[Infovis] Information Visualization Videos from National Academy of Sciences

[Ben Shneiderman]

Dear InfoVis Colleagues,

   Last month's National Academy of Sciences Sackler Colloquium on Creativity & Collaboration<http://www.nasonline.org/programs/sackler-colloquia/completed_colloquia/Cybernetic_Serendipity.html> included a strong session on information visualization. We were eager to promote use of information visualization in scientific research, data journalism, and other contexts. Five of these terrific talks from prominent researchers, may be of interest to you, your colleagues, and students:

Deconstructing Charts and Graphs - Maneesh Agrawala
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAh_dcq_S_M

Constructing Charts and Graphs - Jeff Heer
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouIFSDQwkQM

The Road from Explanation to Exploration, and Back - Alyssa Goodman
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfA7XkivjAA

Data Visualization Literacy - Katy Borner
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5wYoIR1K_4

Visualization as Lingua Franca in Machine Learning - Fernanda Viegas
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH19VRSOG7g


We were pleased that NAS President Marcia McNutt sent this supportive message on information visualization to NAS members:

I have been impressed recently by the growing renaissance movement to better integrate the arts and humanities with science and technology for practical benefits. Let me give just two examples. The recent NAS Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium on Creativity and Collaboration: Revisiting Cybernetic Serendipity<https://nasonline.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e8ed2d21703b877983dcb81b3&id=0dbbd035b7&e=96295e0378>, organized by Ben Shneiderman (NAE), had as its stated ambition: "...to redirect the history of ideas, restoring the Leonardo-like close linkage between art/design and science/engineering/medicine."

Speakers demonstrated how interactive exploration methods embedded in modern information visualization tools lead to new insights and more effectively communicate complex concepts. Examples included ice flow patterns across Antarctica, dynamics of galaxy formation, and machine learning with deep neural nets. Visualization methods are equally important for data exploration, such as more effective detection of faulty data, missing data, unusual distributions, and anomalies; deeper and more thorough data analyses that produce profounder insights; and richer understandings that enable researchers to ask bolder questions.

Stay tuned as well for the imminent release of a new report from the National Academies: The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education: Branches from the Same Tree. Chaired by Secretary of the Smithsonian David Skorton and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, this report examines the evidence behind the assertion that educational programs that mutually integrate learning experiences in the arts, humanities and STEM lead to improved educational and career outcomes for undergraduate and graduate students.


Ben Shneiderman                 ben at cs.umd.edu<mailto:ben at cs.umd.edu>
Dept of Computer Science   www.cs.umd.edu/~ben<http://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben>
AV Williams Building            @benbendc
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

Distinguished University Professor
UM Institute for Advanced Computer Studies
Member, National Academy of Engineering
Fellow AAAS, ACM, IEEE, NAI, SIGCHI Academy