The University of Edinburgh is running an open online workshop to help visualize your networks with The Vistorian (http://vistorian.github.io). The Vistorian is an application that provides a set of interactive network visualizations (node-link diagram, matrix, timeline, and map) to visualize geographical, temporal, and multivariate networks. No coding or download is required. The Vistorian runs in your web browser with your data stored securely on your machine.
The tutorial is aimed for everyone wanting to visualize and visually explore complex network data. The Vistorian can help with geographic, temporal and multivariate networks. There is a size limit of around 1000 links for the time being.
The Vistorian is tool created in close relationship with our research in data visualization and aims to both provide novel and powerful visualizations for complex networks and help making these visualizations more accessible. We are keen to learn from your experience and improve our tool.
Our workshop will start on June 3rd (Thu), with optional Q&A and drop-in sessions over the summer. The workshop comprises:
- Overview session (1h): Thursday, June 3rd 2021, 4-5pm UK time
- Live Tutorial (1h): Thursday, June 3rd 2021, 5-6pm UK time
- Web tutorials:
- Drop-in Q&A sessions on June 10, 17, 21, 2021: 3pm UK time
- Individual sessions: https://www.picktime.com/TheVistorian
More information about the workshop: https://vistorian.github.io/tutorials.html
Open Tutorial on Interactive Network Visualization with The Vistorian
Description changed:
The University of Edinburgh is running an open online workshop to help visualize your networks with The Vistorian (http://vistorian.github.io). The Vistorian is an application that provides a set of interactive network visualizations (node-link diagram, matrix, timeline, and map) to visualize geographical, temporal, and multivariate networks. No coding or download is required. The Vistorian runs in your web browser with your data stored securely on your machine.
The tutorial is aimed for everyone wanting to visualize and visually explore complex network data. The Vistorian can help with geographic, temporal and multivariate networks. There is a size limit of around 1000 links for the time being.
The Vistorian is tool created in close relationship with our research in data visualization and aims to both provide novel and powerful visualizations for complex networks and help making these visualizations more accessible. We are keen to learn from your experience and improve our tool.
Our workshop will start on June 3rd (Thu), with optional Q&A and drop-in sessions over the summer. The workshop comprises:
- Overview session (1h): Thursday, June 3rd 2021, 4-5pm UK time
- Live Tutorial (1h): Thursday, June 3rd 2021, 5-6pm UK time
- Web tutorials:
- Drop-in Q&A sessions on June 10, 17, 21, 2021: 3am UK time
- Individual sessions: https://www.picktime.com/TheVistorian
More information about the workshop: https://vistorian.github.io/tutorials.html
Chris Hutchinson - Location data analysis through the prism of time
We’ll briefly look at why location analysis needs to be thought of in terms of time and not distance. After all, none of us can travel as the crow flies, and we are all at the mercy of the transport networks around us to navigate the world.
Then we'll dive into how we made this possible at TravelTime, touching on some of the data sets we use, the models and algorithms we’ve built on top of these, and how we then make this accessible to users.
Finally we’ll go into a live demo, showing how the technology can be used to visualise data and answer some real-world questions in location analytics.
Bio
Chris joined TravelTime a couple of years ago as Product Manager, responsible for building integrations between the TravelTime API and other third-party analytics platforms. He now heads up the Customer Success team, working closely with clients across all industries to help them enhance their location search and analytics capabilities with travel time data.
Company (https://traveltime.com)
TravelTime provides a set of APIs and GIS analytics plugins that enable the world to be searched and analysed by time instead of by distance. The breadth of use cases for the technology is incredibly broad, but can be roughly broken down into two categories:
• Search clients use the API to sort and rank results by travel time when a user searches on their website, such as property sites, job sites, and hotel booking sites
• Analytics clients use our tools to enhance their business intelligence capabilities, and make better decisions such as retail store site selection, office relocations, and sales territories
Strath Slater - Edinburgh: A 20 Minute City?
The concept of the ‘20-Minute Neighbourhood’ - a well connected neighbourhood with all of the amenities people require to meet their everyday needs within a 20 minute return walk or cycle – has been gaining momentum, with high profile trials planned in Paris and Melbourne.
Using spatial analysis of openly available data, buildings in Edinburgh were ranked according to whether or not they are within a 20 minute return walk of a supermarket, GP surgery, school, green recreational space and bus stop.
The results yield some interesting patterns and raise questions about the success of formalised planning in developing liveable and practical urban spaces which meet people’s everyday needs.
Bio
Strath is an Associate at Galbraith, where he uses spatial analysis to deliver projects in the renewable energy, utilities, rural, forestry and commercial property sectors.
He spends his time figuring out how to tell complex stories with spatial data and enjoys using maps as vehicles to encourage people to engage with, interpret and understand an issue.
He can be found on Twitter (@StrathSlater) and linkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/strathslater), where he posts maps and spatial data visualisations.
As usual we encourage interaction so please feel free to ask questions, technical, aesthetic or otherwise, of the speakers and each other.
If you have any speakers or topics you would like to suggest for future events, let us know!
Scientific visualization combines the complexities of science, the technical rigor of programming, the challenges of effective teaching and the creative possibilities of art and design. It is typically used in one of two ways:
1) to clarify and communicate and
2) to help explore and analyze large data sets.
However, one of the most powerful yet little-recognized benefits of visualization is the way it synthesizes our knowledge and externalizes our mental models. In fact, many designers and animators report anecdotally that scientists with whom they collaborate gain new insights into their science as a result of creating visualizations: ‘visual thinking’ triggered during this process sheds new light on otherwise familiar data. How exactly does visualization trigger such cognitive benefits and how can it be leveraged to improve research and communication? This presentation will offer insights into these questions while drawing on a broad range of examples selected from our portfolio of work across the life sciences. In particular, I will share our efforts to create a continuous dynamic model of how the SARS CoV-2 spike protein induces membrane fusion as it transitions from prefusion, to prehairpin and postfusion conformational intermediates. Our modeling and simulation work offers insights into the mechanism of action of a recently published class of SARS CoV-2 fusion inhibitors delivered by nasal spray.
