Methods for interactive visualization of spreading activation using time tubes and disk trees

A method for displaying results of a spreading activation algorithm pertaining to a generalized graph structure, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) retrieving an activation input vector C;
• (b) iteratively computing an activation vector A over N iterations using a flow matrix M;
• and
• (c) displaying a plurality of structurally identical planar graph representations of the generalized graph structure, each planar graph representation corresponding to a unique one of the N iterations, wherein activation levels at nodes are color encoded into the planar graph representations.

A computer readable storage medium, comprising:

• computer readable program code embodied on said computer readable storage medium, said computer readable program code for programming a computer to perform a method for displaying results of a spreading activation algorithm pertaining to a generalized graph structure, the method comprising the steps of:
• (a) displaying all nodes of the generalized graph structure in a tree structure;
• (b) retrieving an activation input vector C;
• (c) iteratively computing an activation vector A over N iterations using a flow matrix M;
• and
• (d) displaying entries of a final activation vector A(N) on nodes of the tree structure.

A computer readable storage medium comprising:

• computer readable program code embodied on said computer readable storage medium, said computer readable program code for programming a computer to perform a method for displaying results of a spreading activation algorithm pertaining to a generalized graph structure, the method comprising the steps of:
• (a) retrieving an activation input vector C;
• (b) iteratively computing an activation vector A over N iterations using a flow matrix M;
• and
• (c) displaying a plurality of structurally identical planar graph representations of the generalized graph structure, each planar graph representation corresponding to a unique one of the N iterations, wherein activation levels at nodes are color encoded into the planar graph representations.

An apparatus for displaying results of a spreading activation algorithm pertaining to a generalized graph structure, comprising:

• a processor;
• a display device coupled to the processor;
• and
• a processor readable storage medium coupled to the processor containing processor readable program code for programming the apparatus to perform a method for displaying results of the spreading activation algorithm pertaining to the generalized graph structure, the method comprising the steps of:
• (a) displaying all nodes of the generalized graph structure in a tree structure;
• (b) retrieving an activation input vector C;
• (c) iteratively computing an activation vector A over N iterations using a flow matrix M, and
• (d) displaying entries of a final activation vector A(N) on nodes of the tree structure.

An apparatus for displaying results of a spreading activation algorithm pertaining to a generalized graph structure, comprising:

• a processor;
• a display device coupled to the processor;
• and
• a processor readable storage medium coupled to the processor;
• said processor readable storage medium containing program code for programming the apparatus to perform a method for displaying results of a spreading activation algorithm pertaining to a generalized graph structure, the method comprising the steps of:
• (a) retrieving an activation input vector C;
• (b) iteratively computing an activation vector A over N iterations using a flow matrix M;
• and
• (c) displaying a plurality of structurally identical planar graph representations of the generalized graph structure, each planar graph representation corresponding to a unique one of the N iterations, wherein activation levels at nodes are color encoded into the planar graph representations.