Using virtual reality to enhance exploratory analysis of categorized financial data

Abstract

Checking in on your current financial situation has never been easier with the current e-banking and mobile banking solutions. Their representation of the data about financial transactions however has barely even changed in the last decade. It still relies on the same old pie-charts and tables for presenting an overview and to analyse the categorizedexpenses. With the increased performance of recent virtual reality devices, a whole new set of possibilities opens up to make use of the three-dimensional space. This master thesis presents the feasibility of enhancing the traditional exploratory analysis of categorized financial transactions with a generally available virtual reality device and tailored state-of-the-art interaction patterns and visualisation approaches.The most relevant interaction patterns in virtual reality are classified into Travel, Selection and Manipulation. While 'Travel' focuses on the movement and viewing inside the virtual environment, 'Selection' is about how the user can choose an object to later interact with, which then is part of 'Manipulation'. In this thesis, 360° Motion Tracking and Gesture Controllers are used as input methods for the 'Travel', respectively 'Se-lection' and 'Manipulation' interaction patterns....