CoAX TIE Visualization Layout Options
 
The RETSINA Visualizer (Anaconda) will present a layout similar to what is
shown in  [coax-colored-domains.gif]. Domains will be represented as boxes with
colored backgrounds that correspond to their domain colors, and agents or 
non-agent entities will be represented as 32x32 icons with textual labels
underneath them.  At this resolution, it is possible to visualize over 100
icons at once, with the above domain layout.  The above view shows the domain
arrangements per Patrick's slide, less the COC domains, plus the new national
domains.  The above view also shows 73 icons, to give an idea of the
scalability of this view.

Domain membership is indicated by virtue of being situated within a domain box.
An agent's icon is copied to each domain of which it is a member.  In the
future, each agent will be visually differentiated from each other by a unique
icon and by a label.  We ask that each CoAX partner supply their own agent
icons.  We have released documentation on how to prepare icons, with default
few sample icons that people can use as models.

Communications from one agent to another are represented as is shown in
[coax-colored-domains-with-messages.gif].  The agent that is sending the
message is highlighted by a yellow box.  For example, "Agent 05" is shown
sending a message to entities "Db1" and "Agent 06" in the "Coalition / JTFHQ"
domain.  If that agent occurs in multiple domains, then each instance of its
icon will be  highlighted by the yellow box.

We have tested a variety of other forms of visualizations.  Just to give a
taste of some of them, we include some of the sample images, below.  Assume
that in all cases, the background canvas is the same as in the  [coax-colored-domains.gif].

To differentiate the icons according to their domains, we came up with
[colorXdomain.gif].   In this slide, all "Observers" are blue, all "Sys Admin"
agents are red,  and all "US HQ"  agents are turquoise.  One can notice the
heterogeneity of the "JFMC HQ" by the colors of their constituent icons.

To differentiate the icons at the agent level, we quickly sketched image 
[iconXagentType.gif].  For example, the "US Tarawa" is represented as a ship
icon, and the "US F14" as a red biplane.  This image illustrated the need to
use bold, reductive images rather than detail-oriented images.

To differentiate icons at both the domain and individual levels, we sketched
the following image:  [colorXdomain+iconXagentType.gif].  For example, the "US
Tarawa" is represented as a ship icon with a turquoise background to indicate
that it is a US ship.  Similarly, the "US F14" is a red biplane on a turquoise
background to show its membership in the US domain.

The following image was our test model for domain boxes:
[CoAX_Domain_colors.gif].  It illustrates the look and feel of using the
official CoAX domain bitmaps as the domain background.



 

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