Final Exam -
Fall 2013
We Are All Made of Stars
The final exam will be an enhancement to Project 2.
Project
2 took a look at using large displays to show multiple
representations of the same information, but there is a very
common and useful visualization tool that we did not make use of
in the original project that we will now add.
You should replace a subset of the small multiples display (i.e.
4 or 8 screens worth) with a 2D graph on the walls of CAVE2 as
another way of comparing the planets and systems in the
database. Whatever systems are shown in the small multiples
should have their planets represented in the graph, any system
highlighted in the small multiples should have its planets
highlighted in the graph, and our solar system should always be
represented in the graph.
The graph will be a scatter plot where the user can choose the
X-axis, the Y-axis, and size/color/glyph of the points
displayed. Each of the points/glyphs on the scatter plot will
represent a planet. The user should also be able to point at one
of the planets in the graph and get additional data on it and
its system. The user should be able to select a planet and have
its system highlighted in the small multiples display and shown
in the CAVE in 3D.
The various possible variables for the X=axis, Y-axis, and point
are:
- planet orbital
period
- planet distance from
its star
- planet eccentricity
- planet mass
- planet radius
- stellar magnitude
- detection method
- distance from our
sun to the star
This
new functionality should integrate with the required Project 2
functionality without diminishing the Project 2 functionality,
aside from being able to show fewer small multiples on the
walls. In particular the graph should not interfere with showing
a system in 3D inside/outside the CAVE walls.
Note that you may need to go to a logarithmic scale for some of
the variables
If you wish to add in some other enhancements to Project 2 that
is fine, especially if functionality related to this new graph
was missing in the original project 2.
As an enhancement to the enhancement you could have multiple
graphs, just as you have multiple systems shown in the small
multiples and choose how you dynamically want to allocate space
on the CAVE walls to the various representations.
The new enhancement should work well, not just work.
By 9 pm
Chicago time on Sunday 12/08 (the day before the final exam)
each person should create a web page about this enhancement. You
can link this page to your project 2 webpage, but please send me
a direct link to the page about this enhancement. You page
should include all the usual things including a YouTube video.
As usual email the location of the page to Andy along with a 320
x 240 jpg snapshot for the web.
During the
final exam period (Monday 12/9 from 10:30 - 12:30) itself
each student will have 7 minutes to demonstrate your work.
last revision 11/25/13