The continuous zoom

Abstract

and viewing large information spaces, such as hierarchically-organized networks from complex realtime systems, suffer the problems of viewing a large space on a small screen. Distorted-view approaches, such as fisheye techniques, have great potential to reduce these problems by representing detail within its larger context but introduce new issues of focus, transition between views and user disorientation from excessive distortion. We present a fisheye-based method which supports multiple focus points, enhances continuity through smooth transitions between views, and maintains location constraints to reduce the user's sense of spatial disorientation.