DDDiver: 3D Interactive Visualization of Entity Relationships

Abstract

In this paper we present DDDiver, a tool for the interactive visualization and editing of Object-Oriented databases. It was developed to visualize and manipulate large loosely-structured data sets with multiple relation types. This makes the tool especially useful in application areas that involve product data models, design information systems, and semantic networks. DDDiver can visualize such relational data sets in a 3d graph. The layout mechanism used for the graph is not based on a deterministic mathematical algorithm, but on the distinction between a number of relation kinds, and on user interaction. The intuitiveness and quickness of the visualization tool was further improved by adding animated visual feedback effects.