Communicating qualitative uncertainty in data visualization

Qualitative uncertainty refers to the implicit and underlying issues that are imbued in data, such as the circumstances of its collection, its storage or even biases and assumptions made by its authors. Although such uncertainty can jeopardize the validity of the data analysis, it is often overlooked in visualizations, due to it being indirect and non-quantifiable. In this paper we present two case studies within the digital humanities in which we examined how to integrate uncertainty in our visualization designs. Using these cases as a starting point we propose four considerations for data visualization research in relation to indirect, qualitative uncertainty: (1) we suggest that uncertainty in visualization should be examined within its socio-technological context, (2) we propose the use of interaction design patterns to design for it, (3) we argue for more attention to be paid to the data generation process in the humanities, and (4) we call for the further development of participatory activities specifically catered for understanding qualitative uncertainties. While our findings are grounded in the humanities, we believe that these considerations can be beneficial for other settings where indirect uncertainty plays an equally prevalent role

Towards Designing Spatial Robots that are Architecturally Motivated

While robots are increasingly integrated into the built environment, little is known how their qualities can meaningfully influence our spaces to facilitate enjoyable and agreeable interaction, rather than robotic settings that are driven by functional goals. Motivated by the premise that future robots should be aware of architectural sensitivities, we developed a set of exploratory studies that combine methods from both architectural and interaction design. While we empirically discovered that dynamically moving spatial elements, which we coin as spatial robots, can indeed create unique life-sized affordances that encourage or resist human activities, we also encountered many unforeseen design challenges originated from how ordinary users and experts perceived spatial robots. This discussion thus could inform similar design studies in the areas of human-building architecture (HBI) or responsive and interactive architecture

THE ROLE OF TANGIBLE INTERACTION FOR COMMUNICATING QUALITATIVE INFORMATION OF BUILT HERITAGE

[EN] Each built heritage artifact possesses multiple types of information, varying from simple, factual aspects to more complex qualitative and tacit qualities and values like the architectural symbolism of a monument. This paper investigates how tangible interaction can enable the communication of qualitative information of built heritage to lay visitors. Through a comparative, field study in a real-world museum context, we examined how the tangible characteristics of an interactive prototype museum installation influence how visitors perceive a particular story. The communicated story relates a historical journey in ancient Egypt to the physical and architectural characteristics of the entrance colonnade at the Djoser Complex in Saqqara. The first preliminary findings indicate how tangible interaction is able to engage museum visitors more to accomplish additional efforts, facilitating a vivid understanding of cultural values and architectural qualities of built heritage.Nofal, E.; Boschloos, V.; Hameeuw, H.; Vande Moere, A. (2016). THE ROLE OF TANGIBLE INTERACTION FOR COMMUNICATING QUALITATIVE INFORMATION OF BUILT HERITAGE. En 8th International congress on archaeology, computer graphics, cultural heritage and innovation. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 441-444. https://doi.org/10.4995/arqueologica8.2016.4153OCS44144

Co-gnito: a Participatory Physicalization Game for Urban Mental Mapping

This study introduces Co-gnito, a participatory physicalization game that supports collaborative urban mental mapping through storytelling. Through Co-gnito we investigate gaming as a means to elicit subjective spatial experiences and to steer the synchronous construction of a physicalization that aligns and represents them. Co-gnito was evaluated during seven deployments by analyzing how 28 players mapped their spatial experiences of two university campuses. Our results indicate that storytelling as a gaming mechanic, guided and motivated the gradual addition of personal contributions towards a collective outcome, but its reward system did not nudge the mapping direction as expected. We also demonstrate how the shared construction process of a physicalization is influenced by how the data encoding scheme was negotiated, by the token physical affordances and by the game mechanics. We therefore believe that our core contributions, comprising of: 1) a working research prototype; 2) an augmentation of the physicalization pipeline towards collaborative settings; and 3) a set of reflective considerations, provide actionable knowledge on how to design participatory physicalizations in the future

