SpicyNodes
In concept mapping and information visualization, SpicyNodes is a method for displaying hierarchical data in which a focus node displays rich information, and the surrounding nodes display related information (Focus + Context).
Main idea
SpicyNodes displays a central node (which can be any size), orbited by a set of related (child) nodes. Each of those child nodes can be linked to other child nodes. As the user navigates through a sea of nodes, a root path can trace the path back to the home node. In a typical implementation, only the child and parent nodes are displayed, so while the user browses, nodes appear and disappear, and the layout rearranges to fit, so that at any time, only related nodes are displayed. It has been used for virtual exhibits, to display dynamic poetry,[1], and can also be run as a form of slide show where each node corresponds to a slide.[2]
Advantages & disadvantages
The key advantage of SpicyNodes is that it's a visual way to display linked information that allows a user to browse from node to node. Radial layouts are effective for browsing and for descending into a tree to find specific information, since the number of nodes increases exponentially with the number of orbits, a user can find a piece of information in only N clicks/taps, while navigating a space of XN nodes, where X=average nodes per orbit.
Research by the project team shows that it is particularly effective for users who tend to learn kinesthetically and remember visually.[3] Research by others is investigating whether interactive mapping is useful for evaluating projects,[4] as well as conducting usability research on this system to research the role of evaluating learning styles as part of usability testing of visualization projects.[5]
The key disadvantages are: (a) Nodes require physical space, so typical implementation requires an average of 2-10 linked/child nodes per node. Too few, and the layout becomes a string of pearls. Too many, and the nodes can not fit. (b) Node layouts are inefficient for reading contiguous pieces of content in a linear manner.
Implementations
- Early proof-of-concept as a genealogical browser of the Greek Gods. Released March 2006 in the WebExhibits online museum.[6]
- Used as part of a mashup in a Master's Degree thesis that dealt with browsing ideas, in 2007.[7]
- Virtual exhibit navigation, for three online exhibits (e.g., Daylight Saving Time, Calendars, Poetry forms) released in 2008 in the WebExhibits online museum.[8][9]
- A web-based service, for the public to author, available as a Software as a service. This service was hosted at a like-named domain name, and had both free and paid versions. Built on Adobe Flash. It was developed by IDEA.org, and launched in 2009. This web-based service had over 50,000 members as of May 2011, who have authored and created nodemaps based on their own content. It has an open API.[10] Received a "Best Website for Teaching and Learning" award in 2011 from American Association of School Librarians (AASL),[11] and voted #edchat's 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools in 2010.[12] It has been used for presentations in professional conferences and meetings.[13] There are third party guides,[14] reviews regarding general usage,[15] and instructional design.[16] This is the most well-known implementation of SpicyNodes.[17]
- The first multitouch implementation of SpicyNodes was as part of the WikiNodes multitouch Wikipedia browser for the Apple iPad, and launched in April 2011.[18].
Related, but different implementations
For authoring, there are related mind mapping and concept mapping products, such as FreeMind[19]. Typically these do not allow the end user to change focus from node to node. For display, there is analogous software for moving node to node, including Visual Thesaurus from ThinkMap, TuneGlue, Lexipedia, and Prefuse Flare, and the Discovr apps. (The Discovr app, which also uses radial layouts, with a different layout algorithm which is primarily force-based.)
Algorithm
The basic layout algorithms involve radial trees layouts, which are modified using force-based algorithms, and an overall oval bias to account for the fact that text is usually wider than it is high. The algorithms are published and open for use by any projects. It shares the approach of hyperbolic trees of reducing the size and distance between nodes which are far from the focus node.
Interactive layouts based on interconnected nodes, with radial tree format and additional optimizations, such as force-based repulsion between nodes so they do not overlap. The layout is adaptive, changing as the user clicks from node to node, which avoids cluttering. Each node can contain formatted text, images, videos, links to other nodes, or links to web pages. There is a "focus" node, and users change focus from node to node.
The algorithm was developed by Michael Douma and colleagues at IDEA.org, starting in 2005. The basis of the layout change algorithm is based on the work of Yee and his associates,[20] and the underlying mechanics has been further described in papers and talks at conferences on Information visualization[3], on Museums and the Web[21], and on distance education.[22]
The visualization also has coverage in secondary sources.[23]
See also
- Radial tree - the general type of layout algorithm
- IDEA.org - the organization that researched and developed the method.
References
- ^ 'Spicy Poetry' in 'OCLC Reveals its Strategy for Library Automation', Smart Libraries Newsletter, American Library Association, Volume XXIX: Number 6 / June 2009. July 13, 2009.
- ^ Sally Garza, Lawrence School,"'Creative Presentation Tools" Presentation. (August 2010).
- ^ a b Douma, Michael, Greg Ligierko, Ovidiu Ancuta, P. Gritsai, and S. Liu. SpicyNodes: Radial Layout Authoring for the General Public. InfoVis 2009. Atlantic City, NJ. October 2009. Presentation.
