Sea of Genes: Combining Animation and Narrative Strategies to Visualize Metagenomic Data for Museums

We examine the application of narrative strategies to present a complex and unfamiliar metagenomics dataset to the public in a science museum. Our dataset contains information about microbial gene expressions that scientists use to infer the behavior of microbes. This exhibit had three goals: to inform (the) public about microbes' behavior, cycles, and patterns; to link their behavior to the concept of gene expression; and to highlight scientists' use of gene expression data to understand the role of microbes. To address these three goals, we created a visualization with three narrative layers, each layer corresponding to a goal. This study presented us with an opportunity to assess existing frameworks for narrative visualization in a naturalistic setting. We present three successive rounds of design and evaluation of our attempts to engage visitors with complex data through narrative visualization. We highlight our design choices and their underlying rationale based on extant theories. We conclude that a central animation based on a curated dataset could successfully achieve our first goal, i.e., to communicate the aggregate behavior and interactions of microbes. We failed to achieve our second goal and had limited success with the third goal. Overall, this study highlights the challenges of telling multi-layered stories and the need for new frameworks for communicating layered stories in public settings.Comment: This manuscript has been accepted to VIS 2020 and TVCG 9 pages 2 reference

Assimilation, Dissimilation: An inclusive, participant based installation to express Toronto's collective memory

This thesis paper documents the process from ideation to materialization of making this inclusive, and participatory interactive installation at Union Station. This new social media installation intends to encourage participants to reflect and discuss collective memory of this multicultural nation by asking immigrants and/or their descendants “what has changed in you, living in Toronto?” Union Station, as a gateway and starting point for many immigrants arriving here, could entice them to reflect on their transition of moving form their home country to coming to this new environment. People from different cultural backgrounds could express their experiences on being an insider or outsider of the mainstream society, by which people could raise self-awareness, understand each other and get connected

memory [en]code - building a collective memory within a tabletop installation

In this paper, we introduce memory [en]code, a project that evolved through an art+science collaboration. memory [en]code is an interactive tabletop installation that visualizes different concepts of human memory in an interactive and exploratory way. Designed to be installed in a public space, memory [en]code enables people to enter their personal memories and to explore memories entered by other people. Reacting to people’s interactions, memory [en]code dynamically changes and redefines itself continuously, in ways similar to human memory. Over time memory [en]code forms a collective memory mirroring the experiences and associations of people that have participated in the installation. Within memory [en]code we have approached the concept of human memory in a way that combines art+sciences and that makes the complexity of memory visible and tangible

memory [en]code - building a collective memory within a tabletop installation

In this paper, we introduce memory [en]code, a project that evolved through an art+science collaboration. memory [en]code is an interactive tabletop installation that visualizes different concepts of human memory in an interactive and exploratory way. Designed to be installed in a public space, memory [en]code enables people to enter their personal memories and to explore memories entered by other people. Reacting to people’s interactions, memory [en]code dynamically changes and redefines itself continuously, in ways similar to human memory. Over time memory [en]code forms a collective memory mirroring the experiences and associations of people that have participated in the installation. Within memory [en]code we have approached the concept of human memory in a way that combines art+sciences and that makes the complexity of memory visible and tangible

memory [en]code Building a Collective Memory within a Tabletop Installation

In this paper, we introduce memory [en]code, a project that evolved through an art+science collaboration. memory [en]code is an interactive tabletop installation that visualizes different concepts of human memory in an interactive and exploratory way. Designed to be installed in a public space, memory [en]code enables people to enter their personal memories and to explore memories entered by other people. Reacting to people’s interactions, memory [en]code dynamically changes and redefines itself continuously, in ways similar to human memory. Over time memory [en]code forms a collective memory mirroring the experiences and associations of people that have participated in the installation. Within memory [en]code we have approached the concept of human memory in a way that combines art+sciences and that makes the complexity of memory visible and tangible