humans.visualization.interfaces 
@ SIAT, Simon Fraser University 




M U S I C I A N M A P
 Visualizing relationships among contemporary musicians

This browser does not have a Java Plug-in. See the section JAVA INSTALLATION.

MusicianMap is a web-based interactive tool for visualizing relationships among popular musicians who have released recordings since 1950. MusicianMap accepts search terms from the user, in turn uses them to retrieve data from MusicBrainz.org and AudioScrobbler.net, and visualizes the results. The visualization illustrates various kinds of relationships between music groups and individual musicians, such as band memberships, musical collaborations, and linkages to other artists that are generally regarded as being similar in musical style. These relationships are plotted between artists using a new timeline-based visualization where a node in a traditional node-link diagram has been transformed into a TimelineNode, which allows the visualization of an evolving entity over time. This visualization is built in Java using the prefuse toolkit.

>> DOWNLOAD UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF MUSICIANMAP

This is a RUNNABLE JAR. Right-click on the link and download it on your machine. Then just double-click the downloaded .jar file to execute it. Make sure that you have Internet access when you run it. The database is served by MusicBrainz.org and AudioScrobbler.net.



ON-LINE DEMO

Your web browser needs the Java SE Runtime Environment 5.0 (JRE 1.5.0-xx) or higher to run MusicianMap. If the Java plug-in is already installed in your machine, you will see a small applet above left and be able to zoom in/out the image by moving mouse up/down holding right-button down inside the applet.

CLICK HERE TO START MUSICIANMAP

This version is obsolete, since AudioScrobbler's XML schema was changed a bit. It may not correspond similarity network between artists.

    Controls:
  • Insert an artist name in Search Box, press Search button and wait. It takes a couple of minutes to retrieve the search result from database. The visualization may look stuck sometimes, but it is not really stopped. If you think it stops, reload the page (or close the browser and reopen it - we recommend this method).
  • The check-box labeled Timeline toggles display mode.
  • Moving mouse cursor over a node makes highlight.
  • Placing mouse cursor over an edge shows the relation type in tooltip.
  • Nodes are draggable.
  • Right-click + drag controls zooming.


JAVA INSTALLATION

If you can't see anything or it displays a "X" box, follow the instructions below to get the latest Java plug-in.

Microsoft Windows users:
This page contains java-script helping Internet Explorer users install the Java plug-in automatically. Allow your IE to download and run the installation file. If you are using FireFox or want to install the JRE yourself, visit http://java.sun.com/ and get the latest Java plug-in. Following links will help (you may install either of them);
Java SE Runtime Environment 5.0u16 (or JRE 1.5.0-16)
Java SE Runtime Environment 6u7.

Macintosh users:
Mac OS X 10.4 has built-in Java capability for MusicianMap by default. Keep your OS and web browsers up-to-date, and use Java 5 (not 1.4.2 or less). If you machine is running under Mac OS X 10.3.9 or less, try this test version (Java 1.4.2 compatible) and alpha prototype (written in Flash) instead.



AUTHORS

Jidong Yim > http://www.sfu.ca/~jdyim
Chris Shaw > http://www.sfu.ca/~shaw
Lyn Bartram > http://www.sfu.ca/~lyn



School of Interactive Arts and Technology | Simon Fraser University | Fall, 2007