternatively, to ensure each split includes substantially
half the revenue, the split may be made before the first cumulative
value that is greater than 50% of the total cumulative value. Using
the same table above, the split in this example would occur after
customer 103, such that customer 103 and all other customers above
it are positioned on the left hand side of the split and customers
94 and below are positioned on the right hand side of the split.
That is, the cumulative revenue value for ranked customer 94 is
34000, the first cumulative value greater than 50% (32000), and so
the split occurs before this, i.e. above customer 103.
[1130] As a further alternative, to ensure each split includes
substantially half the revenue, the system may determine where to
make the split by determining which of the cumulative revenue
values is closest to 50% of the total, and splitting the ranked
customers at that revenue value so that the split occurs after or
before the determined revenue value. Using the same table above,
the system calculates that 50% of the total revenue value is 32000,
and determines that the cumulative value closest to this is 34000.
Therefore, the system may split the customers either before or
after the ranked customer 94 where the cumulative value is closest
to 50%.
[1131] That is, the split or division point is determined by
looking for a total cumulative revenue value that is equal to or
close to 50% of the total (32000) in the ranked customers and then
allocating the ranked variables to the lower half of the split,
with the remaining variables placed in the upper half of the
split.
[1132] As explained above using the first example, the split point
follows customer 94, where the sum of the revenues up to this
customer is 34000 and prior to this customer is 22,000. Therefore,
customers 50, 38, 40, 99, 98, 103 and 94 are positioned on the left
hand side of the split, while customers 81, 73 and 68 are
positioned on the right hand side of the split.
[1133] Step 2: The system splits the customers positioned on the
left hand side of the visual representation along a different axis
to step 1 by using a different ranking (e.g. items purchased) to
that used in step 1 and by using a different accumulated variable
value (e.g. accumulating profit values in the ranked order, rather
than accumulating revenue values).
[1134] That is, the system ranks the customers based on the number
of items purchased so that the value of the accumulated profit for
the ranked customers before the split is equal or close to 50% of
the total for the left hand side with the remaining ranked
customers positioned after the split. Any of the described methods
in step 1 above may be used to determine where the split occurs. In
this example, customers 50, 94, 103 and 40 are positioned in the
lower left quadrant, and customers 98, 38 and 99 are positioned in
the upper left quadrant.
[1135] Step 3: The system splits the customers positioned on the
right hand side of the visual representation using any one of the
same methods as the left hand side customers were split in step 2.
This will result in customers 68 and 81 being placed in the lower
right quadrant and customer 73 being placed in the upper right
quadrant.
[1136] FIG. 17D shows an example of the customer locations in the
quadrants of the visual representation following step 3.
[1137] Step 4: The system splits the customers in the lower left
quadrant of the visual representation into left and right portions
(within the lower left quadrant) using one of the same methods
described above based on ranking 1 (No. of visits). Therefore,
customers 50, 40, 103 are placed in the left portion, and customer
94 is placed in the right portion.
[1138] Step 5: The system splits the customers in the left portion
created in step 4 into upper and lower portions (within the left
portion) using one of the same methods described above based on
ranking 2 (Items purchased). Therefore, customers 50 and 103 are
placed in the lower portion, and customer 40 is placed in the upper
portion.
[1139] Step 6: The system splits the customers in the upper left
quadrant using one of the same methods described above based on
ranking 1 (No. of visits). Therefore, customers 38 and 99 are
placed in the left portion of the upper left quadrant and customer
98 is placed in the right portion of the upper left quadrant.
[1140] Each portion or region now includes at most two customers.
It is possible to make a final split of those regions (here the
system simply observes the relative rankings of the two numbers to
make the final split). In the example in FIG. 17A, customers 38 and
99 are further split according to the ranking 2 (Items purchased),
and customers 50 and 103 are further split according to ranking 1
(No. of visits).
[1141] This gives the distribution of data points shown in FIG.
17E.
[1142] It can be seen that the splitting of the customers along the
x axis of the visual representation is based on a first single
ranking criteria (e.g. Number of visits), whereas the splitting of
customers along the y axis of the visual representation is based on
a second different single ranking criteria (e.g. Number of items
purchased).
[1143] The display area as shown is divided by dashed lines into a
number of regions. Regions of equal width contain approximately
equal proportions of the total revenue. Similarly, regions of equal
height contain approximately equal proportions of the total
profit.
[1144] The left hand regions contain a proportion of revenue from
the customers who visited least often (since this is how data is
ranked). The right hand regions contain a proportion of revenue
from customers who visited most often.
[1145] Similarly, the upper regions contain a proportion of profit
from customers who bought the greatest number of items. The lower
regions contain a proportion of profit from customers who bought
the least number of items.
[1146] In summary, in this described embodiment, each data point
(customer) is ultimately positioned within its own region or area
of the visual representation as shown in FIG. 17E. The positioning
of the data point is based on a first ranking variable and the
splitting of a first distribution variable along one axis, and a
second ranking variable and the splitting of a second distribution
variable along a second axis.
[1147] It can be seen in the examples above that the variables
(e.g. number of visits or items purchased) used to rank the data
set (e.g. customers) being visualized along an axis are different
to the variables (e.g. profit or revenue) that are used to split or
distribute that same data set along the same axis.
[1148] Further, although the herein description uses the
terminology x and y axes, it will be understood that the y axis is
not a dependent axis. That is, the y axis is not used to record a
variable (y) that is dependent on another variable (x). Each axis
is used to rank and split (or distribute) independent
variables.
[1149] In a further embodiment the variable being accumulated may
be the same on each axis (e.g. accumulated revenue is determined
for different ranking criteria on each of the x and y axis). In
this case, each region displayed on the visual representation will
contain an approximately equal proportion of the total of that
variable. For example, in FIG. 17B, if the distribution or
splitting of the customers along both the x and y axes is governed
by a single variable (for example, revenue) then the quadrant 0
will contain approximately 25% of the revenue, as will each of
quadrants 1, 2 and 3. Further division of the regions may be
performed in this example, as described above.
[1150] The system may also display a further variable on the visual
representation using a supplementary information map, such as a
heat or contour map that is placed over the visual representation
so it may be viewed with the information described above.
[1151] The distribution of the data points may respect the same
ranking information or have different ranking information for both
the x and y axes.
[1152] In one embodiment, a function may be determined for each
axis where the function maintains the rank order of one metric for
an item and respects the distribution of a second metric. This
gives a unique position for each item on the axis. When applied to
a two or three dimensional grid the result is a unique position for
each item such that the sums of the values for the classification
grid are equal. A contour heatmap, or three dimensional object
overlay, then shows the density of the metric used for
analysis.
[1153] Therefore, it can be seen that the herein described system
may be used to automatically allocate or position one or a group of
items, articles, objects, concepts, entities or things to or in a
certain region or portion of a visual representation based on a
number of variables associated with that item etc.
[1154] The herein described system may be used, for example, to
monitor the quality of products coming off a manufacturing line
where the different products are allocated a specific region on the
visual representation based on rankings and splitting
(distribution) variables from any number of different
variables.
[1155] For example, the variables recorded during manufacturing and
testing, as well as values obtained from sales and marketing data
recorded in a database, may include mean time between failure
(MTBF), mean time to failure (MTTF) or the like, cost to build
value, profit margin, rank of popularity, number of items sold,
number of return items, number of recalls etc.
[1156] By using the system herein described the products as a data
set are positioned accordingly in a visual representation. It then
becomes easier for a product manager to ascertain relevant
information from the data visualization output by the system. For
example, the data visualization may convey information to the
product manager that indicates which of the higher profit, highly
sought after products in the set are causing most or least
problems. That is, the data visualization created by the system
enables the product manager to note the position of the product
data points in the representation and therefore identify where
problems affecting profitability the most are occurring within the
manufacturing environment.
[1157] It will be understood that the system herein described
includes one or more elements that are arranged to perform the
various functions and methods as described herein. The following
portion of the description is aimed at providing the reader with an
example of a conceptual view of how various modules and/or engines
that make up the elements of the system may be interconnected to
enable the functions to be implemented. Further, the following
portion of the description explains in system related detail how
the steps of the herein described method may be performed. The
conceptual diagrams are provided to indicate to the reader how the
various data elements are processed at different stages by the
various different modules and/or engines.
[1158] It will be understood that the arrangement and construction
of the modules or engines may be adapted accordingly depending on
system and user requirements so that various functions may be
performed by different modules or engines to those described
herein.
[1159] According to this embodiment there is shown in FIG. 17G a
conceptual system diagram of a data visualization system 17G01 that
is arranged to perform a method of arranging, in n dimensions, data
points representing n or more variables.
[1160] Data associated with the data points is retrieved from a
data storage module 17G09 using a data retrieval module 17G03. The
data retrieval module 17G03 is configured to enable the retrieval
of data from the data storage module 17G09, which is in
communication with the data visualization system 17G01. The data
storage module may be any suitable type of data storage system. For
example, it may be an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), a data mart,
a database, a storage array or any other suitable device or groups
of devices that can store data for later retrieval. Further, the
data storage module may be a cache memory used to temporarily store
incoming data captured in real time.
[1161] The system 17G01 includes a data point ranking module 17G05
that is arranged to rank a set of data points.
[1162] The ranking is carried out with respect to a first axis of a
visual representation using a first variable associated with the
retrieved data. For example, the first axis may be the axis
commonly known as the x-axis or horizontal axis in a two
dimensional axis system.
[1163] The system also includes a data point distribution module
17G07 that is arranged to distribute the set of data points based
on a second variable associated with the retrieved data. The data
points are distributed by the data point distribution module along
the same axis as the ranking. Further, the distribution of the data
points is carried out by the data point distribution module in a
manner that ensures the information relating to the ranking of data
points determined in the ranking step above is retained.
[1164] In this embodiment, the system also includes a display
module 17G11 as an output module in order to visually represent the
data points along the horizontal axis.
[1165] As an alternative to, or in conjunction with, the display
module, further output modules may be provided to output the
results of the ranking and distribution modules. That is, the raw
data retrieved by the data retrieval module is analyzed and
converted by the ranking and distribution modules to provide output
data in a specific format. The output data is provided to the
display and/or further output modules to enable a user to visualize
the raw data in a manner that conveys more useful or hidden
information that would otherwise be lost.
[1166] The further output module may be a printing device in
communication with the described system to receive print control
data so that representations of the data may be printed on any
suitable print medium. Alternatively, the further output module may
be an interface that enables the data output from the ranking and
distribution modules to be interfaced with other data handling
modules or storage devices.
[1167] The data point ranking module is further arranged to rank
data points with respect to one or more further axes using one or
more variables. For example, the further axis may be what is
commonly termed the y-axis or vertical axis. Also, more than two
axes may be used to rank and distribute data.
[1168] The ranking module may rank the data points using any
suitable ranking methodology, such as a deterministic sorting
function.
[1169] Further, the ranking module may rank the data points based
on at least one of volume, importance, statistical ordering,
statistical distance, quantity, or value of the data associated
with the data points.
[1170] The data point distribution module is further arranged to
distribute data points along these further axes while retaining
information relating to the ranking of data points determined in
the ranking steps described above.
[1171] The scale used along the axes used to represent the data
points may be varied by the system. For instance, the maximum value
allocated to any one axis may be defined by the data values for a
particular variable. Alternatively, the system may define the
maximum values along any axes by the sum of data values over a
particular variable.
[1172] Through the use of the output module, the arranged data
points, or at least a subset thereof, may be visually represented.
In addition, the output module may be controlled by the system to
visually represent supplementary information over the displayed
arranged data sets as an overlay.
[1173] For example, the output module may visually representing the
supplementary information in the form of a contour or heat map on
top of the arranged data points to convey further information
related to the data points.
[1174] Therefore, as described above, the data point distribution
module is arranged to distribute the data points by dividing the
data points between two or more regions in the visual
representation. There may be n-dimensional regions created by the
system for displaying the data points, where the data points
represent n or more variables.
[1175] For example, the system may arrange the regions within the
visual representation to convey information that is based on
proportions of summed variables contained within the regions.
[1176] Further, the system is arranged to control the data point
distribution module so that it can distribute data points within a
region of the visual representation, by creating two or more
sub-regions within the region and distributing data points between
those sub-regions. The sub regions in the visual representation may
then be divided further and the data points distributed within
those further divided sub-regions until the representation is
arranged to depict a maximum of one single data point within each
of the divided sub-regions. Therefore, each data point resides in
its own allocated region, and as such, each data point has a unique
position in the visual representation that depicts specific
information about the variables associated with that data
point.
[1177] Further, through the distribution of the data points, each
data point has a unique position along each axis of the visual
representation determined through the operation of the ranking and
distribution modules.
[1178] As there may be certain regions within the "grid" of
sub-regions that do not contain a data point, these areas or
regions may be used by system to visually represent supplementary
information. For example, the system may control the display module
to visually represent the supplementary information in the form of
a heatmap. Other alternative types of supplementary information may
also be displayed, such as, for example, widgets, static or dynamic
objects. Further, different visual design types may be displayed as
the supplementary information, such as geographical, temporal,
hierarchical, spatial, virtual, classical, navigational, textual,
structural, and interactive types.
[1179] Therefore, the data points being represented in the visual
representation created by the system provide a complete view of
information of interest, while minimizing the area or space in
which the information is being displayed.
[1180] The system may also include a filtering module arranged to
filter the data associated with the data points before displaying
the data points or associated data on the visual
representation.
[1181] In order to further minimize the number of dimensions in
which the data points are being displayed, the system may also
include a dimension reduction module that is arranged to apply any
suitable type of dimension reduction technique to the data that is
associated with the data points before arranging the data points to
be displayed on the representation.
[1182] Also, the system may enable the user to selecting a set of
data for visual representation, or enable a user to select a view
of arranged data points, in order to maximize the visual
representation of data or variables of interest associated with the
data points. The selection may be monitored by the system by way of
monitoring a pointing device in conjunction with a graphical user
interface, or by any other suitable input monitoring method and
system.
[1183] 9. Navigational Visual Design
[1184] Navigational visualizations use a highly visual interface to
navigate through data while maintaining the general context of the
data. This data visualization method may use other visual design
types so it is differentiated more by the style of how it is used
than the implementation standard.
[1185] Photosynth for example is a powerful navigational tool for
moving between images, its display is designed for navigation of
large numbers of linked images.
[1186] One illustrative navigational representation example is
shown by Ubrowser.sup.xix. This navigational visualization example
shows web pages represented in a geometry design. The web pages can
be navigated through by spinning the cube shown in the example.
[1187] The various industries discussed herein are characterized by
middle managers and line employees being responsible for making
many on the spot decisions that have significant impact on costs
and revenue.
[1188] For instance, in the gaming industry, a hotel front desk
clerk or shift manager has the ability to upgrade a room or provide
discounts in situations where a guest is not satisfied with the
service, or appears to be reluctant to pay a quoted price.
[1189] For instance, in the retail industry, in a grocery store,
the Meat Department manager or Bakery Department manager may use
their discretion to feature particular products by displaying them
in favorable locations.
[1190] For instance, in the hospitality industry, in a hotel, the
receptionist may use their discretion to grant room upgrades based
on subjective factors. In order to support these spot decisions
with data, it is important for relevant information be accessed
quickly.
[1191] For instance, in the financial industry, in a bank branch,
the lending officer may use their discretion to grant loans based
on subjective factors.
[1192] For instance, in the entertainment industry, in a video
rental store, the outlet manager may use their discretion to
feature particular products by displaying them in favorable
locations.
[1193] For instance, in the telecommunications industry, in a
retail outlet, the manager may use their discretion to provide a
phone upgrade or bill credit based on subjective factors.
[1194] In order to support these spot decisions with data, it is
important for relevant information be accessed quickly. This is
facilitated by navigational aids within a Visual Document as herein
described.
[1195] An example in the gaming industry is that a manager can
quickly determine the effects on occupancy of the hotel due to the
occurrence of a particular event.
[1196] An example in the retail industry is that a manager can
quickly determine which high profit items sell more on the
weekends.
[1197] An example in the hospitality industry is that an employee
can quickly bring a great deal of information to bear to make
subjective decisions regarding whether to offer a discounted room
to a customer that would otherwise remain unoccupied for the
night.
[1198] An example in the financial industry is that a manager can
quickly bring a great deal of information to bear to make
subjective decisions regarding the riskiness of a loan.
[1199] An example in the entertainment industry is that a manager
can quickly determine which high profit items sell more on the
weekends.
[1200] An example in the telecommunications industry is that a
manager can quickly bring a great deal of information to bear to
make subjective decisions regarding the riskiness of a long term
contract for a product.
[1201] Navigational visualizations are designed for users to
interactively move through the data. The objective of the
visualization is to present a large volume of data in such a way as
to enable users to move through the information and gain an
understanding of how the data links together.
[1202] A number of display techniques are known for displaying
information with regard to a reference image (the combination
referred to as primary information). Where the limit of primary
information is reached a user may wish to know more but be unable
to further explore relevant information. A user may also simply
wish to explore other aspects although there is more primary
information to explore.
[1203] It would be desirable to provide an interactive visual tool
for assisting in the exploration of related data.
[1204] In order to reveal relevant information interactive
graphical representations provide an intuitive tool for data
mining. FIG. 18A shows primary information in the form of a map
1800 of the United States with a heat map overlaid thereon
including regions 1801 and 1802. In this example, regions 1801 and
1802 indicate profitability of clients by the size of the region.
If a user selects region 1801 by clicking on the region then an
enlarged view of the region 1801 may be displayed showing sub
regions of profitability 1803, 1804 and 1805 as shown in FIG.
18B.
[1205] A box 1806 may appear allowing a user to select a type of
supplementary information to be displayed. By clicking on one of
the boxes supplementary information of the type selected relating
to the primary information may be displayed as shown in FIG. 18C.
For example a user may request information as to the demographics
of clients within a region or some other supplementary information
related to the primary information.