- ^ R Harris and A Muirhead. Inspire Research, "Some of the tools we use for evaluation support" (July 2009).
- ^ Ji Soo Yi. "Implications of Individual Differences on Evaluating Information Visualization Techniques". BELIV ’10 Atlanta, GA, USA. http://www.beliv.org/papers/beliv2010/Position%20Papers/20-ind_diff2_SooYi.pdf
- ^ Web site: http://www.webexhibits.org/greekgods/ ; a blog mention: 'A Big Fat Greek Tree' at www.4Kids.org at The University of Kansas. http://www.4kids.org/backissues/2010/4kidsHTML08-22-10/ ; Also used a teaching resource in 'Mythology' taught by Mr. Russell Rice, M.Ed., NBCT, Steilacoom H.S., WA http://mrrice.pbworks.com/w/page/10963312/Mythology
- ^ Michael Felix. "Trellis: a blog-based approach to the development, organization, and visualization of ideas." Masters Thesis. Advisors: Arnold, Chris; Smith, Bret; Lu, Tsai Liu URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10415/932 Date: 2007-08-15
- ^ 'WebExhibits Presents Daylight Savings Time Nodes' 27-Oct-2008. Neat Rox. http://neatgemstones.blogspot.com/2008/10/webexhibits-presents-daylight-savings.html ; Calendar nodes listed in Cornerstones of Science A National Science Literacy Initiative, Brunswick, Maine http://cornerstonesofscience.org/websites-children.aspx
- ^ See usage in virtual exhibits: http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/nodes.html , http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/nodes.html & http://www.webexhibits.org/poetry/nodes.html )
- ^ Spicynodes API at ProgrammableWeb http://www.programmableweb.com/api/spicynodes
- ^ AASL. June 2011. Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25.cfm
- ^ edudemic.com, "The 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By You" (August July 2010).
- ^ Lyda Ellis, Andrea Falcone, "Techie Tools for Non-techie Types." Colorado Academic Library Summit 2010. Shelly Paul, "A Few New Tricks for Old Dogs"
- ^ Tutorial from vivideinformatica, March 2010 (in Spanish); MEDT 6467 Spring 2011. Taught by Dr. Elizabeth Kirby Bennett. SpicyNodes tech tip instruction sheet: http://opc6467spring2011.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/6467_Tech%20Tip%20Spicynodes_spf.pdf
- ^ Scot Gardner, "Spicy Nodes A Way To Visualize Online Information!" (October 2009).
- ^ Examples of blog coverage in education-related blogs: Dianne Rees. "Spicynodes: mindmapping plus" (August 2010). Edna Sackson, "Spicynodes, a powerful mind-mapping tool" (August 2010). Lauren Kane, "SpicyNodes- an online mindmapping tool" (August 2010). Jil Wright, "Spicynodes for Mind Mapping / Course Mapping" (June 2010). Ms. H, a high school language arts teacher in Sheboygan County, "Nodes and Birds" (June 2010). Edutechnophobia Concept Maps and Timelines" (November 2009). Antonio Delgado Pérez, MA Ed, "Genera nodos de pensamiento con SpicyNodes" (In Spanish, August 2010). Kristen Swanson, "Spicy Nodes: My NEW Favorite Presentation Tool" (October 2009). John Goldsmith, "SPICYNODES: Free, Web Based Mind, Map Service" (October 2009).
- ^ See WordPress blogs tagged with 'SpicyNodes': http://en.wordpress.com/tag/spicynodes/
- ^ Grundman, B. 'WikiNodes Brings A New Perspective To Knowledge' http://www.148apps.com/news/wikinodes-brings-perspective-knowledge/
- ^ http://www.freemindparlexemple.fr/2010/08/spicynodes-dynamisez-vos-cartes.html
- ^ Yee, K.-P, D. Fisher, R. Dhamija, & M. Hearst. “Animated Exploration of Dynamic Graphs with Radial Layout”. Proc. Information Visualization, 43-50, 2001.
- ^ Douma, Michael, et al., Concept Maps for On-line Exhibits: Using SpicyNodes. In J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds). Museums and the Web 2010: Proceedings. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics. Published March 31, 2010. http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/douma/douma.html">http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/douma . Web.
- ^ Douma, Michael and Joe Romano. Creating Online Mind Maps and Concept Maps. 25th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning. Madison, WI. 4-7 Aug 2009. Presentation.
- ^ Mamykina, Miller, Grevet, Medynskiy, Terry, Mynatt, and Davidson. 'Examining the impact of collaborative tagging on sensemaking in nutrition management ' Proceedings of the CHI '11 Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference on Human factors in computing system.; Mary Ellen Quinn, "Web Site of the Week: webexhibits.org/daylightsaving" (October 2009).
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