The general problem of visualizing "family trees", or genealogical graphs, in 2D, is considered. A graph theoretic analysis is given, which identifies why genealogical graphs can be difficult to draw. This motivates some novel graphical representations, including one based on a dual-tree, a subgraph formed by the union of two trees. Dual-trees can be drawn in various styles, including an indented outline style, and allow users to browse general multitrees in addition to genealogical graphs, by transitioning between different dual-tree views. A software prototype for such browsing is described, that supports smoothly animated transitions, automatic camera framing, rotation of subtrees, and a novel interaction technique for expanding or collapsing subtrees to any depth with a single mouse drag.
Index Terms:
genealogy, genealogies, family trees, kinship, multitrees,graph drawing, graph theory, graph browsing and navigation
Citation:
Michael J. McGuffin, Ravin Balakrishnan, "Interactive Visualization of Genealogical Graphs," infovis, pp.3, 2005 IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization (InfoVis 2005), 2005