Attribute Blocks: Visualizing Multiple Continuously Defined Attributes

Visualization of multiple attributes across a region is a complex problem for which several experimental tools have been developed. In some cases, the attributes correspond to events occurring at discrete locations; in others, the data are phenomena that vary continuously across a region. In the discrete case, the focus is often on using maps for geospatial referencing. Attribute blocks are a technique for visualizing continuously varying attributes across a region, letting you quickly locate patterns in large data sets. Attribute blocks can be displayed in a flat 2D projection without needing constant 3D dynamic rotations. This article describes a new technique based on attribute blocks, a dynamically configurable array of lenses through which users can visualize specific attribute values at given locations throughout a region. Users can exploit this ability to dynamically adjust the array´s configuration as well as the attribute blocks´ size and origin in this new exploratory tool for discovering patterns of interest in multivariate data sets