Ph.D. Thesis Title: Abstract Information Visualization in Interactive 3D Virtual Environments: Conceptualization and Usability Evaluation

Ph.D. Thesis Abstract: Abstract information refers to information that a user can’t directly obtain just by visualizing the spatial information of objects in a 3D virtual environment (3DVE). Many interactive visualization techniques have been created to augment 3DVEs with abstract information. Developers of interactive 3DVEs who want to augment their 3D models with abstract information have to determine which visualization technique has the highest level of usability for their needs according to different tasks and user contexts. Therefore, a usability evaluation toolkit is needed to help them compare the usability of different information visualization techniques according to specific design needs and contexts.

The first part of this thesis reviews the state of the art on interactive 3DVEs development, abstract information visualization techniques and the evaluation of interactive 3DVEs. The layout space of abstract infor-mation visualization techniques, according to a preliminary comparison, is proposed. Taxonomies related to abstract information visualization are analyzed. Specific evaluation considerations related to navigation problems, evaluation metrics and methods and design guidelines for the development of interactive 3DVEs are presented.

Then, in the second part, this thesis presents a conceptual model, reusable toolkit and usability evaluation methodology for comparing the usability of different abstract information visualization techniques. The conceptual model is composed of five elements: reference 3D scene, type of abstract information, user and target object contexts, type of tasks and type of abstract information visualization technique. We characterize the design space of any abstract information visualization techniques in interactive 3DVEs by using five layout dimensions: space, shape, location, interaction and scale. In order to control the navigation skill variable, the design of a constrained navigation approach for teleporting the user from one user context to another is proposed.

Finally, the third part of this thesis presents case studies for validating the proposed conceptual model, the toolkit and the usability evaluation methodology by performing usability testing experiments and analyzing their results. A first experiment has been designed to evaluate and validate the constrained navigation approach for controlling the navigation skill variable of the users. The experimental results provide clear evidence that the sense of presence, which is a user satisfaction factor in interactive 3DVEs, is not significantly affected by the constrained navigation approach during the usability testing session. A second experiment has been designed to validate the conceptual model, the reusable toolkit and the usability testing methodology. This was done trough evaluating and comparing the usability of two techniques for displaying virtual panels. The conceptual model, the reusable toolkit and the usability evaluation methodology have been validated by the experimental results.

The contributions of this thesis are a reusable conceptual model, toolkit and usability evaluation methodology for measuring and comparing the usability of abstract information visualization techniques in interactive 3DVEs.

Keywords: Human Computer Interaction, Interactive 3D Virtual Environment, Abstract Information Visualization, Usability Evaluation Methodology, Presence

Full reference: BAZARGAN HARANDI, Kaveh (2011). Abstract Information Visualization in Interactive 3D Virtual Environments: Conceptualization and Usability Evaluation. Thèse de doctorat: Université de Genève, 2011, no. SES 747, Edition SES - Université de Genève, ISBN 978-2-88903-005-7. [PDF]