Speaker: Sandra Bae (University of Arizona)
Abstract: Data analysis and visualization are crucial tools in today’s world. The utility of a visualization is determined by multiple contextual factors: its end-user’s needs, the intended environment of use, and data operations or characteristics. Yet, the status quo of defaulting data visualizations to 2D digital representations can be limiting and non-optimal when failing to account for these factors. In this talk, I will demonstrate three different examples of visualizations that go beyond this flat state: they extend visualizations into the 3D spaces we inhabit, are in the hands of experts and non-traditional users, and leverage novel interaction techniques that suit different analytical environments. Freeing visualizations from flatland---by integrating research in data visualization, human-computer interaction, computational fabrication, and spatial computing---can help advance both the data and human factors of analytics: it offers advantages for spatial and multidimensional datasets while broadening who and how we can interact with data.
Bio: S. Sandra Bae is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the University of Arizona. Her research seeks to broaden how we interact with data by using 3D+ data representations and multi-modal interactions, addressing the human and data factors of data visualization. Bae’s research goal focuses on understanding the contexts of when data should be presented as 2D versus 3D and, similarly, digitally versus physically. Her interdisciplinary research combines techniques from human-computer interaction (HCI), data visualization, and digital fabrication. Her work has been presented at top HCI and visualization research venues, including ACM CHI and IEEE VIS, and has been awarded multiple paper awards. She was recognized as a Rising Star in EECS (2023). Personal website: https://sandrabae.github.io
