Parallel Dual Visualization of Multidimensional Multivariate Data

A visualization technique based on the ideas of scatter plot matrix, star diagrams and parallel coordinates plot is developed in this paper. The principles and algorithms of these visualizations are analyzed and compared from a geometrical perspective. It shows that the three coordinate-bused geometrical visualizations have a unified mathematical foundation and presentation ways thus can he combined into a single visualization that we call parallel dual plot. The new visualization is created by firstly transforming a scatter plot into a star glyph, and then the star glyph is presented by parallel coordinates. Thus, this approach provides a point-to-point mapping and effectively overcomes the over-plotting problem of parallel coordinates. Moreover, this technique has merits of simple algorithm and easy interpretation. Example of application is demonstrated at the end of this paper.