[1206] According to another embodiment as a user reaches the limit
of primary information the display may be supplemented with
supplementary information, which may include supplementary
dimensions of data. For example if region 1803 is selected and
there is no more primary data then supplementary data may be
automatically displayed. The supplementary data to be displayed may
be selected in a variety of ways. Supplementary information may be
selected based upon user behavior. Behavior may be determined based
on user query information, user profile information etc. The
display of supplementary information may also be invoked at least
in part based on intelligent determination of user intention.
Intelligent determination may be based on system learning as to
supplementary information found to be relevant for similar queries.
Supplementary data may also be selected based upon historical prior
user selection (i.e. supplementary information found to be relevant
to a similar query).
[1207] Supplementary information displayed may be in the form of
text 1807, numbers 1808, graphical representations 1809 to 1811 or
a combination 1812 of these. The supplementary information may also
be derived information such as variance (esp. variance of the
supplementary information over time--e.g. sales over time),
normalized supplementary information (e.g. average sales per year)
or some other function applied to the secondary information.
[1208] Supplementary information may also be filtered so that only
information above or below a threshold (or within a range) is
displayed. The threshold may be user specified, contextually set,
based on data values of primary information, based on variance of
data values of primary information, based on the distribution of
data values of primary information.
[1209] Supplementary information may be displayed according to
forecasting reliability or historical reliability of historical
information (which may be determined by a forecasting model).
[1210] Supplementary information may be displayed according to
relevance to user criteria. This may be search criteria entered by
a user or user profile information.
[1211] In the gaming industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the number of airline flights serving a casino's
location, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market. Further, the supplementary information may include the
geographical location of an individual, the spending habits of an
individual or the gaming habits of an individual.
[1212] In the retail industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may access
the entries, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1213] In the hospitality industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the consumer confidence index or local
special event factors, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the hotels, and other general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1214] In the financial industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the consumer confidence index or local real
estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that may access the
branches, and other general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1215] In the entertainment industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the holidays or local special events
occurring during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the outlets, and general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1216] In the telecommunications industry, the supplementary
information may include, for example the consumer confidence index
or local real estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that
may access the retail outlet, wireless network, and other general
economic factors affecting the primary market.
[1217] The reliability of information displayed may be indicated
graphically (by color or other optical characteristics.
[1218] Fractal heatmaps show the structure of the data but also
allow the user to interact and zoom into any area of the data.
[1219] This can aid a user in understanding customer demographic
data and the important aspects of that data. The alternative of
OLAP analysis gives a similar capability but uses a numeric
approach.
[1220] A key element of navigational visual designs is that they
are interactive and are designed to assist in data navigation and
data way-finding rather than for analytical purposes.
[1221] 10. Interactive Visual Designs
[1222] This classification is for significantly advanced or
interactive visual designs which do not fit within the preceding
classifications.
[1223] These visualizations vary in nature from pure abstract forms
to more tangible forms of visualizations. The key difference is
that these visualizations may not be classified within the
preceding Visual Design classifications due to their advanced
nature or interactivity.
[1224] Any Visual Design layer considerations will be dependent on
the interaction being considered.
[1225] There is opportunity to use common associations to provide
iconic views of key events; the common associations are created
using the interactive tools and asking users for feedback on the
relevant icons. This feedback is then developed into a learned
interactive system to provide iconic data representations.
[1226] As discussed herein, the various industries are
characterized by middle managers and line employees being
responsible for making many on the spot decisions that have
significant impact on costs and revenue. In order to support these
spot decisions with data, it is important for relevant information
be accessed quickly. This is facilitated by using intelligent
automated methods for quickly highlighting relevant
information.
[1227] Eye movement sensors can be used to control the
interactivity and to learn information about relevant icon usage
and control interactivity.
[1228] A wide range of user interfaces are used in conjunction with
computer systems. Generally these are simply used to provide
command or data inputs rather than to analyze the underlying
behavior of a user in the context of the operation of a software
application.
[1229] It would be desirable to operate software applications
running on a computer on the basis of observed user behavior in the
context of a software application.
[1230] FIG. 19 shows a computer 1900 having user interface devices
in the form of a webcam 1905, keyboard 1910 and mouse 1915
connected thereto. It will be appreciated that a range of other
user input devices may be employed.
[1231] The user interface devices may be used to provide commands
to a software application in the usual way or to capture data (e.g.
images from the web cam).
[1232] Inputs from these devices may, however, be further analyzed
to determine user behavior attributes. For example by monitoring
the eyes of a user the area of focus of the user's eyes may be
determined.
[1233] Where a user 1925 is focusing towards an extremity of a
display 1920 and the software application knows that there is more
information to display beyond the extremity then it may scroll the
screen to reveal more information to a user. This operation would
be based upon parameters relating to user focus (time spent at
extremity, historical motion etc.) and the context of the software
application (i.e. if the software determines that there is useful
information to display to a user--in some cases knowledge of the
user query may enable the software application to determine that
there is no useful information to display beyond the extremity
although there is further non relevant information that could be
displayed).
[1234] The area of focus of a user may also be correlated with
information display regions on screen 1920. The software
application may determine that a user is looking in the wrong area,
based upon knowledge of a user query etc., and take appropriate
action to draw the relevant information to the user's attention.
This may be by redisplaying the information so as to draw attention
to the important area by color, size, animation etc., to redisplay
only the important area, to return to a prior screen etc.
Alternatively attributes of operation of the software application
may be changed such as information display rate, including not
moving to a subsequent screen until critical information has been
viewed for a prescribed period.
[1235] Color is an important aspect of information display and
large amounts of color in a display can distract user attention
from an area of interest. By monitoring user focus high color
saturation may be maintained in and near the area of focus but be
reduced in other areas to reduce distraction from the important
information.
[1236] Further, information density may be increased in an area of
focus. Further information may be displayed when a software
application determines that user focus in an area indicates user
interest in a relevant area. The further information may be
enhanced detail in the information being displayed, different
representations (e.g. numerical values superimposed on a visual
design) or supplementary information (i.e. previously non displayed
information related to information in the area of focus).
[1237] In the gaming industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the number of airline flights serving a casino's
location, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market. Further, the supplementary information may include the
geographical location of an individual, the spending habits of an
individual or the gaming habits of an individual.
[1238] In the retail industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may access
the entries, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1239] In the hospitality industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the consumer confidence index or local
special event factors, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the hotels, and other general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1240] In the financial industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the consumer confidence index or local real
estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that may access the
branches, and other general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1241] In the entertainment industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the holidays or local special events
occurring during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the outlets, and general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1242] In the telecommunications industry, the supplementary
information may include, for example the consumer confidence index
or local real estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that
may access the retail outlet, wireless network, and other general
economic factors affecting the primary market.
[1243] The software application may also determine when a user is
in a state in which more information can be absorbed ("in the
zone"). In this state more information will be conveyed by
displaying more information and/or displaying information at a
faster rate. When a user is in this state, one or more ancillary
devices (e.g. phones and communication devices) may be disabled to
avoid breaking user concentration when "in the zone".
[1244] The user's state may be determined by monitoring one or more
user interfaces. Whether a user is "in the zone" may be determined
by monitoring the relevance and persistence of user focus in the
context of software operation. User fatigue and stress may be
monitored by monitoring the rate of user blinking, blink duration,
eye spasms etc. When user fatigue or stress is detected the
complexity of information, the rate of information display and/or
the amount of information displayed may be reduced. The format of
information display may also be changed, such as highlighting
important information by color, animation etc.
[1245] A user may have a profile that is adjusted based on
monitored user behavior in the context of operation of one or more
software application. In particular a user's interaction with a
software application as compared to the expected interaction may be
used to alter a user's profile. An initial profile may be based on
user training or be assigned to a user. A trained filter may be
used to generate the user profile or it may be created by back
propagation through a neural network.
[1246] The system described provides a unique functionality that
relieves the user of having to make a determination as to which
type of visual design is the most suitable to use for
multi-dimensional data being represented. The visual design type
may be any one of the ten types discussed herein, or may include
further design types that have not yet been categorized but that
will become available. This embodiment is not limited to choosing a
particular visual design in any specific visual design category,
but encompasses all available categories.
[1247] The system includes a decision module that receives
determination data which is analyzed using the decision module in
association with data characteristics of the multi dimensional
data. The determination data may include at least one of
dimensional, cardinal and correlation data characteristics of the
multi-dimensional data. That is, the number of data dimensions the
data represents, the number of data elements and the relationship
between data elements is analyzed by the system to enable the
decision module to determine the most suitable visual design type
or manner of display of a visual design.
[1248] The decision module may be one or a combination of a rules
engine, an artificially intelligent module and a genetic algorithm
which is arranged to analyze the determination data that is
received.
[1249] The determination data may be based on at least one of
multi-dimensional data provided by an end user, metadata associated
with multi-dimensional data, multi-dimensional data associated with
one or more queries provided by an end user, or an end user
profile. By using this available determination data, the system is
able to make a calculated determination of the most suitable visual
design type form the available types.
[1250] Further, the system is able to determine a number of
different visual design types for representing the data where a
single type is not suitable. This determination is also based on
the analysis of the determination data. The decision to use
multiple visual design types may be based upon the system
determining that the multi-dimensional data has a number of
dimensions that are above a predefined threshold value based on
rules controlling the decision module.
[1251] The visual design type may be a graphical representation of
any of the types described herein including a hierarchical type, a
spatial type, a virtual type, a classical type, a navigational
type, a temporal type, a textual type, a structural type, a pivotal
type, and an interactive type.
[1252] The determination of the visual design type may be based on
the number of dimensions associated with the multi-dimensional
data. Some visual designs are better at representing data with a
minimal number of dimensions, whereas others are more suited to
representing data with a larger number of dimensions. As such, the
determination of the visual design type may be based on an optimal
number of data dimensions that can be represented by the visual
design types.
[1253] The system rules may apply each data dimension with a
weighting factor that affects how the visual design types are
determined. In this way, certain visual design types are targeted
to display certain data dimensions where those visual design types
are suitable for displaying those data dimensions.
[1254] The system may also include within the determination stage a
further step of determining how, or the manner in which, the
multi-dimensional data is to be represented in the visual
design.
[1255] Further, one or more visual designs may be assigned a
weighting factor based on the data characteristics of the data to
be represented.
[1256] In addition, over and above the determination of the actual
visual design type, the system may include a further step to
determine how, or the manner in which, the multi-dimensional data
is to be represented in the chosen type of visual design.
[1257] This determination may be based on the proportionality of
data elements visually represented in the visual design. For
example, when the data elements being represented are of a
substantially different size to each other by analyzing their size
and shape, it may be determined by the system that some of the data
elements are required to be adapted in the representation so that
they do not swamp or obscure the other data elements. Also, if
there are only a small number of smaller data elements, these may
be expanded to fit in and become more easily viewable by the
user.
[1258] Therefore, the elements of the display may be adjusted so
that they are in at least one of a compressed format, extended
format, linear format, logarithmic format, a format based on a
mathematical function, a statistically determined format, a neural
network derived format, a rules engine derived format, or a
regression format, for example. In regards to a regression format,
the format may be a least squares format.
[1259] Also, the system may make a determination on how to visually
represent the multi-dimensional data in one or more styles,
arrangements or levels of quality of the visual representation
based on the data characteristics. That is, the style of a graph
may be adjusted or used in relation to the data being represented.
For example, the line thickness, number of labels, size and
complexity of the legend, and amount of white space may be taken
into account by the system in determining how to graphically
represent the data. The amount of white space can become an
important factor when reproducing a large number of visual
representations on a printer, as this can ultimately save the
amount of ink used to create the representation and so result in
cost savings. That is, the use of white space is equally as
important in representing information as the use of ink.
Alternatively, arranging a visual representation in a manner that
enables it to sufficiently convey information based on the data on
a single screen or to be printed on a single page can reduce energy
usage and the amount of paper being used.
[1260] As a further example, the axis or area of display may be
changed to represent the data in the most determined suitable
manner. The choice of the number of colors may also be adapted
based on the data to ensure that color is only used in the most
efficient way, and not used where it could obscure the information
the data is conveying.
[1261] In one example, the determination data may be obtained or
include a query question received from an end user, where the query
question is asking the system how to represent certain data. The
system will analyze the query to detect whether there are any terms
that are related to its stored metadata. By looking at the
metadata, the system is then able to determine the type of data to
be represented and so analyze the characteristics of the different
types of visual designs to find a suitable match. The analysis may
be carried out by a rules engine, artificial intelligence module or
a genetic algorithm.
[1262] As a further example, the mere detection that a query or
related data has come from a specific user will enable the system
to determine the most suitable or preferred visual design type or
form of visual design for that user. This may be based on the
user's preferences or may be based on other visual design types
that the user has used or rejected.
[1263] FIG. 16A represents the data flow according to this
embodiment. Metadata (1625, 1630, 1635, 1640) is associated with
the raw data 1605, the visual designs 1610, the visual documents
1615 and the BPDs 1620, making each of these elements independent
of one another. However, when a BPD 1620 changes its associated
metadata 1635 will then change. The rendering processes 1645 uses
the metadata to optimize the video display 1650 of the visual
representations as well as the printed documents 1655 that include
the visual representations.
[1264] FIG. 16B shows a system block diagram of how visual design
types and the manner of visual designs can be modified. The
decision module 1670 includes stored data characteristics 1675 that
it can access. For example, the data characteristics may be stored
internally to the decision module or may be stored externally and
retrieved when the decision module requires the data characteristic
information. The data characteristics may be defined and grouped in
a metadata format. The format may be in the form of an index or
tree.
[1265] Determination data 1680 is received by the decision module
1670, which upon analysis as described above, outputs 1685 a
determined visual design type or a manner in which the visual
design is to be represented, either on screen or printed. Depending
on the type of decision module 1670, the output may be fed back
into the system to provide a feedback loop in order to provide a
more accurate determination output. This may be particularly
relevant when utilizing Artificial Intelligence modules and genetic
algorithms to implement this method.
[1266] Applications of Secret Database
[1267] Reference is made to co-pending US patent application "A
system, method, and computer implementation of data obfuscation for
secret databases" filed on 12 May 2008, application No. 61/052,613
wherein Secret databases are discussed in detail.
[1268] There are two methods that secret databases deploy.
[1269] Application of Secret Databases
[1270] The development of secret databases opens a whole new world
of data analytics. In this new world users of the information will
be able to share detailed atomic level data. The users of secret
databases will not be able to determine the atomic level
information. A typical example would be that users would not be
able to view lists of customers.
[1271] The limitations on the sharing of data places new challenges
on the providers of analytical tools. These challenges include the
inability for users to drilldown to the atomic data, that a wider
group of users may have access to the detailed data, and that
databases may become considerably larger as organizations share
data at the atomic level.
[1272] Potential applications for the herein described methodology
include government, retail, manufacturing, financial services,
entertainment and gaming organizations.
[1273] The various industries discussed herein may' closely guard
their customer information. Additionally, disclosure of much of the
information they collect, especially information that is related to
credit cards, the issuing of credit, may be government regulated or
may be required to adhere to stated privacy policies. Therefore, it
is important that these industries demonstrate they are taking
reasonable safeguards to adhere to the standards.
[1274] The secret database enables communities of data sharing. The
participating organizations are able to share detailed decision
enabling data while protecting the privacy of the low level
data.
[1275] For example in a government organization access to the
unemployment database could be provided to officials planning for
social initiatives, these officials could run queries, analyze data
and make informed decisions. They would not however be able to
determine the specific status of any individual in the unemployment
database.
[1276] Parallelism and Clustering
[1277] There are three major algorithms for allocation of Visual
Document requests across a cluster:
[1278] 1. Round robin
[1279] 2. Load based
[1280] 3. Random
[1281] The particular type of algorithm that is optimal depends on
the homogeneity of the request and the homogeneity of the server
cluster. If both are very homogenous then essentially all
algorithms are equal.
[1282] If the server cluster is quite heterogeneous then a
load-based or capacity-based algorithm are typically most
efficient.
[1283] If the Visual Documents are quite heterogeneous then the
type of algorithm required depends on the variation of the urgency
and size of the document. For example, a high urgency request
should preferably be sent to the lowest loaded, least frequently
used server.
[1284] Much of the customer data collected by the various
industries discussed herein is done in real time. Much of the
information is what could be termed perishable.
[1285] For instance, in the gaming industry, after a certain hour,
a hotel room cannot be sold for that night and the potential for
revenue is lost. As customers move around a casino to play games,
advantages may be gained from knowing where they are located and at
what level they are playing at a moment in time, so for instance,
they can be appropriately welcomed and/or rewarded by an
employee.
[1286] For instance, in the retail industry, after a certain
period, certain items cannot be sold (e.g., a newspaper or dairy
product) or must be highly discounted (e.g., bakery goods) and the
potential for revenue is lost. As customers move around a retail
store, advantages may be gained from knowing where they are located
and which products they are selecting or examining at a moment in
time so that, for instance, they can be given timely and
appropriate offers (e.g., on their cellular phone or on a "smart"
shopping cart.
[1287] For instance, in the hospitality industry, after a certain
period, certain products decline in or lose their value (e.g., an
unoccupied room). As financial conditions change, advantages may be
gained from knowing the details regarding the nature of these
changes at a moment in time, so for instance, the proper demand for
rooms assessment analyses may be made, so that the highest
potential room rates may be quickly determined based on current
data.
[1288] For instance, in the financial industry, after a certain
period, certain products decline in value (e.g., a bearish housing
market) and the potential for adequate loan security. As financial
conditions change, advantages may be gained from knowing the
details regarding the nature of these changes at a moment in time,
so for instance, they proper risk assessment analyses may be made,
so that profitable loans may be made quickly based on current
data.
[1289] For instance, in the entertainment industry, after a certain
period, certain products decline in value (e.g., a newly released
movie can only be featured as such for a limited time) and the
potential for revenue is lost. As customers move around an
entertainment store, advantages may be gained from knowing where
they are located and which products they are selecting or examining
at a moment in time, so for instance, they can be given timely and
appropriate offers (e.g., on their cellular phone or on a "smart"
shopping cart).
