Fillets: cues for connections in Focus+Context views of graph-like diagrams

Abstract

We apply fillets - smoothing of sharp angles at the joints - between the connections and nodes of graph-like diagrams. In situations where the graph layout is constrained, e.g. Focus+Context views or views where the coordinates of the nodes are informative, fillets can clarify the relationships considerably without altering the layout. A visual search experiment supports our hypothesis that with fillets it is considerably easier to perceive node-connection structures. We discuss algorithms with different tradeoffs for flexibility and performance for rendering these connections in a single pass using OpenGL.