# Presentation: 481502

## Sam UseltonCenter for Applied Scientific ComputingApril 25, 2001This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

**Is Visualization a Solved Problem?**

## Preview

**How does the question arise?**
**How can we answer it?**
**Define it better**
**Understand the context**
**Assess current state**
**Estimate the future**
**Formulate the Answer**

## Why Does Anyone Ask “Is Visualization Solved”?

**Proliferation of Visualization Software Products**
**AVS, Iris Explorer, Data Explorer, Ensight, Khoros, vtk, TekPlot, ...**
**Graphics Capabilities Included in Other Software**
**Mathematica, MatLab, IDL, SAS, Excel, PowerPoint, ...**
**Ease of Use **
**Visual Programming****	****	****Menu Driven**
**AMAZING Improvement in Graphics Hardware**
**Note the Use of “Graphics”**

## Understanding the Question:

**Don’t the Tools Do Everything We Need ?**
**Isn’t the Hardware SO Fast and Cheap that Performance Is Not a Problem ?**
**What Is “The” Visualization Problem ?**

## Why is Visualization Used ?

**The Usual Answers:**
**To See More of the Data, Faster**
**To See Patterns in the Data**
**To Get a More Intuitive Understanding of the Data**
**To Explore the Data, Look for the Unexpected**
**The Cynical Answer**
**Because It Impresses**

## Why Is Visualization Used ? Really.

**Two Very Different Uses:**
**Communication:**** **
**Designed **
**Scripted **
**Polished **

**Notes:**
So why do you need this slide and the following?

We have increased the number of groups. This should permit group leads to spend more time with each group member. Improves communication, potential increase in mentoring.

We have rolled related projects up into sections. We will increase review and reporting of projects coordinated thru the SLs. The SLs will be given authority to manage the budgets associated with their respective projects.

## Why Is Visualization Used ? Really.

**Two Very Different Uses:**
**Exploration:****  **
**Qualitative, Informal, Idiosyncratic, Interactive**

**Notes:**
So why do you need this slide and the following?

We have increased the number of groups. This should permit group leads to spend more time with each group member. Improves communication, potential increase in mentoring.

We have rolled related projects up into sections. We will increase review and reporting of projects coordinated thru the SLs. The SLs will be given authority to manage the budgets associated with their respective projects.

## What’s Hard About Visualization?

**Visualization is More Than Just Graphics:**
**	****Choose the Data to Display**
**	****Choose the Mapping from Data to “Visible Attributes”**
**	****Arrange the Scene**
**	****Select the View**
**	****Do the Graphics**
**and Interactivity too...**

## (Aside:) The Value of Interactivity

**Active  VS  Passive**
**Creating  VS Receiving **
**Driving  VS Riding**
**Immediate VS Delayed Feedback**

## (Aside #2) A Brief History of Visualization (as a Field)

**Visualization is as Old as Science (at least) **
**	****Notebooks:  Leonardo & Galileo**
**	****Cartography**
**	****Plotting Functions**
**Computed Visualization is as Old as Computing **
**	****Rand Corp Satelite Simulation Bug (ca 1960)**
**Definition as a Field in 1987**

## (Aside #2) A Brief History of Visualization (as a Field)

**Before 1987: **
**    ****Done by Users or Programmer Employees**
**    ****Domain or Application Specific**
**1987: NSF Workshop & Report: **
**	****Visualization in Scientific Computing**
**Definition as “a Field”**
**	****Recognition of Special Knowledge**
**	****Recognition of Commonalities**
**	****Possibility of Collaboration**

## THE Visualization Problem

**The GOAL of ****(exploratory)**** Visualization is **
**Better Answers, Faster and Easier**
**Same Goal as All Data Analysis**
**Visualization is Sometimes the Most Appropriate Tool**
**N.B.  The Goal is NOT to Maximize the Amount of Data Exposed to the User !**

## Current Status: Products Available

**Visualization Packages Have Most Needed Functions**
**PC Graphics Hardware is Very Fast, But ....**
**Scientific Visualization is Insufficient Market**

**Notes:**
Section leaders will interact primarily with their project leads and with the (diagonally dominant) group lead. Section leads will not act as group leads: no meeting of all project members

## Current Status: Research Remaining

**Methods of Determining Quality**
**Does the visualization do a good job of supporting user in answering quickly and correctly?**
**Methods of Comparing Multiple Data Sets**
**Better Methods of Handling Time Varying**
**Coordination with Other Analysis Tools**
**Flexibility AND Compatibility**

**Notes:**
Section leaders will interact primarily with their project leads and with the (diagonally dominant) group lead. Section leads will not act as group leads: no meeting of all project members

## Current Status: The New Problem 

**1987:  Too Much Data => Must Visualize**
**1999:  So Much Data, Visualization is Insufficient**
**More Data Is Generated Than Can Be Stored**
**More Data Is Stored Than Can Be Visually Examined**

## Visualization: NOT  Solved, But Maturing

**Better Coordination with Other Analysis Methods**
**Do as Much Automatic Analysis as Possible**
**Move Between Qualitative and Quantitative Easily**
**Smarter About the Visualization Process**
**Smarter Selection of Data**
**Better Mappings from Data to Visible Attributes**
**Better Prospecting for “Possibly Interesting” **
**Use Visualization Differently**
**Indirect Support of Navigation in Complex Data**
**Visualization of Properties Supporting Human Prospecting**

**Notes:**
This viewgraph is too busy with text; can we shorten?  If not, so be it

Well, you might drop “makes his own assessment” at end of each bullet (3 of them).