[1290] For instance, in the telecommunications industry, after a
certain period, certain products decline in value (e.g., a value of
data services). As financial conditions change, advantages may be
gained from knowing the details regarding the nature of these
changes at a moment in time, so for instance, proper risk
assessment analyses may be made so that profitable customers can be
identified based on current data.
[1291] Therefore, the speed in which data can be retrieved and
rendered as visual documents as herein described is of particular
value.
[1292] The use of parallel servers is advantageous in that the
speed of processing of various portions of the visualization can be
produced by using various algorithms that utilize parallel
processing techniques. In one such example described herein, the
utilization of parallel processing enables frames to be rendered in
parallel in such a way as to reduce the processing time to a
minimum for a series of frames.
[1293] Animations and Widgets
[1294] Much of the customer data collected by the various
industries discussed herein is done in real time. Much of the
information is what could be termed perishable, as discussed
herein. Real time changes in this real time data is effectively
illustrated as herein described using animations that can keep up
with the changes in the data itself. Where data refreshes are
delayed, good quality estimations will effectively assist with
timely decision making. Algorithms that allow animations to keep up
with the new data flow also increase their effectiveness.
[1295] In the various industries discussed herein, the ability to
incorporate familiar forms or easily recognized indicators (e.g., a
clock face to indicate a particular time of day) into Visual
Documents as herein described will assist in quickly pinpointing
key values and providing context within the visualization.
[1296] Heatmaps are overlaid on images to provide types of Visual
Documents. These heatmaps become effective when they are shown as
contours, as the contours have edges. The edges of the contours are
animated so the Visual Documents are easy for the eye to
follow.
[1297] FIG. 20A shows an example of using widgets to convey further
information within a graphical representation.
[1298] A Visual Design 2000 contains several representations (2005,
2010, 2015, 2020) of data using any combination of shape, position,
color, size and shading to indicate values and significance.
[1299] The shape 2020 is of special interest, and this is indicated
by including animated borders on the shape. The animated borders
are used to focus attention on a particular area within the Visual
Design 2000.
[1300] An example of a widget 2020 indicates additional
information, such as time events that have occurred, using position
to indicate the data associated with the information indicated.
[1301] When animating multi dimensional data in a visualization, it
becomes difficult to determine what is happening when the animation
is stopped or frozen at a particular dimension (for example, frozen
at a particular point in time for temporal data, or frozen at a
particular dimension for multi dimensional data). The frozen image
merely provides a snap shot of the data at that point without
providing any indication of what's happened before or after, i.e.
the context of the data is lost.
[1302] The following embodiment describes an implementation that
aims to overcome this problem.
[1303] The method used by the system determines supplementary
information that can be mapped onto a visual representation of data
points. The system is arranged so that data points are arranged to
be displayed as an animated visual representation where the data
points are displayed in a sequence representative of multiple
dimensions of data. Further, the supplementary information is
determined based on one or more selected dimensions of the data
points, and arranged in order for the supplementary information to
provide an animated depiction of how the data points correlate
between dimensions.
[1304] In the gaming industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the number of airline flights serving a casino's
location, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market. Further, the supplementary information may include the
geographical location of an individual, the spending habits of an
individual or the gaming habits of an individual.
[1305] In the retail industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may access
the entries, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1306] In the hospitality industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the consumer confidence index or local
special event factors, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the hotels, and other general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1307] In the financial industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the consumer confidence index or local real
estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that may access the
branches, and other general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1308] In the entertainment industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the holidays or local special events
occurring during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the outlets, and general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1309] In the telecommunications industry, the supplementary
information may include, for example the consumer confidence index
or local real estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that
may access the retail outlet, wireless network, and other general
economic factors affecting the primary market.
[1310] Where there is a set of multiple dimensions each dimension
in the set may not overlap with any other dimension in that
set.
[1311] Further the determined supplementary information may be
overlaid onto the animated visual representation.
[1312] Also, the system may arrange the selected dimension of data
points to be displayed or printed. This may be a single dimension
of data points, or may be two or more selected dimensions arranged
to be displayed in sequence.
[1313] The animated depiction may be a directional representation
to indicate direction of movement.
[1314] Further, the directional representation may be an animated
change in visual appearance, such as, for example, a change in at
least one of: the hue, saturation or value of a color; a texture;
an image.
[1315] Also, the directional representation may be an animated
directional icon, such as an arrow, trail or wave front.
[1316] Also, the animated depiction may indicate a correlation
between the currently displayed dimension and a further displayed
dimension, wherein the further displayed dimension is one of a
dimension that has previously been displayed or a dimension that
has yet to be displayed.
[1317] For example, the further displayed dimension and currently
displayed dimension may be displayed in sequence to create the
animated visual representation. The correlation may be a change in
the data within the currently displayed dimension when compared
with the further displayed dimension. The change in data may be a
relatively significant change in the data between the currently
displayed dimension and the further displayed dimension. Also, the
change in data may be a change above or below a predefined
threshold value stored by the system, or determined according to a
set of defined rules.
[1318] As an alternative, the animated visual representation may be
an animated heatmap that indicates groups of data points in
multiple dimensions. The animated depiction may be arranged to be
positioned near boundaries between data point groups.
[1319] The system may also determine an existing data boundary
within a first dimension of the animated visual representation, and
determine a position for the animated depiction in relation to the
existing data boundary based on the correlation of data associated
with the first dimension and data associated with a further
dimension animated in sequence with the first dimension.
[1320] FIG. 20B shows an example graphical representation 2030
depicting the area of growth of a town 2035 called Townsville. The
representation depicts a specific point in time, but supplementary
information has been added in the form of wave fronts and arrows
2040 and 2045 to depict how the data is changing. This
supplementary information conveys further details to the user as it
indicates that the size of the town is growing over time. That is,
the supplementary information conveys predicted values of the data
being represented based on the current data and historical data,
and how those data sets correlate with each other.
[1321] FIG. 20C shows a similar representation 2030 that includes
the same data when excluding the supplementary information.
However, in this case, the supplementary information 2050 provides
a depiction that indicates that the size of the town is getting
smaller.
[1322] In these examples, the position and number of people living
around the town are the selected dimensions of the data points that
are being used to determine the supplementary information.
[1323] Therefore, supplementary information can be used to animate
edges, areas or portions of a representation to convey further
information about past or predicted (future) data. The animation of
the supplementary information conveys a sense of direction in a
more meaningful manner than that of static images.
[1324] Data Tween Animations
[1325] Data frames in an image are produced using the actual source
data. To make the animation smooth, the transition from frame to
frame may be tweened.
[1326] A data tween is an intermediary frame that is interpolated
between actual data frames. The interpolation algorithm is
typically a straight linear interpolation. Data tweens are most
useful when creating animations where the data has insufficient
time resolution to create a smooth animation.
[1327] FIG. 21 shows an example of using tweens on pivotal and
other visualization methods.
[1328] Data Tweens 217 may be used to smooth animations when data
retrieval is erratic or if there irregular wide gaps between data
points.
[1329] A transition 500 is depicted from Frame 1 2105 to Frame 2
2125.
[1330] The data required to generate Frame 1 2105 and Frame 2 2125
is retrieved. An algorithm is used to evaluate the quality of the
animation based on the data retrieved. Two Data Tweens 2110, 2120
are calculated and incorporated into the animation to improve its
appearance.
[1331] Pseudo Tween Animations
[1332] Psuedo Data Tweens 218 may be used to smooth animations when
data retrieval results in small gaps in the data, making animations
difficult to perceive. They may also consolidate data into fewer
way-points.
[1333] Pseudo tween is the opposite of a data tween. Pseudo tweens
are most useful where the data has too much granularity to make the
animation intelligible. These animations are typically generated
from a moving average window.
[1334] Animation Optimization
[1335] Animations normally produce extraordinary numbers of
database queries and large amounts of rendering time, and
consequently very large Visual Documents.
[1336] Animated frames are processed and rendered in sequence. This
is time consuming and computationally inefficient. Two adjacent
frames may be processed separately (e.g. in parallel) and then
joined together afterwards, but non-adjacent frames can not.
Alternatively the frames may not be joined but stored as a sequence
of still images.
[1337] In order to address this problem, the system described
herein acts as follows. When an animation request is submitted it
may be broken into pieces of at least two data frames so that data
interpolation is possible.
[1338] One highly efficient animation parallelization algorithm is
a b-tree algorithm where each node splits, runs two more Visual
Document frames and then is responsible for joining the results.
This is depicted as 2200 in the FIG. 22.
[1339] The data frames 2205 are depicted in the order in which they
will be displayed. That is A, B, C, D, E, F and then G. These
frames are required to animate the representation that has been
requested.
[1340] Each frame is rendered in parallel within a plurality of
nodes using a number of different processors. In this example there
are seven processors than run in parallel for each of the seven
frames. As frame D is determined to be the halfway point, based on
a binary tree, this frame is at the top of the hierarchy. That is
the group of frames are split in two at D, thus allocating D to a
single processor. This allocation step then continues throughout
the frames until all the frames are allocated as shown.
[1341] Once the frames are rendered by each node they are fed from
that node (a child node) to its associated parent node. Once the
parent node has received all frames from the child nodes, it can
join the received nodes until all frames are processed. In this
manner, a visual representation of data points associated with a
metric, such as a business metric, can be animated. If the
individual frames are not be joined back together the spreading
function can simply spread the load until the frames are all
running in parallel as there is no need for the back flow through
the parallelism engine to join the results.
[1342] In this further embodiment where the frames are generated
independently without joining them into an animation, additional
frames may be added to the sequence at a later date without having
any reference to the existing frames.
[1343] It will be understood that the frames may be split in any
other suitable way, such as in three four etc, depending on the
number of processors available, the number of frames to be
processed and various other factors that will determine the time to
process.
[1344] The sequence carried out in the example shown in FIG. 22 is
as follows. The first frame D is executed by binary splitting the
frames at 2205. Dependent frames are then found and allocated, and
subsequently processed at 2215. The next set of frames are
subsequently allocated and processed at 2220, and this continues
until all the frames are allocated and processed. The rendered
frames are then fed back up the hierarchy until received at the top
of the chain where they are added together to form the complete
animated image. It will be understood that the rendered frames may
be joined either as they pass up through the hierarchy or when they
reach the top of the hierarchy.
[1345] Each node of the computational tree may have n number of
branches, where n is an integer and equals 2 or more, such that the
number of nodes in a first layer of the tree varies by a multiple
of n compared with the number of nodes in a second layer directly
below the first layer.
[1346] Further, the number of processors may be equal to the number
of child nodes that aren't also parent nodes. That is, the number
of processors may be equal to the number of leaf nodes.
[1347] Also, the step of joining the frames at each parent node may
be carried out upon receiving the rendered frames from all child
nodes of that parent node.
[1348] The parent nodes may then feed the resultant joined frames
to their parent nodes until all frames have been joined.
[1349] Other Optimization Techniques [1350] Differential contour
adjustments; in other words the contour grid is adjusted only in
areas which change between frames so the entire surface does not
need to be re-rendered. [1351] Reduction of visualization grid
resolution. [1352] Optimization of visualization queries to the
database. [1353] Careful management of the number of Visual
Document requests in the library (particularly the scheduled
library). [1354] Priority management (background processing).
[1355] Widgets
[1356] Widgets are dashboard-like in that they have low levels of
data density. They can be powerful in that they allow the user to
understand the context of the animation.
[1357] The following is a list of widgets that could be used for an
animation. Depending on the type of animation, and the nature of
the data, some widgets may be more suitable than others.
[1358] Looking at FIG. 23 an example of incorporating the use of
conventional gauges, charts and graphs (widgets) is shown in a
manner that accentuates more sophisticated visual designs
incorporating animations.
[1359] In the graph 2301, two related time sensitive revenue
streams (2305, 2310) are tracked in real time. As new time
sensitive data is available, the lines (2305, 2310) are
updated.
[1360] Because there is a greater lag in receiving the data
depicted in 2310 than for that in 2305, clock icons (2315, 2320)
are used to show values for a comparable time period.
[1361] The following table describes further examples of widgets
that may be used.
TABLE-US-00016 Widget Description Progress Bar A progress bar could
be shown to monitor the BPD over the time of the animation. In
addition the data on the progress bar could be compared against
other meaningful values. The example shows sales being measured on
the progress bar compared to the hourly average. Therefore as the
animation moves from T1 to T2 the data on the progress bar
(dynamic) can be compared to the hourly average (static for each
hour). Gauge A gauge can be shown to provide a summary of the data
at a point in time within the animation. For example, in this
animation, sales were $98k. Clock A clock can be used to translate
any point in an animation (from T1 to T2) into the time the data
was recorded. For example, if the animation was paused at 3:48,
then the time on the clock would be the time the sale (being shown
on the animation) was recorded. Tabled Data Selected data
attributes can be shown in a table format, the system would then
dynamically populate data as the animation moves from T1 to Tn. For
example, if the data attributes `current hour` and `sales` are
selected, the table will show the values for these attributes as
the animation moves from start to finish. Directional Arrows that
grow and shrink as the data varies. They show the Arrows direction,
magnitude and speed of data movement where possible. For example, a
turnover animation would change on the hour based on the hourly
increase or decrease in sales. Spark-line Shows entire range of
values scrolled with each frame to show context. For example, sales
are plotted on a graph relative to time. The thick bar (marker)
represents the point in time through the animation.
[1362] Business Performance Drivers (BPDs)
[1363] As discussed above, types of visual designs can be
determined by the system based on data characteristics. The
following embodiment provides additional examples of how the type
and form of the visual design can be determined from
characteristics of business measures.
[1364] In normal charting procedures, data (business measures) is
displayed according to a visual design type chosen by the user. The
visual design type is chosen by the user according to what the user
thinks is the best visual design type to use. This is not
necessarily going to be the most suitable visual design type for
the data being displayed. Further, even if the correct type of
visual design is selected, the visual design can take on many
different forms as defined by the user. However, the selection by
the user of the parameters that defines the form of the visual
design does not take into account how best to represent the data
based on characteristics of the data.
[1365] The system described herein includes processing modules that
are arranged to determine a type of visual design that is suitable
to represent business measures selected by a user. The system does
this by processing the business measures and categorizing them
based on one or more characteristics of the business measures, and
retrieving data associated with the business measures that is to be
represented in the visual design.
[1366] The system then determines one or more categories for the
retrieved data, in order to determine parameters based on the
business measures and the determined one or more categories. The
parameters are associated with particular types of visual design.
The system can thus determine a suitable type of visual design
based on the determined parameters.
[1367] The system may also determine a particular form of the
visual design by which to represent the business measures. The
determination of the form or type of visual design may be based on
parameters associated with the determined one or more
categories.
[1368] The retrieved data may be multi-dimensional data or data of
a single dimension.
[1369] The categories associated with the retrieved data may
include SQL, predicted, arithmetic, formulae, time or time
difference categories. However, further category types may be added
as required.
[1370] The system may also be arranged to determine display options
based on the determined form or type of the visual design.
Subsequently, a menu may be provided, for example, the options may
be displayed on the screen. The menu may include a number of
determined display options that the end user can then select as he
thinks fit. The determined display options will be chosen from a
subset of the total display options and will be based on the
analysis of the business measure characteristics. In this way, the
user is not able to select options that are not at least partially
suitable for the business measures being displayed.
[1371] The determined display options may be output in an
alternative form, such as printed form, data files, or information
to be displayed on the screen.
[1372] Rather than providing details to the user of the preferred
determined display options, the system may instead automatically
create the visual design based on the determined display
options.
[1373] The display options may be determined by ranking the
determined parameters automatically. Also, by using a fuzzy logic
module or a rules engine, the display options may be determined by
applying the determined parameters to one or both of those modules.
Optionally, iteration steps may be used on the determined
parameters in order to hone in on more suitable and detailed
parameters.
[1374] The form or type of the visual design may be determined by
applying a weighting function to the determined parameters,
particularly in the form of an artificial intelligence module or
fuzzy logic module.
[1375] Normalization steps may be applied when the determined
parameters are analyzed and the analysis determines that
normalization of the business measures is required, or at least
preferred, for the visual design.
[1376] Also, with reference to the secret database discussion
herein, if it is determined by the system that the determined
parameter indicate that the business measure has a confidential
characteristic, the determination of the form or type of the visual
design may be based on representing the business measure in an
obfuscated manner. This ensures that confidential information is
not inadvertently placed in the representation.
[1377] The data associated with the business measures may be
analyzed by analysis modules in the system to determine whether the
data includes any errors, and when the analysis module determines
an error a suitable form or type of visual design can be determined
based on the data analysis.
[1378] The data analysis may involve analyzing the data to
determine whether any portion of the data is incorrect or missing.
Also, the step of analyzing the data may include analyzing the
data's history. For example, the history analysis may include at
least one of analyzing null values, last update values, and
frequency of update values in order to determine if data is corrupt
or missing.
[1379] At a more intelligent level, the system can use a rules
engine or artificial intelligence engine to analyze the data to
determine whether the data is correct or accurate in the context of
a query that has been made by the user. For example, the data may
be analyzed to see if the data is a reasonable result in the
context of the query that was made. This determination may be based
on a set of rules and threshold values for certain queries.
[1380] FIG. 24 graphically depicts the modules of the system to
implement this embodiment. Data 2404 associated with the business
measures is input into an analysis module 2410, which provides an
output 2415 of a category 2420 to place the data. For each category
2420 a number of parameters 2425 are collated. It is these
parameters that provide an output 2430 that determines the type or
form of the visual design.
[1381] As discussed above, BPDs can be defined to use one of the 6
classes depicted in the following table.
[1382] These 6 classes are explained in the following table:
TABLE-US-00017 BPD Type Key Attributes SQL Generates one or more
SQL statements that are executed against a SQL compliant database.
Predicted These predict BPDs third party modeling engines.
