Developing tools and visualisation techniques to assist users in e-Science technologies

Abstract

The paper outlines a series of tools and techniques for visualising data. These tools are being developed for use in large multimedia and Internet resources. The tools are intended to be generic, easily adaptable, and transferable across different resources. The paper demonstrates a series of navigation patterns, newer navigation tools such as breadcrumb trails and beacons and different types of visualisation, some of which originated in virtual world and gaming software. Using these tools and techniques would reduce the amount of time lost in learning to use new tools and techniques for each new resource and, used in conjunction with an intelligent tutor, which tracks the user and their tool usage as well as their academic progress, would develop an individual's searching and researching skills in e-Science.