DIKU Talk: Full Stack Visualization: From Vision to Insight

Speaker 

Niklas Elmqvist, Ph.D.

Professor of Information Studies

Affiliate Professor of Computer Science

Member, Institute for Advanced Computer Studies

University of Maryland, College Park

Title

Full Stack Visualization: From Vision to Insight

Abstract

In this talk, I define the "visualization stack" as a set of layers that comprise a practical data visualization: (1) vision & perception, (2) cognition & sensemaking, (3) interactive visual representations, (4) views & presentation, and (5) systems & applications. I then go on to demonstrate my own "full stack" approach to data visualization, one that holistically spans all five layers of the visualization stack in an effort to build user-driven, data-centric, and highly interactive software for effective data analysis. In the process, I will present several research projects from different stack layers that demonstrate key research methods in visualization, including human-centered AI (HCAI), natural language processing (NLP), distributed computing, data science, and human-computer interaction (HCI). My goal is to show how such a holistic research agenda for data visualization can facilitate a disciplined, rigorous, and technical approach that also incorporates human-centered values such as participatory design, qualitative research methods, and universal accessibility.

Bio

Niklas Elmqvist (he/him/his) is a full professor in the iSchool (College of Information Studies) at University of Maryland, College Park. 

He received his Ph.D. in computer science in 2006 from Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. Prior to joining University of Maryland, he was an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. From 2016 to 2021, he served as the director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL) at University of Maryland, one of the oldest and most well-known HCI research labs in the United States. His research area is information visualization, human-computer interaction, and visual analytics. He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award as well as best paper awards from the IEEE Information Visualization conference, the ACM CHI conference, the International Journal of Virtual Reality, and the ASME IDETC/CIE conference. He was papers co-chair for IEEE InfoVis 2016, 2017, and 2020, as well as a subcommittee chair for ACM CHI 2020 and 2021. He is also a past associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Visualization & Computer Graphics, as well as a current associate editor for the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and the Information Visualization journal. In addition, he serves as series editor of the Springer Nature Synthesis Lectures on Visualization. His research has been funded by both federal agencies such as NSF, NIH, and DHS as well as by companies such as Google, NVIDIA, and Microsoft. He is the recipient of the Purdue Student Government Graduate Mentoring Award (2014), the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teacher Award (2012), and the Purdue ECE Chicago Alumni New Faculty award (2010). He was elevated to the rank of Distinguished Scientist of the ACM in 2018.