Arithmetic A calculation provides simple arithmetic formulas based
on multiple BPDs, the calculation is one row at a time. For
example, profit per customer = revenues - expenses. Where revenue
and expenses are BPDs in themselves. Formulae A formula provides a
calculation on an entire set of data. For example, Mean, Median,
Standard Deviation. These could include calls to external
calculation engines. These formulas are defined in metadata. Time
Time operations performed on BPD data with time parameters.
Operations include spread, average, mean and others. While it is
possible to implement these as formulas the time based BPDs have
many methods available, formula based have only the specific
formula. These time operations are not defined in metadata. These
operations are specifically coded for the BPD type of time. The
time BPD type could include seasonality and other behavioral or
geographically defined time periods. Time Difference For a selected
BPD, the comparison of 2 time periods. This could be simply the
absolute difference in measure, or percentage difference.
[1383] Time includes normalization to a specific time period.
Normalization of data values is an intrinsic part of displaying
some visual documents.
[1384] Many BPDs can have multiple (typically time based)
normalization methods available to them. The classic example of
normalization is to calculate the BPD per day.
[1385] Normalization enables the comparison of different time
periods of source data.
[1386] One useful normalization is to normalize by the significance
of the variation from the mean. The significance can be calculated
either from the mean of the current dataset or for all datasets
associated with the Visual Document. For example, the significance
of a variation from all data frames in an animation as opposed to
one data frame in an animation.
[1387] BPDs can have one or many methods applied to them. Typically
for each of the methods defined, there will be one or many
applicable Visual Designs.
[1388] In turn, for a Visual Design there will be a number of items
(metadata) that define it. For example, for a typical bar
graph--bands, colors and scale will be defined as part of the
visual design.
[1389] Relating BPDs and Dimensions to a Data Source
[1390] BPDs and Dimensions are abstract concepts that will
generally be mapped to fields in a client's database.
[1391] However, this is not mandatory. This allows flexibility (in
future releases) to potentially map BPDs and Dimensions to other
non-database data sources such as files.
[1392] BPDs are always a measure. Therefore we couldn't have a BPD
that represents a "String" or "Time" information. Examples of
measures are: [1393] Sales (Number) [1394] # of DVDs rented
(Number)
[1395] Dimensions can represent different types of data including
"String", "Number" and "Time". For example: [1396] Name of Product
(String) [1397] Latitude (Number) [1398] Longitude (Number) [1399]
Date of sale (Time)
[1400] Normalization
[1401] Typically a BPD represents a measure by unit of time. To
represent a BPD we have to inform what unit of time to use from the
source data. This concept is called Normalization.
[1402] The types of time normalizations (and the definitions for
these) are known as Normalization Units, normalization units are
often the denominator in the normalization process. These inform a
BPD how to convert between different time units.
[1403] The normalization units currently defined are:
TABLE-US-00018 Normalization Unit Definition Hourly YYYY/MM/DD:HH
Daily Cron YYYY/MM/DD:0000 to YYYY/MM/DD:2359 Yearly YYYY/1/1:0000
to YYY/12/31:2359 Weekly YYYY/MM/05 (Sunday) to YYYY/MM/12
(Saturday)
[1404] In order for the system to perform the normalization the
following data is needed:
[1405] a. The normalization unit of the source data must be
configured.
[1406] b. The BPD and normalization unit requested by the user
[1407] At this point, the system compares these two kinds of
normalization and determines how to convert data.
[1408] Time Selection
[1409] The described solution will inherently eliminate the concept
of system time. Visual Documents will typically be generated using
either one relative time or one local time definition: [1410]
Relative time Visual Documents--data is displayed at the actual
moment it occurred. So data for a Visual document at 5 a.m. Pacific
Time would show data from 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. [1411]
Local time Visual Documents--data is displayed at their local date
and time. So data for 5 a.m. Pacific Time would be shown along with
data for 5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
[1412] A useful Visual Document would be to provide a visual
comparison of different calendars. For example, the Hebrew calendar
to the Gregorian calendar. This would enable comparison of a
dataset, to say Julian dates.
[1413] The Julian day or Julian day number (JDN) is the integer
number of days that have elapsed since the initial epoch defined as
noon Universal Time (UT) Monday, Jan. 1, 4713 BC in the proleptic
Julian calendar. That noon-to-noon day is counted as Julian day 0.
Thus the multiples of 7 are Mondays. Negative values can also be
used, although those predate all recorded history. Source:
[1414] Date and time are very subjective descriptions, and in the
real world the way that the date is determined has an impact on its
results. For example, the third Monday of a month is quite
different to the 18.sup.th day of the month as the 18.sup.th day
can be on any day of the week.
[1415] The described solution understands the following concepts:
[1416] 1. Time zones [1417] 2. Precision [1418] 3. A Point in Time
[1419] 4. Local Time [1420] 5. Time Definitions. For Example, 3rd
Monday of the month, 4th Business day of the month, quarters, half
years, Wal-Mart week, gaming day. [1421] 6. Special days. For
example, Easter. [1422] 7. Relative days. For example, Saturday
before Christmas. [1423] 8. Seasonal periods e.g. summer, winter,
fall, spring [1424] 9. Conversion between multiple times. For
example, local date/time of observer vs. observed. [1425] 10. ISO
8601:2004 Week Numbers.
[1426] These concepts of time are used in BPDs to produce
meaningful Visual Documents.
[1427] Selection for Feedback and Action
[1428] Users will have the ability to create a list of data from a
Visual Document. The described solution may instruct the external
system to read the list. It is preferable that the described
solution does not have the responsibility of ensuring a successful
write operation to external systems.
[1429] The following table describes the 360 degree cycle:
TABLE-US-00019 Step Description Example 1 A Visual Document is
produced as a Sales by region for time result of a user request.
period T1. 2 The user creates a list (subset of values) A list of
customers from from that data. specific locations. 3 The results of
the user's action can be View the original list, the fed back
through the described solution control list and the list and
queried again. of responses to the survey. 4 Through a second
Visual Document the View the sales by region results of the action
can be depicted to for time period T2 and determine its success.
specifically the sales in locations used for the mail outs for time
period x + y.
[1430] Visual Documents
[1431] Visual Documents are the rendered output along with the data
used to generate it. For example, this could be a store layout
showing the movement of selected customers between a specific time
period, for a particular date and the associated data.
[1432] Subclasses of Visual Documents are set out in the following
table:
TABLE-US-00020 Subclass Description Visual Only Only contains the
final imagery. For example, no drill-downs or OLAP possible.
Imports from external systems are likely to be of this type.
Detailed Contains imagery and the detailed data required to perform
low-level investigations. Re-Runable Contains the required metadata
to allow the query to be run again with changed restrictions.
Re-Useable Contains the required metadata to allow the Visual
Document to be used as a Visual Design, changing any metrics and/or
restrictions.
[1433] Visual Documents should have the following attributes:
TABLE-US-00021 Attribute Description Distribution The Visual
Document should be able to be distributed across users. For
example, Manager of Dept A sends the Manager of Dept B a Visual
Document for further investigation. Historic Ideally a Visual
Document can be produced from any time in the past and still be
accurate - regardless if the properties of that BPD have changed
over time. Alternatively, a BPD or Special Layer may be retired. If
this happens, the Visual Document subclass will be changed from
re-runable or re-useable to either detailed or visual only. For
example, if the way a temporal Special Layer is displayed is
changed, then a historic Visual Document can no longer be re-run
and produce the same result. It must therefore be retired. The
system is responsible for controlling how the data is displayed,
but the database is responsible for handling the historic data. It
may be possible to do an intelligent retire where the user is
provided the option of comparing the new implementation with the
historic one for verification purposes.
[1434] Caching Design Pattern
[1435] FIG. 29 shows a Caching Design Pattern.
[1436] Where appropriate, the results of requests (of data and/or
Visual Documents) will be cached.
[1437] The described solution will process subsequent requests
(queries, Visual Documents) by exploring cached results first.
[1438] If the result is not cached, then the result will be
produced via the `normal` process, otherwise the cached result will
be used.
[1439] In addition to the caching pattern, there may be other
background optimization to distribute caches.
[1440] The challenge with background optimization is that it
depends on the design and the client usage. It might be decided
that this is not implemented. It is included in this document so
that during implementation, this design pattern is used where
appropriate.
[1441] One example where background optimization may be considered
is the serving of Visual Documents. These documents could be cached
across multiple application servers. These could be `write once
never change` documents. This means that a rendering engine could
store the object in one place and a background optimizer could
replicate it with no chance of conflict.
[1442] One example where background optimization could be
disastrous is bi-directional caching of ten synchronized volatile
Request Queues. Where each Request Queue is receiving updates
independently but all Request Queues need to be identical.
[1443] An example of caching is depicted below.
[1444] FIG. 30 shows a caching example.
[1445] In the above caching example, Visual Document A is requested
from the application server. Components A, B and C are related,
therefore a background process will replicate Visual Documents B
and C (as second priority) to the application server. This is
anticipating that the user is likely to request these at a later
time.
[1446] Impact of Heatmaps
[1447] Heatmaps have a widespread impact on visualization. This
section describes the impacts of heatmapping and how it can be
imbedded into various applications.
[1448] Heatmaps may produce organic shapes representing the data.
These organic shapes provide two principal benefits to the consumer
of the visual analytics. The first benefit is that they enable
higher density of data to be displayed; secondly they lend
themselves to animation.
[1449] Advantages of using heatmaps may include the ability to:
[1450] 1. Show 10 times more data than other methods; [1451] 2.
Enable animation as data is absorbed by users very rapidly; [1452]
3. Display heatmaps on most visual designs; [1453] 4. Provide
generic functionality (for example, zoom; drill-down) that applies
to most Visual Designs.
[1454] A preferred method of providing the overlay view is to use a
semi transparent overlay similar to what will be done to overlay
heatmaps on Google.TM..
[1455] One important technique with overlay may be to fade the
color or intensity in the background tree so that the visualization
data is highlighted.
[1456] BPD History
[1457] FIG. 31 shows an example of BPD history.
[1458] A BPD is measured over time; the Visual Documents with the
resulting dataset are stored for future use. BPDs may have one
ending date/time; this ending date/time is the last date/time that
the BPD is valid to. For example, as a BPD is edited if the break
points are changed, it either has an end date or retired date
added.
[1459] A retired BPD is not used to generate Visual Documents.
[1460] Scheduling
[1461] Similar to the parallelism and clustering requirement, the
request scheduling servers should be independent of any other layer
in the application. This allows the various application layers to
operate in a distributed fault tolerant way.
[1462] Constrained by and utilizing the features of the application
framework, the objective is to construct a server cluster in such a
way that most things are assumed to have failed until there is
specific notification of success. For example, the Request Queue
will not remove the Visual Document request from the pending list
until there is notification that the document has been completed
successfully in all aspects.
[1463] Visual Document Creation Process
[1464] End User Perspective
[1465] Steps are explained in the following, table:
TABLE-US-00022 Step Description Example 1 Select the Visual Design
category Spatial heat map of required. Within each category there
store layout. will be a selection of Visual Design types. 2 For the
selected Visual Design type, BPD selected is `Sales there will be a
set of applicable Revenue`. Visual Document layers and BPDs. This
BPD is associated The required BPDs are associated with the with
the Visual Document layers. embellishment layer. 3 The selected BPD
can be further The time parameter defined by applying time
parameters defined is for the month and restrictions. These
restrictions of February 2009. are applied generically to all BPDs
The result will be sales in the Visual Document. revenue generated
by all customers during February 2009. Restrictions are applied as
follows: Normalization = Daily Gender = Male State = CA The result
will be daily sales revenue generated by all male customers in the
state of California during February 2009.
[1466] Shortcut Visual Document Creation Mechanism (Step 2
by-Passed)
TABLE-US-00023 Step Description Example 1 Select the appropriate
already executed Spatial heatmap of store Visual Document. layout
showing customer count per bay for the month of June 2009. 3 Modify
the restrictions/date applied to Change the period from the already
executed Visual Document. June 2009 to July 2009. The result will
be customer count per bay for the month of July 2009.
[1467] System Perspective
[1468] From a system perspective this process is slightly more
complex. The request is tracked through a series of state
transitions.
[1469] When a user requests a Visual Document (run or re-run), the
system creates a `request` in the request queue. These `requests`
are managed via a series of statuses. Each status and its
transition are shown below.
[1470] The following table outlines each state.
TABLE-US-00024 Action Transition A User Submits Request to create a
Visual [null] to Created. Document (this could be a future request
i.e. a scheduled request or an ad-hoc request). B User's request is
added to the `request queue` Created to Queued C The `listener`
passes the request to the Queued to `document controller` for
processing. Processing. D The `document controller` processes the
Processing to request and produces the visual document. Completed.
E The user decides to cancel the request. Queued to Cancelled; or
Processing to Cancelled.
[1471] To give the user a rough indication of progress, an action
within each state is hardcoded with a percentage value. This is
explained below:
TABLE-US-00025 Percentage State Action Value Created User submits a
request 0% Queued Request added to request queue 0% `Listener`
passes the request to the 0% `Document Controller` for processing
Processing `Data Collector` submits query to 10% data source `Data
Collector` receives the query 50% results and send them to the
`Rendering Engine` Rendering begins 95% Completed Visual Document
saved to Catalog 100%
[1472] This sequence is depicted below:
[1473] FIG. 32 shows a visual document creation process from a
system perspective.
[1474] *The `data collector` and `rendering engine` are components
of the `document controller`
[1475] Software Module
[1476] This section provides more detailed descriptions of the
modules that are in the described solution.
[1477] Rendering Engine
[1478] The user requests that a Visual Document is generated. The
rendering engine reads the appropriate metadata required to be
selected from the database and then renders the multi-layered
output using the defined Visual Document.
[1479] The user's request may be split into smaller requests by
using the herein described parallelism engine. The rendered Visual
Documents are then stored for later use.
[1480] Printing
[1481] Printing Visual Documents is considered a high priority;
therefore most Visual Documents will have a printable form. For
example, rendered Visual Documents may have PDFs generated. For
animations, this PDF may contain a sequence of thumbnails.
[1482] The problem of creating output so that users can apply the
output characteristics of different kinds of output devices, each
output having the same overall objective but containing different
content and information such that the output device characteristics
are best utilized to create an output. The characteristics that can
be applied may result in a reduction in cost of production,
improvement in production speed or reduction in the volume of media
required to store the output.
[1483] Output systems typically produce the output on various
devices, such as printers, screens of various resolutions with the
objective of showing the same image or the same information.
[1484] Outputs are human readable images, these outputs are created
from devices on different mediums including printers, inkjet
printers, laser printers, LCD screens, low resolution screens or 3D
printing devices. Outputs can be stored on physical media including
paper, high quality paper, scanned and stored in computer media or
stored in a digital format or in a web page. These different
mediums have quite different characteristics, as some mediums have
much higher resolution or handle different volume of color.
[1485] Existing output systems are focused on optimizing output on
one medium and then altering it for the second medium. These
existing systems are not designed to alter the content of the
output to be optimized for each device. Traditional approaches are
focused on adjusting the image by changing resolution or color
saturation, rather than making outputs designed specifically for
each kind of display device.
[1486] There are a number of known techniques for optimization of
printer output Crosby Wyman and Tegtmeier (2003) described a method
and apparatus for producing a dynamic content in either a static or
dynamic environment. This invention describes how the output for a
dynamic environment can be altered to be displayed on a static
environment.
[1487] When creating data images consideration of the output device
is of critical importance as the various devices have substantially
different characteristics. The existing systems typically create an
output for one device and enable the user to define the output for
a second, (often printer).
[1488] One embodiment of the invention uses the detection of the
kind of printhead and other characteristics of the printer to alter
the content by adjusting the formatting attributes of the visual
representation so that it is displayed in a different or optimized
way. This different or optimized way may have alterations to
characteristics such as consumables, print speed and cost of
printing.
[1489] In a further embodiment of the invention the characteristics
of the output are adjusted to minimize the production cost while
maintaining an acceptable quality of output.
[1490] In a further embodiment of the invention the characteristics
of the output are optimized such that there is a reduction in
bleeding in the ink. This embodiment may include optimization for
the various kinds of paper including plain paper or high quality
photo paper.
[1491] In a further embodiment of the invention the characteristics
of the output are optimized to address the issue of displaying more
information on less display real estate. In this embodiment the
increased density of display has two main benefits firstly it
reduces the cost/time of production as there is less output
required and secondly it decreases the time taken to understand the
information presented. The density of display may be adjusted based
on resolution of the output device.
[1492] In a further embodiment of the invention the characteristics
of the output are optimized to alter the legend to describe the
appropriate level of information. This appropriate level of
information is adjusted depending on the interactivity of the
output mechanism. For example on a printed medium more information
may be added to the legend to embellish the user's ability to
understand the depth of information displayed on the image.
[1493] In a further embodiment of the invention the characteristics
of the output are optimized to alter the output data tables to
include the appropriate level of information. This appropriate
level of information is adjusted depending on the interactivity of
the output mechanism. For example on a printed medium more
information may be added to the output data tables to enhance the
users ability to understand the depth of information displayed on
the image.
[1494] In a further embodiment of the invention the characteristics
of the output are optimized to alter the saturation, font, labels,
color selection or provide icon substitution that provide for an
appropriate or cost effective mechanism for display or end user
consumption of the displayed information. In this embodiment the
saturation is the intensity of the colors used labels are the
annotations on the image that are used to denote actual values and
icons are visual representations of the data in a small graphic
form. The font used is the typographic style of writing; this font
may be optimized for readability or ink usage.
[1495] In a further embodiment of the invention the characteristics
of the output are optimized such that the animations are altered to
be shown as a sequence of frames, each frame having alteration in
its actual display. The frames may be visually linked or
sequenced.
[1496] In a further embodiment the image may be smoothed in
different ways to create an appropriate level visual shift that
enables users to read and interpret the image.