BIO
Gaël is faculty and Director of Molecular Visualization at the Center for Molecular and Cellular Dynamics at Harvard Medical School, where his teaching and research focuses on visualization design and assessment methods in science education. He is also founder & CEO of Digizyme, Inc. (www.digizyme.com) a firm dedicated to the visualization and communication of science. [Showreel: www.digizyme.com/reel.html ]
Dr. McGill recently co-authored and served as digital director for E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth iBooks biology textbook. He is the creator of the scientific visualization online community portal Clarafi.com (originally molecularmovies.com), the Molecular Maya (mMaya) software toolkit and has contributed to leading Maya and ZBrush textbooks for Wiley/SYBEX Publishing. Dr. McGill was also a board member of the Vesalius Trust and remains an advisor to several biotechnology and device companies.
After his B.A. summa cum laude in Biology, Music, and Art History from Swarthmore College, and Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Sandoz Pharmaceuticals fellow, Dr. McGill completed his postdoctoral work at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute studying tumor cell apoptosis and melanoma.
Jack Sleight & Dominic Pearce, Fios Genomics ( www.fiosgenomics.com )
Jack:
I'll 'show and tell' my covid Scotland app that I developed using the Shiny package in R. I'll aim to:
- Briefly introduce how Shiny works and how it aims to makes web development easy for novices like myself
- Explain the data sources, how the app manipulates the data and updates daily
- Walk through the app itself describing its basic structure and the motivation behind the design
Jack's Bio
I has been a Bioinformatician since October 2019 involved in a range of projects from profiling of disease vs. normal tissue using gene expression data, to utilising gene expression and whole genome sequencing data to try and identify novel biomarkers or gene signatures related to drug response in diseases such as breast cancer. He holds bioinformatics degrees from Strathclyde and Glasgow Universities.
Here's a brief interview with Jack about the app: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L165H0EYR5s
_ _ _
Dominic:
The role of visualisation in defining immune cell subsets for single-cell RNA sequencing data
Bio:
Dominic is a Senior Bioinformatics Developer building tools for and analysing genomics data on cancer, drug development, machine learning and statistics.
He holds bioscience degrees from Nottingham, Leicester and a PhD from Edinburgh University, 'Breast cancer heterogeneity within the neoadjuvant window'.
N.b. The event link will be published and sent to attendees beforehand.
Knowledge Synthesis With Sci Vis (How SARS CoV-2 Spike Drives Membrane Fusion)
Description changed:
Dr Gaël McGill
Scientific visualization combines the complexities of science, the technical rigor of programming, the challenges of effective teaching and the creative possibilities of art and design. It is typically used in one of two ways:
1) to clarify and communicate and
2) to help explore and analyze large data sets.
However, one of the most powerful yet little-recognized benefits of visualization is the way it synthesizes our knowledge and externalizes our mental models. In fact, many designers and animators report anecdotally that scientists with whom they collaborate gain new insights into their science as a result of creating visualizations: ‘visual thinking’ triggered during this process sheds new light on otherwise familiar data. How exactly does visualization trigger such cognitive benefits and how can it be leveraged to improve research and communication? This presentation will offer insights into these questions while drawing on a broad range of examples selected from our portfolio of work across the life sciences. In particular, I will share our efforts to create a continuous dynamic model of how the SARS CoV-2 spike protein induces membrane fusion as it transitions from prefusion, to prehairpin and postfusion conformational intermediates. Our modeling and simulation work offers insights into the mechanism of action of a recently published class of SARS CoV-2 fusion inhibitors delivered by nasal spray.
BIO
Gaël is faculty and Director of Molecular Visualization at the Center for Molecular and Cellular Dynamics at Harvard Medical School, where his teaching and research focuses on visualization design and assessment methods in science education. He is also founder & CEO of Digizyme, Inc. (www.digizyme.com) a firm dedicated to the visualization and communication of science. [Showreel: www.digizyme.com/reel.html ]
Dr. McGill recently co-authored and served as digital director for E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth iBooks biology textbook. He is the creator of the scientific visualization online community portal Clarafi.com (originally molecularmovies.com), the Molecular Maya (mMaya) software toolkit and has contributed to leading Maya and ZBrush textbooks for Wiley/SYBEX Publishing. Dr. McGill was also a board member of the Vesalius Trust and remains an advisor to several biotechnology and device companies.
After his B.A. summa cum laude in Biology, Music, and Art History from Swarthmore College, and Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Sandoz Pharmaceuticals fellow, Dr. McGill completed his postdoctoral work at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute studying tumor cell apoptosis and melanoma.
N.b. The event link will be published to attendees just beforehand.
I'll 'show and tell' my covid Scotland app that I developed using the Shiny package in R. I'll aim to:
- Briefly introduce how Shiny works and how it aims to makes web development easy for novices like myself
- Explain the data sources, how the app manipulates the data and updates daily
- Walk through the app itself describing its basic structure and the motivation behind the design
In the second half of the meeting, a colleague will talk more broadly about the sorts of analysis/ visualisations we do.
BIO
I have been working as a Bioinformatician since October 2019 following a masters in Bioinformatics from Glasgow University and a BSc in Biochemistry and Pharmacology from Strathclyde University. In my current role I have been involved in a whole range of different projects, from profiling of disease vs. normal tissue using gene expression data, to utilising gene expression and whole genome sequencing data to try and identify novel biomarkers or gene signatures related to drug response in diseases such as breast cancer.
Jack is a bioinformatician at Fios Genomics ( www.fiosgenomics.com ).
Here's a brief interview with Jack about the app: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L165H0EYR5s
N.b. The event link will be published and sent to attendees beforehand.
In this talk, I want to share the process and workflow I go through as someone who is approaching data visualization coming from the technical/scientific angle, and what I've been learning (and still do) about design and communication/journalism.
Data visualization is very much an intersection between the gathering of reliable and correct factual information (with all the machinery of data splunking and analysis + statistics) and its visual representation, which has to be not only appealing to the eye but also clean and to the point. I find that rather than using tools and libraries (which I still love and use anyway), drawing visuals by hand gives me the most freedom in crafting visual info the way I conceive it in my brain. Plus I enjoy drawing, even if my end results are not pretty nor professional - it's the process that matters to me.
I will do a little walkthrough of the messy line I follow when drawing a viz:
- getting excited about a topic;
- framing the question to gather data for;
- gathering said data (when I manage, I will talk about failures too);
polishing it;
- conceiving the representation and trying to execute it (the most delicate step).
