Information Visualization Project:

In next weeks, we will work on a series of visualization tasks, based on a Web-based urban trajectory visualization system. Each task will be given about 1-3 weeks for you to complete. You will show and discuss your implementation results in class with other members.



System Introduction:

Taxi trajectory data records real‐time moving paths sampled as a series of positions associated with vehicle attributes over urban road networks. This data contains abundant knowledge about a city and its citizens. Exploratory visual analytics systems are demanded to study taxi trajectories with efficient user interaction and instant visual feedback.
In this project, each student will implement a few visualizations on a visual analytic system for taxi trajectory data. The system would help users conduct visual analytics tasks through interactive visualization in an iterative, exploratory process. A startup web based prototype can be found HERE. Students are encouraged to start from this prototype. This prototype includes the following function:

  • Read taxi trajectory data (in GeoJSON format) and index it by using R-Tree.
  • A Basic map view (Using Leaflet Map api).
  • Query the data by simply drawing a bounding shape on the map.
  • A callback function to retrieve the data from the area that corresponds to the query region.
  • A callback function to draw taxi trips on the map.
  • A callback function to clear the map.

Presentation: Each student will present your task implementation on class with workable interactive system. You should talk about your functions and implementations in detail. Each student will also need to submit a description to demonstrate the functions and visualizations for each task.

Evaluation: We will evaluate the quality of your implementation and efforts for each task. Great system will typically require a significant amount of original work (coding, designing). We expect some of the code will be new, some heavily‐modified, some from libraries on the web. The visualization design, interaction, and your workload are considered for grading.


Visualization Tasks:

Task1: Interactive Scatter Plot. Details about this task can be found HERE.

Introduction to D3

D3 (or D3.js) is a JavaScript library for visualizing data using web standards. D3 helps you bring data to life using SVG, Canvas and HTML. D3 combines powerful visualization and interaction techniques with a data-driven approach to DOM manipulation, giving you the full capabilities of modern browsers and the freedom to design the right visual interface for your data.

The introductory talk on D3.js for information visualization class can be found HERE and the code can be found HERE.


How to Upload Your Homework/Project to the Server?

The Department of Computer Science has two servers that can be used by the students who’s enrolled in any class in this department. The names of theses servers are:

  • wasp.cs.kent.edu
  • hornet.cs.kent.edu

The URL for your homepage on the Department Servers is:

http://web.cs.kent.edu/~ your Flashline username

A Tutorial on how to publish your project to your website's web server using FileZilla FTP can be found HERE.


Useful Resources