2024

Apr 11th - 12th, 2024, full days

Burg Rothenfels

Doctoral Retreat of the SFB-TRR 161

Feb 5th, 2024, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Understanding human information processing to advance Human-Computer Interaction

Held by:

Arzu Çöltekin, Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Windisch, Schweiz

Abstract:

Understanding human information processing is fundamental to information science, and is instrumental in designing tools that enable humans when they might be hindered, or to amplify human abilities beyond their limits. In this endeavor, analyzing people’s eye movements is a non-invasive and increasingly affordable way to study human information processing in the context of human-computer interaction and visualization research.  This talk walks through some of the key concepts, and series of empirical studies in which various display types and interaction paradigms are examined in the context of aging and cognition, visual illusions and navigational learning.

Biography:

Arzu Çöltekin is a professor of Human-Computer Interaction, Visualization and Extended Reality, and leads the Institute of Interactive Technologies at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. She is also a research affiliate at the Seamless Astronomy group in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics of the Harvard University in Cambridge, USA collaborating on scientific data analysis and visualization research. She chairs the international Extended Reality and Visual Analytics working group within the ISPRS; chairs the Commission on Geovisualization, and is a council member with the International Society of Digital Earth. Her interdisciplinary work covers topics related to information science, visual analytics, visualization and cartography, virtual/augmented reality, gaze-contingent displays, eye-tracking, vision (perception and cognition), and human-computer interaction.

Location:

Visualization Research Center (VISUS), University of Stuttgart, Room: 00.012
The lecture will be transferred to the University of Konstanz,  Room: L 0602

Jan 30th, 2024, 12 pm until Feb 1st, 2024, 12 pm
University of Stuttgart, ARENA2036

Hackathon DR4ET

Organized by:

Quynh Ngo, David Hägele, Yao Wang, Frederik Dennig

Abstract:

Dimensionality Reductions (DRs) are well-known techniques for information visualization, supporting high dimensional data sense-making. Within the regular activities of the SFB TRR 161 DR SIG, several ideas related to DRs emerged and were discussed. They include proposing novel uncertainty-aware DRs, utilizing existing DRs, and developing DR visual analytics frameworks for quantifying and assessing image quality and making sense of eye-tracking (ET) data. The DR SIG then invited and worked with domain experts (from ET SIG, VISUS) and collaborators to write up several proposals related to the ideas, rooting the foundation for this DR for the ET data Hackathon.
Around 20 participants expressed their interest and elected four out of the original six proposals for the Hackathon. The participants are researchers from groups revolving around SFB TRR 161 Project Leaders.
Within 48 hours, the participants will hack and build software solutions for the four proposals, which will be the foundations for potential future high-quality publications within SFB TRR 161 FP3.

Location:

ARENA2036, Pfaffenwaldring 19, 70569 Stuttgart

Dec 4th, 2023, 4 pm New date: Jan 29th, 2024, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Attractive Guidance in Dynamic Visualizations

Held by:

Manuela Waldner, Institute of Visual Computing & Human-Centered Technology at TU Wien, Austria

Abstract:

3D animations are an effective method to learn about complex dynamic phenomena, such as mesoscale biological processes. The animators’ goals are to convey a sense of the scene’s overall complexity while, at the same time, visually guiding the user through a story of subsequent events embedded in the chaotic environment. In this talk, I will present and discuss two visual emphasis methods that solely manipulate dynamic scene parameters. The first method generates flicker to attract the attention to a focus element of the story. Since flicker can be highly disturbing, we conducted a series of experiments to find a trade-off between guidance effectiveness and subjective annoyance. The second method smooths the motion of contextual scene elements to attract the observers' attention to focus elements of the story exhibiting high-frequency motion. Our experiment showed that this approach can also be effective, but has an impact on the perceived speed of the animation.

Biography:

Manuela Waldner is an assistant professor (tenure track) at the Institute of Visual Computing & Human-Centered Technology at TU Wien, Austria. She has a PhD in computer science from Graz University of Technology, Austria. Her main research interests cover scalable and interactive data analysis and visualization with the primary goal to make complex data and models better understandable for users. She has co-authored papers at journals and venues like IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics or ACM Human Factors in Computing Systems, of which some have been nominated or awarded best paper awards. In 2014, she received a Hertha Firnberg fellowship for highly qualified female scientists by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

Location:

Visualization Research Center (VISUS), University of Stuttgart, Room: 00.012
The lecture will be transferred to the University of Konstanz,  Room: L 0602

Jan 22nd, 2024, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Visual Analytics: A Mixed-Initiative Process for Enhanced Problem-Solving and Understanding

Held by:

Silvia Miksch, Centre for Visual Analytics Science and Technology (CVAST), Vienna University of Technologie, Austria

Abstract:

Visual Analytics, as ”the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces”, aims to enable the exploration and understanding of large and complex data sets by intertwining interactive visualization, data analysis, human-computer interaction, and cognitive and perceptual science. At this, human abilities as well as users' needs and tasks are central issues to assist in situations where complex decisions need to be made. A mixed-initiative process is an approach where both humans/users and systems can “take the initiative” and both contribute to the process.  Such a mixed-initiative process could be utilized for enhanced problem-solving and comprehensive understanding.
In this talk, I will illustrate the concepts of guidance-enriched and knowledge-assisted Visual Analytics seen as a mixed-initiative process.  I will address three key questions: “what” is visualized, “why” is it visualized, and “how” it is visualized. Various examples (taken from health care/medicine, cultural heritage, art history, and financial sectors) will exemplify what has been achieved so far and show possible future directions and challenges.  Data and information are a broad field – I will focus particularly on the temporal, spatial, and spatial-temporal dimensions as well as networks and uncertainty.

Biography:

Silvia Miksch is a university professor and head of the research unit "Visual Analytics" (CVAST) at the Institute of Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology, TU Wien, since 2015. She was head of the Information and Knowledge Engineering research group at the Institute of Software Technology & Interactive Systems, TU Wien, from 1998 to 2015. From 2006 to 2010 she was a university professor and head of the Department of Information and Knowledge Engineering (ike) at Danube University Krems, Austria. In April 2010, she established the awarded Laura Bassi Centre of Expertise for Visual Analytics Science and Technology (CVAST), funded by the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth of the Republic of Austria. Silvia has acquired, led, and has been involved in several national and international applied and basic research projects. She served as paper co-chair of several conferences, including IEEE VAST 2010, 2011, and 2020, and overall papers chair IEEE VIS 2021 as well as EuroVis 2012, and on the editorial board of several journals, including IEEE TVCG and CGF. She acts on various strategic committees, such as the VAST and EuroVis steering committees as well as the VIS executive committee. In 2020 she was inducted into the IEEE Visualization Academy. In 2023 she received the IEEE VGTC Visualization Technical Achievement Award.  Furthermore, she acts as a scientific reporter on the board of the Austrian Research Fund (FwF) and is an advisory board member of the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF). She has more than 300 scientific publications, and her main research interests are visualization and visual analytics over time and space with a particular focus on interaction techniques, network-based, knowledge-assisted, and guidance-enriched methods.

Location:

University of Konstanz,  Room: L 0602
The lecture will be transferred to the Visualization Research Center (VISUS), University of Stuttgart, Room: 00.012

2023

Dec 18th, 2023, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Visual Analytics: Machine Learning and the Human in the Loop

Held by:

Anna Vilanova, TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Abstract:

Visual Analytics wants to foster the strengths of humans and computers effectively through the combination of automatic data analysis methods, visualization, and interaction. Visual analytics is an extension of machine learning methods. It is also a complement to the already existing visualization techniques by the introduction of the concepts of reasoning and machine learning. Machine learning has successfully developed models that outperform humans in several tasks. However, this success is limited when it comes to increasing knowledge, and providing new understanding based on new data. Humans uniquely understand the world through intuition, common sense, creativity, and emotion, capabilities that are required for many multi-faceted tasks.  In this talk, I will present our work and my view on embedding the human in the loop in the machine learning context through the concepts of visual analytics. In particular,  we focus on data exploration, and hypothesis generation relying on dimensionality reduction methods as an effective visual analytics component for large high-dimensional data. Furthermore, I will discuss the promise, challenges, and current research in visual analytics to open the black box of machine learning models.

Biography:

Prof. Dr. Anna Vilanova is full professor in visual analytics (vis.win.tue.nl) since October 2019, at the department of Mathematics and Computer Science, at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Previously she was associate professor for 6 years at the Computer Graphics & Visualization Group at EEMCS at the University of Delft, the Netherlands. From 2002 to August 2013, she was Assistant Professor at the Biomedical Image Analysis group of the Biomedical Engineering Department at TU/e. She is leading a research group in the subject of visual analytics and multivalued image analysis and visualization, focusing on visual analytics for high dimensional complex data and explainable AI. She focuses on Biomedical applications such as: Diffusion Weighted Imaging, 4D Flow and Pan-genomics.  She was member of the steering committee of EuroVis (2014 -2018) and VCBM (2018-2022). She is elected member of the EUROGRAPHICS executive committee since 2015, vice president (2019-2022), and currently president of EUROGRAPHICS. She also became EUROGRAPHICS fellow in 2019. She is elected member of  IEEE VIS Steering Committee (VSC) since 2021.

Location:

Visualization Research Center (VISUS), University of Stuttgart, Room: 00.012
The lecture will be transferred to the University of Konstanz,  Room: L 0602

Dec 11th, 2023, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Innovation is the Key Towards Sustainable Industries

Held by:

Nina Gaißert, Festo SE & Co. KG, Esslingen

Abstract:

When biology and technology merge, we can create a sustainable circular economy, transform todays industries and conserve resources. To do this, we need a spirit of innovation, creativity, but also confidence and courage. 

Biography:

Dr. Nina Gaißert studied technical biology at the University of Stuttgart and MIT, MA, USA, before completing her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. She has been working at Festo since 2011 and is part of the Bionic Learning Network, with the aim of learning from nature and generating sustainable innovations.

Location:

Visualization Research Center (VISUS), University of Stuttgart, Room: 00.012
The lecture will be transferred to the University of Konstanz,  Room: L 0602

Nov 28th, 2023, 9 am - 17.30 pm
Visualization Research Center, University of Stuttgart

Internal Status Seminar of the SFB-TRR 161

Oct 16th - 20th, 2023, 1.30 pm - 6 pm
University of Konstanz, Room ZT702

Workshop | Unity Crash Course

Held by: Oliver Deussen (A01), Karsten Klein (A09), Tiare Feuchtner (C07), Dimitar Garkov (INF), Wilhelm Kerle-Malcharek (D04), Falk Schreiber (A09, D04, INF), Carlos Pinheiro de Sousa, Abdelrahman Zaky (C07)

Abstract:

This course will cover the very basics of the Unity 3D engine. Students will learn the fundamentals of Unity development as well as Virtual Reality (VR) development using Unity. Students will learn how to create 3D interactive applications. Moreover, they will also learn how to use VR headsets. Students will apply this knowledge to build a 3D interactive application in class.

