The data is out there. The challenge? Making sense of it all.
This Thursday, Art Center, Caltech and NASA JPL are joining forces to host leaders in the fields of data science and visualization from across the nation for From Data to Discovery, a one-day symposium on the emerging science of big data visualization.
The event will be held at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. and is open to members of the Art Center, Caltech and NASA JPL communities. The event is free but seating is limited, so reservations are required.
Participating guests include:
- Fernanda Viégas & Martin Wattenberg, co-leaders of Google’s “Big Picture” visualization research group in Cambridge, Mass., who describe their work as exploring “the joy of revelation;”
- Jer Thorp, co-founder of The Office for Creative Research, a New York-based multidisciplinary research group, and an artist whose practice uncovers the “many-folded boundaries between science and art;”
- Golan Levin, director of The Frank Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, a self-described “laboratory for atypical, anti-disciplinary, and inter-institutional research at the intersections of arts, science, technology and culture;”
- Jeff Heer, assistant professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University, whose research group investigates the perceptual, cognitive, and social factors involved in making sense of large data collections;
- Eric Rodenbeck, founder, Stamen Design, a San Francisco-based design firm specializing in interactive design and data visualization projects; and
- Anja-Silvia Goeing, a lecturer of history and history of science at Caltech.
Together, Caltech, NASA JPL and Art Center represent the convergence of science, engineering and design that drives new big data-powered discovery. With nearly every scientific and engineering endeavor facing a fundamental challenge to see and extract insights from data, the timing of this symposium couldn’t be better.
The series of talks were arranged to inspire, unite and challenge the community to re-examine its practices and perspectives. And the driving philosophy behind it all? Effective data science and visualization can lead to new discoveries.
The symposium was organized by an inter-campus committee chaired by Dr. Scott Davidoff, Manager, Human Interfaces Group, NASA JPL; Maggie Hendrie, Chair of Interaction Design, Art Center; and Hillary Mushkin, Visiting Professor of Art and Design in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Caltech.
Stay tuned to the Dotted Line for coverage on the event.
– Mike Winder
Image caption: Detail from Graphic Design student Jerod Rivera’s Reductive Resonance.