I learn a lot along the way and I hope to teach others something too - from little facts about our world to bigger questions that need deeper investigations. See you there!
BIO
I work in data science, so I come to dataviz from the technical side - I have several years of experience in the field and a scientific formation (PhD in Physics), and a long-standing sweet spot for data. Because I've always loved measuring things and phenomena to extract quantitative info but also communicating results and sharing knowledge to any audience, I've started datavizzing various finds, teaching myself best practices in design and even data journalism. I've got a little project called "doodledatcard" (on Behance too) which aims at just that, where I hand-draw visualisations - the goal is purely educational, for both myself and for anyone who may find it interesting.
Martina is Data Science Lead at Edinburgh fashion tech company Mallzee (https://mallzee.com).
N.b. The event link will be published and sent to attendees beforehand.
Drawing data, from messy ideas to concept and design
Description changed:
Dr Martina Pugliese, Data Science Lead at Edinburgh fashion tech company Mallzee (https://mallzee.com) crunches numbers on computers all day.
But she also has a hobby... drawing visualisations by hand. Come and hear how she puts away the screen and strives to communicate data stories using only the tools of brain and hand.
Over the past 3 years Andy Kirk has been working on a vast, unnecessary data adventure to visualise every episode of the hit 90s TV show, Seinfeld. In September, he finished this project which, unexpectedly, turned in to a 240 page book.
In this talk Andy will go through his design process to share the detailed story behind this work. From the contextual circumstances, through the analytical stages of collecting and handling the data, as well as formulating his story, and on to the myriad design choices he made about matters like chart selections, colours and layout. You will learn about the rationale behind every decision and every pixel that ended up in the book.
Andy will also share insights into his mistakes, the inefficiencies, and the problems he struggled to overcome. Two attendees will also have the chance to win a copy of this limited edition printed work, tune in to find out how!
BIO
Andy Kirk is a Yorkshire-based data visualisation expert: design consultant, trainer, lecturer, author, speaker, researcher, host of the 'Explore Explain’ podcast and video series, and editor of visualisingdata.com
Since founding Visualising Data Ltd. in 2010, Andy has conducted over 300 training courses in 27 countries to +6500 delegates, with clients including Spotify, Google, EU Council, and Pfizer.
Andy has delivered post-graduate teaching with MICA (USA) and Imperial College, and is now an adjunct lecturer teaching data visualisation on a Masters programme at UCL. He has authored three books, with the most recent published by Sage in August 2019 and titled ‘Visualising Data: A Handbook for Data Driven Design (2nd edition)’.
He provides data visualisation consultancy services to organisations, helping them do more with their data, and has an ongoing engagement working with the Arsenal F.C. Performance Team.
Andy Kirk (www.visualisingdata.com/about/)
Author, 'Data Visualisation: A Handbook for Data Driven Design' and curator of one of the best collections of visualisation resources out there.
The making of an unnecessary visualisation about Seinfeld (Andy Kirk)
Description changed:
Over the past 3 years Andy Kirk has been working on a vast, unnecessary data adventure to visualise every episode of the hit 90s TV show, Seinfeld. In September, he finished this project which, unexpectedly, turned in to a 240 page book.
In this talk Andy will go through his design process to share the detailed story behind this work. From the contextual circumstances, through the analytical stages of collecting and handling the data, as well as formulating his story, and on to the myriad design choices he made about matters like chart selections, colours and layout. You will learn about the rationale behind every decision and every pixel that ended up in the book.
Andy will also share insights into his mistakes, the inefficiencies, and the problems he struggled to overcome. Two attendees will also have the chance to win a copy of this limited edition printed work, tune in to find out how!
BIO
Andy Kirk is a Yorkshire-based data visualisation expert: design consultant, trainer, lecturer, author, speaker, researcher, host of the 'Explore Explain’ podcast and video series, and editor of visualisingdata.com
Since founding Visualising Data Ltd. in 2010, Andy has conducted over 300 training courses in 27 countries to +6500 delegates, with clients including Spotify, Google, EU Council, and Pfizer.
Andy has delivered post-graduate teaching with MICA (USA) and Imperial College, and is now an adjunct lecturer teaching data visualisation on a Masters programme at UCL. He has authored three books, with the most recent published by Sage in August 2019 and titled ‘Visualising Data: A Handbook for Data Driven Design (2nd edition)’.
He provides data visualisation consultancy services to organisations, helping them do more with their data, and has an ongoing engagement working with the Arsenal F.C. Performance Team.
Andy Kirk (www.visualisingdata.com/about/)
Author, 'Data Visualisation: A Handbook for Data Driven Design' and curator of one of the best collections of visualisation resources out there.
Looking for data visualization tools? Looking for someone with expertise? Wanting to exchange your expertise about tools? Join us for our open discussion session on visualization tools—you do not need to be an expert—we are keen to learn from everyone's experience.
As the number of tools for data visualization keeps growing, it is increasingly difficult to navigate the tool jungle. The goal of this 2h (online) meetup session is to engage in an open discussion about tools and exchange your expertise. This session aims to bring together people with (some) expertise in visualization tools. There are no talks scheduled but we have a small protocol to structure your discussion groups and to meet new people.
We will have a first round of breakout groups where people can share their experience with tools they know ("expert group") and a second round of discussions to give space to ask about tools you want to know more about. It's an experiment!!
To aid discussion and browsing, we developed http://vistools.net. Browse for tools, read the reviews, and join our session on Nov-12.
The session will happen on Collaborate: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/6ca7e323f7dd4d35bfe5957fa756574a
No need to install any client or to create any account.
Data Visualization Tools—Knowledge and Expertise Exchange Session
Description changed:
Looking for data visualization tools? Looking for someone with expertise? Wanting to exchange your expertise about tools? Join us for our open discussion session on visualization tools—you do not need to be an expert—we are keen to learn from everyone's experience.
As the number of tools for data visualization keeps growing, it is increasingly difficult to navigate the tool jungle. The goal of this 2h (online) meetup session is to engage in an open discussion about tools and exchange your expertise. This session aims to bring together people with (some) expertise in visualization tools. There are no talks scheduled but we have a small protocol to structure your discussion groups and to meet new people.
We will have a first round of breakout groups where people can share their experience with tools they know ("expert group") and a second round of discussions to give space to ask about tools you want to know more about. It's an experiment!!
