| 摘要 |
<p>A method and apparatus for the three dimensional graphical display of information. Information is displayed as nodes and arcs connecting nodes. The nodes and arcs are displayed with their three dimensional characteristics used to encode data attributes. In one embodiment, the nodes and arcs represent geographic network data and are displayed on a representation of a globe. The height of the arcs above or below the surface of the globe encodes a link attribute of the data, while the height of the nodes above or below the surface of the globe encodes a node attribute of the data. Three dimensional characteristics of the nodes and arcs other than height may also be used to encode data attributes. In addition, the three dimensional representation of the data allows for novel thresholding techniques, such as drawing certain nodes and arcs below the surface of the globe and using the globe as a clipping surface. User interaction is also enhanced, for example by allowing users to interactively manipulate the clipping surface as well as the three dimensional display characteristics of the nodes and links. <IMAGE></p> |
