Data visualization is making strides in delivering new tools, techniques, and systems to analysts engaged in data analysis and communication. But providing more options leads to a paradox of choice- how do creators of data visualizations navigate the tradeoffs between available design and techniques? One promising approach towards addressing this growing problem is to quantify and model the role of the human in data visualization. In this talk I’ll share recent developments ranging from modeling low-level perceptual processes in visualization, to quantifying higher level concepts like engagement in interactive visualizations. Re-centering visualization on the human not only aids creators in designing data visualizations, but also leads to new opportunities for next-generation visualization tools, techniques, and systems.
Lane Harrison is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Prior to joining WPI, Lane was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computer Science at Tufts University. He obtained his Bachelor’s and PhD degrees in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, supported by a DHS Visual Analytics Fellowship for his work on designing visualization tools for cyber security data. In 2015 he served as general chair for the IEEE Visualization for Cyber Security (VizSec) Symposium, held in conjunction with the IEEE VIS Conference.
Lane’s research leverages cognitive and perceptual principles to advance the science of information visualization and visual analytics. Visualization has emerged as an indispensable tool for analysis and understanding. As the world is beginning to rely on data to make high-impact, even life-critical decisions, the goal of this research is to ensure that people have the best possible interfaces to data for the decisions they face.