Abstract

One of the main issues confronting visualization, is how to effectively display large, high dimensional datasets within a limited display area, without overwhelming the user. In this report, we discuss a data summarization approach to tackle this problem. Summarization is the process by which data is reduced in a meaningful and intelligent fashion, to its important and relevant features. We survey several different techniques from within computer science, which can be used to extract various characteristics from raw data. Using summarization techniques intelligently within visualization systems, could potentially reduce the size and dimensionality of large, high dimensional data, highlight relevant and important features, and enhance comprehension.