A Survey of Automated Layout Techniques for Information Presentations

Abstract

Layout refers to the process of determining the sizes and positions of the visual objects that are part of an information presentation. Automated layout refers to the use of a computer program to automate either all or part of the layout process. This field of research lies at the crossroads between artificial intelligence and human computer interaction. Automated layout of presentations is becoming increasingly important as the amount of data that we need to present rapidly overtakes our ability to present it manually. We survey and analyze the techniques used by research systems that have automated layout components and suggest possible areas of future work.