To aid discussion and browsing, we developed http://vistools.net. Browse for tools, read the reviews, and join our session on Nov-12.
The session will happen on Collaborate: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/6a78e2a20ca545ac93c2f050d8631add. No need to install any client or to create any account.
Data Changes Everything: How Data Vis Design and Interface Design are Different
Description changed:
The 5th of our summer talks, by Jagoda Walny, Canada Energy Regulator.
Title: Data Changes Everything: How Data Visualization Design and Interface Design are Different
Join us at
https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/d6f968c9fe8e4a1382b2d4fc456a813d
This talk will be 30min, followed by 30min for questions and discussion.
Tue, July 28th, 6:00 pm (GMT+1)
**Abstract:** It’s easy to assume that the tools and approaches used for general software design apply equally to data visualization design. But data visualization design and interface design are often deeply and fundamentally distinct from one another. We learned this the hard way when we turned our research lab into a collaborative data visualization design studio for a few years, creating public-facing visualizations with a large organization and a software development team. In this talk, I will highlight some challenges that our design team faced and reflect on the opportunities this poses to create new, powerful data visualization design tools and communication processes..
**Bio:** Jagoda spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Interactions Lab (University of Calgary, Canada) leading a data visualization design team and reflecting on plenty of design and process challenges along the way. She currently leads the Visual Data & Design group at the Canada Energy Regulator..
The Impact of Technology on Info Graphics & Data Vis in News, Isabel Meirelles
Description changed:
The 4th of our summer talks, by Isabel Meirelles, Ontario College of Art and Design University.
Join us at
https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/d6f968c9fe8e4a1382b2d4fc456a813d
This talk will be 30min, followed by 30min for questions and discussion.
Wed , July 22nd , 6:00 pm
**Abstract:** Each new technology affects the way we communicate information: from how we gather, sort, produce and design, to how we reproduce, disseminate and receive the news. In this talk, I will discuss the impact of technology on the use and creation of infographics and data visualizations in newspapers. I will focus on the past 20 years of online journalism by examining medal recipients of the Malofiej International Infographics Awards since its 8th edition in 2000, when it started accepting Online infographics. I will critically look at two levels of design creation: the individual level of the visualization, and the contextual level of the narrative structure. The goal is to reflect on the extent to which technologies of both production and readership have fostered (or hindered) new design strategies in data storytelling over time.
**Bio:** Isabel Meirelles is an information designer and educator whose intellectual curiosity lies in the relationships between visual thinking and visual representation. She is a professor in the faculty of design at OCAD University, Toronto. Previously, she was at Northeastern University, Boston (2003–2014). Her research focuses on the theoretical and experimental examination of the fundamentals underlying how information is structured, represented, and communicated in different media. Meirelles frequently teams up with colleagues on interdisciplinary projects involving visualization of information, and she has organized numerous conferences, initiatives, and exhibitions on the topic. In addition to writing widely on the role of data visualization in society, culture, and education, Meirelles is the author of Design for Information: An introduction to the histories, theories, and best practices behind effective information visualizations (Rockport, 2013).
Future Data Visualisation Concepts, Laura Smit, Slanted Theory
Description changed:
Join us at https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/d6f968c9fe8e4a1382b2d4fc456a813d.
**Laura Smith, Slanted Theory**
**Abstract:** The world of data is an ever growing entity. Companies are collecting vast amounts of it, on customers, machines, processes, location. Predictions put us in the realms of generating 163 zettabytes by 2025. We have some way to go, yet we are all already struggling to make sense of the data we collect. Data exploration and communicating this complex data is a challenge. Teams are under pressure as the data grows to find insight and communicate it to those that don’t have data science backgrounds. This usually means lots of dashboard graphs and reports. But it there a better way?
**Bio:** Laura Smith is CEO and head of interactive visualisations at Slanted Theory, an innovative data visualisation and analytics company that utilises A.I. along with Virtual, Augmented and Mixed reality to disrupt the way data is analysed, making it easier to discover hidden insights. Laura has had a strong interest in art and design from a young age and started her career around computers by mixing digital and fine art. Later working around computer science and complex research data, Laura fused the two paths to cofound Slanted Theory. She now specialises in creating engaging interactive experiences in virtual and augmented reality to enable non-specialists to explore multidimensional data like never before, to support faster decision making through her ALAIRA platform.
Finding What to Read: Visual Text Analytics Tools and Techniques
Description changed:
The 2nd of our summer talks, by Christopher Collins, Ontario Tech Institute, OT. Join us at
https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/d6f968c9fe8e4a1382b2d4fc456a813d
This talk will be 30min, followed by 30min for questions and discussion.
Thu, July 9th, 5:30pm
Abstract: Text is one of the most prominent forms of open data available, from social media to legal decisions. Visual Text Analytics combines text data processing techniques with interactive visualizations to provide ways to observe trends, discover patterns, and find the right thing to read in large collections of text. I argue that text visualization is not a replacement for reading but can help someone form questions about a large text collection, then drill down to investigate through targeted reading of the underlying source documents. In this presentation I will overview some of the biggest challenges in working with text and highlight some case studies in visualizing text in a variety of domains, from security and passwords to digital humanities.
Bio: Dr. Christopher Collins holds the Canada Research Chair in Linguistic Information Visualization and is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Ontario Tech University. His research focus is interdisciplinary, combining information visualization and human-computer interaction with natural language processing to address the challenges of information management and the problems of information overload. Dr. Collins has published over 80 peer-reviewed contributions, many in top-tier venues such as ACM ToCHI and IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. His research has been featured in the New York Times Magazine and CBS Sunday Morning. He received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Toronto. Dr. Collins is a past member of the executive of the IEEE Visualization and Graphics Technical Committee and sits on the IEEE VIS Conference Organizing Committee.
I hope you are all doing well during these times. We are back with some exciting talks, scheduled talks over the next weeks—taking advantage of the online world to invite speakers from far away! Talks will be held online and details can be found here:
We will create individual meetups for each new talk and update information we obtain them.
All talks will happen here and the room will open 10min prior to the scheduled time. https://eu.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/join/962a01dc676049a5a30d0b0ac3cc78bc
As usual, all talks are open to everyone and we plan for 30min talk and 30min Q&A.