Oct 20th, 2023
ISMAR 23 SYD, Sydney, Australia

Workshop | Hybrid User Interfaces

Please contact Harald Reiterer (C01) / Johannes Zagermann (C01) / Tiare Feuchtner (C07) for detailed information 

Sep 26th, 2023
MobileHCI'23, Athens, Greece

Hybrid Workshop | The Future of Cognitive Personal Informatics

Please contact Francesco Chiossi (C06) for detailed information

Jul 24th, 2023, 10.30 am - 12 pm
University of Stuttgart, VISUS, Room 00.012
Webex

Talk | Human Interaction and Collaboration with Machine Learning models

Held by:

Hendrik Strobelt, IBM Research (Cambridge, MA), MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab

Abstract:

With the increasing adoption of machine learning models across domains, we have to think about the human role when interacting with these models. In the last years, my collaborators and I have created a series of tools that utilize visualization and visual user interaction to help investigate behavior of machine learning models (for NLP and CV). I will present a selection of these scientific tools from different domains that makes humans first play and then understand.

Biography:

Hendrik Strobelt is Senior Research Scientist at IBM Research (Cambridge, MA) and the Explainability Lead at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. His recent research is on visualization for and human collaboration with AI models to foster explainability and intuition. His work involves NLP models and generative models while he is advocating to utilize a mix of data modalities to solve real-world problems. His research is applied to tasks in machine learning, in NLP, in the biomedical domain, and in chemistry. Hendrik joined IBM in 2017 after postdoctoral positions at Harvard SEAS and NYU Tandon. He received a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Konstanz in computer science (Visualization) and holds an MSc (Diplom) in computer science from TU Dresden. His work has been published at venues like IEEE VIS, ICLR, ACM Siggraph, ACL, NeurIPS, ICCV, PNAS, Nature BME, or Science Advances. He received multiple best paper/honorable mention awards at EuroVis, BioVis, VAST, CHI, ACL Demo, or NeurIPS demo. He received the Lohrmann medal from TU Dresden as the highest student honor. Hendrik has served in program committees and organization committees for IEEE VIS, BioVis, EuroVis. He served on organization committees for IEEE VIS, VISxAI, ICLR, ICML, NeurIPS. Hendrik is visiting researcher at MIT CSAIL. 

Jun 22nd, 2023, full day
University of Konstanz

2nd Workshop on Women* in Computing: Opportunities and Obstacles in a Tech Career

In this half-day workshop, we highlight various research opportunities and career paths for excellent researchers in the field of computing, with reflections on gender equality and diversity. We have invited a select number of successful researchers from industry and academia, who will take the stage to share their perspectives and unique insights into their careers and research domains. With this event we aim to foster mentorship in career development for young (female) researchers by establishing and strengthening a network of Women* in Computing.

For more information on the program and registration, please visit the workshop webpage.

Jun 21st, 2023, 2 - 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Rethinking High Performance Data Analysis for the Exascale and Beyond

Held by:

Gunther H. Weber, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

Abstract:

Transitioning towards exascale computing exacerbates existing challenges in supercomputing, such as the widening gap between compute power and I/O bandwidth, as well as the need to move to even higher levels of parallel processing. Limitations imposed by I/O bandwidth creates a growing necessity for adopting in situ analysis techniques. Topological data analysis provides a versatile framework to define high-level features across a broad spectrum of simulations and to automate the selection of visualization parameters such as isovalues for isosurface extraction. The global nature of topological methods hinders their parallelization, posing additional difficulties. A fresh perspective on topological data analysis enables the development of novel algorithms that effectively leverage exascale machines. Looking forward and beyond simulations, the need to analyze the ever-increasing volume of experimental and observational provides additional challenges and opportunities for high-performance computing.

Biography:

Gunther H. Weber received a Ph.D. in computer science, with a focus on computer graphics and visualization, from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany in 2003. He is currently a Staff Scientist in the Computational Research Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), where he serves as Deputy Group Lead of the Machine Learning and Analytics Group in the Scientific Data Division. Gunther Weber is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include computer graphics, scientific visualization, data analysis with using topological methods, parallel and distributed computing for visualization and data analysis applications, hierarchical data representation methods, and bioinformatics. He has extensive experience in working with researchers from diverse science and engineering fields, including applied numerical computing, combustion simulation, gene expression, medicine, civil engineering, cosmology, climate and particle accelerator modeling. Dr. Weber has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, six of which won best paper awards. He has served as principal investigator (PI) or Co-PI on several Department of Energy (DOE) and National Science Foundation (NSF) projects. He is a reviewer for major funding agencies (DOE, NSF), conference proceedings and journals. Dr. Weber served as co-organizer, co-chair and program committee member of more than 60 internationally recognized conferences.

Jun 12th, 2023, 9.10 - 10.10 am
EGPGV 2023

Keynote | Rethinking High Performance Data Analysis for the Exascale and Beyond
                               --- supported by SFB-TRR 161 ---

Held by:

Gunther H. Weber, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

Abstract:

Transitioning towards exascale computing exacerbates existing challenges in supercomputing, such as the widening gap between compute power and I/O bandwidth, as well as the need to move to even higher levels of parallel processing. Limitations imposed by I/O bandwidth creates a growing necessity for adopting in situ analysis techniques. Topological data analysis provides a versatile framework to define high-level features across a broad spectrum of simulations and to automate the selection of visualization parameters such as isovalues for isosurface extraction. The global nature of topological methods hinders their parallelization, posing additional difficulties. A fresh perspective on topological data analysis enables the development of novel algorithms that effectively leverage exascale machines. Looking forward and beyond simulations, the need to analyze the ever-increasing volume of experimental and observational provides additional challenges and opportunities for high-performance computing.

Biography:

Gunther H. Weber received a Ph.D. in computer science, with a focus on computer graphics and visualization, from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany in 2003. He is currently a Staff Scientist in the Computational Research Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), where he serves as Deputy Group Lead of the Machine Learning and Analytics Group in the Scientific Data Division. Gunther Weber is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include computer graphics, scientific visualization, data analysis with using topological methods, parallel and distributed computing for visualization and data analysis applications, hierarchical data representation methods, and bioinformatics. He has extensive experience in working with researchers from diverse science and engineering fields, including applied numerical computing, combustion simulation, gene expression, medicine, civil engineering, cosmology, climate and particle accelerator modeling. Dr. Weber has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, six of which won best paper awards. He has served as principal investigator (PI) or Co-PI on several Department of Energy (DOE) and National Science Foundation (NSF) projects. He is a reviewer for major funding agencies (DOE, NSF), conference proceedings and journals. Dr. Weber served as co-organizer, co-chair and program committee member of more than 60 internationally recognized conferences.

Jun 11th, 2023, full day
Leipzig, Leipziger KUBUS

SFB-TRR 161 Conference

Co-located with EuroVIS 2023

Keynote Speakers:

Gudrun Klinker, Professor for Augmented Reality, Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Zhi Li, Manager Video Codecs and Quality, Netflix, Los Gatos, CA, USA

Melanie Tory, Professor of the Practice and Director of Data Visualization, Khourgy College of Computer Science, Northeastern University, Portland, ME, USA

May 22nd - 23rd, 2023, full day
Hotel St. Elisabeth, Hegne

Internal Status Seminar of the SFB-TRR 161

May 13th, 2023, 1 - 7 pm
Visualization Research Center, University of Stuttgart

Participation in 'Tag der Wissenschaft' - 'Science Day'

The University of Stuttgart's Science Day takes place on May 13, 2023. Together with the SFB 1313 "Interface-Driven Multi-Field Processes in Porous Media – Flow, Transport and Deformation" and the Visualization Research Center (VISUS), the SFB-TRR 161 will give insights into the world of visualization research. Visitors are invited to discover how visualizations can help to extract the relevant information from data and how they make visible what would otherwise remain hidden.

Detailed program

Apr 27th, 2023, 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Visualization Research Center, University of Stuttgart

Girls' Day Workshop "Art meets Computer Science. Code your own piece of art"

For the Girls' Day 2023, the SFB-TRR 161 and the SFB 1313 "Interface-Driven Multi-Field Processes in Porous Media – Flow, Transport and Deformation" offer the following coding workshop at the Visualization Research Center of the University of Stuttgart (VISUS):

Art meets Computer Science. Code your own Piece of Art

You want to dive into the world of computer science and learn how to program yourself? We will give you the necessary jump-start. In our workshop you can program your own piece of art.  We'll teach you the basics of JavaScript and then you can start to create your own personal artwork. There are no design limits.

During the workshop there will be a coding quiz where you can test your knowledge and win a prize at the end!

Prior programming knowledge is not mandatory for our coding course. You will get all the important information via mail before and during the workshop. There are also very nice helpers available to look over your shoulder and support you during coding. Of course, you can also ask us all your questions about studying computer science and find out everything about living and working on campus.

 We are looking forward to code with you!

Registration: https://www.girls-day.de/@/Show/universitaet-stuttgart/stuttgart/kunst-trifft-informatik-programmiere-dein-eigenes-kunstwerk-klasse-9-10 

Mar 9th, 2023, 9 am - 12 pm
Online

WS Bias Literacy Training

Held by:

Dr. Sebastian Tillmann, Coordinator for Diversity in Science, University of Konstanz
and Marie-Claire Kabengele, Research Associate, University of Konstanz

Abstract:Project leaders are in a powerful position to influence both working groups and organizations. They are also faced with several challenges: To deal with the influence of interpersonal power on decision making, the influence of informational and cognitive biases as well as the lack or the overabundance of information, just to name three. In this training participants will:
-    Gain an overview of how human rationality and decision making is influenced by certain biases and learn approaches to minimize this influence.
-    Learn about the influence of interpersonal power on decision making and perception as well as problems of collective decision making.
-    Discuss “typical” gender and diversity challenges and exchange experiences with outer participating leaders as well as design first steps to address these challenges.

Biographies:
Dr. Sebastian Tillman is diversity coordinator at the University of Konstanz with a background in social psychology and organizational behaviour with focuses on leadership, team cognitive processes and diversity.
Marie-Claire Kabengele is research associate and PhD candidate at the Department of Psychology at the University of Konstanz and focuses on risk behaviour, social-psychological interventions and research on female leadership.

2022

Dec 8th - 9th, 2022, full days
University of Stuttgart

DFG - Assessment

Further information will be provided via email to all participants.

Dec 1st, 2022, full day
University of Stuttgart

Internal TRR Meeting - Rehearsal

Further information will be provided via email to all participants.

Nov 17th, 2022, full day
University of Konstanz

Internal TRR Meeting

Further information will be provided via email to all participants.

Oct 25th, 2022, 1 pm
University of Stuttgart

Workshop | Women* in Computing

In this one-day workshop, we highlight the research opportunities and career paths for excellent female researchers in the field of visual computing and human-computer interaction. Our aim is to empower early-career female researchers through networking with successful examples from industry and academia. This is considered a mentorship event to train younger researchers. Workshop website

Tentative Agenda

13:00–13:40  Opening and Flash Introductions
13:40–15:00  Opportunities in Academia
15:00–15:30  Coffee Break
15:30–17:00  Opportunities in Industry
17:00–18:00  Group Activities
18:00–19:30  Social Event & Dinner

 

Participation

The workshop is aimed at young researchers in the TRR 161 network and beyond. 

 

Organising Team

Passant Elagroudy: She is a post-doctoral researcher at LMU Munich. Her research focuses on personal informatics and human augmentation.

