Data for: Assessing the Cognition of Movement Trajectory Visualizations: Interpreting Speed and Direction

This paper evaluates cognitively plausible geovisualization techniques for
mapping movement data. With the widespread increase in the availability
and quality of space-time data capturing movement trajectories of
individuals, meaningful representations are needed to properly visualize
and communicate trajectory data and complex movement patterns using
geographic displays. Many visualization and visual analytics approaches
have been proposed to map movement trajectories (e.g. space-time paths,
animations, trajectory lines, etc.). However, little is known about how
effective these complex visualizations are in capturing important aspects
of movement data. Given the complexity of movement data which involves
space, time, and context dimensions, it is essential to evaluate the
communicative efficiency and efficacy of various visualization forms in
helping people understand movement data. This study assesses the
effectiveness of static and dynamic movement displays as well as visual
variables in communicating movement parameters along trajectories, such as
speed and direction. To do so, a web-based survey is conducted to evaluate
the understanding of movement visualizations by a non-specialist audience.
This and future studies contribute fundamental insights into the cognition
of movement visualizations and inspire new methods for the empirical
evaluation of geovisualizations.