We start on Tuesday (tomorrow!!), July, 7 at 3:30 pm with Dr. Cagatay Turkay from the University of Warwick on Facilitating Well-Informed Data Science through Interactive Visual Analysis.
Looking forward to seeing you all!
****************
**Title:** Facilitating Well-Informed Data Science through Interactive Visual Analysis
**Abstract:** In this talk, I will talk about how interactive visualisations that are coupled tightly with algorithms offer effective methods in conducting data science in rigorous and critical ways. Such methods not only enhance the insights drawn but also support better-informed decisions made based on the outcomes. We will discuss how visualisation can facilitate such practices and will look at examples of research on how data can be transformed and visualised creatively in multiple perspectives, on how comparisons can be made within different models, parameters, and within local and global solutions, and on how interaction is an enabler for such processes.
**Bio:** Cagatay Turkay is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies at the University of Warwick, UK. His research investigates the interactions between data, algorithms and people, and explores the role of interactive visualisation and other interaction mediums such as natural language at this intersection. He designs techniques and algorithms that are sensitive to their users in various decision-making scenarios involving primarily high-dimensional and spatio-temporal phenomena, and develops methods to study how people work interactively with data and computed artifacts.
Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup #15 Andy Kirk CANCELLED
Description changed:
It's not academic CANCELLED DUE TO PUBLIC HEALTH SITUATION
Andy Kirk (www.visualisingdata.com/about/)
Author, 'Data Visualisation: A Handbook for Data Driven Design' and curator of one of the best collections of visualisation resources out there (www.visualisingdata.com/resources)
Andy may be the UK's most experienced freelance data visualiser. Based in Yorkshire, he's been a consultant, trainer, teacher, author, speaker, researcher and editor for over a decade.
A business analyst and information manager at CIS Insurance, West Yorkshire Police and the University of Leeds, he discovered data visualisation in 2007 and has gone on to work with organisations including Google, CERN, Electronic Arts, the EU Council, Hershey, and McKinsey.
Maintaining an active academic interest, he worked on an AHRC project on public data visualisation literacy, as well as taught on the Information Visualisation Masters at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the MSc Business Analytics programme at Imperial College Business School, and at UCL School of Management.
His award-winning website has tracked the rising popularity of the subject and is now a popular reference offering contemporary discourse, design techniques, and vast collections of examples and resources.
Training workshop:
While he's in town, Andy is running a whole-day workshop teaching DV techniques (which he's done almost 300 times in 27 countries!). EDVM members are entitled to a 10% discount (please message organisers for the code) upon registration at:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/data-visualisation-infographics-training-1-day-edinburgh-registration-91109301373
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Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
As usual, there will be space if you have anything to share. We're also open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
Please do circulate this invitation. Everyone welcome. We're in an accessible space. Bring colleagues, family, friends, & kids.
This session is about non-standard displays, immersive environments, multimodality, and experiences. We have two speakers that night: Professor Aaron Quigly on "Our Conversion to Immersion---The Seven Stages of Immersive Analytics"
>Canceled: the presentation by Pufferfish and visualizing geographic and climate change data on spherical displays: https://pufferfishdisplays.com
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Professor Aaron Quigley: Our Conversion to Immersion---The Seven Stages of Immersive Analytics
Immersive Analytics is an emerging field of research and development that seeks a deeper engagement with the analysis and data and can involve technologies such as Augmented and Virtual reality, large display spaces or more direct interaction. However, the field heavily draws on the various meanings of the term "immersive" coupled with the different approaches to analytics, giving rise to slightly different interpretations. There are two primary facets related to the term immersive analytics.
The first, and more literal aspect, is to be immersed or submerged in the data and analytic task. This gives rise to the examination of the range of human senses, modalities and technologies which might allow one to have their various senses fully immersed.
A second facet, is the provision of computational analysis methods which facilitate a deep mental involvement with the task and data. Smooth interaction with the data and analytic task might allow people to concentrate and focus their attention, allowing them to enter a “flow state” which affords them the depth of thought required to be fully immersed.
The ultimate goal of immersive analytics is to computationally support individual and collective human thinking as it happens, in our minds. By focusing our attention and concentrating on a particular problem we can exhibit a deep mental involvement with the task and data. In this, computation should augment, not replace our thinking. When we examine the elements or structure of a problem, situation or object we want to be able to draw in new information which we don’t currently know. The new information or computational process should be available in such a fluid manner that we don’t need to expend additional mental effort to access it. When we turn our thinking to the analysis of the elements or structure of a problem, situation or object then our detailed thinking brings forth data, as required, to undertake this examination.
This talk will seek to engage the audience in discussions and thinking about the stages of immersion and the research and development challenges this will present.
Professor Aaron Quigley is the Chair of Human Computer Interaction in the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews. In 2011 Aaron co-founded SACHI, the St Andrews Computer Human Interaction research group and served as its director from 2011-2018. Within the University of St Andrews he serves as the Director of Impact in the school of computer science along with serving on the International and Brexit Preparedness committees.
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
As usual, there will be space if you have anything to share. We're also open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
Please do circulate this invitation. Everyone welcome. We're in an accessible space. Bring colleagues, family, friends, & kids.
This session is about non-standard displays, immersive environments, multimodality, and experiences. We have two speakers that night: Professor Aaron Quigly on "Our Conversion to Immersion---The Seven Stages of Immersive Analytics" and a presentation by Pufferfish and visualizing geographic and climate change data on spherical displays: https://pufferfishdisplays.com.
> Note that the meeting had to be moved to March 5 due to sudden restoration works in our usual room.
Professor Aaron Quigley: Our Conversion to Immersion---The Seven Stages of Immersive Analytics
Immersive Analytics is an emerging field of research and development that seeks a deeper engagement with the analysis and data and can involve technologies such as Augmented and Virtual reality, large display spaces or more direct interaction. However, the field heavily draws on the various meanings of the term "immersive" coupled with the different approaches to analytics, giving rise to slightly different interpretations. There are two primary facets related to the term immersive analytics.
The first, and more literal aspect, is to be immersed or submerged in the data and analytic task. This gives rise to the examination of the range of human senses, modalities and technologies which might allow one to have their various senses fully immersed.