Fiona Draxler: She is a PhD student at LMU Munich. Her research focuses on mobile learning with Augmented Reality and contextual content generation.

Katrin Angerbauer: She is a PhD student at the University of Stuttgart. Her research focuses on accessibility and assistive technology.

Kathrin Lichius: She is a PhD student at the University of Stuttgart and Wilhelm Büchner Hoschschule. Her research focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Tiare Feuchtner: She is an Assistant Professor in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Konstanz. Her research focuses on virtual user representations and embodied interactions in mixed reality.

Albrecht Schmidt: He is a professor at LMU Munich. His research focuses on human-computer interaction, media technology, and ubiquitous computing.

Daniel Weiskopf: He is a professor at the University of Stuttgart. His research focuses on visualization and visual analytics.

Alexander Brem: He is a professor at the University of Stuttgart. His research focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Oct 14th, 2022, 11.30 am
Online

Talk | Large‐Scale Visualization of Scientific Data: Volume Data and Flow Fields

Held by:

Markus Hadwiger, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Abstract:

This talk will give an overview of selected research of the High-Performance Visualization research group (vccvisualization.org) at the KAUST Visual Computing Center (VCC). Interactive visualization is crucial to exploring, analyzing, and understanding large-scale scientific data, such as the data acquired in medicine or neurobiology using computed tomography or electron microscopy, and data resulting from large-scale simulations such as fluid flow in the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. In data-driven sciences, the extreme size as well as complexity of data presents a tremendous challenge to interactive visualization and analysis. We will give an overview of two major research directions that we have been working on: (1) Custom data structures and algorithms for large-scale visualization, also taking the characteristics of GPU architectures into account; and (2) Mathematical techniques from differential geometry and mathematical physics for the visualization of large flow fields and important features such as vortices.

Biography:

Markus Hadwiger is a professor of computer science at KAUST in Saudi Arabia. He is leading the High-Performance Visualization research group at the KAUST Visual Computing Center (VCC). His main research interests are in the area of extreme-scale visual computing and scientific visualization, in particular volume visualization, flow visualization, medical and biological visualization, differential geometry and mathematical physics in visualization, image and volume processing, multi-resolution techniques, data streaming and out-of-core processing, interactive segmentation, and GPU algorithms and architecture. He is a co-author of the book Real-Time Volume Graphics published in 2006, and he has been teaching courses and tutorials at IEEE VIS, ACM SIGGRAPH, ACM SIGGRAPH Asia, and Eurographics, about volume rendering, visualization, GPUs, and Riemannian geometry for visualization.

Oct 5th - 6th, 2022
Online

WS 'Out with it!' - Training for voice, speech, body language for female scientists

Held by:

Katharina Padleschat, Coach for voice, speech and body language

Abstract:
You are qualified and competent – and your audience should hear it, see it and feel it.
People with trained voices, elocution and good body awareness lift themselves up from the masses and have a clear competitive advantage.
To leave the impression you wish – in lectures, presentations, interviews and meetings – it is necessary to know how to perform professional and genuine and very useful to be in control of your own „instrument".
In this workshop you gain a good basic-knowledge about voice, speech and body language, practical experiences and always individual feedback – to feel more confident and safe in future communication-situations of all kinds.

Main topics and tools:

  • Theory of voice and body language
  • Professional, natural breathing technique for speaking
  • How can you take control of your voice and even play with it?
  • Leave the impression you want
  • Tuning mind set towards role and mission
  • Professional steering of ones performance in teaching, discussion, presentation
  • Dealing with dominance, reacting calmly and self-confidently
  • Increase presence and charisma
  • Practical exercises: individual / partner / small group, and camera feedback
  • Learning by doing – with „head, heart and guts“

As a follow-up every participant may book an individual coaching session (online) with Katharina Padleschat.

Biography:
Katharina Padleschat studied acting, singing and dancing, taught for many years and “moved the actors across the stage” as a choreographer in theatres, so she intensively dealt with the topic of body language and effect. In addition, she often worked in recording studios as a speaker. She learned from excellent teachers what it means to deal professionally with the voice, speaking and breathing, e.g. from K. Buchali, S. Haeberlein, T. Strauch, U. Schürmann, lecturers from Roy Hart - Human Voice, D. Prawzik and last but not least with her father, Wolf Martienzen. In addition, she dealt with various speech training methods as well as breathing and singing techniques. From this she has developed her own methodology over the years.
In individual coaching or in seminars, she trains people from a wide variety of industries, including management, science, journalism, education, show business, management consulting, sales and healthcare.

Registration:
Please register until September 28th, 2022 via e-mail to Marie-Claire Kabengele from the equal opportunity office in Konstanz

Jul 26th, 2022, full day
University of Konstanz

Internal TRR Meeting

Jun 30st - Jul 1st, 2022, full day
Villa Prym, Konstanz

Doctoral Retreat

Jun 28th, 2022
University of Stuttgart

WS 'Out with it!' - Training for voice, speech, body language for female scientists

Held by:

Katharina Padleschat, Coach for voice, speech and body language

Abstract:
Every day, female scientists are in dialog with professional audiences, students, staff and colleagues. They present at walk-throughs, lectures and congresses, communicate in  meetings, and conduct challenging conversations. You convey your message to your counterpart with your „performance“ - your voice, body language and appearance - i.e. your voice, body language and charisma - not only content, but also your personality.

It is not only important WHAT, - but crucially important HOW you say something!

The workshop combines theoretical input and exercises focusing on the voice as an instrument and breathing technique for speaking. Among others the workshops addresses
the following questions:
- How do you control the sound of your voice / your voice effect?
- How do you articulate your content clearly and distinctly?
- How do you speak in an exciting, interesting and credible way?
- How do you present/dialogue convincingly, present and charismatically?
- Which mistakes - that disturb your charisma - do you make unconsciously?
- How do you use your body language and voice consciously and professionally, without to appear artificial?

As a follow-up every participant may book an individual coaching session (online) with Katharina Padleschat.

Biography:
Katharina Padleschat studied acting, singing and dancing, taught for many years and “moved the actors across the stage” as a choreographer in theatres, so she intensively dealt with the topic of body language and effect. In addition, she often worked in recording studios as a speaker. She learned from excellent teachers what it means to deal professionally with the voice, speaking and breathing, e.g. from K. Buchali, S. Haeberlein, T. Strauch, U. Schürmann, lecturers from Roy Hart - Human Voice, D. Prawzik and last but not least with her father, Wolf Martienzen. In addition, she dealt with various speech training methods as well as breathing and singing techniques. From this she has developed her own methodology over the years.
In individual coaching or in seminars, she trains people from a wide variety of industries, including management, science, journalism, education, show business, management consulting, sales and healthcare.

Jun 25th, 2022 1 pm - 7 pm
University of Stuttgart, Visualization Research Center (VISUS), Allmandring 19

Participation in 'Tag der Wissenschaft' - 'Science Day'

The University of Stuttgart's Science Day takes place on June 25, 2022. Together with the SFB 1313 "Interface-Driven Multi-Field Processes in Porous Media – Flow, Transport and Deformation" and the Visualization Research Center (VISUS), the SFB-TRR 161 will give insights into the world of visualization research. Visitors are invited to discover how visualizations can help to extract the relevant information from data and how they make visible what would otherwise remain hidden.

Have a closer look at the program here.

May 14th, 2022, 5 pm - 11 pm
University of Konstanz

Participation in 'Lange Nacht der Wissenschaft'

May 3rd, 2022 - Oct 9th, 2022
Germany and Austria

Participation in the exhibition aboard the MS Wissenschaft 2022

In the Science Year 2022 - Participate! the exhibition aboard the MS Wissenschaft is taking a closer look at science itself. How does science work? How do scientists approach their research questions? What methods do they use? As diverse as science and approaches are, so is this year's exhibition. 

The SFB-TRR 161 participates in the exhibition with the exhibit "Collaboration in Augmented Reality": visitiors get to experience an interaction in Augmented Reality and learn more about research on interaction techniques. 

For more information about the MS Wissenschaft 2022 tour visit https://ms-wissenschaft.de/de/ausstellung/ 

May 2nd - 3rd, 2022, full day
Tagungszentrum Blaubeuren

Internal Status Seminar with Talk 'Processing Cognitive Biases & Diversity'

Apr 28th, 2022, 9.30 am - 4 pm
Online

Girls' Day Workshop "Programmieren? Das kann ich auch! - Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner"

Der Girls' Day ist eine bundesweite Veranstaltung mit dem Ziel, das Interesse von Schülerinnen an Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu fördern. Dieses Jahr findet er am 28.04.2022 statt und wieder beteiligen sich unterschiedlichste Institutionen mit interessanten Aktionen rund ums Experimentieren und Forschen. Damit werden Einblicke in die Arbeit von Natur- und IngenieurwissenschaftlerInnen gegeben. Im Vordergrund der Veranstaltungen steht jedoch die Möglichkeit, selbst aktiv zu werden.

Auf Grund der Pandemie findet unser Angebot auch in diesem Jahr digital statt.

Beim Girls Day 2022 bieten das Visualisierungsinstitut (VISUS), der Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) 1313 und der transregionale Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB-TRR) 161 der Universität Stuttgart und der Universität Konstanz folgenden Workshop an:

Programmieren? Das kann ich auch! - Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner
(Klasse 9 - 10)

Willst Du eigene Programme schreiben, die genau das machen, was du willst? Wir geben Dir die nötige Starthilfe dafür. In unserem Workshop kannst Du Dir Deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner programmieren. Soll er sehr farbenfroh aussehen? Möchtest du einen Text hinzufügen? Sollen sich die Muster bewegen? Bei uns kannst du dich gestalterisch austoben und dein persönliches Design direkt selbst umsetzen und auch später noch in aller Ruhe anpassen.

Während des Workshops wird es ein Coding-Quiz geben, bei dem Ihr Euer Wissen testen und am Ende einen Preis gewinnen könnt!

Programmier-Vorkenntnisse sind für unseren Coding-Kurs nicht zwingend erforderlich. Alle wichtigen Informationen erhaltet ihr im Workshop. Außerdem stehen euch sehr nette Helferinnen und Helfer zur Verfügung, die euch während des Codens „über die Schulter sehen“ und euch unterstützen. Natürlich könnt Ihr auch all Eure Fragen über das Informatikstudium bei uns loswerden und alles über das Leben und Arbeiten auf dem Campus erfahren.

Die Anmeldung erfolgt über www.girls-day.de

Einige Tage nach der Anmeldung erhaltet ihr eine Anmeldebestätigung per E-Mail und ein Einverständnisformular für online-Veranstaltungen per Videokonferenz (Webex). Bitte sorgt dafür, dass euer Postfach mindestens 1 MB Platz hat.

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

Apr 7th, 2022, 9 am - 5 pm
via WebEx or personally

Internal TRR Meeting

Feb 7th, 2022, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Epistemology of Data Visualization

Held by:

Ali Zolfagharian, Advanced Data and Information Literacy Track, University of Konstanz

Abstract:

Epistemology of Data Visualization (EDV) could be divided into three sub-domains by following questions: (a) When could an agent claim that she understands a data visualization? (non-propositional attitude) (b) When could an agent say I have been informed with a data visualization? (c) What could be the epistemic role of a data visualization in knowledge claim? (Propositional attitude) I start the talk with explaining my findings in ontological study of Data, information, and Data visualization; in order to provide a conceptual framework for the discussion. Then I provide a simple account for every question from normative point of view. At the end, I extend the first question (a) to the understanding of interactive data visualization after explaining why it should be the central question in EDV. 

