From Personal Data Visualization to Data-Empowered Citizens

这项研究的重点是通过促进个人数据的可视化来增强公民的数据能力。数据的使用在社会和经济话语以及决策过程中变得越来越普遍。数据素养--阅读、理解、创造和交流数据作为信息的能力--对公民来说正变得与读写单词和数字的能力一样重要。但许多人缺乏与这些数据互动的技能。为了填补这一空白，我的研究重点是通过以下方式为人们提供数据：i）支持他们创建和共享个人可视化，ii）在家中无缝集成个人物理可视化。人类在日常生活中使用个人数据的历史由来已久，例如维护值班板，在墙上标记儿童的身高，以及展示过去经历的纪念品。如今，人们使用智能仪表和恒温器、可穿戴活动跟踪器和智能手机等设备生成大量个人数据。城市、汽车和家庭正变得“更智能”，人们跟踪从健康状况到食品消费再到运动的一切。然而，大多数公民将如何从这些数据中受益尚不清楚。这些人们自发收集和分享的熟悉数据集是将可视化融入人们生活的新机会，从而有助于为他们提供数据。我和我的团队将研究、设计和评估个人环境中数据的数字和物理表示的日常使用。我们将开发工具，帮助人们创建和分享个人的，相关的可视化;例如，使用遇到的人的照片，葡萄糖水平和主观情绪跟踪的六个月的健康状况。同时，我们将研究如何将最新的技术，如有形，机器人和增强现实界面集成到人们的家中，以提高他们对周围环境的认识，并支持日常决策。例如，爬上天花板的微型机器人可以显示电缆的位置。或者，浴室中的物理表示可以根据一个人的几个健康指标来驱动它们的形状，纹理和颜色。这项研究将有助于经验数据，设计指南，软件，技术和理论的设计工具，支持创建和共享的个人可视化。部署智能家居、物联网、可穿戴和跟踪设备的加拿大公司将应用我们的研究成果来设计增强人们认知能力和决策能力的技术。应用范围从分享日常生活爱好到监测、改善和交流个人健康，再到做出群体决策。加拿大社会将从这项研究中受益，这将提高人们的数据和可视化素养，从而帮助人们成为数据赋权的公民。

This research focuses on empowering citizens with data through promoting visualization of personal data. Utilization of data is becoming ever more prevalent in societal and economic discourses and decision-making processes. Data literacy - the ability to read, understand, create and communicate data as information - is becoming as essential to citizens as the ability to read and write words and numbers. But many people lack the skills to interact with this data. To fill this gap, my research focuses on empowering people with data by i) supporting them in creating and sharing personal visualizations, and by ii) seamlessly integrating personal physical visualizations in their homes. Humans have a long history of using personal data in everyday life, such as maintaining duty boards, marking the height of children on a wall, and displaying mementos of past experiences. Nowadays people generate large amounts of personal data using devices such as smart meters and thermostats, wearable activity trackers and smart phones. Cities, cars and homes are becoming "smarter" and people track everything from health conditions to food consumption to movements. However, how most citizens will benefit from that data is not clear. These familiar datasets that people are self-motivated to collect and share, are a new opportunity for integrating visualization into people's lives thus contributing to empower them with data. My team and I will study, design for, and evaluate the everyday use of digital and physical representations of data in personal contexts. We will develop tools that help people create and share personal, relatable visualizations; for example of a six-month health condition using photography of people met, glucose levels, and subjective mood tracking. In parallel, we will research how recent technology like tangible, robotic, and augmented reality interfaces can be integrated into people's homes, to enhance their awareness of their surroundings and to support daily decision-making. For example, micro-robots climbing on the ceiling could show where electric cables are located. Or, physical representations in a bathroom could actuate their shape, texture and color according to several health indicators of a person. This research will contribute empirical data, design guidelines, software, techniques and theories for designing tools that support the creation and sharing of personal visualizations. Canadian companies that deploy smart-home, Internet of Things, wearable, and tracking devices will apply our research findings to designing technology that enhance people's cognitive abilities and decision making. Applications range from sharing everyday life hobbies to monitoring, improving and communicating personal health to making group decisions. Canadian society in general will benefit from this research that will improve people's data and visualization literacy, thus help people be data-empowered citizens.