a psychophysical investigation of size as a physical variable

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A Psychophysical Investigation of Size as a Physical Variable

Yvonne Jansen Kasper Hornbæk

Data PhysicalizationsData Communication"a physical artifact whose geometry

or material properties encode data."Atelier Brückner, German Age Pyramid, 2013

Data Communication"a physical artifact whose geometry or material properties encode data."

Data source: dataphys.org

Data Physicalization

Data CommunicationHans Rosling, gapminder.com

Presentations

Data Communication Presentations Exhibitions

Joyce Hsiang & Bimal Mendis, The City of 7 Billion, 2011-2013

Atelier Brückner, German Age Pyramid, 2013

Loren Madsen, Chicago crime rates, District 5 police station, 2014

Presentations Exhibitions Public Installation

Data Physicalizations

Physical VariablesVisual Variables

Data Visualizations

How should we encode data?

Data Visualization

Tableau's Show Me feature [Source: onlinehelp.tableau.com]

1980s ranking of visual variables!! ! (Cleveland & McGill 1982-1987, Mackinlay 1986, Spence 1990)

1926 circle vs bars debate (e.g., Eels 1926, Croxton & Stryker 1927, Croxton & Stein 1932)

bibliography under yvonnejansen.me/size

Data Physicalization

Image source: Kahrimanovic et al, 2010

Psychology & Psychophysics experiments

1970 Baird, Psychophysical Analysis of Visual Space

2010 Kahrimanovic et al., haptic volume perception

1969 Stanek, volume and surface judgments

e.g.,

sequential presentation

size 10 size ? size ?

Sour

ce:

bala

ncea

ndm

obilit

y.com

Sour

ce: m

v.cvc

.uab

.es

Chin rests (see Baird 1970) Free head movements

Instructions matter

how large is the smaller shape (compared to the larger)?

how large appears the smaller shape?

[Teeghtsoonian, The Judgment of Size, 1965]

ratio between heights

How should we describe size?

11 cm 3 cm

ratio between ?

How should we describe size?

ratio between

(in the store) diameters

6 cm 2 cm

33 %

How should we describe size?

(in the store) diameters

113 cm3 4.2 cm3

33 %

3.7 %

How should we describe size?

ratio between

("commonly") volumes

(in the store) diameters

("commonly") volumes

(also possible) surface areas113 cm2 12.6 cm2

33 %

3.7 %

11.1 %

How should we describe size?

ratio between

How should we encode data physically?

Joyce Hsiang & Bimal Mendis, The City of 7 Billion, 2011-2013

Research Questions

1. How accurately are elementary shapes estimated?

3. Are estimates systematically biased?

2. How similar are estimates between individuals?

Experiment

Bars Spheres

Bars Spheres

see dataphys.org/list

28 pairs

7 sizes diameters 1.2-7cmheights 1-15cm

10 participants

Estimation Methods

Ratio estimation

e.g., Cleveland & McGill (1984)

Constant sume.g., Spence (1990)

2 methods

Constant sume.g., Spence (1990)

represents larger shape shorter shape

Ratio estimation

e.g., Cleveland & McGill (1984)

Task

"Indicate the percentage of the quantity represented by the smaller shape relative to the larger shape."

"Divide the line such that the left part represents the quantity represented by the left shape and the right part represents the quantity of the right shape.”

Task

quantity represented by larger shape

…shorter shape

Results

bar sphere

0

25

50

75

100

0

25

50

75

100constant sum

ratio estimation

0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100

true ratio

estim

ated

ratio

method

shape

estim

ated

ratio

true ratio

bar sphere

0

25

50

75

100

0

25

50

75

100constant sum

ratio estimation

0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100

true ratio

estim

ated

ratio

method

shape

estim

ated

ratio

true ratio

y = xa

(Stevens’ law)

bar sphere

0

25

50

75

100

0

25

50

75

100constant sum

ratio estimation

0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100

true ratio

estim

ated

ratio

method

shape

estim

ated

ratio

true ratio

y = xa

(logistic curve)

(Stevens’ law)

y =1

!

10

"

b+a·log"

1x−1##

+ 1

$

bar sphere

0

25

50

75

100

0

25

50

75

100constant sum

ratio estimation

0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100

true ratio

estim

ated

ratio

method

shape

estim

ated

ratio

true ratio

y = xa

y =1

!

10

"

b+a·log"

1x−1##

+ 1

$

(logistic curve)

(Stevens’ law)

Accuracy

Accuracy

bars: ratio between heights

spheres: ratio between volumes, diameters, and surface areas

absolute discrepancy (in percent)

Accuracy

2D bars (Spence)

3D bars (height)

diameter1.6

surface

diameter

volume

0 5 10 15 20

(error bars indicate 95% bootstrapped confidence intervals)

Bias in Estimates

Residuals

resi

dual

s

Bias in Estimates

−50

−25

0

25

50

0 25 50 75 100

ratio between volumes (in %)

resi

dual

s

−50

−25

0

25

50

0 25 50 75 100

ratio between diameters (in %)

resi

dual

s

volume-based encoding

Spheres

Bias in Estimates

−50

−25

0

25

50

0 25 50 75 100

ratio between volumes (in %)

resi

dual

s

−50

−25

0

25

50

0 25 50 75 100

ratio between diameters (in %)

resi

dual

s

volume-based encoding

diameter-based encoding

−50

−25

0

25

50

0 25 50 75 100

ratio between surfaces areas (in %)

resi

dual

s

Bias in Estimates

−50

−25

0

25

50

0 25 50 75 100

ratio between volumes (in %)

resi

dual

s

−50

−25

0

25

50

0 25 50 75 100

fitted values

resi

dual

s

volume-based encoding

surface-based encoding

regression-based encoding

estimates ~ linear

Take Aways – Bars

response curves similar across people

Take Aways – Bars

line (H) length

line (V) length

bar height

box height

cylinder height

bar (RE) height

0 2 4 6

Spen

ce (1

990)

lower accuracy than 2D bars

but still < 5%

Take away - Spheres

Encoding in volumes misleading representations✘diameter only marginally better

surface area

✘much better (but still more overestimations)

Take away - Spheres

Encoding in volumes misleading representations✘diameter only marginally better

surface area

✘much better (but still more overestimations)

supported by haptic perception studies (Kahrimanovic et al, 2010)

see bibliography under yvonnejansen.me/size

Open Questions / Future Work

Other physical shapes

Interactions between vision and touch

Large range of absolute sizes

Raw data, R scripts, and additional charts at

yvonnejansen.me/size(work in progress)

yvja@di.ku.dkComments, questions, requests

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