GerbilSphere: Inner sphere network visualization

Advanced techniques are needed to understand the underlying topologies of large complex networks. This paper introduces a novel way to address the issue of visualizing large-scale network topologies. We propose an inner sphere visualization method that projects the network topology on the inside of a sphere. User navigation around the network is accomplished through moving the sphere around the user's point of view. Previous research has shown that the spatial cognition ability in humans greatly affects the usefulness of a user interface. In this direction, we performed two empirical experiments to test the usefulness of viewing topologies on a sphere compared to a flat surface. The user study indicates that network navigation on a sphere is faster but can also be confusing. Thus, we add guidance tips to create a more intuitive user interface and to improve navigability. Our inner sphere visualization method is implemented as a tool for dynamic interactive network visualization called GerbilSphere (available at http://cse.unr.edu/∼mgunes/gerbilSphere).