Interaction spaces in data and information visualization

User interaction plays an integral part in the effective visualization of data and information. Typical interaction operations include navigation, selection, and distortion. A problem that can occur when these operations are specified using direct manipulation is determining which object or space is the focus of the interaction. In some operations the user wants to indicate a region of an image, while in others the focus might be the data being projected or the surface upon which the projection is occurring. In this paper we attempt to identify a complete list of spaces within which interactive operations can occur in data and information visualization. These interaction spaces help disambiguate the focus of interactive operations, and their study can potentially reveal new and powerful methods for supporting the visual exploration process. We define the distinctions between the spaces and provide examples of interactions within each space.