[1497] In a further embodiment the image may have additional
supplementary information generated. For example, this could be
additional pages of printed material. This supplementary
information may include data tables or detailed legends. In the
gaming industry, the supplementary information may include, for
example the holidays or local special events occurring during a
period, the number of airline flights serving a casino's location,
and general economic factors affecting the primary market. Further,
the supplementary information may include the geographical location
of an individual, the spending habits of an individual or the
gaming habits of an individual.
[1498] In the retail industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the holidays or local special events occurring
during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may access
the entries, and general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1499] In the hospitality industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the consumer confidence index or local
special event factors, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the hotels, and other general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1500] In the financial industry, the supplementary information may
include, for example the consumer confidence index or local real
estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that may access the
branches, and other general economic factors affecting the primary
market.
[1501] In the entertainment industry, the supplementary information
may include, for example the holidays or local special events
occurring during a period, the traffic count for the roads that may
access the outlets, and general economic factors affecting the
primary market.
[1502] In the telecommunications industry, the supplementary
information may include, for example the consumer confidence index
or local real estate factors, the traffic count for the roads that
may access the retail outlet, wireless network, and other general
economic factors affecting the primary market.
[1503] In a further embodiment 3D images can be created, these
images have significantly different interaction capabilities,
mechanisms as described in the invention for manipulation of what
are classically called 2D images can be applied to the 3D image.
This 3D image production could include 3D printouts, this invention
is very relevant when considering 3D images as the volume and
density of data that can be displayed is typically significantly
higher than 2D outputs.
[1504] Thus it is desirable to create a system that uses the base
rules that build the output to construct a new output for each
device so that the output is consistent across multiple devices but
contains information that exploits the specific benefits of each
device. Traditionally a visual representation is just displayed or
printed according to user set parameters. Parameters are not
automatically optimized for the type of output device.
[1505] Referring now to FIG. 25A Metadata (2525-2540) is associated
with each element (2505-2520) making each of these elements
independent of one another. For example, a BPD (2520) may change
and its associated metadata (2535) will change. The rendering
processes (2545) use the metadata to optimize video display (2550)
and printed documents (2555).
[1506] Referring now to FIG. 25B User interface 25105 is used to
define the elements and request output (25110). Raw Data (25115) is
used to define Business Performance Drivers (25120). BPDs drive
Visual Designs (25125). Visual Designs make up Visual Documents
(25130). Each of these elements are independent objects and may be
used with multiple elements. This is depicted by the crow footed
lines indicating a many to many relationship between the
elements.
[1507] Independent metadata (25135-25150) is associated with each
element allowing the Rendering Processes (25160) to correct for
timeliness, versions (25165), optimize how the elements are used
and rendered (25170).
[1508] Rendering is optimized for the output media. For example
information regarding the video display is used to optimize content
and rendering for the particular display (25175); information
regarding the printer is used to optimize content and rendering for
that medium (25180).
[1509] Rendered output is used for Calls to Action (25185), which
may take the form of lists (25190) or various management decisions.
Management success or failure is assessed, and fed back (25195) to
the system in the form of adjustments to the elements.
[1510] The methods described in the previous section can be
implemented in one of many ways:
[1511] Each output generation process gathers specific information
relating to the output device, this could be over a TCP/IP network
or could involve communication with a metadata description of the
output device. The information gathered regarding the output device
may then be combined with secondary information that may also have
been stored in metadata. This secondary information is combined
with the specifics of how the image is generated to generate an
image specifically optimized for the output device.
[1512] An image that is being viewed by the user on a screen if the
user requests a printout of the image then the image is
re-calculated specifically taking into account the characteristics
of the printer being used. The characteristics that can be used in
the generation of the image include paper type, ink type, laser
scan rate, production quality requested by user size of paper,
resolution of printer. The re-rendering of the image also
considered specific attributes of the image including number of
colors, total data density, availability of summary tables of
information. The output may also produce supplementary information
relating to the printout such as separate pages of data tables or
separate pages with additional legend details.
[1513] An image overlay may be produced on a separate and
transparent printout page, this overlay information enables the
consumer of the printed material to overlay transparent
supplementary information that may be visual to further enhance and
explain the output.
[1514] It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a
method and system for output of images data that is repeatable,
computationally efficient, cost effective and maximizes the output
from each kind of output device.
[1515] While the present invention has been illustrated by the
description of the embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments
have been described in detail, it is not the intention of the
Applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended
claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will
readily appear to those skilled in the art.
[1516] Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not
limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and
method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly,
departures may be made from such details without departure from the
spirit or scope of the Applicant's general inventive concept.
[1517] Note that Visual Documents rendered as a bitmap for display
are at a much lower resolution than the same Visual Document
rendered for printing.
[1518] Parallelism Engine
[1519] FIG. 33 shows a parallelism engine.
[1520] A Visual Document request can be split into several smaller
requests. For example, a 100 frame animation can be split into 100
requests. This is managed by the Parallelism Engine and submitted
to the Request Queue.
[1521] Due to the nature of the environment, there are things that
are outside the application's control. For example, databases
timing out, database load and network traffic.
[1522] This assumes that the requests have not succeeded until
specific notification of success has been received.
[1523] The side issue to this is that a Visual Document request
must not modify anything in the Request Queue (or any other data
the request relies upon) that will affect the ability to restart
the request.
[1524] When a visual design has been prepared and is ready to be
rendered, it is usual for prior known systems to announce that the
visual design is ready for rendering. However, if there is a
failure in the announcement process then the rendering engine is
not made aware that the visual design is ready.
[1525] The system described herein includes a number of modules
that are arranged to provide one or more visual representations for
rendering within a visual document. An indicator module is used to
determine whether the visual representation is in a state that is
suitable for rendering, and when the indicator module has analyzed
the document's state to a point where it knows the document is
ready for rendering, an indication is provided within the visual
representation that indicates the document is ready.
[1526] The indication thus tags the document so as to highlight the
fact that the document is ready for rendering. Subsequently, a
reader module that is arranged to read the visual representations
is able to determine whether those visual representations include
the indication, and therefore is able to forward only those visual
representations that include the indication, i.e. are ready for
rendering, to a rendering module.
[1527] In this manner, the system is not going to be held up
waiting for announcements as no announcement stage is used. Rather,
the system provides a positive indication within the documents
itself and provides modules that push forward those documents that
include the indication. If the documents do not have an indication
they are not pushed forward to the rendering module by the reader
module. The only reason a document would not have an indication
attached is if the document is not ready for rendering. If for some
reason the document is lost between the reader module and the
rendering module, the reader module will easily forward the
document again next time it carries out a check on the documents
that have been rendered and are required.
[1528] The visual representations may be rendered to form one or
more visual documents. That is, any number of visual documents can
be created using one or more visual representations. Also, any
number of visual documents may be rendered for display on a visual
display.
[1529] In addition, or alternatively, the visual document or
documents may be rendered for printing. This rendering as explained
herein may be the same as, or different to that required for
display, or indeed storage.
[1530] The indication may be in the form of a flag that has been
inserted into the visual document. The indication may include the
time and/or date of processing the visual representation. Also, the
indication may include a node identification based on the node that
processed the visual representation. Further, the indication may
include an identification of the execution path by which the visual
representation was processed. The execution path may include
information based on a plurality of processes that were executed in
order to process the visual representation. All or some of the
identification types may be included.
[1531] FIG. 26 shows a flow diagram depicting the steps of
inserting an indication into a visual representation.
[1532] A visual representation 2600 is provided to an indicator
module 2605. The indicator module 2605 knows that the visual
representation is ready for rendering when it receives it, and so
flags that the visual representation is ready for rendering. An
indication 2610 is then inserted into the visual representation by
the indicator module 2605. A reader module 2615 analyzes the visual
representation to see if it includes an indication 2610, and when
it has determined this, it forwards the representation 2600 to the
rendering module 2620 which renders the visual document 2625.
[1533] Map Management Tool
[1534] Maps, such as store layouts, change over time. The described
solution will manage and manage the versions of these changes so
that a retrospective Visual Document will be shown using the
correct map. One approach could be to make the storage of historic
floor plans part of the data design, and, hold the history of
layouts in a relational database.
[1535] FIG. 34 shows a map management example.
[1536] If an animated Visual Document (for example Map 1) was
produced over time (T1 to T4) and the store layout was changed at
T2 and T3, then the layout would change during the animation (to
show the 3 different layouts).
[1537] Note that in Map 1, the items on the shelves are managed
through data (location id) so this is not part of map
management.
[1538] Management of a Sequence of Maps
[1539] A Visual Document can be reproduced on request at any time
in the future. Visual Documents comprise of the original map and
the original result set data.
[1540] For avoidance of doubt, the described solution will not be
storing the source (transactional) data to the query in the Visual
Document. The described solution may store portions of the summary
data used to generate the Visual Document--which is typically a
much smaller dataset than the source data. For example, a heatmap
of a retail store will have a number of data points equal to and
not exceeding the number of bays in the store.
[1541] In a retail store, the number of actual rows in the database
is to most retailers today, the number of actual lines on the point
of sale transaction list.
[1542] For example, retailer x sells 1,022 TVs, then there will be
less than or equal to 1,022 records in the database. We would
expect this to be close to 1022 as most transactions for TVs are
likely to be one TV per customer. In the query result set--for
analysis of the same TVs, there may be only 1 record for the
aggregate function for those 1,022 TVs sold. The Visual Document
would then only store 1 row situated with this location ID and
sales information.
[1543] Overlay on Non-Matching Map
[1544] In some scenarios it may be beneficial to overlay data from
the original period on the current map. That is, when providing
layers of data, confusion and errors in interpretation can occur
when a user views layers of data, where one of those layers is out
of date. For example, laying indicators on top of an out of date
map will not necessarily aid the user in interpreting the
indicators if the map data has changed sufficiently that there is
no longer any correlation between the data in the different
layers
[1545] The herein described system aims to solve or at least
alleviate this problem by adjusting the visual representation of a
first or second set of data formed in respective first and second
layer of a visual representation. The adjustment is based on the
correlation between the two sets of data.
[1546] In a visual representation various layers of data may be
arranged as discussed above. For example, a first and second layer
may be arranged to visually represent first and second sets of data
in a single visual document.
[1547] For example, the system includes an analysis module that is
arranged to analyze the first and second sets of data, in order to
determine whether one of those sets of data is older than the
other. If this is the case, the analysis module then determines
whether there is any correlation between the first and second sets
of data, or at least if the correlation is above a predefined
threshold stored within the system. If it is determined that there
is minimal correlation, or in other words, that the data has
sufficiently changed, then the visual representation is
adjusted.
[1548] The visual representation may be adjusted by reducing the
intensity of the set of data that is older. The reduction of
intensity may be provided by either visually fading the layer
associated with the set of data that is older or visually
intensifying the layer associated with set of data that is not
older. Either way the data set that is most up to date is enhanced
in the representation to draw the user's attention away from the
changed data. The level of intensity variation between the data
sets may be adjusted depending on the correlation value calculated
between the data sets. [1549] The system may determine difference
data between data within the first and second sets of data, and
adjust the visual representation to visually identify the
determined difference data. [1550] Further, the system may
determine whether data within the younger set of data includes new
information, and if so, adjust the visual representation to
accommodate the determined new information within. [1551] Also, the
system may determine whether data within the older set of data is
considered obsolete, and if so adjust the visual representation to
visually identify the obsolete data. Therefore, the user's
attention is made to the obsolete data so to ensure the user does
not take it into account when analyzing the representation. Various
different forms of visual identification may be used such as color,
highlights, animation etc.
[1552] FIG. 27A shows a flow diagram of the steps taken in the
above described embodiment. At step 2705 sets of data within the
visual representation are analyzed. At step 2710 the system
determines if one of the sets is older than the other set in the
visualization. It will be understood that the visualization may
represent multiple sets of data in a single representation. Upon
determining one set is older, at step 2715, the system determines
if the old and new sets of data correlate. If they do not
correlate, or at least correlate within a predefined threshold, the
visual representation is adjusted at step 2720 to cause the changed
data not to be taken into account by the end user.
[1553] FIG. 27B shows a visual example of two layers of data sets
(2730, 2760). The upper layer 2730 includes updated data that the
lower data does not include. This may impact on the user when
interpreting this data whether in conjunction with other data or on
its own.
[1554] The layers represent maps, where towns 2735, 2740 and 2745
are linked via roads on the map. In the newer version of the map
2730, a road 2750 is indicated whereas in the older version 2760 it
is not. Therefore, the system intensifies the newer version in
situations where the data being reviewed calls for an up tot date
map to be viewed. However, in situations where the user is looking
at additional data on the map, for example travel times between
towns, and that data is more relevant to the older map because the
data refers to travel times before the new road 2740 was built,
then the older map 2760 may be visually highlighted to help the
user understand the travel time data better.
[1555] Management of Map Sequences
[1556] This area is particularly important in the management of
retail space plans. The described solution can be used to, but will
not be limited to, producing the floor layout of a store or a
casino.
[1557] There are specific needs for the tool to understand the
validation of floor plan data. The following types of issues may
arise (requiring complex validation): [1558] Every bay needs a
unique number; [1559] Each product belongs to one or more bays;
[1560] Bay numbers must be unique; [1561] Warnings for inconsistent
bay heights; [1562] Bays have a `front`; and [1563] Bays cannot
overlap.
[1564] This tool is very deep and domain specific. For example, to
maintain a sequence of retail floor plans the tool needs to
understand retail floor plans, planograms and product placement
strategies.
[1565] It will be understood that it would also be possible to
integrate to a party tool to provide some of this
functionality.
[1566] OLAP Reporting
[1567] When users view visual representations in prior known
systems, if a linked system is changing the data associated with
the representation there is no clear indication provided on the
visualization that the data is being changed, or how it affects the
representation. This can therefore result in the user relying on
out of date or inaccurate data.
[1568] The system described herein enables changes to business
measures that are being represented in a visual representation to
be indicated where those changes are being effected via another
system or module.
[1569] The system uses a detection module to detect the change in
data associated with the business measures, and then indicates on
the visual representation, at a data point associated with the
changed data, that the change in data has been detected.
[1570] This then enables a user to see that another system is
updating, changing or correcting the data being used for a visual
representation and also to see how those changes affect the
representation.
[1571] The indication may be a change in the visual representation
at an actual data point, or more likely where large data sets are
being handled near the data point being changed. This may vary
depending on the granularity of the information being displayed,
the number of data points being changed and the area over which the
data point being changed are spread.
[1572] The indication may take the form of overlying additional
information onto the visual representation such that the additional
information provides a further visual representation indicating the
change in the data. For example, the further visual representation
may be a heatmap, or it may be a surface calculated from one of a
Kriging or interpolation algorithm.
[1573] The change in data may be detected due to data being added
to or subtracted from the data sets, or may be detected due to an
alteration of the data.
[1574] The indication may provide an indication of where the data
that has been changed is at least approximately located within the
visual representation. This may be particularly useful where the
representation shows a vast number of data points and so the actual
position of the changed data point is only required to be
approximate relative to the whole display.
[1575] The detection module may detect changes in the membership of
a list of the business measures, this list being altered by the
other system.
[1576] In one embodiment, the detection module may detect changes
in a first memory module which has shared control between the
visualization module, i.e. the system that creates the
visualizations, and the other module or system. Also, the detection
module may manage a common list of business measures that both the
visualization module and other module or system has access to in a
controlled manner.
[1577] According to another embodiment, the detection module may
detect changes in a memory module controlled by the visualization
module and another memory module controlled by the further module
or system. That is, separate memory modules are used to store
commonly used business measures. In this case, the memory modules
may be synchronized such that any changes made in one memory module
are also made in the other.
[1578] The further module or system may be a third party system,
such as a CRM system, business management systems, which includes
supply chain management systems and inventory management
systems.
[1579] One of the main principles is that the size or number of the
data points to be indicated are based on an area that is visible to
the human eye. Therefore individual data points that the user can
not see are not indicated on the representation, but a suitable
area is determined based on what a visually normal user would be
able to comprehend.
[1580] Also, the indication on the visual representation may be
identified by determining changes of the business measures over a
predefined period of time. That is, for example, only data that is
constantly changing, or that has changed a preset number of times
within a set time period may be indicated on the visual
representation.
[1581] Further, the data point may be indicated by identifying a
spatial area on the visual representation using a spatial index.
The nodes in the spatial index may be used as special
aggregations.
[1582] FIG. 28 shows an example graphical representation of how
changes in data can be represented on the graphical representation.
The visualizing system or module 2800 creates a visualization 2805,
which in this example is of a map of the USA 2810. The indication
is graphically represented by the area 2815. the indication may be
a flashing or twinkling area 2815 that draws the users attention to
that area. The area 2815 is flashing or twinkling to show changes
to data used to represent data points in those areas of the map.
Those changes are being made by a third party system 2820 due to
changes in the data 2825 being input to the system. As the
visualization module 2800 and third party system 2820 are linked
together via a detection module 2830, these changes can be visually
represented. It will be understood that the detection module 2830
may alternatively be a module that is separate from but in
communication with both the visualization module and the third
party system.
[1583] OLAP functionality will be provided to the users of the
described solution. This will be achieved via integration to an
existing OLAP tool.
[1584] It is desirable to have both applications (the solution
described and the 3rd party OLAP tool) twinkle in a simultaneous
way. Specifically this means as the user selects groups of items in
either the OLAP interface or the Visual document, the other tool
respects this change in selection.
[1585] OLAP tools are designed to source their data directly from
the database. It is therefore desirable that the interface to the
OLAP tool is built in such a way that this capability is
utilized.
[1586] There are a number of integration models for this. These are
outlined below:
[1587] Option 1: Programmatic Tight Integration
[1588] The described solution will talk to the data source and
provides the dataset to the OLAP tool. The user then uses this tool
for their analysis. This is a seamless integration from the user's
point of view. Specifically the OLAP tool will be tightly
integrated into the described solution.
[1589] Option 2: Interface Integration
[1590] OLAP requests are passed to the OLAP module. OLAP then talks
directly to the data source.
[1591] The database shown here represents the EDW not the cached
database or result sets.