A second facet, is the provision of computational analysis methods which facilitate a deep mental involvement with the task and data. Smooth interaction with the data and analytic task might allow people to concentrate and focus their attention, allowing them to enter a “flow state” which affords them the depth of thought required to be fully immersed.
The ultimate goal of immersive analytics is to computationally support individual and collective human thinking as it happens, in our minds. By focusing our attention and concentrating on a particular problem we can exhibit a deep mental involvement with the task and data. In this, computation should augment, not replace our thinking. When we examine the elements or structure of a problem, situation or object we want to be able to draw in new information which we don’t currently know. The new information or computational process should be available in such a fluid manner that we don’t need to expend additional mental effort to access it. When we turn our thinking to the analysis of the elements or structure of a problem, situation or object then our detailed thinking brings forth data, as required, to undertake this examination.
This talk will seek to engage the audience in discussions and thinking about the stages of immersion and the research and development challenges this will present.
Professor Aaron Quigley is the Chair of Human Computer Interaction in the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews. In 2011 Aaron co-founded SACHI, the St Andrews Computer Human Interaction research group and served as its director from 2011-2018. Within the University of St Andrews he serves as the Director of Impact in the school of computer science along with serving on the International and Brexit Preparedness committees.
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
As usual, there will be space if you have anything to share. We're also open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
Please do circulate this invitation. Everyone welcome. We're in an accessible space. Bring colleagues, family, friends, & kids.
Author, 'Data Visualisation: A Handbook for Data Driven Design' and curator of one of the best collections of visualisation resources out there (www.visualisingdata.com/resources)
Andy may be the UK's most experienced freelance data visualiser. Based in Yorkshire, he's been a consultant, trainer, teacher, author, speaker, researcher and editor for over a decade.
A business analyst and information manager at CIS Insurance, West Yorkshire Police and the University of Leeds, he discovered data visualisation in 2007 and has gone on to work with organisations including Google, CERN, Electronic Arts, the EU Council, Hershey, and McKinsey.
Maintaining an active academic interest, he worked on an AHRC project on public data visualisation literacy, as well as taught on the Information Visualisation Masters at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the MSc Business Analytics programme at Imperial College Business School, and at UCL School of Management.
His award-winning website has tracked the rising popularity of the subject and is now a popular reference offering contemporary discourse, design techniques, and vast collections of examples and resources.
Training workshop:
While he's in town, Andy is running a whole-day workshop teaching DV techniques (which he's done almost 300 times in 27 countries!). EDVM members are entitled to a 10% discount (please message organisers for the code) upon registration at:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/data-visualisation-infographics-training-1-day-edinburgh-registration-91109301373
-----
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
As usual, there will be space if you have anything to share. We're also open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
Please do circulate this invitation. Everyone welcome. We're in an accessible space. Bring colleagues, family, friends, & kids.
Three speakers at the intersection between biology and visualization
1) Bringing Science to Life with Animation
Dr. Mhairi Towler, founder of multi-award winning scientific animation production studio Vivomotion (www.vivomotion.co.uk) will talk about her unique career path from scientist to animator. She will also detail the process she goes through when working with scientists, in order to tell their scientific stories to a variety of audiences from experts to non-experts. Sometimes real data sets are used alone, while other times real data is integrated into a representative environment. The overall aim is to help the audience understand scientific concepts more easily. Some case studies will be discussed.
Showreel: https://vimeo.com/109139670
2) Visualising 10,000 dimensions: dimensionality reduction techniques in modern biology.
Alan O'Callaghan
I will discuss various methods for visualising high-dimensional data that are popular in the biological sciences, ranging from linear (eg, PCA) to non-linear approaches (eg, t-SNE, UMAP, VAEs). I will try to explain (in fuzzy terms) the aims, strengths, and weaknesses of each, mainly with reference to biological data.
Alan is a PhD student in the IGMM, Uni of Edinburgh developing statistical methods for analysing single cell RNA sequencing data. He has a background in chemistry and biomedical data analysis/visualisation, and is now focusing on statistical methods for novel, sparse data modalities. https://alanocallaghan.github.io/
3) Visual analysis of complex data networks
Prof Tom Freeman, Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh
Data is generated from numerous sources and in many cases, it is in the form of a network or can be transformed in to one. This talk will focus on our work to visualise and explore massive data networks, where millions of data points can be rapidly displayed and explored. Using of a combination of similarity measures, modern visualisation technologies and graph-based algorithms, I will discuss our efforts to create a visual analytics platform where data can be analysed at the global and local level in a hypothesis free manner. Many of the examples provided come from the biological sciences, but the approach can be applied to data from many sectors.
_ _ _
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
---
As usual, there's time and space if you would like to share anything.
We're always open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
See you at the meetup, and do bring along your friends & colleagues.
Cheers,
Brendan (Hill), Ben (Bach), Uta (Hinrichs)
N.B. Venue & entry - this meeting will be at our our new (alternating) venue, Cirrus Logic's office in Quartermile. Directions below. The security desk will have a list of names: if we do not have your full name (from your Meetup profile or you privately messaging us in advance) you WILL have problems getting in.
Three speakers at the intersection between biology and visualization
1) Bringing biology to life?
Dr Mhairi Towler, Vivomotion (www.vivomotion.co.uk)
Founded in 2012, Vivomotion is a respected and award-winning Dundee-based animation studio whose mission is to help scientists tell their stories compellingly, to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Scientific stories are literally 'brought to life' using the latest in moving graphics, allowing us to 'see' the previously unseen. Customised animations are developed with the client from concept, through storyboarding, production and delivery of a digital solution, for use in conference talks, marketing and educational purposes.
It works with academics, biotech/ pharmaceutical/ medical device companies, clinicians, science centres and schools. It also offers training in the visual presentation of science.
Come along and gain insights into how Vivomotion creates its impressive yet accurate realisations, allowing us to grasp and understand biological concepts more rapidly and intuitively than written and static descriptions allow.
Showreel: https://vimeo.com/109139670
2) Visualising 10,000 dimensions: dimensionality reduction techniques in modern biology.
Alan O'Callaghan
I will discuss various methods for visualising high-dimensional data that are popular in the biological sciences, ranging from linear (eg, PCA) to non-linear approaches (eg, t-SNE, UMAP, VAEs). I will try to explain (in fuzzy terms) the aims, strengths, and weaknesses of each, mainly with reference to biological data.