Biography:

Ali Zolfagharian studied physics (BSc) at Semnan University, Iran and philosophy of science (M.A) at Sharif University of Technology, Iran. He has received his Ph.D in philosophy at the University of Konstanz, and his research area was formal epistemology. Now he is teaching 'Data Philosophy' Course at the University of Konstanz as a member of Advanced Data and Information Literacy Track.

Access via WebEx: 

https://unistuttgart.webex.com/unistuttgart/j.php?MTID=m3a49d850bb98b4ddeb23db17b7ba00b5
Meeting-Kennnummer (Zugriffscode): 2733 684 8687 
Meeting Passwort: nTrVba8db77

Feb 1st, 2022, full day
via WebEx

Internal TRR Meeting

Further information will be provided via emai to all participants.

Jan 31st, 2022, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Cross-Device and Transitional Interfaces for Human-Data Interaction

Held by:

Hans-Christian Jetter, Unversity of Lübeck 

Abstract:

In this talk, I will present some of my past work and an outlook on future research on human-data interaction (HDI). I will introduce some of the collaborative and/or cross-device systems that we created in the past to let teams interactively explore, experience, visualize, and make sense of complex data sets and data models. Thereby we have made extensive use of post-desktop devices and form factors, e.g., relying on touch and pen interaction with large screens or multiple connected tablets (see for example Research Group iDUX). In particular, I will present insights from designing, implementing, and evaluating these technologies with respect to cognitive/emotional/behavioral/social aspects. For example, I will discuss our observation of a “legacy bias” that hinders users from adopting novel, powerful, but also unfamiliar technologies. Furthermore, I will describe our current and future research in HDI on transitional interfaces for cross-reality/cross-virtuality analytics that span traditional 2D screens, augmented reality, and virtual reality. Such transitional interfaces will enable users to freely move between different locations within the reality-virtuality continuum during work to let them choose the best technologies for their task at hand and current information need (see for example Workshop at ACM ISS 2021).

Biography:

Hans-Christian Jetter is a computer scientist, Professor of Interaction Design and User Experience, and Head of the iDUX (Interaction Design and User eXperience) group at the University of Lübeck. He is particularly interested in designing human-computer interaction (HCI) and human-data interaction (HDI). His research group designs, implements, and studies novel ubiquitous, mixed-reality, and collaborative technologies for exploring, visualizing, and making sense of complex data sets and models.

Before joining the University of Lübeck in Summer 2020, he was a professor and head of the research group HIVE (Human Interfaces & Virtual Environments) at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria from 2015-2020.

In 2013 & 2014, he was a research associate and postdoc at University College London (UCL) in the Intel Collaborative Research Institute on Sustainable Connected Cities (ICRI). Christian also worked as research visitor and intern at Microsoft Research Cambridge in 2009 & 2011. Christian holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Information Engineering from the Human-Computer Interaction Group of the University of Konstanz in Germany where he also received his PhD in Computer Science in 2013.

Access via WebEx: 

https://unistuttgart.webex.com/unistuttgart/j.php?MTID=m9841706b2e87620a2b79cb25299d776f
Meeting-Kennnummer (Zugriffscode): 2730 132 8662
Meeting Passwort: 2V4bse9fgdf

Jan 25th, 2022, 11 am
Online

Talk | Analyzing the Language of Food on Social Media

Held by:

Stephen Kobourov, University of Arizona, USA

Abstract:

We investigate the predictive power behind the language of food on social media. We collect a corpus of over three million food-related posts from Twitter and demonstrate that many latent population characteristics can be directly predicted from this data: overweight rate, diabetes rate, and political leaning. We analyze which textual features have most predictive power for these datasets, providing insight into the connections between the language of food, geographic locale, and community characteristics. Lastly, we describe and demo an online system for real-time query and visualization of the dataset. Visualization tools, such as geo-referenced heatmaps, semantics-preserving wordclouds and temporal histograms, allow us to discover more complex, global patterns mirrored in the language of food.

Biography:

Stephen Kobourov is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Arizona. He completed BS degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science at Dartmouth College in 1995, and a PhD in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University in 2000.  He has worked as a Research Scientist at AT&T Research Labs, a Hulmboldt Fellow at the University of Tübingen in Germany, and a Distinguished Fulbright Chair at Charles University in Prague.

Access via WebEx: 

https://uni-konstanz.webex.com/uni-konstanz/j.php?MTID=m311200d2be99ae6341e9b779122d4a66
Meeting-Kennnummer (Zugriffscode): 2730 803 9730
Meeting Passwort: Ci22PHPd53m

Jan 24th, 2022, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Map the Knowledge for Human-Data Communication

Held by:

Hsiang-Yun WU , St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences and TU Wien

Abstract:

Visual computing uses computer-assisted visual representations of data and has been applied in scientific and industrial areas to amplify human cognition on data comprehension. Mapping is an essential step that transforms focus data to geometric data in the classical visualization pipeline. The challenge at this step is to find a meaningful mapping between data attributes and geometric objects so that they can be understood faithfully. In this talk, examples in visualization and physicalization will be presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this step. Firstly, layout techniques using map metaphors will be introduced to show how this classical representation can be adapted to visually untangle biological networks. Secondly, mapping data on physical objects facilitates intuitive in-hand data observation. Approaches, such as slicing and projection, for anatomical data are investigated to improve user engagement in the learning procedure. Finally, scalability, usability, and open directions will be discussed at the end of the talk.

Biography:

Hsiang-Yun WU is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Department of Media and Digital Technologies, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, Austria. She is a university assistant at the Research Unit Computer Graphics, Institute of Visual Computing & Human-Centered Technology, TU Wien, Austria and a Visiting Researcher at the Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.

She worked as a Marie Curie research fellow at the Research Unit Computer Graphics, Institute of Visual Computing & Human-Centered Technology, TU Wien, Austria, as a visiting professor at the National Engineering Laboratory of Big Data Analysis and Application, School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, China, as a project assistant professor at  Fujishiro Research Group (Computer Graphics and Visualization Laboratory), Department of Information and Computer Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University, Japan, with the Takahashi Research Group (Visualization Laboratory), Department of Computer Science, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Japan and the Takahashi Research Group (Visualization Laboratory), Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan, as a postdoctoral researcher at the Takahashi Research Group (Visualization Laboratory), Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan, and as a software engineer at Quanta Computer Inc, Taiwan.

Access via WebEx: 

https://unistuttgart.webex.com/unistuttgart/j.php?MTID=mf7be361a49c7c7c329e283d6c657d9e7
Meeting-Kennnummer (Zugriffscode): 2734 007 9723
Meeting Passwort: MDwHm52YzA8

Jan 17th, 2022, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Mixed Reality User Manuals

Held by:

Denis Kalkofen, TU Graz

Abstract:

User manuals are an essential supplement to many products. However, following a traditional user manual requires mentally mapping information presented in images and videos into the user's three-dimensional real-world environment. Mixed Reality (MR) user manuals can reduce the effort needed to follow the information provided by a user manual because it supports interactive visualizations directly in its user's real-world environment.

This talk reviews the building blocks of MR user manuals. It discusses MR user manuals at the intersection of computer graphics, computer vision and human-computer interaction. Specifically, it shows how MR user manuals require comprehensible visualizations, coherent rendering techniques, as well as input and output interfaces to support a simple authoring process and seamless interactions with virtual and physical objects.

Biography:

Denis Kalkofen is an assistant professor at the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision (ICG), Graz University of Technology, Austria. His research is focused on developing visualization, interaction, authoring and display technology for Virtual and Mixed Reality environments. He is especially interested in combining computer graphics, human-computer interaction and computer vision techniques to enable comprehensible and easily accessible Mixed Reality experiences. Denis received Dipl.-Ing. (2004) from the University of Magdeburg and Dr. techn. (2009) from Graz University of Technology. In 2019, he joined the Wearable Computer Laboratory at the University of South Australia as visiting researcher and the Computational Imaging Laboratory at Stanford University as visiting assistant professor. Before joining ICG, he was a member of the Virtual Reality Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Denis won best paper, best short paper, and honorable mention awards at several international scientific events, including IEEE ISMAR, EuroVis, KELVAR, BioVis, VRCAI, and 3DUI.

Access via WebEx: 

https://unistuttgart.webex.com/unistuttgart/j.php?MTID=m1e5a325b7f76be2eddd33b7844f3dafb
Meeting-Kennnummer (Zugriffscode): 2734 433 4545
Meeting Passwort: cTx7ZPJyD38

Jan 10th, 2022, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | High-Dimensional Processing - From Visual Analytics to Machine Learning

Held by:

Nicola Pezzotti, Eindhoven University of Technology

Abstract:

The ability to handle high-dimensional data is key in several fields of science. In this talk, I will present some of my work in this domain, focusing on algorithms for non-linear dimensionality reduction that are particularly suited for understanding the computations performed by deep-learning models. I will also present success stories enabled by such algorithms, from the identification of previously unknown cell types to the creation of winning deep learning solutions in the fastMRI and BotBowl challenges.

Biography:

Nicola Pezzotti is a Senior Scientist in Artificial Intelligence at Philips Research, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and an assistant professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology. His research interests include machine learning, medical imaging, visual analytics, explainable AI, optimization techniques, and software engineering. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Brescia, Italy, in 2009 and 2011. He received his PhD cum Laude from the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, in 2018. Besides his experience in the startup world, he was a visiting scientist to INRIA Saclay Paris, in 2017 and Google AI, Zurich, in 2018. He is the recipient of several awards, including the IEEE VGTC Best Dissertation Award, TU Delft Excellence in Research, and the Dirk Bartz Prize for Visual Computing in Medicine.

Platform and Registration: 

The lecture will be presented via Webex. Please contact Christoph Schulz to get the required access credentials. 

2021

Dec 14th, 2021, 6.45 pm
Online

Screening and Panel Discussion | An Evening with Ada

Organized by:

SFB-TRR 161, Lumière Campus Cinema, Equal Opportunity Office Konstanz & Konstanz Women in Mathematics

Abstract:

We invite you to an evening with Ada Lovelace (10.12.1815–27.11.1852) – a great English mathematician and the first computer programmer who wrote an algorithm for the early computing machine conceptualized by Charles Babbage. A woman whose creativity, hard work and persistence changed the world.

Programme:

  • An intro lecture about Ada Lovelace by mathematician Dr. Sebastian Krapp
  • Screening of Ada (2019) – Winner of Beyond Time Genre Awards 2021 (best historical film), Global Shorts, Los Angeles 2020 (Award of Excellence – Short Film), Stage 32 Short Film Competition 2021 (Grand Prize – Best Short Film) and more
  • Panel Discussion with movie director Steven Kammerer and leading actress Julie Bruns

Platform and Registration:

The event is streamed live via Zoom. To receive the required access credentials, please contact gabriela.michalek@uni.kn (Subject: Ada). 