[1592] One variation on this option is to provide a JDBC (Java
Database Connectivity) interface from the described solution to the
3.sup.rd party tools. One potentially easier option for
implementing this would be to provide only stored procedure calls
in the JDBC interface; all other queries are passed directly
through to the database. The described solution interface will then
send a stored procedure with a unique name (number) to the 3.sup.rd
party that asks for that set of data from the JDBC data.
[1593] Option 3: Above Tight Integration
[1594] This option makes the described solution dependant on the
OLAP tool (and OLAP metadata) to provide data from the data
source.
[1595] For example the described solution may be embedded inside a
BI tool, such as COGNOS.RTM., in which case, the described solution
may utilize the COGNOS.RTM. Message Queue, error reporting,
metadata and all aspects of the COGNOS.RTM. framework.
[1596] Option 4: Hybrid Approach (Option 1 and Option 2)
[1597] Option 4 is a combination of option 1 and option 2.
[1598] With this option 4, there is tightly integrated OLAP
technology described under option 1 and a loosely integrated
interface to a 3.sup.rd party tool such as COGNOS.RTM.--option 2.
At this stage, this is considered the most likely option.
[1599] If this option 4 were selected, it would be implemented in 2
phases:
[1600] Phase 1: OLAP Option 1--Programmatic Tight Integration
[1601] Phase 2: OLAP Option 2--Interface Integration.
[1602] Option 5: Shared Database Approach
[1603] In this option the only communication between the Visual
Document and the OLAP tool is through a shared database. If the
described solution requires the OLAP tool to display some specific
data then it would write this data to the database. The OLAP tool
would notice the changes and respond appropriately. There would be
no direct communication between applications.
[1604] Predictive Modeling System
[1605] FIG. 35 shows a predictive modeling system.
[1606] Predictive modeling systems have data piped (sent) to them
to produce new BPDs. These predictive modeling systems then become
part of the discovery process for finding new observations in the
data.
[1607] This is achieved by interfacing to another system (or
sub-system) that can return modeled data.
[1608] The described solution will have the capability of
specifying the confidence factor for each predicted data element.
The described solution could then use this information to enhance
and display the significance of the predicted results.
[1609] For example, a dataset of the number and type of customer
calls to a call center can be sent to a Back Propagated Neural
Network (modeling system). This system then uses this data to
perform the modeling and returns a dataset which the described
solution will use to render the defined Visual Document.
[1610] Visual Design Management System
[1611] System Integrators will have the ability to install, remove
and upgrade Visual Designs.
[1612] Visual Designs are modular. Specifically, a Visual Design
can be taken out and replaced without affecting the associated
BPDs.
[1613] FIG. 36 shows a visual design management system. Like Lego
blocks, visual designs are modular.
[1614] A System (installation) can have many Visual Designs. One
Visual Design can be used with multiple BPDs. Adding a Visual
Design does not require a BPD to exist. This means if BPDs are
deleted, the deletion will not affect any Visual Designs.
[1615] Whenever a user attempts to edit and/or re-run an existing
Visual Document, the described solution will ask the question--do
the required Visual Designs and BPDs exist to do this task? This
includes the appropriate versions of BPDs and Visual Designs. If
they do not exist the user is not allowed to edit or re-run the
Visual Document. In a well managed system, typically users with the
appropriate security will be able to edit and re-run Visual
Documents. In the same well managed system old Visual Documents
with retired BPDs or retired Visual Designs will not be available
for editing.
[1616] Incomplete BPDs--typically BPDs with definitions of how they
are displayed but not necessarily how the data for the BPD is
executed--can be added to the repository. These incomplete BPDs
should not be available for selection by an end user.
[1617] BPD Management and Data Access System
[1618] The BPD Management and Data Access System will manage BPDs.
This capability may be used to manage the version of Data Packages
and their component BPDs over time.
[1619] Data Packages (with Data)
[1620] Data Packages require the technical ability to define and
manage groups of BPDs. Data Packages with data can be sold with
subscription or service provision including an associated managed
dataset. For example, census data will be available as a Data
Package; this Data Package will enable the system users to interact
and use a slowly changing dataset called census. (Census data can
be updated after each census and is often modeled between each
census).
[1621] Versioning BPDs
[1622] The management of BPDs over time may be over engineering the
requirements. The timing of implementing this capability throughout
the agile software engineering and design process will need to be
addressed.
[1623] For example, an Operational Theme Park data package has a
number of BPDs such as number of customers and costs. Each BPD
Package is managed as a whole.
[1624] By managing the version on a BPD Package basis, the
described solution can test the integrity of the business rules
across one logical set of BPDs. For example, if the definition of a
day is altered in some way; the start of a business day is moved
from 5.30 a.m. to 6.00 a.m., all BPDs with a daily method will need
to be updated and validated.
[1625] FIG. 37 shows a BPD Management example.
[1626] In the above diagram, when a Visual Document is requested
for T1 in T3, BPD A v1 may be applied (assuming it hasn't changed
since T1 and is active) as this was the version for T1. V3 may also
be applied if v1 has been retired, or at the specific request of
the user. V2 may only be applied at the request of the user. In
other words, the described solution will default to the matching
version unless it is retired, in which case the current version is
used. In any case, the user can force a specific non-retired
version. If v2 is retired and v1 is still active, then essentially
v1 will take over the role of v2 as only the end date of a BPD is
managed.
[1627] If the Visual Document spans more than one BPD version then
the latest BPD version is used unless it is specifically
overridden.
[1628] BPDs can have different sets of breakpoints; this is
required because of the variation across a business.
[1629] For example: [1630] In retail, some stores produce 10.times.
the revenue of others. [1631] A store name could have a library of
scheduled Visual Documents defined, where a specific breakpoint set
is chosen for a visualized BPD.
[1632] BPDs within a BPD Package can change over time. There may be
various reasons such as corrections, legislative reasons and
breakpoint changes.
[1633] Some BPDs may have start dates. For example, a BPD is
created for the introduction of GST (but can only be applied when
this legislation takes effect).
[1634] For animations, the particular BPD version used is evaluated
for each frame.
[1635] Output Management System
[1636] FIG. 38 shows an output management system.
[1637] Catalog
[1638] A catalog is used to store permanent and temporary objects
that are required for use and/or retrieval at a later date. These
objects include: [1639] BPD definitions [1640] Customer Schema
definitions [1641] Visual Designs [1642] Visual Documents
[1643] There are different types of catalogs such as files and
database tables. These types are transparent to the system and its
users. The number of catalogs and the catalog type used for each
object is configured by the integrator according to their clients'
needs. The integrator will specify the object being stored, the
type of catalog it uses and the location of the catalog.
[1644] Items in a catalog are identified by a unique ID. This ID is
assigned when adding something to a catalog which doesn't already
have an ID. The ID is not designed to be easily readable and will
potentially be quiet long (possibly up to 15 characters).
[1645] Nothing can be put into the catalog without getting an ID.
Nothing can be retrieved from a catalog without giving an ID. Once
retrieved, the details of the catalog (data described above) for a
given object may be cached. This mitigates any performance
degradation on subsequent requests.
[1646] One example is shown as follows:
TABLE-US-00026 Store Object Type Details BPD Definition File
\\server\folder\subfolder Client Schema Database
server.database.username.password
[1647] This configuration is stored separately in a file whose
location will be specified by an `environment variable`, or in a
"default" location.
[1648] Catalogs can reference (utilize) other catalogs. For
example, a BPD may reference the client schema and a Visual Design
which are stored in other Catalogs.
[1649] The diagram below depicts the process involved in the user
requesting to view the Visual Document List from a catalog. The
user will then select the Visual Document that they wish to
view.
[1650] FIG. 39 shows an example of retrieving a Visual Document
list from a catalog. Once retrieved, the details of the catalog
(data described above) for a given object may be cached. This
mitigates any performance degradation on subsequent requests.
[1651] The catalog itself will contain details about the object.
For example, a visual document will have the following properties:
[1652] ID [1653] Name [1654] Description [1655] Type [1656]
Referenced components of a visual document*
[1657] *These are referenced objects within a visual document e.g.
images that belong to the Visual Document. Note: these referenced
components have individual ids as they need to be retrievable
individually. There are also non referenced objects e.g. individual
rows of a dataset which can only be accessed by loading the entire
dataset.
[1658] The number of attributes stored for an object will increase
over time. For example, Rendered Visual Documents (or imported
Visual Documents) will store date and time. This date and time may
include: [1659] Date & Time the Visual Document was created;
[1660] Date & Time the Visual Document was last modified;
[1661] Date & Time the Visual Document was last rendered;
[1662] The Date & Time the data in the Visual Document starts;
and [1663] The Date & Time the data in the Visual Document
ends.
[1664] Visual Document List
[1665] Operations:
[1666] The Visual Documents in the Catalog are displayed to a user
by way of a Visual Document List that can then be grouped, sorted
or searched. The Visual Documents can also be deleted. It should be
noted that only users with the correct security access should be
able to see certain Visual Documents.
[1667] The diagram below depicts the process involved in the user
requesting to view the Visual Document List from a catalog. The
user will then select the Visual Document that they wish to
view.
[1668] Views:
[1669] Thumbnail images of the Visual Document are produced to help
the user select the correct Visual Document.
[1670] Once selected, the user can then: [1671] 1. View the
original Visual Document and, depending on the configuration,
re-render the Visual Document. [1672] 2. Truncate by date (bulk
delete). For example, delete all Visual Documents between Jan. 1,
2001 and Feb. 1, 2001.
[1673] Metadata Management
[1674] This module is very similar to the BPD management
(versioning) concept. For example, if the metadata relating to the
configuration of bands on a particular heatmap are changed at T2,
then when the Visual Document from T1 is requested, the
configuration (or metadata) that was relevant at the time should be
used in the presented Visual Document.
[1675] This implies that the Visual Document may contain multiple
versions of the metadata used in the rendering.
[1676] FIG. 40 shows a metadata management system.
[1677] Security
[1678] Extended Single Sign-on Application Pattern
[1679] The system server cluster may exist in a separated
environment where different servers serve different functions. This
high degree of separation between functions will constrain the
options available for security. This separated architecture results
in a need to have an `external security server` that will serve as
a security proxy, which intercepts a request in order to
map/transform user's credentials into the appropriate credential
format acceptable to application servers. To support this part of
the system design, the Runtime pattern for heterogeneous servers
may be used with external authentication and authorization servers,
as presented below.
[1680] Interfaces
[1681] The application servers may communicate via HTTP with SOAP
using the web services technology. This HTTP communication will be
secured using SSL, shown in the diagram as HTTPS.
[1682] Secure Connection Between Nodes
[1683] The following secure communications have been identified:
[1684] HTTPS is the secure HTTP connection using SSL. Nodes which
communicate via TCP/IP use HTTP with secure SSL communication.
[1685] LDAPS is the secure LDAP connection to a directory server
using SSL. LDAP directories store essential and sensitive
applications and business information. [1686] IIOP/SSL (IIOPS) is
the secure communication for IIOP connections using SSL. The two
application servers communicate mainly via IIOP. For example, the
EJB client and EJB container. [1687] SSL is a transport layer
security protocol which can be applied to most of the protocols in
use within the described solution. Other connections without named
protocols can also use SSL to secure the communication. [1688]
Other communication channels between nodes can be secured on a
transport layer, for example using IPSEC. [1689] Source
IBM.sup.xxi
[1690] Configuration Management Tools
[1691] The configuration management tools are a key part of the
application.
[1692] FIG. 41 shows configuration management components.
[1693] Configuration management may be implemented in two layers.
The first layer is an application programming layer; in which a
scriptable interface is exposed. Using this scriptable interface, a
second layer of web-based configuration management tools can be
implemented.
[1694] FIG. 42 shows configuration management layers.
[1695] There are 3 areas of configuration management: [1696] 1.
BPD: The business performance drivers have a Create, Read, Update
and Delete (CRUD) interface. [1697] 2. Visual Designs: CRUD
Interface, in addition there are specific requirements such as add
layer, configure layer and delete layer. [1698] 3. Visual
Documents: Visual documents can be amended to change the drilldown
capabilities and metadata. As drilldowns are completed the result
sets may be stored along with the visual document. This area of
configuration management is less important than the first two.
[1699] User Functions
[1700] This section sets out the user functions in terms of what
users will see and how they will interact with what they see.
[1701] Use Cases
[1702] User functions are described as use cases. The high-level
use case model is outlined in this section with a brief description
for each individual use case.
[1703] Use cases will be elaborated at a later stage into detailed
use case descriptions based on priority (which align to the
sprints) and product roadmap.
[1704] FIG. 43 shows a use case model.
[1705] Actor Descriptions
TABLE-US-00027 Actors Description User The day-to-day user of the
described solution. Application Builder This user has the ability
to define BPDs. Scheduler The scheduler is responsible for queuing
and processing Visual Documents. External System An external system
that receives lists from the described solution and may also
produce data lists or Visual Designs to be imported into the
described solution. Site Administrator The site administrator has
the ability to maintain users and monitors error logs that are
generated. External ACL The external access control list specifies
who is allowed to access the described solution.
[1706] High Level Use Case Descriptions
TABLE-US-00028 UC # Use Case Description UC001 Login The user
enters their login details and submits them to the system for
authentication. UC002 Authenticate User An external system e.g.
Active Directory - validates the user's credentials and associates
the user to a role. Note: The described solution may optionally
implement a user group and security system, or it may integrate
with one or more third party tools. UC003 Maintain Users A user can
be added and removed from roles. Roles can be created and removed.
Privileges can be assigned to roles Data access rights can be
assigned to roles. UC004 Define BPDs Allows the Application Builder
to create/define, edit and retire Business Performance Drivers
(BPDs). Note: BPDs may be defined by start and end dates (past and
future). Retired BPDs may impact the Visual Document, therefore
retired BPDs need to be recognized and the Visual Document
identified as such. UC005 Define Visual A user can select BPDs and
the Visual Document Design for the Visual Document. Restrictions
can be applied (if any) e.g. Turnover received in California
between Dec. 1, 2007 and Dec. 2, 2007. Visual Documents can be
created as: Visual only; Drill down; Re-runnable; Re-useable. UC006
Request Visual The user can request that a Visual Document Document
is generated for a particular Visual Design type. The request is
passed via the Request Queue (for scheduling) to the document
controller for generation. The rendering engine reads the
appropriate metadata from the database and then renders the multi
layered output using the defined Visual Document. UC007 Query
status of A user can query the status of Visual Visual Document
Documents they have requested. UC008 Explore Visual Dependent on
the type of Visual Document Document created, the user can select
points of interest, zoom in and/or drill down into the data
relating to the Visual Document. UC009 Print Visual A user can
choose to print the Visual Document Document produced. Most Visual
Documents will have a printable form. For example, rendered Visual
Documents may have PDFs generated. For animations, this PDF may
contain a sequence of thumbnails. UC010 Save Visual Visual
Documents will be saved in the Document Visual Document catalog
with unique identifiers, e.g. name of document; date of document;
user identifier; brief summary of document content; and key words
as determined by user. The Visual Document will be kept for a
preconfigured period of time. The user may also choose to save the
document outside of the Visual Document catalog. UC011 Define
Visual The Visual Document List is a list of all Document List
Visual Documents created and stored in the Visual Document Catalog.
The Visual Documents will be able to be grouped within the catalog
based on user requirements. UC012 Schedule Visual A user may choose
to schedule (by date and Document time) a previously created visual
document to be produced on a regular basis. The scheduler runs the
visual document as previously defined. Error logs are kept and
alerts generated (if configured). UC013 View Visual A user can view
a Visual Document that was Document produced via a scheduled
request, one-off request, or a re-run document. The Visual
Documents are kept for a preconfigured period of time. UC014 View
Scheduled A user can view a list of scheduled requests Requests
within the scheduler relevant to the user's role and security
access. UC015 View Historic A user can view a list of historic
requests Requests produced relevant to the user's role and security
access. UC016 Delete Scheduled A user can delete scheduled requests
within Request the scheduler relevant to the user's role and
security access. UC017 Send Visual A user can send and convert
(e.g. user may Document choose to send viewable version only) the
rendered document to another party, e.g. email or URL. UC018
Retrieve List An external system (e.g. CRM) retrieves the list
created by a user. The described solution provides the 3.sup.rd
party system the instructions on how to retrieve the list. UC019
View Visual A user may view the Visual Document List. Document List
The Visual Document List will contain thumbnails of the visual
documents contained within to enable easy identification of a
Visual Document. Users will be able to view the original Visual
Document, and any re-rendered Visual Documents. UC020 Search &
Select A user can search and select from the from Visual catalog
using the Visual Document List, e.g. Document List by run date;
name of document or user. UC021 Re-run Visual A user can choose to
re-run a Visual Document Document as data and/or BPDs may have
changed over time. The original Visual Document created will be
available to the user for viewing. UC022 Truncate Visual A site
administrator can truncate visual Document documents from the
Visual Document Catalog using the Visual Document List dependent on
the user's role and security access. These can be done individually
or in bulk. Documents can be selected for truncation by date range
e.g. 1 Sep. 2003 to 1 Sep. 2004. UC023 Import Visual A user may
import some external Visual Document Documents into the described
solution. Visual documents will be generated in the described
solution, and they will also be generated from other systems and
imported into the described solution. UC024 Create List A user may
create a list of data from a Visual Document that will be saved in
the Lists Storage. The user can select a set or subset of the data
from the visualization (e.g. customer type, region and product).
This list can then be retrieved by a third party system. Note: The
described solution may instruct an external system to read the
list. The described solution may not be responsible for ensuring a
successful write operation to external systems. UC025 Import
Feedback A user can import (via upload or some other List method
TBD) data into the described solution. The user can view the
original list, the feedback list and then create a second Visual
Document to view the results. UC026 Manage Maps As maps (such as
store layouts) change over time, these changes may be managed
through a version control process so that a retrospective Visual
Document may be shown using the correct map. UC027 Log Error
Typically, within the application, each server will be responsible
for its own logging. A separate process (central log reader) will
be used to consolidate these logs dynamically as and when required.
