Our group is interested in combining computer graphics and cognitive psychology to produce effective visualizations. Our members mostly come from the Stanford Graphics Lab and the Stanford Psychology Department.

One focus of our work has been to produce systems capable of generating effective visual instructions. We observed that hand-sketched route maps are usually easier to use than computer-generated route maps. By studying hand-designed maps, we extracted the cognitive principles that made these maps effective and encoded them within the LineDrive system. An example of the maps produced can be seen to the right, or on MapPoint.

More recently, we studied how users assembled everyday objects. We created a system that produces step-by-step assembly instructions given a 3D model as input, with additional grouping and ordering constraints. We presented this work at Siggraph 2003.

We have also looked into a method of creating more realistic technical illustrations by spatially compositing photographs of an object taken from a single view under varying light conditions. We will be presenting this work at Visualization 2003.

Recent Publications (see all)

• Conveying Shape and Features with Image-Based Relighting [web]
  David Akers, Frank Losasso, Jeff Klingner, Maneesh Agrawala, John Rick and Pat Hanrahan, IEEE Visualization 2003, October 2003
  
  
• Designing Effective Step by Step Assembly Instructions [web]
  Maneesh Agrawala, Doantam Phan, Julie Heiser, John Haymaker, Jeff Klingner, Pat Hanrahan and Barbara Tversky, Siggraph 2003
  
  
• Visualizing Route Maps [web]
  Maneesh Agrawala, Ph.D. Dissertation, Stanford University, January 2002.
  
  
• Spatial Schemas in Depictions [txt]
  Barbara Tversky, Spatial Schemas and Abstract Thought, 2001.
  
  
• Rendering Effective Route Maps: Improving Usability Through Generalization [web]
  Maneesh Agrawala and Chris Stolte, SIGGRAPH 2001, August 2001.
  
  
• Some Ways That Maps and Diagrams Communicate [pdf]
  Barbara Tversky, Spatial cognition II: Integrating abstract theories, empirical studies, formal methods, and practical applications., Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2000.
  
  
• Lines, Blobs, Crosses, and Arrows: Diagrammatic Communication with Schematic Figures [doc]
  Barbara Tversky, Jeff Zacks, Paul Lee and Julie Heiser, Diagrams 2000, 2000.
  

Image-Based Relighting

Assembly Instructions

LineDrive