GvMap ("graphs as maps")

GvMap (formerly GMap, or "graphs as maps").
Cool #Visualization, an invention by Emden Gansner, Yifan Hu, and Stephen Kobourov.

E.g. see interactive Maps of Music, Movies, TVs and Books: http://www2.research.att.com/~yifanhu/MAPS/imap.html

This is incorporated in graphviz: http://www.graphviz.org/News.php/
New Release 2.28 (Summer 2011): The 2.28 release of Graphviz incorporates GvMap.
I have lots of experience with it (contributed back in 1993) and we use it for various things in confluence (PlantUML, workflow visualization, etc).

I think it would be cool to try such visualizations of objects (e.g. paintings), authors, places etc in #ResearchSpace 4 .

• There are some direct relations in BM data (object "Depicts" someone; object is "In the style of" someone), but not a lot about influence between authors.
• Getty ULAN has more relations on influence.
• There are a LOT of indirect relations: objects made from the same material, by the same material culture, at the same place....

I checked Music and indeed it clusters groups in a very sensible way; and shows the most important groups bigger. http://www2.research.att.com/~yifanhu/MusicMap/index.html
I personally live in ProgressiveLand (see below). I know and like most of the groups mentioned.
I just disagree why Rolling Stones would be bigger than Pink Floyd, but guess that truly is a decision of ProgressiveLand’s citizens