I-Cubid: a nonlinear cubic graph-based approach to visualize and in-depth browse Flickr image results

Umer Rashid; Maha Saddal; Abdur Rehman Khan; Sadia Manzoor; Naveed Ahmad

doi:10.7717/peerj-cs.1476

I-Cubid: a nonlinear cubic graph-based approach to visualize and in-depth browse Flickr image results

PeerJ Comput Sci. 2023 Aug 10:9:e1476. doi: 10.7717/peerj-cs.1476. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Umer Rashid¹, Maha Saddal¹, Abdur Rehman Khan¹, Sadia Manzoor¹, Naveed Ahmad²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Computer Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
² College of Computer and Information Sciences, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The existing image search engines allow web users to explore images from the grids. The traditional interaction is linear and lookup-based. Notably, scanning web search results is horizontal-vertical and cannot support in-depth browsing. This research emphasizes the significance of a multidimensional exploration scheme over traditional grid layouts in visually exploring web image search results. This research aims to antecedent the implications of visualization and related in-depth browsing via a multidimensional cubic graph representation over a search engine result page (SERP). Furthermore, this research uncovers usability issues in the traditional grid and 3-dimensional web image search space. We provide multidimensional cubic visualization and nonlinear in-depth browsing of web image search results. The proposed approach employs textual annotations and descriptions to represent results in cubic graphs that further support in-depth browsing via a search user interface (SUI) design. It allows nonlinear navigation in web image search results and enables exploration, browsing, visualization, previewing/viewing, and accessing images in a nonlinear, interactive, and usable way. The usability tests and detailed statistical significance analysis confirm the efficacy of cubic presentation over grid layouts. The investigation reveals improvement in overall user satisfaction, screen design, information & terminology, and system capability in exploring web image search results.

Keywords: In-depth browsing; Nonlinear exploration; Search user interfaces; Usability; Visualization; Web search.

Grants and funding

The authors received support from Prince Sultan University for the Article Processing Charges (APC) of this publication. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.