arXiv subjects

Kentaro Takahira

Publications and source records attributed to Kentaro Takahira.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Surrounded by Friends: Design and Evaluation of Immersive Layouts of Egocentric Network for Visual Analytics

This paper explores design considerations for egocentric network layouts in immersive environments, providing fresh empirical insights that enhance egocentric network analysis. An egocentric network focuses on the topological and semantic relationships around a focal node (ego) and its neighboring nodes (alters), targeting local sub-networks rather than the whole network. Traditional desktop environments, limited by display constraints, often face visual clutter as node numbers grow. Building on recent findings that immersive environments enhance network analysis, we explore layouts tailored for these spaces. We begin by identifying essential design properties and dimensions for egocentric network layouts, taking into account the unique features of immersive environments. Based on these, we design four layouts-Cube, Cylindrical, Radial, and Spherical-that vary across design dimensions. We evaluate these layouts in a user study with 24 participants completing egocentric analysis tasks. Our study suggests that Cube performed well for tasks focused on ego-alter connection strength. In contrast, Spherical was more effective for understanding alter topology, minimizing occlusion, and efficiently utilizing 3D space. These findings inform design implications for future immersive egocentric network layouts.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2026

LandSAR: Visceralizing Landslide Data for Enhanced Situational Awareness in Immersive Analytics

Landslides pose a significant threat to public safety, but their dynamic processes are difficult to analyze from post-event observation alone. Computational simulation is therefore essential, but it generates vast, abstract datasets that create a cognitive gap between the analyst and the real-world, physical terrain. While Immersive Analytics (IA) begins to bridge this gap by visualizing data in 3D, we explore how these systems evolve beyond abstract data and integrate data visceralization to enhance Situational Awareness (SA). We present LandSAR, an immersive analytics system that enhances SA for landslide analysis by visceralizing landslide data through integrated simulations and visualizations. LandSAR supports real-time simulations of landslide dynamics, prevention strategies, and climate impacts, enabling multi-perspective what-if analyses. The system uses 3D-printed terrain models as tangible interfaces to facilitate haptic feedback and enable gesture-based exploration, allowing for intuitive geographical perception. Expert interviews and workshops demonstrate that LandSAR effectively improves SA and engagement.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

VisAider: AI-Assisted Context-Aware Visualization Support for Data Presentations

Effective real-time data presentation is essential in small-group interactive contexts, where discussions evolve dynamically and presenters must adapt visualizations to shifting audience interests. However, most existing interactive visualization systems rely on fixed mappings between user actions and visualization commands, limiting their ability to support richer operations such as changing visualization types, adjusting data transformations, or incorporating additional datasets on the fly during live presentations. This work-in-progress paper presents VisAider, an AI-assisted interactive data presentation prototype that continuously analyzes the live presentation context, including the available dataset, active visualization, ongoing conversation, and audience profile, to generate ranked suggestions for relevant visualization aids. Grounded in a formative study with experienced data analysts, we identified key challenges in adapting visual content in real time and distilled design considerations to guide system development. A prototype implementation demonstrates the feasibility of this approach in simulated scenarios, and preliminary testing highlights challenges in inferring appropriate data transformations, resolving ambiguous visualization tasks, and achieving low-latency responsiveness. Ongoing work focuses on addressing these limitations, integrating the system into presentation environments, and preparing a summative user study to evaluate usability and communicative impact.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

InSituTale: Enhancing Augmented Data Storytelling with Physical Objects

Augmented data storytelling enhances narrative delivery by integrating visualizations with physical environments and presenter actions. Existing systems predominantly rely on body gestures or speech to control visualizations, leaving interactions with physical objects largely underexplored. We introduce augmented physical data storytelling, an approach enabling presenters to manipulate visualizations through physical object interactions. To inform this approach, we first conducted a survey of data-driven presentations to identify common visualization commands. We then conducted workshops with nine HCI/VIS researchers to collect mappings between physical manipulations and these commands. Guided by these insights, we developed InSituTale, a prototype that combines object tracking via a depth camera with Vision-LLM for detecting real-world events. Through physical manipulations, presenters can dynamically execute various visualization commands, delivering cohesive data storytelling experiences that blend physical and digital elements. A user study with 12 participants demonstrated that InSituTale enables intuitive interactions, offers high utility, and facilitates an engaging presentation experience.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

TangibleNet: Synchronous Network Data Storytelling through Tangible Interactions in Augmented Reality

Synchronous data-driven storytelling with network visualizations presents significant challenges due to the complexity of real-time manipulation of network components. While existing research addresses asynchronous scenarios, there is a lack of effective tools for live presentations. To address this gap, we developed TangibleNet, a projector-based AR prototype that allows presenters to interact with node-link diagrams using double-sided magnets during live presentations. The design process was informed by interviews with professionals experienced in synchronous data storytelling and workshops with 14 HCI/VIS researchers. Insights from the interviews helped identify key design considerations for integrating physical objects as interactive tools in presentation contexts. The workshops contributed to the development of a design space mapping user actions to interaction commands for node-link diagrams. Evaluation with 12 participants confirmed that TangibleNet supports intuitive interactions and enhances presenter autonomy, demonstrating its effectiveness for synchronous network-based data storytelling.

cs.HC↗