vis-À-vis is a web-based visualization tool designed to assist scholars in recognizing patterns in annotated texts. The tool automatically imports tagged corpora from external annotation platforms (currently from
CATMA and later this year also from
INCEpTION) and (re)presents them in various graphs and charts, provides comparative graphical tools for grouping the texts, and offers aggregative tools for inter- and intra-corpora relations. Currently, the tool offers five visualization possibilities: small multiple distribution charts of annotation categories within a text, an aggregated stacked area chart, a sunburst chart showing the proportions and quantities associated with each tag in the text, a force-directed network of annotation categories, and a bubble visualization. In addition, a dynamic visualization of the logical structure of a tagset as well as its manifestations in specific annotated texts is offered.
vis-À-vis seeks to provide users with more than mere visualizations; it provides an interface that supports "speculative hermeneutics," by allowing a smooth transition between the smallest detail and the entire picture, and doing so in a playful manner. The tool provides the opportunity to “play” with the visualizations of the individual texts and group them in various configurations according to their similarity or dissimilarity, in order to provide the scholar with a fresh insight into the text and its annotations. This tool is somewhat similar to the well-known
Voyant visualization tool. While Voyant focuses on the text in a way that encourages free speculation, vis-À-vis does the same with annotations as the object of analysis.
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