Mélange: space folding for visual exploration
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
Niklas Elmqvist1, Yann Riche, Nathalie Henry-Riche
1Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. elm@purdue.edu
Abstract:
Navigating in large geometric spaces-such as maps, social networks, or long documents-typically requires a sequence of pan and zoom actions. However, this strategy is often ineffective and cumbersome, especially when trying to study and compare several distant objects. We propose a new distortion technique that folds the intervening space to guarantee visibility of multiple focus regions. The folds themselves show contextual information and support unfolding and paging interactions. We conducted a study comparing the space-folding technique to existing approaches and found that participants performed significantly better with the new technique. We also describe how to implement this distortion technique and give an in-depth case study on how to apply it to the visualization of large-scale 1D time-series data.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Space Curves
Real-World Applications of Space Curves
Tangent Planes to Surfaces
Cylinders in Three-Dimensional Space
Tangent Planes to Level Surfaces
Divergence Theorem in 3D Space