Link to the Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Konstanz

Poster for the event

Dec 6th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Human Motion Analysis for Sport Education and Training

Held by:

Peter Kán, Institute of Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology, TU Wien

Abstract:

This talk will focus on computational analysis of captured human motion and human poses while performing sports and stretching exercises. The main goal of the presented methodology is to provide a user with detailed feedback about her/his motion performance in order to improve the technique for a given sport or exercise. Two different use cases with distinct methodologies for analysis will be presented including tennis training and body stretching assistance. Processing of both 3D and 2D motion and pose data will be presented. Additionally, the methods for temporal alignment, motion similarity modeling and motion classification will be discussed. 

Biography:

Peter Kán is currently a post-doctoral researcher at Aarhus University and TU Wien. He finished his doctoral studies at TU Wien. During his PhD studies, he conducted a research on the topic of High-Quality Real-Time Global Illumination in Augmented Reality. Currently, his research interests are in the topics of Photorealistic rendering, Augmented reality, Virtual reality, Automatic 3D content generation, Deep learning, Virtual Agents, Motion analysis and Motion learning in VR/AR.

Platform and Registration: 

The lecture will be presented via Webex. Please contact Christoph Schulz to get the required access credentials. 

Nov 29th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Visualization in Data Conversations

Held by:

Melanie Tory, Roux Institute of Northeastern University in Portland, Maine


Abstract:

Over the past several years I have begun to conceptualize visualization as a means to support data conversations. Conversation with data is the iterative interaction between people and data to ask and  answer questions (classic analysis work). In addition, we can recognize and highlight collaboration and  sharing practices involving data, or conversation through and around data, as critical data practices. In this talk, I'll introduce my framing of data conversations, with examples from various research and development projects from Tableau. I'll also introduce Viz@Roux, my new team at the Roux Institute of Northeastern University.


Biography:

Melanie is professor of the practice and director of data visualization research at the Roux Institute of Northeastern University in Portland, Maine. She  has more than 15 years of academic and industrial research experience, and joins the institute from Tableau Software, an interactive data visualization software company that was recently acquired by Salesforce for over $15B. Tory served as a Computer Science faculty member at the University of Victoria and holds a PhD in Computer Science from Simon Fraser University. She is the Associate Editor of several visualization journals and serves on the steering committee of the IEEE VIS Conference.

 

Platform and Registration: 

The lecture will be presented via Webex. Please contact Christoph Schulz to get the required access credentials. 

Nov 22nd, 2021, 9.45 am
via Zoom

Talk | Situated Analytics (Introduction to Workshop | Situated Analytics)

Held by:

Prof. Dieter Schmalstieg, Graz University of Technology, Austria

Abstract:

For the past few years, one can observe increased interest in combining visualization with new user interface technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). While immersive visualizations are usually implemented in VR, situated visualizations are grounded in the real world and, therefore, implemented in AR. With a mobile AR display, the user is freed from having to bring the data to the workplace and, instead, may go where the data belongs.
For situated visualization, referents are key. By extension, the same is true for situated analytics, i.e., analytic work supported by situated visualization. Situated analytics near referents is particularly relevant if referents actively provide data, such as via Internet of Things. Despite its promise to grant access to just the right data, anytime and anywhere, few works explore situated analytics for lengthy or complex tasks, such as visualization authoring or data exploration. In contrast to immersive analytics, which successfully capitalizes on providing unlimited virtual “space to think”, it appears that the benefits of situated analytics are harder to manifest.

Biography:

see Workshop | Situated Analytics

Platform and Registration: 

The talk is part of the Workshop | Situated Analytics that takes place in person at the University of Konstanz.
You can join in to the talk via Zoom. Please contact Sebastian Hubenschmid for the required access credentials. 

Nov 22nd - 23rd, 2021
at the University of Konstanz

Workshop | Situated Analytics

Held by:

Prof. Dieter Schmalstieg and Philipp Fleck, Graz University of Technology, Austria

 

Agenda:

Monday, November 22
09:00               ZT 1204           Welcome
09:45               ZT 1204           Introduction (Intro in Situated Analytics and Tutorial of the Framework; by Dieter Schmalstieg)
                                                This talk is accessable via Zoom.
                                                Please contact Sebastian Hubenschmid for the required access credentials. 
12:30               ZT 702             Lunch
13:30               Labs                Brainstorming - Topics for Hackathon together with Demos (break-out groups)
14:15               Labs                Coffee Break & Demo Rotation
14:30               Labs                Demos cont’d
15:15               Labs                Coffee Break & Demo Rotation
15:30               Labs                Demos cont’d
16:15               K503                Coffee Break
16:30               K503                Reflection & Planning for Hackathon
17:30                                       End – Day 1
19:00                                       Dinner – Constanzer Wirtshaus

Tuesday, November 23
09:00               Labs                Kick-Off for Hackathon
                                                (work in break-out groups / various hardware)
12:30               Labs                Lunch
13:30               Labs                Hackathon cont’d / Discussions cont’d
15:30                                       Coffee Break
15:00               ZT1204            Presentations / demos of break-out groups’ progress
16:00               ZT1204            Reflection / Brainstorming / Next steps / Outro
17:00                                       End – Day 2

Demos
PZ 901             Mille Skovhus Lunding
                         & Rasmus Skovhus Lunding            AR-supported human-robot collaboration
PZ 907             Jonathan Wieland                             ReLive
PZ 1011           Dimitar Garkov                                  Brainacle
Z 924               Sebastian Hubenschmid                   ART vs. STREAM
ZT 701             Maximilian Dürr                                  Kinaesthetics
ZT 801             Wilhelm Kerle                                    GAV-VR

 

Biographies:

Dieter Schmalstieg is full professor and head of the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision at Graz University of Technology, Austria. His current research interests are augmented reality, virtual reality, computer graphics, visualization, and human-computer interaction. He received Dipl.-Ing. (1993), Dr. techn. (1997) and Habilitation (2001) from Vienna University of Technology. He is author and co-author of over 400 peer-reviewed scientific publications with over 20,000 citations and over twenty best paper awards and nominations.
His organizational roles include associate editor in chief of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, associate editor of Frontiers in Robotics and AI, member of the steering committee of the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, chair of the EUROGRAPHICS working group on Virtual Environments (1999-2010), key researcher of the K-Plus Competence Center for Virtual Reality and Visualization in Vienna, and key researcher of the Know-Center in Graz. In 2002, he received the START career award presented by the Austrian Science Fund. In 2008, he founded the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Handheld Augmented Reality. In 2012, he received the IEEE Virtual Reality technical achievement award, and, in 2020, the IEEE ISMAR Career Impact Award. He was elected as Fellow of IEEE, as a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and as a member of the Academia Europaea.

Philipp Fleck is currently working as a PhD Student at the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision at Graz University of Technology, Austria. He received his Masters degree from the Graz University of Technology in Computer Science with focus on Vision and Graphics. Currently, he is working on AR tracking systems on mobiles under the supervision of Prof. Dieter Schmalstieg and Dr. Clemens Arth. Besides his studies, he worked at Magna Steyr in Graz as a developer for several years. His research interests are SLAM, Tracking, AR, 3D Reconstruction and Image Recognition. Besides his job at the Graz University of Technology, he works for AR4, an AR focused spin-off of the Graz University of Technology.

 

Organizers:

  • Prof. Tiare Feuchtner, University of Konstanz
  • Prof. Harald Reiterer, University of Konstanz, SFB-TRR 161 Project C01
  • Prof. Falk Schreiber, University of Konstanz, SFB-TRR 161 Project D04 / INF
  • Sebastian Hubenschmid,
  • Johannes Zagermann, SFB-TRR 161 Project C01
  • Karsten Klein, SFB-TRR 161 Project D04 / INF
  • Michael Aichem, SFB-TRR 161 Project D04

 

Registration and Deadline: 

The workshop is limited to 30 participants.
If you would like to attend, please contact Sebastian Hubenschmid to register.
Registration deadline is Friday, November 12th, 2021.

Please bring your own laptop and be ready for programming.
The workshop counts as research seminar for the SFB graduate school. 

 

Coronavirus Regulations: 

Access to the University of Konstanz is only provided to persons who are vaccinated, recovered or have a current negative test result (3G-rule). Currently, the corresponding documentation is checked whenever you enter the campus (3G-check). The wearing of a medical-grade (OP) mask or an FFP2 face mask is mandatory in the university buildings. On the university campus (in buildings and outside), please keep at least 1.5 metres between yourself and others. Please find more detailed information on the current coronavirus regulations here.

Nov 18th, 2021, 9 am - 5 pm
via WebEx

Internal TRR Meeting

Further information will be provided via emai to all participants.

Nov 17th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Talk | It’s All About the Money (?) - Self-Marketing and Negotiation Strategies for Women in Computer Science

Held by:

Claudia Kimich

- negotiation expert and systemic coach -

 

Abstract:

In her talk, Claudia Kimich sheds light on her path from studying informatics and working in IT to systemic coaching and being self-employed. She also discusses how studying informatics and the skills she acquired had a significant influence on her success today. In the second part of her talk, she coaches participants on strategies for salary negotiation and self-marketing. Furthermore, she offers some perspectives on the special challenges that women in informatics face. In an open discussion and group coaching session, Claudia Kimich answers her participants’ questions and gives advice with regard to individual experiences and challenges. 

After the talk, Claudia Kimich is available for one-on-one speedcoaching sessions (5 mins) to analyze individual scenarios in more depth. For a speedcoaching session, please register separately via Christina Warren.

 

Biography:

Claudia Kimich studied informatics in 1989 and in these times 30% of the students were female. She worked as a technical IT lead in a biological service laboratory and as a technical sales lead for IT security products. Since 1998 she is a trainer, speaker and systemic coach. Her central topics are salary negotiation, self-marketing and quick-wittedness. Moreover, her special focus is the presentation, conflict communication and negotiation coaching for computer scientists and engineers. Her success recipe is her provocative, constructive manner spiced with creativity and a clearly structured modus operandi. She doesn’t waste time and is always straight to the point. She’s author of the books „Um Geld verhandeln“ and „Verhandlungstango“ (Beck Verlag) and regularly quoted in publications such as Handelsblatt, SpiegelOnline and Brigitte. She is also a member of the German Speakers Association.

Platform and Registration: 

The talk is free of charge and open to women from all stages of academia. Please contact Claudia Widmann or Christina Warren to register and get the required access credentials.

Nov 12th, 2021
via Zoom

Workshop | Introduction to R and Models for Psychophysics

Held by:

Dr. Alessandro Moscatelli, University of Rome and Dr. Priscilla Balestrucci, University of Ulm

Agenda:

09:30 am   Introduction to R and Tidyverse (Priscilla Balestrucci)
10:30 am   Break
10:45 am   Mixed Models in Psychophysics (Alessandro Moscatelli)

Abstract:
Psychophysical methods are widely used across different scientific communities to investigate the quantitative relation between a physical property of the world and its perceptual representation provided by the senses. This approach can provide evidence about basic sensory processes and assess the performance of an observer interacting with technological devices. Such methods can also help establish quantitative criteria for evaluating and designing novel technology.
The results of a psychophysical experiment are typically analyzed by fitting a psychometric function to each observer and then performing a second-level model for inferential statistics. Yet recent studies have shown that modelling data at the population level by means of Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) also has many advantages, specifically in terms of a better estimation of goodness of fit and of a higher statistical power.
In this workshop, we will demonstrate the use of the open-source statistical software R for processing and analyzing typical psychophysical data, using popular R libraries such as Tidyverse and Lme4 together with our package MixedPsy.

