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Automatic Metro Map Layout Using Multicriteria Optimization
January 2011 (vol. 17 no. 1)
pp. 101-114
ASCII Text
x 
 
Jonathan Stott, Peter Rodgers, Juan Carlos Martínez-Ovando, Stephen G. Walker, "Automatic Metro Map Layout Using Multicriteria Optimization," IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 101-114, January, 2011.
 
 
BibTex
x
 
@article{ 10.1109/TVCG.2010.24,
author = {Jonathan Stott and Peter Rodgers and Juan Carlos Martínez-Ovando and Stephen G. Walker},
title = {Automatic Metro Map Layout Using Multicriteria Optimization},
journal ={IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics},
volume = {17},
number = {1},
issn = {1077-2626},
year = {2011},
pages = {101-114},
doi = {http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/TVCG.2010.24},
publisher = {IEEE Computer Society},
address = {Los Alamitos, CA, USA},
}
 
 
RefWorks Procite/RefMan/Endnote
x 
 
TY - JOUR
JO - IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
TI - Automatic Metro Map Layout Using Multicriteria Optimization
IS - 1
SN - 1077-2626
SP101
EP114
EPD - 101-114
A1 - Jonathan Stott,
A1 - Peter Rodgers,
A1 - Juan Carlos Martínez-Ovando,
A1 - Stephen G. Walker,
PY - 2011
KW - Information visualization
KW - diagram layout
KW - graph drawing.
VL - 17
JA - IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
ER -
 
Jonathan Stott, University of Kent, Canterbury
Peter Rodgers, University of Kent, Canterbury
Juan Carlos Martínez-Ovando, University of Kent, Canterbury
Stephen G. Walker, University of Kent, Canterbury
This paper describes an automatic mechanism for drawing metro maps. We apply multicriteria optimization to find effective placement of stations with a good line layout and to label the map unambiguously. A number of metrics are defined, which are used in a weighted sum to find a fitness value for a layout of the map. A hill climbing optimizer is used to reduce the fitness value, and find improved map layouts. To avoid local minima, we apply clustering techniques to the map—the hill climber moves both stations and clusters when finding improved layouts. We show the method applied to a number of metro maps, and describe an empirical study that provides some quantitative evidence that automatically-drawn metro maps can help users to find routes more efficiently than either published maps or undistorted maps. Moreover, we have found that, in these cases, study subjects indicate a preference for automatically-drawn maps over the alternatives.

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Index Terms:
Information visualization, diagram layout, graph drawing.
Citation:
Jonathan Stott, Peter Rodgers, Juan Carlos Martínez-Ovando, Stephen G. Walker, "Automatic Metro Map Layout Using Multicriteria Optimization," IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 101-114, Jan. 2011, doi:10.1109/TVCG.2010.24
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