Collaborative Research Center

SFB-TRR 161

Quantitative Methods for Visual Computing

We are living in a data society in which data is generated at amazing speed; individuals, companies, organizations, and governments are on the brink of being drawn into a massive deluge of data. The great challenge is to extract the relevant information from vast amounts of data and communicate it effectively.

Typical scenarios include decision and policy making for urban and environmental planning or understanding relationships and dependencies in complex networks, e.g., social networks or networks from the field of bioinformatics. These scenarios are not only of interest to specialized experts; in fact, there is a trend toward including the broad public, which requires the information to be presented in a reliable, faithful, and easy-to-understand fashion.

Visual computing can play a key role in extracting and presenting the relevant information.

In visual computing research the aspect of quantification is often neglected. The SFB-TRR 161 seeks to close this gap.

The long-term goal is to strengthen the research field by establishing the paradigm of quantitative science in visual computing.

About the SFB-TRR 161

News

All SFB-TRR 161 News

SFB-TRR 161 Events

Sep 30th, 2024, 10 am - 11.30 am

University of Stuttgart and online

Talk | Designs to Support Better Visual Data Communication

Held by:

Cindy Xiong Bearfield, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract:

Well-chosen data visualizations can lead to powerful and intuitive processing by a viewer, both for visual analytics and data storytelling. When badly chosen, visualizations leave important patterns opaque or misunderstood. So how can we design an effective visualization? I will share several empirical studies demonstrating that visualization design can influence viewer perception and interpretation of data, referencing methods and insights from cognitive psychology. I leverage these study results to design natural language interfaces that recommend the most effective visualization to answer user queries and help them extract the ‘right’ message from data. I then identify two challenges in developing such an interface. First, human perception and interpretation of visualizations is riddled with biases, so we need to understand how people extract information from data. Second, natural language queries describing takeaways from visualizations can be ambiguous and thus difficult to interpret and model, so we need to investigate how people use natural language to describe a specific message. I will discuss ongoing and future efforts to address these challenges, providing concrete guidelines for visualization tools that help people more effectively explore and communicate data.

Bio:
Cindy Xiong Bearfield is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. Bridging the fields of psychology and data visualization, Professor Bearfield aims to understand the cognitive and perceptual processes that underlie visual data interpretation and communication. Her research informs the design and development of visualizations and visualization tools that elicit calibrated trust in complex data to facilitate more effective visual data analysis and communication. 
She received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and her MS in Statistics from Northwestern University. Her research at the intersection of human perception, cognition, and data visualization has been recognized with an NSF CAREER award. She has received awards at premier psychology and data visualization venues, including Psychonomics, ACM CHI, IEEE PacificVis, and IEEE VIS. She is also one of the founding leaders of VISxVISION (visxvision.com), an initiative dedicated to increasing collaboration between visualization researchers and perceptual + cognitive psychologists.

Location:

Visualization Research Center (VISUS), University of Stuttgart, Room: 00.012.

The talk will be available online via Webex.

Meeting-ID (Zugriffscode): 2788 152 5156
Meeting Password: VspuuGhy224

In case of questions or problems regarding the transmission/your online participation please contact Sita Vriend.

Nov 4th, 2024, 4 pm - 6 pm

University of Stuttgart

Talk | tbd

Held by:

Niklas Elmqvist, Aarhus University, DK

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Visualization Research Center (VISUS), Room: 00.012University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

The talk will be transmitted to the University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

Nov 5th, 2024, 9 am - 12 pm

Online

WS | Inclusive Leadership Training (for PLs, postdoctoral and doctoral researchers)

Held by:

Dr. Susanne Hamscha, factor-D Diversity Consulting GmbH

Abstract:

Leading a diverse research team successfully can be a challenge at first. Inclusive leaders express appreciation and trust to grow, in order to strengthen collaboration and to use the diversity (of perspectives) in their teams effectively– because an inclusive work environment promotes creativity, innovation and productivity.
Based on an anti-bias approach, the offered Inclusive Leadership Training guides participants to fulfil their role as leaders more consciously. The workshop focuses around the following topics:
•    Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI): Definition and dimensions as well as barriers to implementation
•    Unconscious biases: examples (aha effects)
•    Unconscious bias as a barrier to an inclusive culture, with special consideration of the university context
•    Characteristics of an inclusive culture and principles of an inclusive leadership style
•    Strategies, tools and options for inclusive leaders
•    Personal implementation plan: What will I take away? What will I implement or change?

The workshop is designed to be interactive and includes a mix of theoretical input, discussion, individual and group exercises.

Bio:
Dr Susanne Hamscha holds a PhD in Cultural Studies and is a certified Diversity Trainer.  She is an expert for the implementation of diversity strategies in higher education, science and research. Moreover, she has extensive experience in research, publishing and teaching at several universities in Germany, Austria and the USA. 

Registration:

Please register via email to elisabeth.hutter@uni-konstanz.de

Location:
The talk will be available online. The link will be provided to the participants.

Dec 2nd, 2024, 4 pm - 6 pm

University of Konstanz

Lecture | tbd

Held by:

Nina Tahmasebi, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Location:

University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

The talk will be transmitted to the University of Stuttgart, Visualization Research Center (VISUS), Room: 00.012.

Dec 9th, 2024, 4 pm - 6 pm

University of Stuttgart

Lecture | tbd

Held by:

Margret Keuper, Universität Mannheim

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Visualization Research Center (VISUS), Room: 00.012University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

The talk will be transmitted to the University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

Jan 13th, 2025, 4 pm - 6 pm

University of Stuttgart

Lecture | tbd

Held by:

Kenan Bektas, Universität St. Gallen

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Visualization Research Center (VISUS), Room: 00.012University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

The talk will be transmitted to the University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

Feb 3rd, 2025, 4 pm - 6 pm

University of Stuttgart

Lecture | tbd

Held by:

Jürgen Bernard, Universität Zürich

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Visualization Research Center (VISUS), Room: 00.012University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

The talk will be transmitted to the University of Konstanz, Room: ZT 702

Oct 6th - 7th, 2025, full days

HdbL Herrsching

Internal Status Seminar of the SFB-TRR 161

Past Events