Wizualization: A “Hard Magic” Visualization System for Immersive and Ubiquitous Analytics
Andrea Batch, Peter Butcher, Panagiotis D. Ritsos, Niklas Elmqvist
Abstract
What if magic could be used as an effective metaphor to perform data visualization and analysis using speech and gestures while mobile and on-the-go? In this paper, we introduce WIZUALIZATION, a visual analytics system for eXtended Reality (XR) that enables an analyst to author and interact with visualizations using such a magic system through gestures, speech commands, and touch interaction. Wizualization is a rendering system for current XR headsets that comprises several components: a cross-device (or ARCANE FOCUSES) infrastructure for signalling and view control (WEAVE), a code notebook (SPELLBOOK), and a grammar of graphics for XR (OPTOMANCY). The system offers users three modes of input: gestures, spoken commands, and materials. We demonstrate Wizualization and its components using a motivating scenario on collaborative data analysis of pandemic data across time and space.