UC028 View Error Log A user will monitor the error log to ensure
system performance is maintained. UC029 View A user will view the
system configuration Configuration settings. Each installation will
have Settings configurable items for each: Visualization e.g.
colors, scaling etc; System wide configuration e.g. currency,
language; Custom configuration e.g. time definitions (e.g. Wal-Mart
week). UC030 View Online Help The User will be able to view an
`Online Help` module relevant to the construction and storage of
Visual Documents. UC031 Queue Visual The Scheduler will queue all
Visual Documents Documents requested by a user. UC032 Assign User
to A user can be assigned to more than one role Multiple Roles e.g.
a user may have the ability to `view only` or the ability to `view
and delete`. UC033 Overlay Visual A user will have the ability to
overlay any Documents two runs of a visualization containing the
same visual types. UC034 Cancel Visual The scheduler will cancel at
a Users request Document any Visual Document requests that are
Requests currently in progress. UC035 Process Visual The Scheduler
will process all Visual Documents Document Requests made by a
user.
[1707] System Benchmarks
[1708] Background
[1709] This section describes features of the system that are not
directly observed by end users.
[1710] Physical Servers (Availability, Robustness)
TABLE-US-00029 Code Event System Response SU01 Hardware failure in
a The system will typically continue to single replicated server.
operate. Performance will degrade in a predictable manner;
typically critical features continue to perform with a reasonable
outage if required. SU02 Intermittent network The system continues
after network failure retry. SU03 Additional server is Performance
increases accordingly, added to the cluster minor outages may be
required. SU04 Extended Power The system utilizes UPS notifications
Failure of impending power failure and does a controlled
shutdown.
[1711] Logical Servers (Services) (Performance, Availability,
Robustness)
TABLE-US-00030 Code Event System Response SU05 Processes can be
Typically, the system will started and stopped. automatically
restart the process if stopped. Generally, users should not notice,
except that long running tasks may take more time, if the process
is fault tolerant. The system must maintain its integrity, but
processing may have to be repeated. SU06 Software upgrade and
Often, this will require a brief outage. system backups can be
Backups should be able to be run completed. while the system is
processing. SU07 If the data warehouse Sensible fail down and retry
algorithms does not respond to a are employed. Full database
select, update or insert transaction processing with rollback is
command, data integrity applied to maintain transaction is
maintained. integrity. Proper alerts and log entries are
produced.
[1712] Server Clusters and Parallelism
TABLE-US-00031 Code Event System Response SU08 System performance
This will only apply when the increases (approaching a system is
configured to linear function) when minimize contention. additional
hardware nodes in a cluster are added. SU09 Theoretical and actual
Publish combinations of actual performance constraints tested
performance results. are documented. SU10 System supports parallel
Clustering for homogeneous and/or processing for both round robin
for heterogeneous homogeneous and techniques may be employed for
heterogeneous databases. parallel database access. SU10a System
supports throttling Not applicable. of queries to database
engines.
[1713] Animation
TABLE-US-00032 Code Event System Response sun Animations within
Visual Not applicable. Documents may be used to depict historical
periods (or other appropriate X parameter) and/or real time data.
SU13 Visual documents are Preferences and templates may be saved
user adjustable by type, for later use. Changing the parameters
color, widgets, symbols, of the document will typically require and
icons. the Visual Document to be re-rendered. SU14 Default Visual
Designs These defaults are typically are provided by the
cartographically sensible. (This is not system based on the a
system requirement but the system selected or staged data. must be
able to capture this data.)
[1714] Real-Time Visual Documents
TABLE-US-00033 Code Event System Response SU16 Real-time Visual
Adjustments may be saved as Document can include preferences and/or
templates. cosmetic adjustments to embellishment layers. SU17
Visual documents are User is informed of the data's updated through
real-time freshness (e.g., "data depicted updates. These updates
was last updated . . .") occur within seconds of the data becoming
available to the system. SU18 Software should provide a This format
should attempt to utilize 'best guess' based default sensible
display options based on the format for the data being conclusions
the system makes presented. regarding the structure of the data.
SU19 Data displayed accurately Metadata definitions of data depicts
the source data. acquisition are displayed for users.
[1715] Metadata Schematic
TABLE-US-00034 Code Event System Response SU21 Metadata may be
viewed This means that there is a special using the Visual visual
design type that can be used Documents. to navigate the metadata.
It is not part of the typical visual document. SU22 Metadata views
are Not applicable. available and their parameters drawn from in
order to construct new Visual Documents. SU23 Metadata entries are
Not applicable. versioned to track data elements whose
characteristics change over time.
[1716] Performance Indicator Schematic
TABLE-US-00035 Code Event System Response SU24 The system allows
Definitions are checked for validity and complex BPDs to be
potential errors displayed to the user for defined and stored based
correction. on available data.
[1717] Time Selection
TABLE-US-00036 Code Event System Response SU25 Time parameters used
by Not applicable. the system may be relative to a standard time
and date. SU26 All dates and times must Examples of popular period
include be capable of localization, DST adjustments, day of week,
and popular period end of month, end of quarter, calculations. last
Friday.
[1718] Selection for Action
TABLE-US-00037 Code Event System Response SU27 Textual
representation of Interacting with the Visual Document selected
data records allows the user to make selections for comprising the
Visual further analysis. When the action option Document may be is
selected, various output textual exported. formats are possible,
for example csv, psv or tab separated.
[1719] Selection Feedback
TABLE-US-00038 Code Event System Response SU29 User may perform
`what This may require that the user re-run the if` analyzes on the
Visual Visual Document with different Document by changing
parameters. actual parameters and viewing the graphical result.
[1720] Static Visual Documents
TABLE-US-00039 Code Event System Response SU30 Have all of the
attributes System should support a logical way to of real time
documents store archived static reports. User except that they
represent should be able to see aspects of the a snapshot of a
moment BPD versions utilized in the archived in time.
documents.
[1721] Visual Documents
TABLE-US-00040 Code Event System Response SU31 Caching routines
Actions include data retrieval and significantly (approaching
Visual Document components. a multiplicative function) increase
performance for frequently used actions. SU32 Performances for
caching Not applicable. routines do not degrade over size of the
cache. SU33 Caching routines always Not applicable. provide a valid
version of the item requested.
[1722] Metadata
TABLE-US-00041 Code Event System Response SU31b Caching routines
Actions include data retrieval and significantly (approaching
Visual Document components. a multiplicative function) increase
performance for frequently used actions. SU32b Performances for
caching Not applicable. routines do not degrade over size of the
cache. SU33b Caching routines always Not applicable. provide the
latest version of the item requested.
[1723] Database Result Sets
TABLE-US-00042 Code Event System Response SU31c Caching routines
Actions include data retrieval and significantly (approaching
Visual Document components. a multiplicative function) increase
performance for frequently used actions. SU32c Performance for
caching Not applicable. routines do not degrade over size of the
cache. SU33c Caching routines always Not applicable. provide the
latest version of the item requested. SU33c1 Should consider the
age In others the data can change of the cache as the system
without the application being does not have control over notified.
the data in the source system.
[1724] Impacts of Contour Heatmaps
TABLE-US-00043 Code Event System Response SU34 Contour heat maps
use User may adjust the color scheme/fill color gradations and
patterns and depicted parameters (e.g., symbols for both actual
change vs. % change). continuous and non- Changes to parameters may
require the continuous data. user to re submit the Visual Document
for re-rendering. Source: Nasdaq Heat Maps.sup.xxii
[1725] PI History
TABLE-US-00044 Code Event System Response SU35 A complete history
of The system provides a logical way to active and inactive BPDs
organize the BPD history, and may be recalled including indicates
the version of the data all components used in elements used to
create it. construction, date created, last date used.
[1726] Visual Document Import
TABLE-US-00045 Code Event System Response SU36 Visual Documents
from Imported documents may be enhanced other sources are by the
system and stored in the imported. described solution format. Data
may also be imported.
[1727] Error Logging
TABLE-US-00046 Code Event System Response SU38 All significant
system Not applicable. actions are logged, allowing a user to
filter and sort by local and relative date/time, type, and general
text search on the description.
[1728] Scheduling
TABLE-US-00047 Code Event System Response SU39 Batch processes may
be System provides a logical way to scheduled. manage scheduling.
Schedule runs may be restarted if interrupted.
[1729] System Documentation
TABLE-US-00048 Code Event System Response SU42 Documentation
includes: Documentation is frequently Context sensitive help tested
against actual operation. On-line reference manual Documentation
includes data Functional oriented manuals. visualization theory
(e.g., which Administration documents work best in particular Data
Specialist situations). Document creator As much as possible
Various single task documentation should be guides produced from
source code (provided to integrators). End user documentation may
be the responsibility of the system integrator.
APPENDIX 1--GLOSSARY
[1730] The following terms are used throughout this document:
TABLE-US-00049 Term Definition Agile Development Agile software
development is a conceptual framework for software engineering that
promotes development iterations throughout the life-cycle of the
project. There are many agile development methods; most minimize
risk by developing software in short amounts of time. Software
developed during one unit of time is referred to as an iteration,
which may last from one to four weeks. Each iteration is an entire
software project: including planning, requirements analysis,
design, coding, testing, and documentation. An iteration may not
add enough functionality to warrant releasing the product to market
but the goal is to have an available release (without bugs) at the
end of each iteration. At the end of each iteration, the team
re-evaluates project priorities. Wikipedia.sup.xxiii BPD Packages A
BPD Package is made up from a set of related BPDs. This
relationship (between a BPD Package and its BPDs) is defined using
metadata. BPD Packages can be thought of as the Visual Document's
vocabulary. Catalog The described catalog is used to store
permanent and temporary objects that are necessary for creation and
storage of Visual Documents. These may include Visual Designs,
BPDs, Configuration tools and other objects. There may be multiple
catalogs of different types (such as - database, flat file) which
are configured by an integrator - dependent on customer
requirements. All items in a catalog are identified by a unique ID
and can only be accessed by those with the correct authorization.
Data Packages Data Packages contain data that can be sold with
subscription or service provision including an associated managed
dataset. For example, census data will be available as a Data
Package; this Data Package will enable the described solution users
to interact and use a slowly changing dataset called census.
(Census data can be updated after each census and is often modeled
between each census). Dimension Dimensional modeling always uses
the concepts of facts (sometimes referred to as measures) and
dimensions. Facts are typically (but not always) numeric values
that can be aggregated, and dimensions are groups of hierarchies
and descriptors that define the facts. For example, sales amount is
a fact; timestamp, product, register#, store#, etc. are elements of
dimensions. Wikipedia.sup.xxiv Dimensional DM is a logical design
technique that seeks to present the Modeling data in a standard,
intuitive framework that allows for high-performance access. It is
inherently dimensional, and it adheres to a discipline that uses
the relational model with some important restrictions. Every
dimensional model is composed of one table with a multipart key,
called the fact (sometimes referred to as measures) table, and a
set of smaller tables called dimension tables. Each dimension table
has a single-part primary key that corresponds exactly to one of
the components of the multipart key in the fact table. Intelligent
Enterprise.sup.xxv Enterprise Java In a typical J2EE application,
Enterprise JavaBeans Beans (EJBs) (EJBs) contain the application's
business logic and live business data. Although it is possible to
use standard Java objects to contain your business logic and
business data, using EJBs addresses many of the issues you would
find by using simple Java objects, such as scalability, lifecycle
management, and state management. Wikipedia.sup.xxvi Fact
Dimensional modeling always uses the concepts of facts (sometimes
referred to as measures) and dimensions. Facts are typically (but
not always) numeric values that can be aggregated, and dimensions
are groups of hierarchies and descriptors that define the facts.
For example, sales amount is a fact; timestamp, product, register#,
store#, etc. are elements of dimensions. Wikipedia.sup.xxvii IIOP
(Internet IIOP (Internet Inter-ORB Protocol) is a protocol that
Inter-ORB makes it possible for distributed programs written in
Protocol) different programming languages to communicate over the
Internet. SearchCIO - Midmarket.sup.xxviii KML Keyhole Markup
Language. Google .TM. Earth is a geographic browser - a powerful
tool for viewing, creating and sharing interactive files containing
highly visual location-specific information. These files are called
KMLs (for Keyhole Markup Language): what HTML is to regular
Internet browsers, KML is to geographic browsers. You can open KML
files in both Google .TM. Earth and Google .TM. Maps, as well as in
many other geographic browsers. Google .TM. Maps.sup.xxix MDT The
average time that a system is non-operational. This includes all
time associated with repair, corrective and preventive maintenance;
self imposed downtime, and any logistics or administrative delays.
The difference between MDT and MTTR (mean time to repair) is that
MDT includes any and all delays involved; MTTR looks solely at
repair time. Wikipedia.sup.xxx Metadata Metadata describes how data
is queried, filtered, analyzed, and displayed in the described
solution. In general terms, metadata is data about data. For
example, in a library the metadata (pertaining to the catalog of
books) could be - the title of the book, the author(s), categories
(e.g. reference, fiction, non-fiction etc), physical location. This
metadata can be used in searches, directories etc to help users
locate books. MTBF Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the mean
(average) time between failures of a system, and is often
attributed to the `useful life` of the device i.e. not including
`infant mortality` or `end of life`. Calculations of MTBF assume
that a system is `renewed`, i.e. fixed, after each failure, and
then returned to service immediately after failure. The average
time between failing and being returned to service is termed mean
down time (MDT) or mean time to repair (MTTR). MTBF = (downtime -
uptime)/number of failures. Wikipedia.sup.xxxi MTTR Mean Time to
Recovery - the average time that a device will take to recover from
a non-terminal failure. Examples of such devices range from
self-resetting fuses (where the MTTR would be very short, probably
seconds), up to whole systems which have to be replaced. The MTTR
would usually be part of a maintenance contract, where the user
would pay more for a system whose MTTR was 24 hours, than for one
of, say, 7 days. This does not mean the supplier is guaranteeing to
have the system up and running again within 24 hours (or 7 days) of
being notified of the failure. It does mean the average repair time
will tend towards 24 hours (or 7 days). A more useful maintenance
contract measure is the maximum time to recovery which can be
easily measured and the supplier held accountable.
Wikipedia.sup.xxxii OLAP On Line Analytical Processing. OLAP
performs multidimensional analysis of business data and provides
the capability for complex calculations, trend analysis, and
sophisticated data modeling. OLAP enables end-users to perform ad
hoc analysis of data in multiple dimensions, thereby providing the
insight and understanding the need for better decision making.
Paris .TM. Technologies.sup.xxxiii Planogram A planogram is a
diagram of fixtures and products that illustrates how and where
retail products should be displayed, usually on a store shelf in
order to increase customer purchases. They may also be referred to
as planograms, plan-o-grams, schematics (archaic) or POGs. A
planogram is often received before a product reaches a store, and
is useful when a retailer wants multiple store displays to have the
same look and feel. Often a consumer packaged goods manufacturer
will release a new suggested planogram with their new product, to
show how it relates to existing products in said category.
Planograms are used nowadays in all kind of retail areas. A
planogram defines which product is placed in which area of a
shelving unit and with which quantity. The rules and theories for
the creation of a planogram are set under the term of
merchandising. Wikipedia.sup.xxxiv Request Queue The Request Queue
manages Visual Documents requests generated by a user or the
scheduler. As requests are processed, the Visual Document maintains
various statuses until the Visual Document is complete and
available to be viewed by a user. SaaS Software as a Service. A
software application delivery model where a software vendor
develops a web-native software application and hosts and operates
(either independently or through a third-party) the application for
use by its customers over the Internet. Customers do not pay for
owning the software itself but rather for using it.
Wikipedia.sup.xxxv Scrum Scrum is an agile process that can be used
to manage and control software development. With Scrum, projects
progress via a series of iterations called sprints. These
iterations could be as short as 1 week or as long as 1 month. Scrum
is ideally suited for projects with rapidly changing or highly
emergent requirements. The work to be done on a Scrum project is
listed in the Product Backlog, which is a list of all desired
changes to the product. At the start of each sprint a Sprint
Planning Meeting is held during which the Product Owner prioritizes
the Product Backlog and the Scrum Team selects the tasks they can
complete during the coming Sprint. These tasks are then moved from
the Product Backlog to the Sprint Backlog. Each day during the
sprint a brief daily meeting is held called the Daily Scrum, which
helps the team stay on track. At the end of each sprint the team
demonstrates the completed functionality at a Sprint Review
Meeting. Self Organizing A type of artificial neural network that
is trained using Maps (SOM) unsupervised learning to produce a
low-dimensional (typically two dimensional), representation of the
input space of the training samples, called a map. The map seeks to
preserve the topological properties of the input space.
Wikipedia.sup.xxxvi Servlets Servlets are modules of Java code that
run in a server application (hence the name "Servlets", similar to
"Applets" on the client side) to answer client requests. Servlets
are not tied to a specific client-server protocol but they are most
commonly used with HTTP and the word "Servlet" is often used in the
meaning of "HTTP Servlet". Servlets make use of the Java standard
extension classes. Since Servlets are written in the highly
portable Java language and follow a standard framework, they
provide a means to create sophisticated server extensions in a
server and operating system independent way. Typical uses for HTTP
Servlets include: 1. Processing and/or storing data submitted by an
HTML form. 2. Providing dynamic content, e.g. returning the results
of a database query to the client. 3. Managing state information on
top of the stateless HTTP, e.g. for an online shopping cart system
which manages shopping carts for many concurrent customers and maps
every request to the right customer. Servlet Essentials.sup.xxxvii
Subject Matter The Subject Matter Expert is that individual who
exhibits Expert (SME) the highest level of expertise in performing
a specialized job, task, or skill within the organization. Six
Sigma.sup.xxxviii WebSphere WebSphere is an IBM .TM. brand of
products that implement and extend Sun's JavaTwoEnterpriseEdition
(J2EE) platform. The Java-based application and transaction
infrastructure delivers high-volume transaction processing for
e-business and provides enhanced capabilities for transaction
management, as well as security, performance, availability,
connectivity, and scalability. IBM .TM. WebSphere Product
Pages.sup.xxxix
Further Embodiments
[1731] It will be understood that the embodiments of the present
invention described herein are by way of example only, and that
various changes and modifications may be made without departing
from the scope of invention.