Alan is a PhD student in the IGMM, Uni of Edinburgh developing statistical methods for analysing single cell RNA sequencing data. He has a background in chemistry and biomedical data analysis/visualisation, and is now focusing on statistical methods for novel, sparse data modalities. https://alanocallaghan.github.io/
3) Visual analysis of complex data networks
Prof Tom Freeman, Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh
Data is generated from numerous sources and in many cases, it is in the form of a network or can be transformed in to one. This talk will focus on our work to visualise and explore massive data networks, where millions of data points can be rapidly displayed and explored. Using of a combination of similarity measures, modern visualisation technologies and graph-based algorithms, I will discuss our efforts to create a visual analytics platform where data can be analysed at the global and local level in a hypothesis free manner. Many of the examples provided come from the biological sciences, but the approach can be applied to data from many sectors.
_ _ _
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
---
As usual, there's time and space if you would like to share anything.
We're always open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
See you at the meetup, and do bring along your friends & colleagues.
Cheers,
Brendan (Hill), Ben (Bach), Uta (Hinrichs)
N.B. Venue & entry - this meeting will be at our our new (alternating) venue, Cirrus Logic's office in Quartermile. Directions below. The security desk will have a list of names: if we do not have your full name (from your Meetup profile or you privately messaging us in advance) you WILL have problems getting in.
Three speakers at the intersection between biology and visualization
1) Bringing biology to life?
Dr Mhairi Towler, Vivomotion (www.vivomotion.co.uk)
Founded in 2012, Vivomotion is a respected and award-winning Dundee-based animation studio whose mission is to help scientists tell their stories compellingly, to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Scientific stories are literally 'brought to life' using the latest in moving graphics, allowing us to 'see' the previously unseen. Customised animations are developed with the client from concept, through storyboarding, production and delivery of a digital solution, for use in conference talks, marketing and educational purposes.
It works with academics, biotech/ pharmaceutical/ medical device companies, clinicians, science centres and schools. It also offers training in the visual presentation of science.
Come along and gain insights into how Vivomotion creates its impressive yet accurate realisations, allowing us to grasp and understand biological concepts more rapidly and intuitively than written and static descriptions allow.
Showreel: https://vimeo.com/109139670
2) Visualising 10,000 dimensions: dimensionality reduction techniques in modern biology.
Alan O'Callaghan
I will discuss various methods for visualising high-dimensional data that are popular in the biological sciences, ranging from linear (eg, PCA) to non-linear approaches (eg, t-SNE, UMAP, VAEs). I will try to explain (in fuzzy terms) the aims, strengths, and weaknesses of each, mainly with reference to biological data.
Alan is a PhD student in the IGMM, Uni of Edinburgh developing statistical methods for analysing single cell RNA sequencing data. He has a background in chemistry and biomedical data analysis/visualisation, and is now focusing on statistical methods for novel, sparse data modalities. https://alanocallaghan.github.io/
3) Prof. Tom Freeman, Roslin Institute
_ _ _
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
---
As usual, there's time and space if you would like to share anything.
We're always open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
See you at the meetup, and do bring along your friends & colleagues.
Cheers,
Brendan (Hill), Ben (Bach), Uta (Hinrichs)
N.B. Venue & entry - this meeting will be at our our new (alternating) venue, Cirrus Logic's office in Quartermile. Directions below. The security desk will have a list of names: if we do not have your full name (from your Meetup profile or you privately messaging us in advance) you WILL have problems getting in.
Our Conversion to Immersion: The Seven Stages of Immersive Analytics
Description changed:
Immersive Analytics is an emerging field of research and development that seeks a deeper engagement with the analysis and data and can involve technologies such as Augmented and Virtual reality, large display spaces or more direct interaction. However, the field heavily draws on the various meanings of the term "immersive" coupled with the different approaches to analytics, giving rise to slightly different interpretations. There are two primary facets related to the term immersive analytics.
The first, and more literal aspect, is to be immersed or submerged in the data and analytic task. This gives rise to the examination of the range of human senses, modalities and technologies which might allow one to have their various senses fully immersed.
A second facet, is the provision of computational analysis methods which facilitate a deep mental involvement with the task and data. Smooth interaction with the data and analytic task might allow people to concentrate and focus their attention, allowing them to enter a “flow state” which affords them the depth of thought required to be fully immersed.
The ultimate goal of immersive analytics is to computationally support individual and collective human thinking as it happens, in our minds. By focusing our attention and concentrating on a particular problem we can exhibit a deep mental involvement with the task and data. In this, computation should augment, not replace our thinking. When we examine the elements or structure of a problem, situation or object we want to be able to draw in new information which we don’t currently know. The new information or computational process should be available in such a fluid manner that we don’t need to expend additional mental effort to access it. When we turn our thinking to the analysis of the elements or structure of a problem, situation or object then our detailed thinking brings forth data, as required, to undertake this examination. We cannot easily reason about the fresh data due perhaps to its scale, then we can call on computation to support our thinking.
This talk will seek to engage the audience in discussions and thinking about the stages of immersion and the research and development challenges this will present.
-----
Professor Aaron Quigley is the Chair of Human Computer Interaction in the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews. In 2011 Aaron co-founded SACHI, the St Andrews Computer Human Interaction research group and served as its director from 2011-2018. Within the University of St Andrews he serves as the Director of Impact in the school of computer science along with serving on the International and Brexit Preparedness committees.
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
As usual, there will be space if you have anything to share. We're also open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
Please do circulate this invitation. Everyone welcome. We're in an accessible space. Bring colleagues, family, friends, & kids.
I See What You Mean - two ways vision helps us understand speech
Gordon McLeod & Ben Hopson of Cirrus Logic (www.cirrus.com)
Speaker identification technology is increasingly common on mobile devices. The virtual assistant becomes more compelling when it knows who you are and, in some use cases, voice ID is a more convenient way of unlocking than by face or fingerprint.
Incoming audio is first processed into features which are stable, distinctive and hard to imitate – ideally capturing unique aspects of the speaker's vocal tract. Several different visualisations are required to select features and confirm that feature extraction works consistently over a large number of speakers and environmental conditions.
