DOI:10.1109/MCG.2012.24

Extracted Abstract:

representations that are usually targeted toward more general audiences. In contrast, what challenges does scientific visualization face in storytelling? Scientific Storytelling Visualization has become an important tool for scientists in their daily work. Scientists create visu- alizations for various purposes: to validate experi- ments, explore datasets, or communicate findings to others. If appropriately presented, such visual- izations can be highly effective in conveying nar- ratives. So, using the criteria we mentioned earlier, let’s explore the possibility of telling stories using scientific visualizations. Information visualization’s narrative impact stems from visual comparisons using simple, ab- stract representations of data: bar charts show dif- ferences in length, scatterplots show differences in position, treemaps and pie charts show differences in area, and heat maps show differences in color and intensity. As such, information visualization stories are about comparison or change: “Look at how much bigger A is than B,” or “Look at how C has grown over time.” In contrast, much of scientific visualization’s narrative impact comes from being able to see real data that are normally invisible. At its best, scientific visualization extends our senses, letting us perceive and manipulate data at otherwise impossible scales and perspectives, such as vector fields in weather systems, isosurfaces in supernova simulations, and layers of human anatomy rendered semitransparently. Whereas information visualizations are allegories—abstractions and summaries of raw data—scientific visualizations are more literal; they strive for realism and spatial accuracy, sacrificing details only to facilitate understanding. In some ways, scientific visualization has it easy. Usually, the intended viewers are the scientists How can we aid Mr. Twain in his plight and ensure that he isn’t the exclusive purveyor of good stories well told? Authorized licensed use limited to: TU Wien Bibliothek. Downloaded on October 26,2024 at 11:53:44 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply. 14 January/February 2012 Visualization Viewpoints who generated the data, and others in the same field. So, they need little