About this Tool

Why do two apparently different cars get the same rating?

How does my car compare to the best in class?

What are my options if I want a Diesel car that has enough space for a family and rates among the best in terms of fuel consumption? What if I want 4x4?

To help you answer these complex questions, Macrofocus created InfoScope, an interactive tool for visually analyzing the multi-dimensional data presented here.

Usually such data is published as a series of tables and ranked lists, or made accessible through a standard database interface, where queries can be issued by filling in fields in forms. The fact that data is accessible though does not automatically mean that it is also useable.

InfoScope is an alternative way of publishing such data. It is a highly interactive visualization tool with the following key characteristics:

• Provide overview of the global relationships between objects: Multiple views show the different aspects of the data at the same time.
• Encourage and support exploration, discovery of unexpected structures and formulation of new hypotheses: All the views are highly interactive. They are tightly linked so that interactions in one view are always reflected in all the others.
• Embed fine grain tasks in a global frame of reference: Specific numeric values of attributes can be obtained by probing the objects in the views, dynamic queries on a combination of attributes can be executed by using range sliders. All actions are supported by visual feedback, embedded in a common frame of reference.
• Take advantage of the human perceptual abilities: The visual representations make it easy to spot outliers, patterns or anomalies. High interactivity and immediate feedback support our fluid and informal way of problem solving. The tool fits the way we naturally think and work.

Macrofocus is developing tools and methods for understanding complex information spaces. InfoScope is an example for such a tool, which showcases our approach for exploring a high-dimensional data set.

For more information please visit our web site at www.macrofocus.com.