Open Tech Calendar

Our next Edinburgh DataVis Meetup features:

Dr Caterina Constantinescu
* A swift introduction to interactive visualisations via R and Shiny
In this code-assisted walkthrough, I will begin by manipulating some data and creating some preliminary, static graphs in R. Afterwards, I will show you how you can generalise such static graphs by integrating elements of interactivity via a Shiny app. We will have a look at some options for constructing the app's UI, as well as how the server communicates with these UI elements and functions internally. The data used to illustrate this process has been downloaded from Kaggle, and represents a set of records for customer purchases made on Black Friday.

Dr Brendan Hill
* Seeing Brexit through visualisations
Data visualisation helps us find more intuitive ways to convey complex narratives, and we are at the beginning/ middle/ end (delete as appropriate) of a world-class example.
From the geography of public opinion to understanding people's underlying motivations for voting, from the political chicanery to the hard choices facing the UK, media, pollsters and academics have had a visualisation bonanza depicting Britain's national calamity/ glorious liberation (delete as appropriate).
I will be showing lots of interesting examples covering facts and fibs we are being told in these most 'interesting' of times, which illustrate a range of more and less successful communication styles.
Some are interactive, some contentious - so bring a device along with your own cognitive and political biases and we'll explore, critique and judge them together. You may learn something, or (in Britain's strongest Remain city) you may just have your opinions reinforced...

As usual, there will be space if you want to share anything. We're also always on the lookout for speakers, so let us know who you have in mind.
See you soon.
Cheers,
Brendan (Hill), Ben (Bach), Uta (Hinrichs), and Matt (Harrison)

*Venue: we’re in the Inspace Gallery at the University of Edinburgh's Bayes Centre for Data Science. The entrance is the slightly inconspicuous door at the *south east* corner of the building (black door aside white poles in the bottom right of the photo above), right opposite Edinburgh Central Mosque.