Implementation and evaluation of the discussion support system MRV

We present a method for visualizing the structure of a discussion in an electronic conference environment, and propose a prototype system called MRV (Multi-Relationship Viewer). MRV assists users in understanding the transitions of an argument and the whole argument structure by visualizing the relationship between the utterances from the view points of cause-and-effect and semantics. MRV provides the cause-and-effect view by using a tree structure, and the semantic view by using a spring model. The transition from one of the views to the other is seamless, enabling users to keep track of the flow of thinking. Results from a series of experiments proved that MRV can shorten the necessary time for users to grasp the transitions of an argument and the point at issue