Three-dimensional visualization of relational databases

Abstract

In recent years, databases have reached unprecedented complexity and volume. A database structure comprising tens of thousands of tables with a staggering number of inter-table relationships to match can hardly be understood and managed by the human mind. This holds in particular, if two-dimensional visualizations of such a structure are used. This paper describes a project to enhance human comprehension by another dimension enabling database users to move among database tables in three dimensions. The project applies techniques of virtual reality enabling users to control the individual aspect and the level of detail while gaining valuable insights into the structure, the contents, and the retrieval strategies within their databases.