Visualizing abstract data on maps

The effective visual exploration of large and complexly structured, abstract data requires sophisticated and interactive visualization techniques. Development of these techniques is the major discipline in information visualization. On the other hand, visualization of geospatial data is an important topic in cartography. The necessity to combine expertise from both fields has long been commonly recognized. In this paper, some considerations on the combination of arbitrary multivariate data visualizations, focus & context interaction techniques and thematic map displays are discussed that will allow the efficient combination of established techniques from both information visualization and cartography.