Biographies:

Alessandro Moscatelli, M.D., Ph.D., is tenure track researcher (RTDb) at the Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ and junior group leader at the Department of Neuromotor Physiology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy. He is a board member of the EuroHaptics Society (2018–present). Alessandro Moscatelli received a Medical Doctor degree and a postgraduate master’s degree from the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, in 2006 and 2008 respectively, both cum laude. He received a PhD in Neuroscience from University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ in 2010 under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Lacquaniti. From 2011 to 2015, he worked as Post Doc at the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and CITEC at Bielefeld University, led by Prof. Marc O. Ernst. His research interests include haptics, the integration of proprioception and touch, tactile and visual perception of motion, and motor control of the hand.  

Dr. Priscilla Balestrucci is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Applied Cognitive Psychology led by Prof. Marc Ernst. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Medical Engineering at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ in 2010 and 2013. She received her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ in 2018, under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Lacquaniti. Her current research interests include models of sensorimotor learning and adaptation, joint actions, and learning in contexts of human-machine interaction.

 

Organizers:

Prof. Dr. Marc Ernst, Dr. P. Balestrucci, Ulm University, Task Force B, Project C05


Registration: 

If you would like to attend, please contact Priscilla Balestruci to register.
The workshop counts as research seminar for the SFB graduate school. 

Nov 8th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | The Cyber Valley Cluster & Entrepreneurship Support at the University of Stuttgart

Held by:

Dr. Ferran Giones, Tobias Dürr, Marcel Werle and Philipp Häßler, University of Stuttgart


Abstract:

The Cyber Valley is Europe’s largest research cluster on Artificial Intelligence. Over 20 research institutes are part of this initiative. The Cyber Valley drives basic research and support of young researchers in the areas of deep learning, computer vision and robotics. As part of Cyber Valley, multiple chairs were already founded with more coming over the next years and a new graduate school at the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS) is responsible for the education of young scientists. At the same time, it is Cyber Valley’s set goal to expand the entrepreneurial ecosystem in its cluster. Here, joint research projects between young ventures, established companies and leading universities are planned. Tobias Dürr, innovation manager for Cyber Valley, will give a short overview of the current activities at Cyber Valley, its ecosystem, and how the network can support you. 

Another founding initiative at the University of Stuttgart came to be in May 2020 with the Exi+ project at the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science. With it came three startup coaches, as well as one technology scout advising on publicly available startup grants such as EXIST Gründerstipendium and EXIST Forschungstransfer. Dr. Ferran Giones will present the activities of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science in teaching, research and networking while Marcel Werle (Startup Coach) and Philipp Haessler (Technology Scout) will give a brief introduction in how researchers and students are consulted in applying for one of these grants and bringing research results into the market. 

Cyber Valley and the Exi+ team collaborate closely when advising startups in the area of artificial intelligence and related subjects. We are excited to present at the SFB-TRR 161 and give you insights into our work and initiatives.


Biographies:

Dr. Ferran Giones is assistant professor (Akademischer Rat) at the University of Stuttgart and Deputy Director of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science. He received the BBA & MBA from ESADE Business School, and PhD from La Salle – Ramon Llull University, both in Barcelona, Spain. Before joining academia, he worked in strategy consulting and in international project management. Prior to joining University of Stuttgart, he has been assistant professor for Technology Entrepreneurship at University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Sonderborg
His research field is technology entrepreneurship and industry emergence, where he explores the intriguing questions related to how and when does technological progress trigger entrepreneurial activity, and how does this entrepreneurial activity transform into sustainable organizations that contribute to social and economic growth. He teaches on technology entrepreneurship and technology innovation management topics.

Tobias Dürr completed his studies in social sciences and empirical political and social research at the University of Stuttgart, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts. Among other things, he focused on the sociology of work, organization and innovation, as well as environmental sociology and technology assessment. From 2014 Tobias Dürr was a research assistant at the Chair of ABWL, in particular Innovation and Service Management of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Burr at the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Stuttgart. During this time, he was involved in the "Stuttgart Change Labs" and "QuaLIKiSS" projects, among others. In 2019, he took over the project management of "Let US elevate!" at the Office of the Rectorate of the University of Stuttgart. The goal of "Let US elevate!" is to strengthen the startup culture at the University of Stuttgart within the framework of a cloud-based startup simulation and individual support for university startup projects. Since 2020, Tobias Dürr works as innovation manager of the AI and robotics research consortium "Cyber Valley" for the University of Stuttgart at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research of Prof. Dr. Alexander Brem. 

Marcel Werle is a Startup Coach at the University of Stuttgart and PhD student at the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Sciences. In his work, he supports academic founders in their entrepreneurial endeavor. His support reaches from defining market opportunities, market and customer segmentation, business model development and raising an initial investment. Prior to his role as Startup Coach he worked in the software, automotive and media industry. He graduated in Business Informatics in 2020 from the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Philipp Häßler completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in mechanical engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He wrote his theses on the topics of business model innovations, digitalization of production and sustainability. During his studies, he gained practical experience in the IT and production sectors as well as in two management consultancies in the energy and financial sectors. Since May 2020, Philipp Häßler has been working as a technology scout at the University of Stuttgart and is involved in research on the commercialization of emerging technologies.

 

Platform and Registration: 

The lecture will be presented via Webex. Please contact Christoph Schulz to get the required access credentials. 

Sep 29th, 2021, 9 am - 5 pm
University of Stuttgart

Internal TRR Meeting

Further information will be provided via emai to all participants.

Jul 26th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Talk | Quantification of Visual Attention in Mobile HCI

Held by:

Dr. Mihai Bâce, University of Stuttgart

Abstract:

Eye contact is a key measure of overt visual attention in mobile HCI as it enables understanding when, how often, or for how long users look at their devices. However, robustly detecting shifts of attention during everyday mobile interactions is challenging. Encouraged by recent advances in automatic eye contact detection, we present a method to accurately and robustly detect eye contact in images captured with the front-facing camera of common mobile devices. Based on our evaluations, we show how eye contact is the fundamental building block for calculating higher-level attention metrics and, as such, enables studying visual attention in the wild. We then present the Everyday Mobile Visual Attention (EMVA) dataset and quantitative evaluations of visual attention of mobile device users in-situ, i.e. while they use their devices during their everyday routine. Using our proposed method for eye contact detection, we quantify the highly dynamic nature of everyday visual attention allocation across users, mobile applications, and usage contexts. Finally, we discuss our findings that highlight the potential and inform the design of future mobile attentive user interfaces.

Biography:

Mihai Bâce is a post-doctoral researcher in the Perceptual User Interfaces group at the University of Stuttgart. He did his PhD at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, at the Institute for Intelligent Interactive Systems. His research interests are in Human-Computer Interaction, focusing on computational aspects and has influences from both Machine Learning and Computer Vision.

Platform and Registration: 

The lecture will be presented via Webex. Please contact Heike Lehmann before July 22th, 2021 to get the required access credentials.  

Jul 12th, 2021, 4 pm to 5.45 pm
Online

Online Workshop | Visual Analytics Tool VISPLORE

Held by:

Dipl.-Ing Dr. Harald Piringer,  CEO of Visplore GmbH, Vienna, Austria

Scope:

In this workshop, Harald Piringer will present Visplore, an innovative visual analytics solution for time series data. He will give an overview of its possibilities and will showcase use cases from industry and the energy sector.

Biography:

Harald Piringer studied informatics at the Vienna University of Technology. For more than 10 years, Harald Piringer was the head of the Visual Analytics group at the VRVis research center in Vienna, where he did applied research in close collaboration with industry partners such as Austrian Power Grid and RHI Magnesita. Harald Piringer (co-)authored more than 30 international publications. In 2020, he founded the Visplore GmbH as a spin-off company as its CEO. Today, the Visplore GmbH is a venture-capital backed start-up, see www.visplore.com.

Organizers:

Platform, Registration and Deadline:

The workshop will be conducted using Cisco WebEx. Connection details will be distributed to registered participants. If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

Registration deadline is Friday, 2 July 2021.

Jun 21th - 22nd, 2021
Online

Online Status Seminar of the SFB-TRR 161

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Monday, Jun 21st, 2021, 9.10 am - 10.10 am

Keynote: Quantitative Methods for Perception-driven Visualization

Held by: Prof. Yunhai Wang, School of Computer Science and Technology, Shandong University

Abstract:

By providing visual representations of data, visualization can help people to carry out many data analysis tasks more effectively. Given a data set, however, there are often too many possible visualization techniques, with each technique having many parameters to be tuned. Here, the question arises is if it is possible to automatically design a visualization that is best suited to pursue a given task on given input data. With my lab, we attempt to quantitatively model human perception of different visualization types and developed a number of automated visualization techniques to achieve this goal for different data sets such as time-series, bivariate, high-dimensional, and set data. 

Biography:

Yunhai Wang is a Professor at Shandong University, China. He leads the Interactive Data Exploration System (IDEAS) Lab at Shandong University with the mission to enhance people's ability for understanding and communicating data. His current research interests include perceptual and mathematical foundations of visualization, domain specific languages for authoring interactive data visualization and data structures for big data visualization. He has published more than 50 papers in top venues for visualization and computer graphics, such as IEEE VIS, IEEE TVCG, ACM SIGGRAPH/SIGGRAPH Asia, ACM TOG and ACM CHI. He has collaborated with many international researchers especially with professors from Konstanz and Stuttgart. He is the main organizer of the yearly Sino-German Visualization Workshop (2017-2019 – stopped by Covid-19).

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Tuesday, Jun 22nd, 2021, 9 am -  9.10 am

Research Presentation: XRgonomics: Facilitating the Creation of Ergonomic 3D Interfaces

Held by: Dr. Tiare Feuchtner, TU Wien and Aarhus University

Biography:

Tiare Feuchtner will soon be joining the HCI group at the University of Konstanz as Junior Professor, where she will lead the new Multimodal Cross Reality Lab. Her mission is to create effective tools for collaboration and believable experiences of co-presence in virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) through customized interaction techniques, carefully designed user representations, and rich multisensory feedback. As a computer scientist, her main interests are deeply embedded in the study of human-computer interaction (HCI), with a focus on embodied user interfaces for immersive technologies.

Tiare completed her studies at TU Wien (BSc, 2011), TU Berlin (MSc, 2015) and Aarhus University (PhD 2018), and was visiting researcher at Mel Slater's EventLab in Barcelona, as well as junior researcher at the Austrian Institute of Technology. Currently, she has a split position as postdoctoral researcher at both TU Wien and Aarhus University. She thereby combines many decades of expertise in VR and AR in Vienna with a strong Danish tradition of HCI for applied research on novel digital assistance approaches for industry 4.0, in close collaboration with companies such as LEGO, Vestas, and Velux.

