KOLAM : human computer interfaces fro visual analytics in big data imagery

Abstract

In the present day, we are faced with a deluge of disparate and dynamic information from multiple heterogeneous sources. Among these are the big data imagery datasets that are rapidly being generated via mature acquisition methods in the geospatial, surveillance (specifically, Wide Area Motion Imagery or WAMI) and biomedical domains. The need to interactively visualize these imagery datasets by using multiple types of views (as needed) into the data is common to these domains. Furthermore, researchers in each domain have additional needs: users of WAMI datasets also need to interactively track objects of interest using algorithms of their choice, visualize the resulting object trajectories and interactively edit these results as needed. While software tools that fulfill each of these requirements individually are available and well-used at present, there is still a need for tools that can combine the desired aspects of visualization, human computer interaction (HCI), data analysis, data management, and (geo-)spatial and temporal data processing into a single flexible and extensible system. KOLAM is an open, cross-platform, interoperable, scalable and extensible framework for visualization and analysis that we have developed to fulfil the above needs. The novel contributions in this thesis are the following: 1) Spatio-temporal caching for animating both giga-pixel and Full Motion Video (FMV) imagery, 2) Human computer interfaces purposefully designed to accommodate big data visualization, 3) Human-in-the-loop interactive video object tracking - ground-truthing of moving objects in wide area imagery using algorithm assisted human-in-the-loop coupled tracking, 4) Coordinated visualization using stacked layers, side-by-side layers/video sub-windows and embedded imagery, 5) Efficient one-click manual tracking, editing and data management of trajectories, 6) Efficient labeling of image segmentation regions and passing these results to desired modules, 7) Visualization of image processing results generated by non-interactive operators using layers, 8) Extension of interactive imagery and trajectory visualization to multi-monitor wall display environments, 9) Geospatial applications: Providing rapid roam, zoom and hyper-jump spatial operations, interactive blending, colormap and histogram enhancement, spherical projection and terrain maps, 10) Biomedical applications: Visualization and target tracking of cell motility in time-lapse cell imagery, collecting ground-truth from experts on whole-slide imagery (WSI) for developing histopathology analytic algorithms and computer-aided diagnosis for cancer grading, and easy-to-use tissue annotation features.