We solicit papers, posters, and contest entries for InfoVis 2004, the tenth annual IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization. InfoVis is the primary meeting in the field of information visualization, and is held in conjunction with the IEEE Visualization 2004 (Vis04) conference in Austin, Texas.

Computer-based information visualization, or "infovis", centers around helping people explore or explain data through systems that include static or interactive visual representation. The central design challenge in infovis is designing a cognitively useful spatial mapping of a dataset that is not inherently spatial. There are many possible visual encodings, only a fraction of which are helpful for a given task. We draw on the intellectual history of several traditions, including computer graphics, human-computer interaction, cognitive psychology, semiotics, graphic design, statistical graphics, cartography, and art. The synthesis of relevant ideas from these fields is critical for keeping pace with the torrents of data that confront us all.

We encourage submissions of papers (9 Apr 2004 deadline), interactive posters (21 June 2004 deadline), and InfoVis contest entries (21 June 2004 deadline). There will also be a special non-peer-reviewed InfoVisFun track for playful entries relating to our 10-year anniversary.

Important Dates

Sat 1 February	Contest datasets released
Fri 9 April	Papers due
Mon 7 June	Paper acceptances announced
Mon 21 June	Contest entries due
Mon 21 June	Poster entries due
Mon 12 July	Paper camera-ready due
Mon 2 August	Contest and poster acceptances announced
Mon 23 August	Poster and contest camera-ready due
Sun 10 October- Tue 12 October	InfoVis Symposium in Austin, Texas

Papers can be up to a maximum of eight (8) pages in length, including full-color figures throughout. We encourage the use of digital video to support the submission, particularly if part or all of the work covers interactive techniques. At least one author of an accepted paper must attend the conference to present the work, and authors will also be required to present a very brief one-minute summary of their talk at the opening papers preview session on Sunday October 10.

For details on format and electronic submission of papers and optional accompanying digital video, see the InfoVis 04 Submission Instructions:
http://www.infovis.org/infovis/2004/submit.shtml#papers

For more information on paper categories (technique, system, design study, evaluation, and model) and the review process, see the InfoVis 04 Author Guide:
http://www.infovis.org/infovis/2004/guide.shtml#papers

Interactive Posters are submitted as a two (2) page summary of the work. In addition to the traditional physical poster at the session, authors are encouraged to present demonstrations of interactive systems, either live on a laptop or through video. We encourage both submissions of original unpublished work, and submissions showcasing systems of interest to the information visualization community that have been presented in other venues. Accepted poster summaries will be included electronically on the IEEE Visualization 2004 Conference DVD, placed on the official infovis.org web site, and also distributed in a hardcopy compendium to all symposium and conference attendees.

At least one author of an accepted poster must attend the conference to present the work at an evening poster session on Monday October 11, and authors will also be required to present a very brief one-minute summary of their work at a posters preview session earlier in the day.

For details on format and electronic submission of posters and optional accompanying digital video, see the InfoVis 04 Submission Instructions:
http://www.infovis.org/infovis/2004/submit.shtml#posters

For more information on posters and the review process, see the InfoVis 04 Author Guide:
http://www.infovis.org/infovis/2004/guide.shtml#posters

The contest participation category was introduced in 2003. The goal of the contest is to promote the development of benchmarks for information visualization, establish a forum to promote evaluation methods, and create an interesting event at the conference.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the conference, we are inviting the submissions of case studies of the use of information visualization for understanding the history of the field. The dataset consists of metadata about the InfoVis conference publications and their references, and the task specifications provide a common ground that authors should use to present the merits of their chosen approaches.

Contest entries are submitted as a two (2) page summary, a video and accompanying materials. All accepted entry materials will be made available online after the conference. At least one author of an accepted entry must attend the conference to present the work. Authors of first place entries will receive a prize and present their work during the main contest session. Authors of second place entries will present their work during the poster session, and also through a brief summary of their work as a preview in the main contest session. Duplicate submissions should *not* be made to both the poster and contest categories.

For more contest information, see http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/iv04contest/

In honor of the 10-year anniversary of the InfoVis symposium, there will be a special submission category called InfoVisFun. Submissions to this category can be anything ranging from pictures, posters, videos, art, and short papers as long as they have something to do with InfoVis and its 10 year history. The evaluation process will assess the fun (and/or art) value of the submissions and will decide how the submissions are used during the InfoVis conference. This category is completely separate from the usual peer-reviewed tracks of papers, posters, and contest.

For more InfoVisFun information, see
http://www.infovis.org/infovis/2004/fun.html

General Symposium Chair
George Robertson, Microsoft Research, ggr@microsoft.com

Program Chairs
Matt Ward, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, matt@cs.wpi.edu
Tamara Munzner, University of British Columbia, Canada, tmm@cs.ubc.ca

Interactive Posters Chairs
John Stasko, Georgia Tech, stasko@cc.gatech.edu
Chris North, Virginia Tech, north@cs.vt.edu

Contest Chairs
Jean-Daniel Fekete, INRIA, France, Jean-Daniel.Fekete@inria.fr
Catherine Plaisant, University of Maryland, plaisant@cs.umd.edu
Georges Grinstein, University of Massachusetts Lowell, grinstein@cs.uml.edu

Publications Chair
Alan Keahey, Visintuit, keahey@visintuit.com

Publicity Chair
Ken Cox, Visintuit, kcc@visintuit.com

Webmaster
Carson Bloomberg, Air Force Research Lab, carson.bloomberg@rl.af.mil

InfoVisFun Chairs
George Robertson, Microsoft Research, ggr@microsoft.com
Daniel Keim, University of Konstanz, Germany, keim@fmi.uni-konstanz.de

Steering Committee
Stuart Card, Xerox PARC, card@parc.xerox.com
John Dill, Simon Fraser University, Canada, dill@cs.sfu.ca
Steve Eick, Visintuit, eick@visintuit.com
Steve Feiner, Columbia University, feiner@cs.columbia.edu
Nahum Gershon, MITRE Corp., gershon@mitre.org
Daniel Keim, University of Konstanz, Germany, keim@fmi.uni-konstanz.de
George Robertson, Microsoft Research, ggr@microsoft.com
Steve Roth, MAYA Viz, roth@mayaviz.com