Mapping cyberspace: visualising, analysing and exploring virtual worlds

In the past years, with the development of computer networks such as the Internet and world wide web (WWW), cyberspace has been increasingly studied by researchers in various disciplines such as computer sciences, sociology, geography, and cartography as well. Cyberspace is mainly rooted in two computer technologies: network and virtual reality. Cybermaps, as special maps for cyberspace, have been used as a tool for understanding various aspects of cyberspace. As recognised, cyberspace as a virtual space can be distinguished from the earth we live on in many ways. Because of these distinctions, mapping it implies a big challenge for cartographers with their long tradition of mapping things in clear ways. This paper, by comparing it to traditional maps, addresses various cybermap issues such as visualising, analysing and exploring cyberspace from different aspects

Introduction:Diagrams beyond mere tools

This special issue moves beyond an understanding of diagrams as mere inscriptions of objects and processes, proposing instead to re-evaluate diagrammatic reasoning as the work that is carried out with, on, and beyond diagrams. The introduction presents this issue’s focus on ‘working with diagrams’ in a way that goes beyond semiotic, cognitive, epistemic, or symbolic readings of diagrams. It discusses recent research on diagrams and diagrammatic reasoning across disciplines and approaches diagrams as suspended between imagination and perception—as objects with which work is done and as objects that do work. Contributions to this issue probe diagrams for the work they do in the development of disciplinary theories, investigate their reworking of questions of time and scale, and ask how some diagrams work across fields and disciplines. Other authors shift the perspective to their own work with diagrams, reflecting on the practice and performative nature of diagrammatic reasoning in their respective fields and disciplines