Communicating Uncertainty in Digital Humanities Visualization Research

Due to their historical nature, humanistic data encompass multiple sources of uncertainty. While humanists are accustomed to handling such uncertainty with their established methods, they are cautious of visualizations that appear overly objective and fail to communicate this uncertainty. To design more trustworthy visualizations for humanistic research, therefore, a deeper understanding of its relation to uncertainty is needed. We systematically reviewed 126 publications from digital humanities literature that use visualization as part of their research process, and examined how uncertainty was handled and represented in their visualizations. Crossing these dimensions with the visualization type and use, we identified that uncertainty originated from multiple steps in the research process from the source artifacts to their datafication. We also noted how besides known uncertainty coping strategies, such as excluding data and evaluating its effects, humanists also embraced uncertainty as a separate dimension important to retain. By mapping how the visualizations encoded uncertainty, we identified four approaches that varied in terms of explicitness and customization. This work contributes with two empirical taxonomies of uncertainty and it's corresponding coping strategies, as well as with the foundation of a research agenda for uncertainty visualization in the digital humanities. Our findings further the synergy among humanists and visualization researchers, and ultimately contribute to the development of more trustworthy, uncertainty-aware visualizations

Unfolding -- A library for interactive maps

Visualizing data with geo-spatial properties has become more important and prevalent due to the wide spread dissemination of devices, sensors, databases, and services with references to the physical world. Yet, with existing tools it is often difficult to create interactive geovisualizations tailored for a particular domain or a specific dataset. We present Unfolding, a library for interactive maps and data visualization. Unfolding provides an API for designers to quickly create and customize geo-visualizations. In this paper, we describe the design criteria, the development process, and the functionalities of Unfolding. We demonstrate its versatility in use through a collection of examples. Results from a user survey suggests programmers find the library easy to learn and to use

Untangling Stakeholder Dynamics in Circularity of the Built Environment

Comics are a known method to visually link characters to context through time. This article explores the medium of comics to untangle stakeholder dynamics in the context of a complex theme such as circularity of the built environment. Circularity of the built environment tailors concepts of circular economy to the field of construction and urban development. Relying mostly on optimization strategies, context-specific characteristics such as stakeholder agency and spatial preconditions are often disregarded as resources in the design of circularity projects. This results in one-size-fits all circularity instruments formalized in generic toolboxes. Circularity instruments should additionally engage with stakeholders, recognizing complexity and surfacing the resourcefulness of the territory. This comics series follows the researcher from analysis to design hypothesis, clarifying complexity at hand from the researcher perspective, including stakeholder agendas, spatial conditions, barriers and opportunities. Part of an ongoing action-research project, the self-reflective comics show parts of a researcher’s journey untangling circularity in the built environment in its multiple stakeholder dimensions. It includes data sourced from mixed method research, such as ethnographic fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, and archival research on two Flemish industry parks, Kortrijk-Noord and Leuven-Haasrode. These comics function as a narrative assemblage method for critical analysis, bringing together different data sources, and rendering our research process on circularity contextual and visual. Additionally, the comic allows us to communicate, challenge, and begin to design with (hidden) stakeholder agency

Architectural contextualization of heritage museum artifacts using augmented reality

Context is crucial for understanding meanings and values of heritage. Several heritage artifacts from recently destroyed monuments are exhibited in different museums around the world. As such contextualizing those isolated heritage artifacts enables museums to communicate architectural and spatial qualities of the original context to their visitors. With the rapid evolution of digital technologies, museums started to incorporate Augmented Reality (AR) to present and interpret their collections in more appealing and exciting ways. AR allows both an enrichment of heritage communication, and also encouragement of interactivity in museums. Through a field study in a real-world museum environment, we investigated how AR enhances the communication of the original context of an isolated artifact from the Nimrud palace in Iraq. We deployed a mixed-method evaluation methodology that led to an effective and engaging communication of the architectural context of that artifact, particularly perceiving and recalling architectural features and spatial dimensions. We conclude the paper with a set of discussion points about how AR positively affects visitors’ memorability of architectural qualities, and how it provokes their curiosity to explore more information. We highlight some considerations about AR visualization, such as how levels of embellishment direct user’s focus of attention, and which aspects should be considered when using AR abstract visualization to communicate heritage. We outline several design recommendations to overcome current AR usability issues in museums about intuition, freedom of movement, and age-related differences