Human-computer interaction based on semantic focus+context for information visualization

Big data has become another revolutionary technology following the booming of cloud computing and internet of things. Information visualization is regarded as an essential approach and powerful tool for users to get insight from big data. However, great challenges still exist in information visualization and smart interaction in small interfaces according to cognitive law. This paper proposes a semantic Focus+Context interaction technology for information visualization in user interface. Firstly, a semantic distance model and a semantic Degree-Of-Interest (DOI) model towards information space and visual representation space are presented. And based on the models, semantic context related to a focus is defined. Secondly, the paper proposes a semantic Focus+Context based user interface model, defining both abstract and entity elements as well as the mappings in this kind of user interface. Finally, the proposed technology is applied to semantic theme clustering for exploration of large scale file systems. Application examples show that the proposed technology can effectively support large scale information visualization in small interface and intelligent interaction for semantic exploration of complex data.