The goal of this research project is to investigate issues in the design and development of a multi-resolution data viewing system, called DataScope, which interacts with database systems based on visual comprehension and exploration of database contents in a flexible, user-friendly, multidimensional, and multi-resolution way. The approach consists of investigation of the design principles and implementation considerations, including structures of dimensions, ordering of attribute values, layout of data values, flexible selection of layouts, attributes, and constraints, rich information display, and automated visualization interface generation and customization. The research integrates the technologies in database systems, data warehouse, data visualization, human-computer interaction, and data mining. It emphasizes on efficient implementation of the functions for visual exploration of database contents and scale-up of such functions for real-time usage. The research results are to be published in research forums on database systems, data mining, and human computer interaction, and be integrated into the graduate education at UIUC. This project is expected to have broad applications in many fields that need to explore huge amounts of data, including business, industry, government agencies, scientific research, and education. The progress of the project and the research results will be disseminated via the project Web site (www.cs.uiuc.edu/~hanj/projs/datascope.htm).