[1732] Traditionally, the gaming industry has employed slot
machines loaded with a fixed set of preloaded games. It was left to
the customer to locate an available machine offering the game he or
she preferred to play at that moment in time. Downloadable games
allow a customer to play a variety of games on any available slot
machine platform. Additionally downloadable games may provide the
capability for the gaming floor to be remotely configured.
Information that identifies players, either collectively as groups
or individually as an individual, can be collected from systems,
player clubs or credit card information, or indirectly via
recognition software. This identification can be used to alter the
characteristics of the gaming devices or the characteristics of any
of the other aspects of the facility including lighting, music,
oxygen level, mist production or human elements such as service
providers or entertainment. This alteration of the characteristics
could either be controlled directly by the customer or by the
operator. It is possible to store game preferences (game type, and
preferences for each game type) on players either with their direct
entry or indirectly via entry or behavioral monitoring.
[1733] In the case of the Hospitality Industry, traditionally
in-room technology has been employed to perform the automation of
bill review and settlement, for example using the television.
Modern hotel television systems allow a customer to perform many
other functions, including watching movies on demand, playing video
games, ordering room service, among others. Additionally these
television systems may provide the capability to offer
advertisements for additional services along with their
fulfillment. These offers may be personalized based on the customer
profile and current activities. For instance, a customer that
purchased spa services during their last visit can receive a
promotional offer for a spa visit during their current visit.
[1734] Traditionally, the financial industry has employed automated
teller machines (ATMs) to perform automation of routine payment,
deposit and withdrawal transactions. Modern ATMs allow a customer
to perform many other functions, including setting preferences for
quick cash withdrawal amounts, the default account to apply
transactions, among others. Additionally these ATMs may provide the
capability to offer advertisements for additional services along
with their fulfillment. These offers may be personalized based on
the customer profile and current activities.
[1735] For the telecommunications industry, traditionally the
industry has employed a wireless telephone network that allows
customers to communicate from many locations. Modern networks can,
especially in urban areas, determine a precise location of the
wireless telephone when operating. These telephones and networks
may provide the capability to offer exact location based
advertisements for additional services along with their
fulfillment. These offers may be personalized based on the customer
profile and current activities. For instance, as a customer passes
a retail outlet, they may receive a text message describing special
offers, and, after viewing the product, the customer may simply
press a key in order for the product to be delivered either at the
store or shipped to the address on file. Charges for the purchase
may be placed on the wireless phone bill or through other
means.
[1736] The value of marketing data already collected by the various
entities within the previously discussed industries (Retail,
Gaming, Hospitality, Financial, Entertainment and
Telecommunications) may be enhanced. This enhancement may be an
actual increase in revenue or a reduction in the recession rate in
the relevant business, or an improvement in the quality of service
provided. The cross and up selling opportunities may be made
available at the appropriate moments including when the customer
has "money in hand" or when analytical methods indicate an
opportunity exists.
[1737] Sophisticated data visualization techniques as herein
described may allow the various entities in each of the industries
to make sense of this plethora of data and provide their associated
operators the ability to improve their outlook by for example
increasing revenue or reducing costs.
[1738] With regards to the gaming industry, E-Tables are electronic
versions of traditional table games, and include complete
conversion of traditional games to hybrid electronic and
traditional games. While retaining the social aspects (player and
sometimes dealer interactions), E-Tables bring advantages compared
to traditional table games. Many of these advantages have existed
for electronic slot machines. These advantages may include; more
precise player ratings, removal of dealer errors, reduction in chip
handling, the provision of complex bonus schemes, and the offer of
game variations and downloads (changed) upon request. As E-Tables
grow in popularity, additional data and more opportunities to act
upon the data will become available to the casino. They will also
increase the options available to change the characteristics of the
gaming offering. The techniques described herein can assist in the
data visualization.
[1739] With regards to the Hospitality industry, on-line
reservations systems, kiosks selling tickets to special events, and
automated check-out processes are all examples of electronic
versions of traditional front desk clerks and concierges. While
retaining the security of a personal transaction, these automated
functions provide many advantages. These advantages may include;
more precise customer preference information, removal of clerical
errors, reduction in cash handling, the provision of complex
marketing incentives, and the offer of service variations and
downloaded (changed) services upon request. As more traditional
hotel transactions are automated, additional data and more
opportunities to act upon the data will become available to the
hotel. They will also increase the options available to change the
characteristics of the financial offering. The techniques described
herein can assist in and be assisted by the data visualization.
[1740] With regards to the financial industry, virtual banks and
banking kiosks are electronic versions of traditional tellers, loan
officers and ATMs. While retaining the security of a personal
transaction, virtual banks and banking kiosks compared to brick and
mortar financial institutions. These advantages may include; more
precise customer preference information, removal of teller errors,
reduction in cash handling, the provision of complex marketing
incentives, and the offer of service variations and downloaded
(changed) services upon request. As virtual banks and banking
kiosks grow in popularity, additional data and more opportunities
to act upon the data will become available to the financial
institution. They will also increase the options available to
change the characteristics of the financial offering. The
techniques described herein can assist in and be assisted by the
data visualization.
[1741] With regards to the Telecommunications industry, modern
wireless devices are virtual retail catalogs, providing the
consumer the ability to look at live product-based buying
opportunities using the consumer's location (spatial) and the time.
While retaining the security of a personal transaction, wireless
devices, normally carried everywhere by a consumer, become a
virtual personal shopper. The location and transaction information
provide advantages that may include, for example, more precise
customer preference information, reduction in the number of call
centre errors, reduction in the number of dropped calls, the
provision of complex marketing incentives, and the offer of service
variations and downloaded (charged) services upon request. As
wireless device based shopping grows in either popularity or
capacity, additional data and more opportunities to act upon the
data will become available to the telecommunications company. They
will also increase the options available to change the
characteristics of the service offering. The techniques described
herein can assist in and be assisted by the data visualization.
[1742] Casinos offer a wide variety of goods and services to their
customers. This includes ambiance, gaming opportunities,
entertainment, lodging, health and beauty enhancement, foods and
beverages, clothing, jewelry, sundries, business services, and
convention services. Each individual item for sale has unique
storage and delivery characteristics, appeals to varying market
segments, and profit making potential. Casinos often collect a
great deal of information regarding a customer's purchases through
room charges, point of sale terminals, and the loyalty programs.
Data visualization techniques as herein described assist in
extracting the value given the diversity, quantity and quality of
the data.
[1743] Further, hotels offer a wide variety of goods and services
to their customers. These include food and beverages, special
events, use of spa facilities, gifts, concierge services, movie and
business products and services, among others. Each individual item
for sale appeals to varying market segments, and profit making
potential. Hotels often collect a great deal of information
regarding a customer's purchases through credit card transaction,
room charges, and room reservations. Data visualization techniques
as herein described assist in extracting the value given the
diversity, quantity and quality of the data.
[1744] Also, financial institutions offer a wide variety of goods
and services to their customers. This includes a variety of savings
and credit products, along with services such as investments, wire
transfers, and bill paying among others. Each individual item for
sale has unique eligibility and regulatory characteristics, appeals
to varying market segments, and profit making potential. Financial
institutions often collect a great deal of information regarding a
customer's purchases through credit card transaction, mortgages,
and lines of credit. Data visualization techniques as herein
described assist in extracting the value given the diversity,
quantity and quality of the data.
[1745] Further, telecommunications companies offer a wide variety
of goods and services to their customers. This includes a variety
of voice and data products, along with shopping and payment
services, driving directions, web access, and entertainment
products such as games, music and video among others. Each
individual item for sale has unique eligibility and regulatory
characteristics, appeals to varying market segments, and profit
making potential. Telecommunications companies often collect a
great deal of information regarding a customer's purchases through
network usage analysis or online purchases. Data visualization
techniques as herein described assist in extracting the value given
the diversity, quantity and quality of the data.
[1746] It is well known that the location of assets (such as
buildings, offices and branches for example) and products
significantly affects profitability. Using data visualization
techniques as herein described to monitor the myriad of data
collected from these assets makes analysis in the context of the
physical layout and optimal placement of these assets possible.
Assets for inclusion in the analysis for the various industries
discussed herein may include, for example: [1747] Departments
[1748] Services [1749] Vending machines [1750] Cashiers or Tellers
[1751] Slots [1752] Tables/E-Tables [1753] Kiosks/ATMs [1754]
Retail Outlets [1755] Cages [1756] Signage [1757] Location of
retail outlets [1758] Location of food and beverage outlets [1759]
Location of spa facilities [1760] Location of meeting rooms [1761]
New Accounts and Loan Application Desks [1762] Wireless Coverage
Areas [1763] Demand for Data Throughput in an Area
[1764] It is well known that price discrimination (based on market,
time, availability, etc.) increases revenue.
[1765] In the gaming industry, yield management has been
successfully utilized within the hotel department. Given the
quantity and timeliness of the sales data available, as well as the
ability to quickly adjust prices for other casino assets, data
visualization as herein described has the potential to assist in
employee full scale yield management, as well as assisting in other
areas including the gaming floor, food services or a holistic view
of the whole of the gaming business.
[1766] In the retail industry, yield management has been
successfully utilized. Given the quantity and timeliness of the
sales data available, as well as the ability to quickly adjust
prices, data visualization as herein described has the potential to
assist in employee full scale yield management, as well as
assisting in other areas including the retail floor, food services
or a holistic view of the whole of the retail business.
[1767] In the Hospitality Industry, price discrimination, in terms
of forecasting the demand for hotel room in an area, has been
successfully utilized. Given the quantity and timeliness of the
sales and locale data available, as well as the ability to quickly
adjust prices, data visualization as herein described has the
potential to assist in employees fully understanding a profile of
the consumer, as well as assisting in other areas including a
holistic view of the whole of the current hospitality
environment.
[1768] In the financial services industry, price discrimination, in
terms of risk for example, and has been successfully utilized.
Given the quantity and timeliness of the sales data available, as
well as the ability to quickly adjust prices, data visualization as
herein described has the potential to assist in employee fully
understanding a profile of an applicant, as well as assisting in
other areas including a holistic view of the whole of the current
financial environment.
[1769] In the entertainment industry, price discrimination and
merchandizing has been successfully utilized. Given the quantity
and timeliness of the sales data available, as well as the ability
to quickly adjust prices, data visualization as herein described
has the potential to assist in employee full scale yield
management, as well as assisting in other areas including a
holistic view of the whole of the entertainment business.
[1770] In the Telecommunications industry, price discrimination, in
terms of business, and consumer market segments usage of talk time
and data volumes for example, has been successfully utilized. Given
the quantity and timeliness of the sales data available, as well as
the ability to quickly adjust prices, data visualization as herein
described has the potential to assist in employees fully
understanding a profile of an applicant, as well as assisting in
other areas including a holistic view of the whole of the product
utilization.
[1771] Temporal and spatial dimensions add important contextual
elements to marketing analysis in the various industries discussed
herein. Data visualization as herein described assists in making
these relationships apparent and therefore actionable. Data
visualization may also reduce the time taken to understand the
temporal and spatial data, this reduction in time has a number of
benefits including reduced training costs and improved
profitability.
[1772] Wireless Ethernet is not practical and secure; many assets
in the various industries discussed herein (e.g., gaming machines,
information kiosks, automated delivery carts, portable cash
registers, cash handling equipment, coin sorters and counters, bill
sorters and counters, smart shopping carts, mobile cashier
stations, self service cashier stations, smart shopping lists) are
currently or are becoming independent IP devices. That is, a
communications system enables assets to communicate with a central
control system or with each other using an Internet Protocol packet
switched network. Therefore, these assets are mobile. Given that
proper asset placement has proven to increase revenues, it is
anticipated that frequent and possibly automated movement of these
assets will become accepted. The data analysis as herein described
is a key enabler providing the ability to monitor and change the
characteristics of the physical setting. The control of the
automated movement is a key component of risk reduction, injury to
third parties and of collision with other mobile or stationary
devices.
[1773] Further, location of telecommunications hardware, for
example switches, cell sites, or routers, makes a
telecommunications network very dynamic. In many cases services can
be offered to a specific area by a variety of different means. This
creates a dynamic environment where configuration changes alone can
be used to optimize service levels.
[1774] In this dynamic environment it is possible for visual
analytics to be linked to the actual network control. These
controls result in specific optimization of both the service levels
and the optimization of product offerings.
[1775] Robotic devices are currently being used in large service
organizations such as hospitals to perform a variety of tasks.
Large casinos, retail outlets, entertainment outlets, room service,
housekeeping supply delivery, food item stock picking, financial
services check, payment and money counting facilities also present
several opportunities for robotic use. For example, large
telecommunications operations may use robots to pull stock, fulfill
mobile device orders for other items or to physically reconfigure
the mobile network in response to demand. Data visualization may be
used to identify potential areas of use and the optimization of
robot technology. This application of potentially self aware and
interactive devices includes a range of devices from fully
automated human like robots to mobile devices which appear purely
mechanical. Monitoring of self aware and mobile devices provides
operators with the ability to oversee, manage and potentially
control the robotic devices. Data visualization of the mobile
device provides the ability to allocate the characteristics of this
potentially highly configurable resource. Data visualization also
provides the ability to analyze the historic characteristics and
determine if the configuration yields any insights, insights
including specific configurations that may be optimal for the yield
or profit requirements. There is a huge range of potential for data
visualization as herein described including, for example, direct
customer interaction, automated cleaning facilities, mobility
assistance, automated check-in, check-out, and food order
applications, loan and new account kiosks, automated cash and check
processing, automated stock picking facilities, automated order
fulfillment etc.
[1776] The industries discussed herein generate a great deal of
specialized data (e.g., theoretical win, market basket product
associations, associations related to the products or services mix
purchased by customers, associations related to the financial
product mix purchased by customers), the special characteristics of
which must be taken into account when generating data
visualizations as herein described and acting upon the information
gleaned from them.
[1777] Personalized location tracking provides additional inputs
for merchandizing assets of the various industries discussed herein
in terms of optimizing placement. Further, document, transaction
and material tracking provide additional inputs in terms of
optimizing processing and operational efficiency. Complex data
visualization and modeling techniques as herein described assist in
making use of the available data to optimize this activity.
[1778] Intelligent data collectors, such as video and audio mining,
provide additional inputs for merchandizing assets of the various
industries discussed herein in terms of optimizing placement.
Complex data visualization and modeling techniques as herein
described assist in making use of the available data to optimize
this activity.
[1779] It is known that adjusting the ambiance, including the
factors listed below, can increase revenue and loyalty. Using data
from intelligent and other data collectors, data visualization
techniques as herein described may assist in dynamically adjusting
these factors for optimal performance. The results of the changes
may be analyzed in real time.
[1780] Factors [1781] Temperature [1782] Lighting [1783] Sound
[1784] Aesthetics [1785] Music [1786] Aromas [1787]
Entertainment
[1788] An upcoming trend in the gaming industry is gaming on mobile
or fixed electronic devices within the walls of the casino. For
instance, electronic poker games may be played not at a traditional
table, but at kiosks or terminals placed in hotel rooms, cafes, or
other locations within the casino.
[1789] An upcoming trend in the hospitality Industry is virtual
kiosks. For instance, transactions will not be completed by a human
teller, but at kiosks or internet terminals placed in hotels or in
homes.
[1790] An upcoming trend in the financial services industry is
virtual banking and banking kiosks. For instance, transaction will
not be completed by a human teller, but at kiosks or internet
terminals placed in banking outlets or in homes.
[1791] An upcoming trend in the telecommunications industry is
virtual product offers and fulfillment based on location. For
instance, transaction will not be completed by a human cashier, but
directly through the wireless device.
[1792] Determining the optimal location of these various terminals,
services offered, games offered, marketing strategies, etc. will be
based on a myriad of data collected as a part of doing business.
Data visualization techniques as herein described will assist in
its cognition.
[1793] This extends, for example, community gaming, hospitality
services, banking services and all wireless merchandizing services
to include any participant with access to a global or specialized
network
[1794] FIG. 44 shows an example of how the herein described system
may be incorporated within a gaming environment. The gaming
environment consists of a number of gaming machines 4401 and
electronic tables 4403 (among other electronic gaming devices) that
are adapted to communicate electronically with other systems using
any suitable protocols, such as data packet protocols.
[1795] The gaming environment further includes a number of
electronic cashier devices 4405 and ATMs 4407 which are in
communication via a Wide Area Network 4409 with one or more
financial databases 4411.
[1796] Data from the gaming machines 4401 and electronic tables
4403 are transferred to a reward program database 4413 and customer
database 4415. It will be understood that these two databases may
be combined into a single database.
[1797] Data from the cashier devices are also transferred to the
reward program database 4413 and customer database 4415. The
databases 4413 and 4415 are in communication with a central hotel
management system 4417 that oversees the operation of the gaming
environment, including the activities of customers in other areas
of a casino, such as shops, hotels, spas etc.
[1798] The system 4419 described herein is in communication with
the reward program database 4413, customer database 4415 and
central hotel management system 4417 so the system can retrieve all
necessary data about the activities within the gaming environment.
The various embodiments as described herein are employed by the
system 4419 to provide an output 4421.
[1799] It will be understood that any reference to displaying a
visual representation on a screen equally applies to storing that
representation or printing the representation onto any suitable
medium. As explained above, the data used to display, store or
print may be adjusted by the system according to the purpose of the
data.
[1800] Further, it will be understood that any references in this
document to any modules, engines or associated processing,
analysis, determination, or other steps, may be implemented in any
form. For example, the modules or engines may be implemented, and
the associated steps may be carried out, using hardware, firmware
or software.
* * * * *
References