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Tuesday, Jun 22nd, 2021, 3.55 pm - 4.55 pm

Capstone: Exploring the Design Space of Situated Analytics

Held by: Prof. DI Dr. Dieter Schmalstieg, TU Graz, Austria

Abstract:

Half a century after Ivan Sutherland's pioneering work on immersive interfaces, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are entering the commercial mainstream. Many of the roadblocks related to performance and usability are now resolved. The commoditization of these technologies makes it interesting to consider them not only for entertainment, but also for visualization and analytics work. New research on immersive analytics considers how the infinite virtual space can benefit not only the visualization of spatial data, but also of abstract data. New research on situated analytics considers how immersive interfaces can be physically grounded and blended with a user's perception of the real world. This talk will give an overview of recent developments in immersive and situated analytics and describe results of an ongoing research collaboration between the speaker's team in Graz and the University of Stuttgart.

Biography:

Dieter Schmalstieg is full professor and head of the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision at Graz University of Technology, Austria. His current research interests are augmented reality, virtual reality, computer graphics, visualization and human-computer interaction. He received Dipl.-Ing. (1993), Dr. techn. (1997) and Habilitation (2001) from Vienna University of Technology. He is author and co-author of over 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications with over 20,000 citations and over twenty best paper awards and nominations. His organizational roles include associate editor in chief of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, associate editor of Frontiers in Robotics and AI, member of the steering committee of the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, chair of the EUROGRAPHICS working group on Virtual Environments (1999-2010), key researcher of the K-Plus Competence Center for Virtual Reality and Visualization in Vienna and key researcher of the Know-Center in Graz. In 2002, he received the START career award presented by the Austrian Science Fund. In 2008, he founded the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Handheld Augmented Reality. In 2012, he received the IEEE Virtual Reality technical achievement award, and, in 2020, the IEEE ISMAR Career Impact Award. He was elected as Fellow of IEEE, as a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and as a member of the Academia Europaea.

Jun 10th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Talk | Visualization of Multifield Data: Layouts, Features, and Systems

Held by:

Ass. Prof. Dr. Steffen Frey, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Abstract:

State-of-the art simulations and experiments in porous media research capture processes and phenomena in multiple high-resolution fields, each of which (partially) describes the state of an investigated system at a certain point in time. The richness of the obtained data provides an unprecedented opportunity to gain new insights, but also introduces various challenges for the analysis. This talk will focus on three complementary visualization approaches for making sense of multifield data: layouts  (the arrangement and aggregation of fields), features (the data representation used for analysis), and finally systems (the interactive visual exploration incorporating different components). All perspectives are presented via examples from prior work within SFB 1313 and beyond.

Biography:

Steffen Frey received his PhD degree in computer science from the University of Stuttgart in 2014 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Visualization Research Center of the University of Stuttgart (VISUS). Since 2020, he is an assistant professor at the Bernoulli Institute at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. His research interests are in visualization methods for increasingly large quantities of scientific data.

Platform and Registration: 

For information on how to join the talk, please visit the website of SFB 1313, who are organizing the event.

 

May 5th - 7th, 2021, each day 10 am - 12 pm and 2 pm - 4 pm
University of Kassel

Conference on Graphs/Networks/Graph Neural Networks and their application

Organized by:

GAIN - Graphs in Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks at the University of Kassel

Scope:

The conference celebrates the kick-off of the new project GAIN at the University of Kassel. 

It offers great speakers and topics from practical to theoretical: From the application of graphs in the electrical power grid to spin networks in quantum gravitation. Furthermore information about their groups work is added, as well as an overview on Graph Neural Networks.

Speakers are:  Franco Scarselli, Viola Priesemann, Matthias Gebhardt, Marián Boguñá, Michael Bronstein, Martin Braun, Alexander Scheidler and Daniel Martinez.

Please find the schedule and further information on registration on: https://gain-group.de/events.html

The participation is free of costs. After registration, you will as well get access to a 2d-world for virtual interaction. Only taking part in the sessions is also possible. Please register anyway, so they can send you a link and estimate the amount of participants.

 

Apr 20th, 2021, 1 pm to 4 pm (Registration Deadline: Mar 31st, 2021)
Online

Online Workshop | Machine Learning: Dimension Reduction Techniques

Held by:

Dr. Michaël Aupetit, Senior Scientist at Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar.

Scope:

Dr. Michaël Aupetit will talk about Dimension Reduction techniques following the plan of the IEEE TVCG Survey paper "Multidimensional Projection for Visual Analytics: Linking Techniques with Distortions, Tasks, and Layout Enrichment” co-authored with Luis Gustavo Nonato, University of São Paulo, but adding more detailed material.
The workshop will focus on the use of Multi-Dimensional Projections for Exploratory Data Analysis (Visual Analytics):

  • Computational techniques for Analyzing Data
  • Old and new techniques to reduce dimensions
  • Similarity measures and the curse of the dimensionality
  • Distortions
  • Analytic Tasks
  • Layout Enrichment
  • Guidelines
  • Extensions to labeled data
  • Scalability

A hands-on session will complete the workshop.

Biography:

Dr. Michaël Aupetit works at the at the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) since 2014. He is a Senior Scientist with the Social Computing group. Before joining QCRI, Michaël worked for 10 years as a research scientist and senior expert in data mining and visual analytics at CEA LIST in Paris Saclay, where he designed decision support systems to solve complex industrial problems in health and security domains.

Michaël initiated and co-organized 5 international workshops. He has been PC member of IEEE VAST, PacificVis, ESANN, and ICANN conferences, and has reviewed hundreds of papers for top journals and conferences, has 100 publications, and holds 3 WO , 2 US and 1 EP patents. He obtained the Habilitation for Research Supervision (HDR) in Computer Science from Paris 11 Orsay University in 2012, and the Ph. D degree in Industrial Engineering from Grenoble National Polytechnic Institute (INPG) in 2001.

Organizers:

Platform, Registration and Deadline:

The workshop will be conducted using Cisco WebEx. Connection details will be distributed to registered participants. If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

Registration deadline is Wednesday, 31 March 2021.

 

22. April 2021, 10.00 Uhr bis 14.00 Uhr
Online

Digitaler Girls' Day in Stuttgart und Konstanz | Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner

Der Girls' Day ist eine bundesweite Veranstaltung mit dem Ziel, das Interesse von Schülerinnen an Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu fördern. Dieses Jahr findet er am 22.04.2021 statt und wieder beteiligen sich unterschiedlichste Institutionen mit interessanten Aktionen rund ums Experimentieren und Forschen. Damit werden Einblicke in die Arbeit von Natur- und IngenieurwissenschaftlerInnen gegeben. Im Vordergrund der Veranstaltungen steht jedoch die Möglichkeit, selbst aktiv zu werden.

Auf Grund der Pandemie findet unser Angebot dieses Jahr digital statt.

Beim Girls Day 2021 bieten das Visualisierungsinstitut (VISUS), der Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) 1313 und der transregionale Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB-TRR) 161 der Universität Stuttgart und der Universität Konstanz folgenden Workshop an:

Programmieren? Das kann ich auch! - Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner
(Klasse 7 - 10)

Willst Du eigene Programme schreiben, die genau das machen, was du willst? Wir geben Dir die nötige Starthilfe dafür. In unserem Workshop kannst Du Dir Deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner programmieren. Soll er sehr farbenfroh aussehen? Möchtest du einen Text hinzufügen? Sollen sich die Muster bewegen? Bei uns kannst du dich gestalterisch austoben und dein persönliches Design direkt selbst umsetzen und auch später noch in aller Ruhe anpassen.

Während des Workshops wird es ein Coding-Quiz geben, bei dem Ihr Euer Wissen testen und am Ende einen Preis gewinnen könnt!

Programmier-Vorkenntnisse sind für unseren Coding-Kurs nicht zwingend erforderlich. Alle wichtigen Informationen erhaltet ihr im Workshop. Außerdem stehen euch sehr nette Helferinnen und Helfer zur Verfügung, die euch während des Codens „über die Schulter sehen“ und euch unterstützen. Natürlich könnt Ihr auch all Eure Fragen über das Informatikstudium bei uns loswerden und alles über das Leben und Arbeiten auf dem Campus erfahren.

Die Anmeldung erfolgt über www.girls-day.de

Einige Tage nach der Anmeldung erhaltet ihr eine Anmeldebestätigung per E-Mail und ein Einverständnisformular für online-Veranstaltungen per Videokonferenz (Webex). Bitte sorgt dafür, dass euer Postfach mindestens 1 MB Platz hat.

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

 

Feb 1st, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Hand- and Body-Aware Interaction for the Next Generation of Human-Computer Interactions

Held by:

Sven Mayer, LMU Munich


Abstract:

Touch interfaces are used in a large number of ubiquitous computers; however, they reduce the users' input to simple points on a 2D touch-sensitive plane. This is in stark contrast to the richness of how humans interact with the physical world. In my work, I study and build the interfaces for the next generation of computing systems by considering the humans' full physiology potential while respecting social and ergonomic constraints. I show how to go from simple interaction to hand- and body-aware interactions.


Biography:

Sven Mayer is an assistant professor for HCI at the LMU Munich. In his research, he uses machine learning tools to design, build, and evaluate future human-centered interfaces. He focuses on hand- and body-aware interactions in contexts, such as large displays, augmented and virtual reality, and mobile scenarios.

 

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Feb 8th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | JND-based Perceptual Quality Measurement and Prediction

Held by:

Haiqiang Wang, Tencent Media Lab, Shenzhen, China


Abstract:

Perceptual quality assessment has been a long-standing problem that attracts attentions from both academia and industry. The just-noticeable-difference (JND) methodology has been proposed to measure subjective experience of the human visual system in recent years. In this talk, I will try to give a brief review on JND-based subjective quality measurement, objective quality assessment metrics, and applications to perceptual coding. Then, I will present our recent work that applies Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to develop objective quality metrics. To be specific, we have developed a Full-Reference metric that uses 2D convolutional layers to extract spatial features and Convolutional Neural Network with 3D kernels (C3D) to learn spatiotemporal features. C3DVQA combines feature learning and score pooling into one spatiotemporal feature learning process. What's more, I would share an on-going work that aims to develop a No-Reference IQA metric. It adopts a coarse-to-fine multi-task learning strategy to reconstruct objective error maps in two subtasks optimized with different loss functions. The network is designed to be nested such that discriminative features learned from subtasks are efficiently shared by the primary task. Experimental results are given to show the performance of the proposed methods.


Biography:

Haiqiang Wang received his Ph.D. degree in 2018 from the University of Southern California. From 2018 to 2019, he was a Sr. researcher at Tencent Inc., Shenzhen, China. He is currently a research assistant professor at Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China. His research interests include deep learning, image/video processing, as well as quality assessment. Dr. Wang is a recipient of the 2017 CAPOCELLI PRIZE from the Data Compression Conference (DCC).

 

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Jan 18th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Lecture |State-of-the-art models in lexical semantic change detection

Held by:

Dominik Schlechtweg, University of Stuttgart


Abstract:

Lexical semantic change detection is a relatively young field in computational linguistics concerned with the automatic detection of meaning changes in words over time. I will first introduce low-dimensional semantic vector space models (VSMs) which dominate the task within the current evaluation framework. Then, I will distinguish between type- and token-based VSMs and discuss possible reasons for the apparent dominance of the simpler type-based models. I will show that token-based models can be tuned to reach similar performance as type-based models, while losing much of their expressiveness. Both model types then yield reasonable performance on current data sets. However, I will argue that this performance cannot be fully trusted, as these data sets are strongly biased towards polysemy. I will end by giving an outlook towards a formulation of semantic change detection as supervised learning task, which I consider to be the most promising direction of future research.


