Semanticons: Visual Metaphors for Files
Vidya Setlur, Conrad Albrecht-Buehler, Amy Gooch, and Bruce Gooch
Eurographics 2005
Abstract
Semanticons can enhance the representation of files by offering
symbols that are both meaningful and easily distinguishable. The
semantics of a file is estimated by parsing its name, location, and
content to generate a context, which is used to
query an image database. The resulting images are simplified by
segmenting them, computing an importance value for each segmented
region, and removing unimportant regions. The abstract look-and-feel
of icons is achieved using non-photorealistic techniques for image
generalization. We increase the effectiveness of the semanticons by
compositing them with traditional and familiar interface icons. Two
psychophysical studies using semanticons as stimuli, demonstrate that
semanticons decrease the time necessary to locate a file in a visual
search task and enhance performance in a memory task.
Paper: [pdf]
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