3D-Stereoscopic Immersive Analytics Projects at Monash University and University of Konstanz

Immersive Analytics investigates how novel interaction and display technologies may support analytical reasoning and decision making. The Immersive Analytics initiative of Monash University started early 2014. Over the last few years, a number of projects have been developed or extended in this context to meet the requirements of semi- or full-immersive stereoscopic environments. Different technologies are used for this purpose: CAVE2™ (a 330 degree large-scale visualization environment which can be used for educative and scientific group presentations, analyses and discussions), stereoscopic Powerwalls (miniCAVEs, representing a segment of the CAVE2 and used for development and communication), Fishtanks, and/or HMDs (such as Oculus, VIVE, and mobile HMD approaches). Apart from CAVE2™ all systems are or will be employed on both the Monash University and the University of Konstanz side, especially to investigate collaborative Immersive Analytics. In addition, sensiLab extends most of the previous approaches by involving all senses, 3D visualization is combined with multi-sensory feedback, 3D printing, robotics in a scientific-artistic-creative environment

Toward Agile Situated Visualization: An Exploratory User Study

We introduce AVAR, a prototypical implementation of an agile situated visualization (SV) toolkit targeting liveness, integration, and expressiveness. We report on results of an exploratory study with AVAR and seven expert users. In it, participants wore a Microsoft HoloLens device and used a Bluetooth keyboard to program a visualization script for a given dataset. To support our analysis, we (i) video recorded sessions, (ii) tracked users' interactions, and (iii) collected data of participants' impressions. Our prototype confirms that agile SV is feasible. That is, liveness boosted participants' engagement when programming an SV, and so, the sessions were highly interactive and participants were willing to spend much time using our toolkit (i.e., median >= 1.5 hours). Participants used our integrated toolkit to deal with data transformations, visual mappings, and view transformations without leaving the immersive environment. Finally, participants benefited from our expressive toolkit and employed multiple of the available features when programming an SV.Comment: CHI '20 Extended Abstract

Simultaneous Worlds: Supporting Fluid Exploration of Multiple Data Sets via Physical Models

We take the well-established use of physical scale models in architecture and identify new opportunities for using them to interactively visualize and examine multiple streams of geospatial data. Overlaying, comparing, or integrating visualizations of complementary data sets in the same physical space is often challenging given the constraints of various data types and the limited design space of possible visual encodings. Our vision of “simultaneous worlds” uses physical models as a substrate upon which visualizations of multiple data streams can be dynamically and concurrently integrated. To explore the potential of this concept, we created three design explorations that use an illuminated campus model to integrate visualizations about building energy use, climate, and movement paths on a university campus. We use a research through design approach, documenting how our interdisciplinary collaborations with domain experts, students, and architects informed our designs. Based on our observations, we characterize the benefits of models for 1) situating visualizations, 2) composing visualizations, and 3) manipulating and authoring visualizations. Our work highlights the potential of physical models to support embodied exploration of spatial and non-spatial visualizations through fluid interactions.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC