Technical Report 93-10

TITLE:

Supporting Data Mining of Large Databases by Visual Feedback Queries

DATE:

November 1993

AUTHORS:

Daniel A. Keim

Hans-Peter Kriegel

Thomas Seidl

{keim, kriegel, seidl}@informatik.uni-muenchen.de

Institut für Informatik

Universität München

Leopoldstr. 11B

D-80802 München (Germany)

KEYWORDS:

Data Mining, Visual Query Systems, Visual Relevance Feedback, Interfaces to Database Systems, Visualizing Large Data Sets, Visualizing Multidimensional and Multivariate Data, Interface and Visualization Technology

ABSTRACT:

In this paper, we describe a query system that provides visual relevance feedback in querying large databases. Our goal is to support the process of data mining by representing as many data items as possible on the display. By arranging and coloring the data items as pixels according to their relevance for the query, the user gets a visual impression of the resulting data set. Using an interactive query interface, the user may change the query dynamically and receives immediate feedback by the visual representation of the resulting data set. Furthermore, by using multiple windows for different parts of a complex query, the user gets visual feedback for each part of the query and, therefore, may easier understand the overall result. Our system allows to represent the largest amount of data that can be visualized on current display technology, provides valuable feedback in querying the database, and allows the user to find results which, otherwise, would remain hidden in the database.