Features are then fed into a classifier which compares the extracted features to enrolled users to determine if the audio is recognised. Training, tuning testing and debugging this system brings with it many of the challenges of machine learning. There is a need to visualise data in many dimensions - and it can also be difficult to determine why the system has made a particular decision. Such systems need to be tested in large trials where results are seldom clear cut, so visualisation is critical during debugging to understand overall trends, while distinguishing individual behaviours.
Becky Mead & Georgia Clarke of Speech Graphics - Scottish Tech Startup of the Year (www.speech-graphics.com)
Speech audio contains rich phonetic information which can be visualized in a variety of ways. People who communicate with spoken language are acutely sensitive to the relationship between acoustic phonetics and the way speech articulators move when creating speech sounds, which is why bad lip-syncing is so jarring. Speech Graphics uses the information contained in a speech audio signal to simulate the visual (facial) motion that generated that sound. Our technology is used to generate accurate facial movement and expressions for character dialogue in a growing number of AAA video games, among other applications. Becky and Georgia will be showing us:
- An introduction to spectrograms (a way of visualizing audio data) and the ways that linguists have used them to analyze speech phonetically
- How Speech Graphics uses that same phonetic information to simulate facial movement corresponding to a speech audio signal
- Demos!
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
---
As usual, there's time and space if you would like to share anything.
We're always open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
See you at the meetup, and do bring along friends & colleagues.
Cheers,
Brendan (Hill), Ben (Bach), Uta (Hinrichs)
VENUE: NOTE - this will be our first meeting at our our new venue, Cirrus Logic's office in Quartermile, which we plan to alternate with InSpace at the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics from now on. See below for directions.
I See What You Mean - two ways vision helps us understand speech
Gordon McLeod & Ben Hopson of Cirrus Logic (www.cirrus.com)
Speaker identification technology is increasingly common on mobile devices. The virtual assistant becomes more compelling when it knows who you are and, in some use cases, voice ID is a more convenient way of unlocking than by face or fingerprint.
Incoming audio is first processed into features which are stable, distinctive and hard to imitate – ideally capturing unique aspects of the speaker's vocal tract. Several different visualisations are required to select features and confirm that feature extraction works consistently over a large number of speakers and environmental conditions.
Features are then fed into a classifier which compares the extracted features to enrolled users to determine if the audio is recognised. Training, tuning testing and debugging this system brings with it many of the challenges of machine learning. There is a need to visualise data in many dimensions - and it can also be difficult to determine why the system has made a particular decision. Such systems need to be tested in large trials where results are seldom clear cut, so visualisation is critical during debugging to understand overall trends, while distinguishing individual behaviours.
Becky Mead & Georgia Clarke of Speech Graphics - Scottish Tech Startup of the Year (www.speech-graphics.com)
Speech audio contains rich phonetic information which can be visualized in a variety of ways. People who communicate with spoken language are acutely sensitive to the relationship between acoustic phonetics and the way speech articulators move when creating speech sounds, which is why bad lip-syncing is so jarring. Speech Graphics uses the information contained in a speech audio signal to simulate the visual (facial) motion that generated that sound. Our technology is used to generate accurate facial movement and expressions for character dialogue in a growing number of AAA video games, among other applications. Becky and Georgia will be showing us:
- An introduction to spectrograms (a way of visualizing audio data) and the ways that linguists have used them to analyze speech phonetically
- How Speech Graphics uses that same phonetic information to simulate facial movement corresponding to a speech audio signal
- Demos!
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
---
As usual, there's time and space if you would like to share anything.
We're always open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
See you at the meetup, and do bring along your friends & colleagues.
Cheers,
Brendan (Hill), Ben (Bach), Uta (Hinrichs)
VENUE: this will our first meeting at our our new venue, Cirrus Logic's office in Quartermile, which we plan to alternate from now on with InSpace in the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics. See below for directions.
I See What You Mean - two ways vision helps us understand speech
Gordon McLeod & Ben Hopson of Cirrus Logic (www.cirrus.com)
Speaker identification technology is increasingly common on mobile devices. The virtual assistant becomes more compelling when it knows who you are and, in some use cases, voice ID is a more convenient way of unlocking than by face or fingerprint.
Incoming audio is first processed into features which are stable, distinctive and hard to imitate – ideally capturing unique aspects of the speaker's vocal tract. Several different visualisations are required to select features and confirm that feature extraction works consistently over a large number of speakers and environmental conditions.
Features are then fed into a classifier which compares the extracted features to enrolled users to determine if the audio is recognised. Training, tuning testing and debugging this system brings with it many of the challenges of machine learning. There is a need to visualise data in many dimensions - and it can also be difficult to determine why the system has made a particular decision. Such systems need to be tested in large trials where results are seldom clear cut, so visualisation is critical during debugging to understand overall trends, while distinguishing individual behaviours.
Becky Mead, Speech Graphics - Scottish Tech Startup of the Year (www.speech-graphics.com)
Speech audio contains rich phonetic information which can be visualized in a variety of ways. People who communicate with spoken language are acutely sensitive to the relationship between acoustic phonetics and the way speech articulators move when creating speech sounds, which is why bad lip-syncing is so jarring. Speech Graphics uses the information contained in a speech audio signal to simulate the visual (facial) motion that generated that sound. Our technology is used to generate accurate facial movement and expressions for character dialogue in a growing number of AAA video games, among other applications. Becky will show us:
- An introduction to spectrograms (a way of visualizing audio data) and the ways that linguists have used them to analyze speech phonetically
- How Speech Graphics uses that same phonetic information to simulate facial movement corresponding to a speech audio signal
- Demos!
Thanks to Cirrus Logic for sponsoring our food and refreshments.
Cirrus Logic's engineers and data scientists design intelligent audio chips that power the smartphone in your pocket, consumer and car audio systems, and smart homes. As a major presence in the buzzing local tech ecosystem, Cirrus Logic is proud to sponsor the Edinburgh Data Visualisation Meetup.
---
As usual, there's time and space if you would like to share anything.
We're always open to suggestions for topics and speakers, so let us know if you have someone or something in mind.
See you at the meetup, and do bring along your friends & colleagues.
Cheers,
Brendan (Hill), Ben (Bach), Uta (Hinrichs)
VENUE: this will our first meeting at our our new venue, Cirrus Logic's office in Quartermile, which we plan to alternate from now on with InSpace in the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics. See below for directions.
Expired changed:Not ExpiredEdited at by Sarah Lister