Argo Lite: Open-Source Interactive Graph Exploration and Visualization in Browsers
- Siwei Li ,
- Zhiyan Zhou ,
- Anish Upadhayay ,
- Omar Shaikh ,
- Scott Freitas ,
- Haekyu Park ,
- Zijie J. Wang ,
- Susanta Routray ,
- Matthew Hull ,
- Duen Horng (Polo) Chau
2020 Conference on Information and Knowledge Management |
Published by ACM
![Argo Lite visualizing a citation network of recent COVID-19 publications [12]. Argo Lite users can explore graphs incrementally by adding more related papers (e.g., highly cited papers cited by or citing a paper of interest) to the visualization [3]. Using WebGL for high-performance cross-platform graph rendering [4], Argo Lite runs in all modern web browsers without requiring any installation.](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2022/04/argo-crown-1024x609.jpg)
Graph data have become increasingly common. Visualizing them helps people better understand relations among entities. Unfortunately, existing graph visualization tools are primarily designed for single-person desktop use, offering limited support for interactive web-based exploration and online collaborative analysis. To address these issues, we have developed Argo Lite, a new in-browser interactive graph exploration and visualization tool. Argo Lite enables users to publish and share interactive graph visualizations as URLs and embedded web widgets. Users can explore graphs incrementally by adding more related nodes, such as highly cited papers cited by or citing a paper of interest in a citation network. Argo Lite works across devices and platforms, leveraging WebGL for high-performance rendering. Argo Lite has been used by over 1,000 students at Georgia Tech’s Data and Visual Analytics class. Argo Lite may serve as a valuable open-source tool for advancing multiple CIKM research areas, from data presentation, to interfaces for information systems and more.