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MotivationInfomation graphics are visual illustrations, including graphs, charts, and diagrams, whose main purpose is to facilitate human comprehension of information. For the past few decades, information graphics created using computers are carefully designed and constructed by hand. For example, the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation tool gives users precise control of slide and slide element layout. However, creating effective information graphics is a difficult and time-consuming task, since relatively few users have had training in graphic design. ApproachTo assist users in designing better information graphics, researchers have been investigating three main approaches: template-based, rule-based, and example-based graphics generation. Aiming to overcome various deficiencies in each of these approaches, we are exploring a hybrid approach, which takes advantage of both rule-based and example-based generation approaches. Our approach is embodied in a prototype system, IMPROVISE*, which is an extension of our previous rule-based generation system, IMPROVISE. On the one hand, IMPROVISE* utilizes the rule-based generation to achieve efficiency, as the rules are the generalization of the examples. On the other hand, IMPROVISE* employs an example-based approach to improve extensibility, since new graphics examples can be easily added and reused.
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