1Casual InfoVisCS 4460/7450 - Information VisualizationApril 1, 2010John StaskoGuest Speaker: Zach PousmanCasual InfoVis• Let‟s start off with ideas and concepts from the paper…• A complement to the majority of „central‟ infovis; which is a focus on analytic tasks and analysts as the idealized user.•Infovis for the everyday person• Spend some time looking at the „edges‟ of the infovis domainSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 22Definition of casual infovis•Casual Infovis is the use of computer mediated tools to depict personally meaningful information in visual ways that support everyday users in both everyday work and non-work situations. Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 3Changes to traditional notions• The user populationExpand to include many more kinds of people and many more situations and scenarios.People who are not explicit or implicit analysts Non-professionals in generalLow(er) motivationSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 43Changes to traditional notions• Usage patternNew patterns of use that depart from the more traditional deep-dive explorations and sensemakingIn a word, more casualFleeting awareness and monitoring tasksCould also include more substantial reflectionsMobile and ubiquitous, not just desktopSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 5Changes to traditional notions• Data types also changeOften personally relevant (about „me‟)Tight coupling between user and the dataTight coupling gets at what is meaningfulabout the data stream… not always what is important. Sometimes the most minute and boring detail is still very meaningfulSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 64Changes to traditional notions• InsightGets a one of the fundamental questions of infovisWe all agree (?) that the purpose of infovis is insight… but the examples on the edges show different kinds of insights.Maybe insights are not perfectly quantifiable in a way that‟s rigorous (for an attempt see Saraiuya and North 2005)Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 7Areas• Artistic InfoVis• Ambient InfoVis• Social InfoVisSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 85Artistic InfoVisSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 9Artistic InfoVis• Artistic expression using visualizations of data• They are not just generative art – they still read data, represent it, and some are interactive• Systems often depart from the central notion of infovis that first and foremost, a visualization should be easy to read.• Also can „problemitize‟ the data…Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 106Many examplesSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 11Jason SalavonSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 127Jason SalavonSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 13Jason SalavonSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 14The Top Grossing Film of All Time, 1 x 1 20008Viegas, et al.Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 15Artifacts of the Presence EraWignellSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 16Sorting (real time)9Romero, Pousman, MateasSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 17Tableau MachineRomero, Pousman, MateasSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 1810Romero, Pousman, MateasSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 19Romero, Pousman, MateasSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 2011TM Evaluation (it’s hard)• 6-8 week deployments • 3 houses• Very different uses• Games• Printouts• Discussion• Reflection?Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 21FeltronSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 22Annual Report (2008)12Flags as infographics• Foote Cone & BeldingSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 23Foote Cone & BeldingFlags as infographics• Foote Cone & BeldingSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 24Foote Cone & Belding13Flags as infographics• Foote Cone & BeldingSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 25Foote Cone & BeldingAmbient InfoVisSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 2614Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 27Objectives• Systems so farWhat is their purpose or objective?High-level purpose or taskAnalysis, Exploration, Learning• Are there other high-level tasks that infovis can assist with?Awareness, monitoringSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 28Central idea• People interpret images well • As they say, a picture‟s worth thousand words … so use visualization for information awareness15Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 29Calm Technology• Mark Weiser“A calm technology will move easily from the periphery of our attention, to the center, and back.”Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 30Ambient Displays• Conveys low- to medium-priority information to people, while residing in the periphery of their attention• Other terms sometimes usedPeripheral display, notification system16Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 31Ambient Displays• Purpose: Information awareness, perhaps monitoring• Focus:AestheticsVisually pleasing enhancement to surroundingsOther dimensions in the spaceSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 32Information capacityHow much info can they transmit?Notification levelAre they subtle or more attention-grabbing?Representational FidelityFlexibility with regard to data mappings AestheticsVisually pleasing enhancement to surroundings17Other dimensions in the spaceSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 33Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 34Ambient InfoVis• InfoVis off the desktop• Still visually encoding information, but not for analytic purposesPresenting the information in places where you‟re not doing “desktop computing”18Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 35Examples• Let‟s look at some examples of ambient displays or ambient information visualizationsSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 36Dangling String• Plastic spaghetti wire hanging from ceiling• Hangs from motor in ceiling• Electrically connected to ethernet cable sobits going by cause it tojiggle• Created by artistNatalie Jeremijenko19Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 37Ambient Room• Use variety of physical objects in office to communicate the state of relevant information• Hiroshi Ishii‟s group at MITVideoWisneski et alCoBuild „98Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 38Karlsruhe ProjectsWeb awarenessGellersen & SchmidtPersonal Technologies„9920Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 39Lumitouch• Touch one picture frame, the other lights upChang et alCHI ‟01 Extended AbstractsSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 40Information Percolator• Fish tank with bubble controller• Various messages can be sent in bubblesHeiner et alUIST „9921Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 41Busmobile, WeathermobileMankoff et alCHI „03Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 42Ambient Orbwww.ambientdevices.comMonitor stock marketdata, weather, etc.22Spring 2010 CS 4460/7450 43Information Visualizations?• Well, they are visually presenting information• But perhaps not an emphasis on the informationMore about peripherality, calmness, aestheticsSpring 2010 CS 4460/7450 44Other Styles• Another set of techniques/systems focus less on aesthetics and more on the