SPATIO-TEMPORAL CUBE FOR VISUALIZING CULTURAL COLLECTIONS: EXPLORING A USER-FRIENDLY ROTATIONAL REPRESENTATION WITH DIFFERENT SPATIAL ABILITY

"In this study, we compared two rotational representations of a spatio-temporal cube displaying a cultural collection data to determine which was more useful for information search. While the horizontal data plane of the cube represented a geographical map, the vertical axis showed time as an upward spatial dimension. Users manipulated the cube to find the country and time period in which artworks with the characteristics specified in the questions were most used. In the viewpoint rotation condition, the background flowed in conjunction with a horizontal rotation as if the users moving around the stationary cube. In the cube rotation condition, the cube was rotated in front of the user's eyes, and the background did not change. The users were able to search information more accurately when using the viewpoint rotation than the cube rotation. This was true for both users with high and low spatial abilities. This finding is discussed in terms of how the environmental reference frame supports users' spatial cognition."