CGV: Medium: Collaborative Research: Visualizing Comparisons

比较是数据分析的重要组成部分，因此也是许多可视化任务的重要组成部分。虽然已出版的文献提供了丰富的可视化工具来查看单个对象(图形、体积、时间序列、基因序列、分子运动等)，但到目前为止，很少考虑是否支持比较。PI认为，明确为此目的设计的工具对比较任务提供了最好的支持。问题是，随着对象的数量、大小以及对象和/或对象之间关系的复杂性的增加，视觉比较变得更加具有挑战性。由于我们收集和生成数据的能力迅速增长，这一困难进一步加剧。在以前的工作中，PI开发了一些令人鼓舞的比较工具的初始示例，但这些都是专门的成功，对未来的努力几乎没有指导作用。因此，以我们目前有限的理解，在更大范围内解决更广泛的比较问题，在很大程度上仍然是一门需要付出相当大努力的艺术。PI在这个项目中的目标是走向视觉比较的科学。通过将视觉比较作为一个一般性问题进行研究，他们将为该领域建立一个独立于领域的基础，以促进未来工具的设计，从而创建更有效和可扩展的比较。为了达到这些目的，该团队将寻求三条相互关联的研究线索。他们将定义以视觉认知原理为基础的理论。他们将探索案例研究(来自领域合作者提出的真实问题)，挑战和扩展这些理论，提供实证研究的例子，并建议或使用一般概念。他们将确定常见的任务、设计和策略，以支持通用技术、指导方针和软件组件的开发。这种方法独特地结合了经验研究、设计探索和软件开发，将视觉比较领域带到了一个新的水平，既植根于理论，又在实践中可行。更广泛的影响：由于视觉比较在不同的领域发挥着关键作用(基本上包括所有的科学、工程和医学)，改进视觉比较工具的科学的潜在好处是深远的。为了确保最大限度地适用于项目成果，私人投资机构直接与物理、生物、社会、教育和医学科学家以及人文学科的工程师和学者合作。该项目将为其他人的可视化开发生成可视化工具、软件组件和资源。视觉比较将作为一种机制，让所有级别的学生接触到数据理解方面的问题。该项目还将为可视化专家提供培训，让非技术类学生参与可视化，并探讨可视化在公共宣传工作中的作用。

Comparison is an essential part of data analysis and, therefore, of many visualization tasks. While the published literature provides a wealth of visualization tools for looking at individual objects (graphs, volumes, time series, gene sequences, molecular motions, etc.), there has to date been less consideration of support for comparison. The PIs argue that comparison tasks are best supported by tools explicitly designed for that purpose. The problem is that visual comparison becomes more challenging as the number of objects, their size, and the complexity of the objects and/or of the relationships among them increases. The difficulty is further compounded by our rapidly growing ability to collect and generate data. In prior work the PIs have developed some encouraging initial examples of comparison tools, but these are specialized successes that offer little guidance for future endeavors. Addressing a wider range of comparison problems at greater scale with our present limited understanding thus largely remains an art that requires considerable effort. The PIs' goal in this project is to move towards a science of visual comparison. By studying visual comparison as a general problem, they will establish a domain-independent foundation for the field that facilitates the design of future tools which allow the creation of more effective and scalable comparisons. To these ends the team will pursue three interconnected research threads. They will define theories that are grounded upon principles of visual cognition. They will explore case studies (derived from real problems suggested by domain collaborators) that challenge and extend these theories, provide examples for empirical study, and suggest or use general concepts. And they will identify common tasks, designs, and strategies that enable development of generalized techniques, guidelines, and software components. This approach uniquely combines empirical studies, design explorations, and software development to take the field of visual comparisons to a new level that is both rooted in theory yet viable in practice. Broader Impacts: Because visual comparison plays a key role in diverse domains (including essentially all of the sciences, engineering, and medicine), the potential benefits from an improved science of visual comparison tools are far reaching. To ensure maximum applicability for project outcomes, the PIs are directly collaborating with physical, biological, social, educational, and medical scientists, as well as with engineers and scholars in the humanities. The project will generate visualization tools, software components, and resources for visualization development by others. Visual comparison will serve as a mechanism to expose students at all levels to issues in data understanding. This project will also provide training for visualization specialists, engage non-technical students in visualization, and explore the role of visualization in public outreach efforts.