Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

1-2023

Abstract

Over the past few decades, a large number of graph layout techniques have been proposed for visualizing graphs from various domains. In this paper, we present a general framework, Taurus, for unifying popular techniques such as the spring-electrical model, stress model, and maxent-stress model. It is based on a unified force representation, which formulates most existing techniques as a combination of quotient-based forces that combine power functions of graph-theoretical and Euclidean distances. This representation enables us to compare the strengths and weaknesses of existing techniques, while facilitating the development of new methods. Based on this, we propose a new balanced stress model (BSM) that is able to layout graphs in superior quality. In addition, we introduce a universal augmented stochastic gradient descent (SGD) optimizer that efficiently finds proper solutions for all layout techniques. To demonstrate the power of our framework, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of existing techniques on a large number of synthetic and real graphs. We release an open-source package, which facilitates easy comparison of different graph layout methods for any graph input as well as effectively creating customized graph layout techniques.

Keywords

Framework, Gradient Descent, Graph Layout

Discipline

Databases and Information Systems | Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces

Research Areas

Data Science and Engineering

Publication

IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics

Volume

29

Issue

1

First Page

886

Last Page

895

ISSN

1077-2626

Identifier

10.1109/TVCG.2022.3209371

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2022.3209371

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