Examining edge congestion

Abstract

Many applications have emerged that attempt to visualize various aspects of web structure, links, and usage history. These visualizations often rely on graphs to provide a general view and reveal individual relationships. However, these relationships which are explicit in the graph structure are often not visually accessible due to edge congestion problems. In this paper we discuss edge congestion issues and present an interactive approach to handling them. Our edge-displacement algorithm temporarily adjusts the graph layout without distorting the user's mental map. Our algorithm opens up sufficient space to clarify relationship details without moving nodes at all; only edges are shifted.