트리 구조를 이용한 3차원 공간 내 데이터 시각화 연구

학위논문 (박사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 미술대학 디자인학부 디자인전공, 2019. 2. 김수정.Speculative visualization combines both data visualization methods and aesthetics to draw attention to specific social, political and environmental issues. The speculative data visualization project proposed in this work explores electronic waste trade and the environmental performance of various nations. Illegal trading of electronic waste without proper disposal and recycling measures has a severe impact on both human health and the environment. This trade can be represented as a network data structure. The overall environmental health and ecosystem vitality of those trading countries, represented by their Environmental Performance Index (EPI), can also give greater insight into this issue. This EPI data has a hierarchical structure. This work explores methods to visualize these two data sets simultaneously in a manner that allows for analytical exploration of the data while communicating its underlying meaning. This project-based design research specifically focuses on visualizing hierarchical datasets with a node-link type tree structure and suggests a novel data visualization method, called the data garden, to visualize these hierarchical datasets within a spatial network. This draws inspiration from networks found between trees in nature. This is applied to the illegal e-waste trade and environmental datasets to provoke discussion, provide a holistic understanding and improve the peoples awareness on these issues. This uses both analytical data visualization techniques, along with a more aesthetic approach. The data garden approach is used to create a 3D interactive data visualization that users can use to navigate and explore the data in a meaningful way while also providing an emotional connection to the subject. This is due to the ability of the data garden approach to accurately show the underlying data while also closely mimicking natural structures. The visualization project intends to encourage creative professionals to create both visually appealing and thought-provoking data visualizations on significant issues that can reach a mass audience and improve awareness of citizens. Additionally, this design research intends to cause further discussion on the role of aesthetics and creative practices in data visualizations.사변적 시각화(speculative visualization)는 데이터 시각화 방법과 미학을 결합하여 특정한 사회, 정치 및 환경 문제에 관심을 유도하는 것입니다. 제안한 사변적 데이터 시각화 프로젝트를 통해 다양한 국가의 전자 폐기물 거래와 환경 성과를 살펴봅니다. 적절한 처리와 재활용 조치가 이뤄지지 않은 전자폐기물의 불법 거래는 환경과 인간에 심각한 영향을 미칩니다. 이 거래는 네트워크 데이터 구조로 표현할 수 있습니다. 환경성과지수(EPI)를 통해 이 거래에 참여하는 국가들의 전반적인 환경 보건과 생태계 활력을 살펴보는 것은 이 문제에 더 깊은 통찰력을 제공할 수 있습니다. 이 환경성과지수는 계층 구조로 되어 있습니다. 이 연구는 데이터를 분석적으로 탐구할 수 있도록 하는 방법을 통해 두 가지 데이터를 동시에 시각화하고, 이를 통해 표면에 드러나지 않는 데이터의 의미를 전달하는 방법을 탐구합니다. 본 연구는 프로젝트를 기반으로 하는 디자인 연구로, 노드 링크 유형 트리 구조를 통해 계층적 데이터를 시각화하는 것에 중점을 두고 있습니다. 자연에서 발견할 수 있는 나무 간 네트워크에서 영감을 얻어 공간 네트워크에서 계층적 데이터 세트를 시각화합니다. 데이터 정원이라고 하는 이 새로운 데이터 시각화 방법을 불법 전자 폐기물 거래와 환경 데이터에 적용하여 토론을 유발하고 전체적인 이해를 제공하며 이러한 문제에 대한 사람들의 인식을 개선하고자 합니다. 이는 보다 미적인 접근과 분석적 데이터 시각화 기술을 모두 사용합니다. 데이터 정원을 통한 접근으로 삼차원 대화형 데이터 시각화를 만들 수 있습니다. 이 시각화를 통해 사용자는 데이터를 의미 있는 방식으로 살펴보는 동시에 주제와 감성적인 연결을 받을 수 있습니다. 이는 데이터 정원 방법이 데이터를 정확하게 보여주는 동시에 자연 구조를 면밀하게 모방하기 때문입니다. 본 시각화 프로젝트는 창의적인 전문가들이 중요한 문제에 대해 시각적으로 매력적이고 생각을 자극하는 데이터 시각화를 만들어 대중에게 도달하고 시민들의 인식을 향상할 수 있도록 권장합니다. 또한, 본 디자인 연구는 데이터 시각화에서 미학과 창조적인 실천의 역할에 대한 더 많은 논의를 유도하고자 합니다.Abstract I Table of Contents III List of Figures VI 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Research Background 2 1.2 Research Goal and Method 6 1.3 Terminology 9 2. Hierarchical Relationships: Trees 14 2.1 The History of Tree Diagrams 16 2.1.1 Significance of Trees 16 2.1.2 Aristotles Hierarchical Order of Life 19 2.1.3 Early Religious Depictions of Hierarchical Structures 22 2.1.4 Depicting Evolution 26 2.2 Tree Structures 29 2.3 Tree Layouts 31 3. Complex Relationships: Networks 34 3.1 Attributes of Networks 36 3.1.1 Interdependence and Interconnectedness 38 3.1.2 Decentralization 42 3.1.3 Nonlinearity 45 3.1.4 Multiplicity 46 3.2 Spatial Networks 46 3.3 Combining Tree Structures and Networks 48 4. Design Study Goals and Criteria 51 4.1 Objectives of the Design Study 71 4.2 Data Visualization Approaches 54 4.3 Criteria of Data Visualization 57 4.3.1 Aesthetics 58 4.3.2 Information Visualization Principles 62 4.3.2.1 Visual Cues in Data Visualization 62 4.3.2.2 Gestalt Principles 65 4.3.2.3 Increasing Efficiency of Network Visualizations 67 4.4 Case Study 70 5. Design Study: Data Garden Method 78 5.1 Concept of the Data Garden Structure 79 5.2 Data Garden Tree Structure 84 5.2.1 360°Vertical Branches 85 5.2.2 Break Point of the Branches 87 5.2.3 Aligning Hierarchy Levels 89 5.2.3.1 Design 01 – Extend Method 90 5.2.3.2 Design 02 – Collapse Method 91 5.2.4 Node Placement Technique 92 5.3 Conveying 3D Information 95 6. Design Study: Visualization Project 98 6.1 Theme 99 6.1.1 E-waste Trade 100 6.1.2 Environmental Performance Index 102 6.2 Visual Design Concept 104 6.3 Assigning Attributes 105 6.4 Visual Design Process 107 6.4.1 Leaf (Node) Design Process 107 6.4.1.1 Leaf Inspiration 107 6.4.1.2 Leaf Design 108 6.4.1.3 Leaf Area Calculation and Alignment 113 6.4.2 Stem (Branch) Design Process 116 6.4.3 Root (Link) Design Process 117 6.5 Interaction Design 118 6.5.1 Navigation 118 6.5.2 User Interface 119 6.5.3 Free and Detail Modes 120 6.5.4 Data Details 121 6.6 Visualization Renders 122 6.7 Exhibition 129 7. Conclusion 131 7.1 Conclusion 132 7.2 Limitations and Further Research 133 Bibliography 135 국문초록 (Abstract in Korean) 144Docto

Why are some languages confused for others? Investigating data from the Great Language Game

In this paper we explore the results of a large-scale online game called 'the Great Language Game', in which people listen to an audio speech sample and make a forced-choice guess about the identity of the language from 2 or more alternatives. The data include 15 million guesses from 400 audio recordings of 78 languages. We investigate which languages are confused for which in the game, and if this correlates with the similarities that linguists identify between languages. This includes shared lexical items, similar sound inventories and established historical relationships. Our findings are, as expected, that players are more likely to confuse two languages that are objectively more similar. We also investigate factors that may affect players' ability to accurately select the target language, such as how many people speak the language, how often the language is mentioned in written materials and the economic power of the target language community. We see that non-linguistic factors affect players' ability to accurately identify the target. For example, languages with wider 'global reach' are more often identified correctly. This suggests that both linguistic and cultural knowledge influence the perception and recognition of languages and their similarity

Digital Humanities Research Through Design

Humanities Computing gave rise to the Digital Humanities, which brought considerations of a wider scope of the digital turn to humanities research. Increasingly, the area is understood to include the field of design, exemplified by definitions that describe the Digital Humanities as a “generative enterprise”. We suggest that design contributes not only to the making of digital artefacts. Design practiced with the aim to generate new knowledge constitues a research method. Design research contributes to the Digital Humanities expertise in addressing complex problems and methods for making the knowledge that is generated during a design process explicit