Collection Collection UnderstandingUnderstanding

Michelle Chang, John J. Leggett, Richard Furuta, Andruid Kerne

Texas A&M University

J. Patrick Williams, Samuel A. Burns, Randolph G. Bias

University of Texas at Austin

Introduction

• Large collection of digital artifacts• Actual contents difficult to perceive• Image retrieval methods are

insufficient

Collection Understanding

• Understand the essence of the collection by focusing on the artifacts

• Comprehensive view• Not locating specific artifacts

Collection Understanding (CU) vs. Information Retrieval (IR)

• Find specific artifacts• Prior knowledge of metadata• Define queries

Related Work

• Collages• Photo Browsers• Image Browsers• Ambient Displays

Collage

• combinFormation• Collaborage• Notification Collage• Aesthetic Information Collages• Video Collage

Photo Browsers

• Calendar Browser• Hierarchical Browser• FotoFile• PhotoFinder• PhotoMesa

Image Browsers

• Zoomable Image Browser• Strip-Browser• Flamenco Image Browser

Ambient Displays

• Dangling String• Tangible Bits• Informative Art

Problems with Querying by Metadata

• Currently the most used method• Two levels: collection, artifact• Creator/maintainer/collector defines

metadata• Time-consuming• Vague

Problems with Browsing

• Pre-defined and fixed structure• Requires large amount of

navigation (pointing and clicking)• Narrows a collection

Problems with Scrolling

• Limited screen space• Entire result set not visible• Requires large amount of

pointing and clicking

Visualization

• Streaming Collage• Ambient Slideshow• Variably Gridded Thumbnails

Streaming Collage

• Collage is “an assembly of diverse fragments”

• Streaming – constructed dynamically in time

Metadata Filtering

• Modifying metadata fields and values

• Expand result set• Constrain result set

Connecting Streaming Collage with Metadata Filtering

• Continuous Process of: Interactively filtering metadata Generating dynamic collage

• Temporal and Spatial

Demonstration: Metadata Filtering

Demonstration: Streaming Collage

Demonstration: Subcollections

Demonstration: Subcollections

Demonstration: Subcollections

Ambient Slideshow

• Peripheral Display• Chance encounters• Slowly reveals artifacts in the

collection

Demonstration: Ambient Picasso

Demonstration: Variably Gridded Thumbnails

Variably Gridded Thumbnails

• Relevance measure • Full-text search• Grid of thumbnails• Grid element’s background

color varies

Evaluation

• Independent evaluation• Usability study gauged intuitiveness of

interface• 15 graduate students: UT at Austin

No Directed Tasks

• Users “queried the database”• Didn’t right-click on any images• Didn’t use metadata filtering

Directed Tasks

• Successfully created collages• Right-clicked on images• Used metadata filtering

Conclusions from study

• Improvements for intuitive interface– Initial engagement– Metadata Filtering form & controls– Help menu– Hint for no results

Summary• Collection understanding shifts the

traditional focus of image retrieval

• Inspire users to derive their own relationships by focusing on artifacts

• Collection insight increases

Acknowledgments• Dr. Enrique Mallen, The On-Line Picasso

Project• The Humanities Informatics Initiative,

Telecommunications and Informatics Task Force, Texas A&M University.

http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/~mchang/thesis.htmlmchang@csdl.tamu.edu