What is Visual Analytics (VA)?
The text book definition goes something like this, “the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual displays.” This is a nice succinct definition, but still a bit too compact and abstract for most people to comprehend. I prefer a different way of explaining VA, and it goes something like this.
We live in a world of data, lots and lots of data. We also live in a world of choice, lots and lots of choices. Some choice only require that we consider a small fraction of the data we are bombarded with on a daily basis. For example, choosing what to eat from a restaurant menu. However, there are choices that force us to consider a lot of data, and often too much data for us to make sense of on our own (e.g. which company stock to invest in). For these types of choices, we need the power that computer visualizations can provide us. But simply turning data into a graph may not be enough. Useful visualizations that augment our ability to derive insight from lots of data should, in some way, be able to support discovery of relevant information and also be able support part or all of the reasoning process. Visual analytics is the field the investigates how to utilize interactive visualizations for the sake of helping people to gain useful insight from large, unstructured, and sometimes conflicting data sources, and to ultimately inform rational decision making.
So is Visual Analytics a science and if so, what type of science it is?
“This science must be built on integrated perceptual and cognitive theories that embrace the dynamic interaction between cognition, perception, and action. It must provide insight on fundamental cognitive concepts such as attention and memory. It must build basic knowledge about the psychological foundations of concepts such as ‘meaning,’ ‘flow,’ ‘confidence,’ and ‘abstraction.’ “
(excerpt from: Thomas, J. J., & Cook, K. A. (Eds.). (2005). Illuminating the Path: The Research and Development Agenda for Visual Analytics: National Visualization and Analytics Center)
This section of my blog contains news, ideas, and critiques related to the field of Visual Analytics. Some of these content are descriptions of my own research and others are descriptions of what others are doing in the field. This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive resource for VA, there’s simply too much happening for one person to attend to and report on a regular basis. For other news and information on VA, visit CNVAC.org, and national organization I associate with that centres out of Vancouver, BC.
(image of VA circles from Dr. Brian Fisher’s website)