[Data Visualization] Introduction to InfoVis (1)

Visualization

• What is visualization (시각화, 가시화)?
• Visualization: Creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message.
• Sometimes, we visualiza something intangible or abstract.
  • e.g., love, happiness, information

An anemoscope visualizes the direction of the wind.

A thermometer **visualizes temperature.

Sheet music visuallizes a musical work.

Data Visualization

• then, what is data visualization?
  • Of course, it is a visualization of data.
• Charts, graphs, figures, tables, …
• We need to find an effective mapping between data attributes and visual properties of symbols.

Data Visualization Example

---

Why Interactive “Data” Visualization?

• Data is abundant and growing rapidly.
  • Data storages are getting cheaper!
  • Scalable data processing technologies: cloud/parallel/distributed computing
• Gaining insights from the abundant amount of data
  • Finding relationships, discover structures, identify pattens/outliers, tell a story, …
  • Decision making
  • Needle in haystack?

• However, our perceptual and cognitive abilities are relatively constant!
• We need support!
  • The use of external representation
  • Visualization provides one means of combating information overload.

Why Interactive Data “Visualization”?

• Sensing stimuli from outside: human sensory organs
  • Eyes (vision): 10,000,000 bps (1.25 MB/sec)
  • Skin (touch, tactition ): 1,000,000 bps
  • Ears (hearing, audition): 100,000 bps
  • Nose (smell, olfaction): 100,000 bps
  • Mouth (taste, gustation): 1,000 bps
• From The Nervous System in the Context of Information Theory

• Static visualization vs interactive visualization
• Data are too complex to be shown in a single static view.
• More views / dimensions / analytic methods

Statistics?

• We have many statistical methods to summarize data. Do we really need visualization?

Information Visualization ( InfoVis)

• In a board sense, it is visualization of information.
  • Sometimes, interchangeable with data visualization.
• In a narrow sense, we have several concrete definitions of InfoVis Data

Definitions of InfoVis

InfoVis is the use of computer supported, interactive, visual representations of abstract data to amplify cognition. by Stuart Card, Jock Mackinlay, Ben Shneiderman, 1999

Other Definitions of InfoVis

Visual representations of the semantics, or meaning, of information. In contrast to scientific visualization, information visualization typically deals with nonnumeric, nonspatial, and high dimensional data. by Chen, 2005

A method of presenting data or information in non traditional, interactive graphical forms. By using 2 D or 3 D color graphics and animation, these visualizations can show the structure of information, allow one to navigate through it, and modify it with graphical interactions. UIUC DLI, 1998

---

• These definitions differ in detail, but they agree with several important concepts about InfoVis

• InfoVis is about abstract data.
• It involves humans
• It involves computers
• It involves visual representations
• it involves interactions

What is abstract Data?

• Scientific Visualization (SciVis)
  • Data are typically physically based.
  • Spatial representations are given (e.g., 2D or 3D).
• Information Visualization (InfoVis)
  • Do not have a “natural” mapping to spatial representations.

Scientific Visualization Examples

Information Visualization Examples

SciVis or InfoVis?

• Is spatialization given (SciVis) or chosen (InfoVis)
• Good reference: “Information and Scientific Visualization: Separate but Equal or Happy Together at Last (IEEE VIS 03)”

What’s Beyond a Bar Chart?

• Visualization is just not a matter of implementing simple charts. It involves
  • User & data & task analysis
  • Perceptually effective designs
  • Efficient implementation (e.g., scalablity)
  • Responsive interaction
  • Usability
  • Evaluation (based on methodologies from HCI)

Example Questions

• How can we visualize data that is too large to process in a few seconds?
• How can we design a visualization automatically?
• How can we visualize data that has high dimensionality (> 5)?
• How can we visualize on mobile devices?
• How can we visualize data that changes over time?
• How can we visualize the inner workings of AI models?
• How can we visually compare two text documents?
• $\dots$

Venues

• Conferences:
  • IEEE VIS (http://ieeevis.org/year/2022/welcome)
  • EuroVis (https://conferences.eg.org/eurovis2022/)
  • PacificVis (https://pvis2022.github.io/pvis2022/)
• Journals:
  • IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG)
  • Computer Graphics Forum (CGF)
  • Computer Graphics and Application (CGNA)
  • Information Visualization (IVI)