Biography:

I’m a last-year PhD student at the IMS (University of Stuttgart) working together with Sabine Schulte im Walde on automatic detection of lexical semantic change. I hold a Bachelor degree in Linguistics and English and a Master degree in Computational Linguistics. My interest is focused on the application of machine learning methods to solve problems involving the semantics of words.

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Jan 11th, 2021, 4 pm
Online

Lecture |Predicting Human Eye Fixations via Deep Learning-based Saliency Models

Held by:

Marcella Cornia, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia


Abstract:

When human observers look at an image, attentive mechanisms drive their gaze towards salient regions. Emulating such ability has been studied for more than 80 years by neuroscientists and by computer vision researchers, while in the last few years, thanks to the large spread of deep learning, saliency prediction models have achieved considerable improvement. The first part of the talk will provide an overview of saliency prediction architectures and show the results on the most important benchmarks for the task. The use of multi-level features and recurrent attentive mechanisms will be discussed and their effectiveness in emulating human eye fixation mechanisms will be demonstrated. The last part of the talk will be focused on the application of saliency information to improve other computer vision problems, such as image captioning.


Biography:

Marcella Cornia received the M.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Information and Communication Technologies from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in 2016 and 2020, respectively. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. She works under the supervision of Prof. Rita Cucchiara on Deep Learning and Computer Vision. She has authored or coauthored more than 20 publications in scientific journals and international conference proceedings. Her research interests include visual saliency prediction, image and video captioning, and multimedia technologies for cultural heritage. She regularly serves as a Reviewer for international conferences and journals.

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

2020

Dec 21st, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Data-Driven Direct Transfer of Insight between Brains and AI Systems

Held by:

Mariya Toneva, Carnegie Mellon University


Abstract:

Several major innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) (e.g. convolutional neural networks, TD learning, experience replay) are based on findings about the brain. However, in all of these cases, the underlying finding about brain function took many years to first consolidate and many more to transfer to AI. Moreover, all of these findings were made using invasive methods in non-human species. For many cognitive functions that are uniquely human, such as natural language processing, there is no suitable model organism and a mechanistic understanding is that much farther away.

In this talk, I will discuss two works that circumvent these limitations by establishing a direct connection between the brain and AI systems with two main goals: 1) to enable transfer of brain insight to AI and 2) to provide computational models that can be used to improve our mechanistic understanding of cognitive functions in the brain. Lastly, I will discuss future directions that build on these approaches to investigate the role of memory in meaning composition, both in the brain and in AI systems. My hope is that this investigation will lead to methods that can be applied to a wide range of AI domains, such as computer vision, multi-modal learning, and other areas in which it is important to adapt to new data distributions, continually learn to perform new tasks, and learn from few samples.


Biography:

Mariya Toneva is a last-year PhD candidate in a joint program between Machine Learning and Neural Computation at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is advised by Tom Mitchell and Leila Wehbe. Her primary research is on building computational models of meaning composition during language processing in the brain that can both better predict neuroimaging recordings of people reading naturalistic text and improve on natural language processing systems.

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Dec 14th, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Quantifying Reproducible Machine Learning

Held by:

Edward Raff, Booz Allen Hamilton


Abstract:

When human observers look at an image, attentive mechanisms drive their gaze towards salient regions. Emulating such ability has been studied for more than 80 years by neuroscientists and by computer vision researchers, while in the last few years, thanks to the large spread of deep learning, saliency prediction models have achieved considerable improvement. The first part of the talk will provide an overview of saliency prediction architectures and show the results on the most important benchmarks for the task. The use of multi-level features and recurrent attentive mechanisms will be discussed and their effectiveness in emulating human eye fixation mechanisms will be demonstrated. The last part of the talk will be focused on the application of saliency information to improve other computer vision problems, such as image captioning.


Biography:

Hello, my name is Edward Raff. I'm a Chief Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, where I lead our Machine Learning research group. I'm also a Visiting Professor at UMBC were I work closely with the DREAM and IRAL labs, and teach courses in the Data Science department. I received my PhD in Computer Science from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2018) and was supervised by Professor Charles Nicholas. I graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelors (2012) and Masters (2013) degree in Computer Science. Please see my linkedin for more of my work history.

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Dec 7th, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Challenges for Analysis and Visualization using encoding models of EEG brain activity

Held by:

Benedikt Ehinger, University of Stuttgart


Abstract:

Human brain potentials have been shown to be helpful for Human Computer Interactions (HCI) both as a direct input channel (Brain-CI), as well as a tool to understand user behavior. But the analysis of such data can be quite challenging as soon as classical experimental restrictions of interaction are removed. For many natural human-computer interactions, eye- and hand-movements are elemental.

The analyses of such data are challenging because we need statistical control for many continuous confounders, and we need deconvolution methods due to temporal overlap of brain potentials between gaze-fixations. To overcome these challenges, we recently introduced an integrated workflow based on encoding models and time-regression.

The visualizations of such encoding models are complex, mainly because the encoding model results reside in high-dimensional space (sensors x timepoints x subjects x predictors). This makes selection or discretization of the space necessary. In addition, the brain activity is non-stationary over time, complicating averaging over timepoints and subjects show high variability to each other, complicating averaging on the group level. Further, the experimental predictors are often not orthogonal but can potentially interact in surprising ways (e.g. suppressor effects, mediation).

In this talk I will give an introduction to the topic, intuit the logic of the analyses and discuss some problems in visualization.


Biography:

2018 - PhD in Cognitive Science, Osnabrück, Germany

2018-2020: PostDoc in PredictiveBrainLab with Floris deLange at Donders Institute, Nijmegen, Netherlands

2020: Tenure-Track Professor Computational Cognitive Science

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Nov 30th, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Trustworthy Visual Computing: Towards Sustainable Detection of Deep Fakes

Held by:

Mario Fritz, CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security


Abstract:

With the advance of deep learning techniques, large scale computation and large datasets, data-driven image synthesis techniques have achieved a qualitative new level of performance in recent years. Most notably Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) allow the synthesis of visual data that can already now be indistinguishable to real visual data from a human observer point of view. While this opens up new applications, this has several serious consequences on trust in visual data and can even be used to manipulate public opinions. Hence, we seek understanding in which ways such technology can be used beyond the intended use case in order to inform the model creators about potential dual use scenario. Furthermore, we investigate possibilities to detect such deep fakes. Unfortunately, this often leads to an arms race which does not allow for a sustainable detection of such fake images. Therefore, our most recent research investigates different watermarking and fingerprinting techniques that support a responsible disclosure of such state of the art models in order to mitigate potential risks they pose.


Biography:

Mario Fritz is faculty member at the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, professor at the Saarland University, and founding member of the ELLIS unit Saarbruecken. Before, he was senior researcher and research group head at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, and PostDoc at the International Computer Science Institute and UC Berkeley. He did his PhD at the TU Darmstadt. His current work is centered around Trustworthy Information Processing with a focus on the intersection of AI & Machine Learning with Security & Privacy. He served as Area Chair for major computer vision conferences (ECCV, ICCV), associate editor of IEEE TPAMI, and is a member of the ACM Europe Technical Policy Committee Europe and working group "AG Nutzbarmachung digitaler Daten für KI-Entwicklungen in der Gesundheitsforschung" in the "Forum Gesundheit". He is also a leading scientist of the Helmholtz Medical Security, Privacy, and AI Research Center, where he is coordinating projects on trustworthy federated data analytics and protecting genetic data with synthetic cohorts from deep generative models. He has co-organized the workshop "The Bright and the Dark Side of Computer Vision: Challenges and Opportunities for Privacy and Security'" from 2018 to 2020.

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Nov 23rd, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Designing intelligent educational technologies: Perspectives related to learner characteristics and context factors

Held by:

Maria Wirzberger, University of Stuttgart


Abstract:

How can we tailor learning situations to learners’ needs to help them achieving their educational goals in the long term? Current research at my department combines educational theory, psychological methodology, and intelligent algorithms to approach this question. Our ultimate goal is to create intelligent educational technologies that can support learning in the best possible way. These systems should recognize the level of learners’ knowledge, skills, and available cognitive resources. In addition, they should be able to encourage learners to stay focused on their tasks when they face distractions. In my talk, I will introduce selected research projects related to learner characteristics and context factors that pave the way to enhanced education.


Biography:

Maria Wirzberger holds the tenure-track assistant professorship „Teaching and learning with intelligent systems“ at the Institute of Educational Science since March 2020. During her interdisciplinary journey, she obtained degrees in Inclusive Education, Psychology and Human Factors in Bochum, Hagen and Berlin. Her PhD in the interdisciplinary Research Training Group "CrossWorlds" at Chemnitz University of Technology shed light on cognitive processes and mechanisms related to cognitive load in instructional scenarios. From 2018-2020, she was leading the development of the AI-based attention training ACTrain at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen. She is part of the Cyber Valley ecosystem, member of the associated faculty at the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS) and national affiliate at the LEAD Graduate School and Research Network (University of Tübingen).

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Nov 9th, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Driving Exploratory Visualization through Perception & Cognition

Held by:

Danielle Szafir, University of Colorado Boulder


Abstract:

Visualizations allow analysts to rapidly explore and make sense of their data. The ways we visualize data directly influence the conclusions we draw and decisions we make; however, our knowledge of how visualization design influences data analysis is largely grounded in heuristics and intuition. My research instead empirically models how people interpret visualized data to understand limitations in current visualization systems. We use these results to develop novel visualization systems that support accurate analysis of complex data and better scale to the needs of modern analytics challenges by incorporating interactive statistical analytics and novel display technologies to increase the accessibility, scalability, and pervasiveness of data-driven reasoning. In this talk, I will discuss our efforts towards improving exploratory data analysis tools across a variety of domains and how a range of modeling techniques can help improve visualization tools.


Biography:

Danielle Albers Szafir is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and a Fellow in the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is also an affiliate professor and member of the founding faculty of the Department of Information Science and Fellow in the Institute of Cognitive Science. Her research, which sits at the intersection of information visualization, data science, and cognitive science, has been integrated into leading tools such as D3 and Tableau, has received best paper awards at IEEE VIS and IS&T Color and Imaging, and led to her inclusion in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2018 for Science. She received a B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Washington as a NASA Space Grant Scholar and a Ph.D. in Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Nov 2nd, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Lecture | Image Quality Assessment: Unifying Structure and Texture Similarity

Held by:

Kede Ma, City University of Hong Kong 


Abstract:

Objective measures of image quality generally operate by making local comparisons of pixels of a „degraded" image to those of the original. Relative to human observers, these measures are overly sensitive to resampling of texture regions (e.g., replacing one patch of grass with another). Here we develop the first full-reference image quality model with explicit tolerance to texture resampling. Using a convolutional neural network, we construct an injective and differentiable function that transforms images to a multi-scale overcomplete representation. We empirically show that the spatial averages of the feature maps in this representation capture texture appearance, in that they provide a set of sufficient statistical constraints to synthesize a wide variety of texture patterns. We then describe an image quality method that combines correlation of these spatial averages („texture similarity") with correlation of the feature maps („ structure similarity"). The parameters of the proposed measure are jointly optimized to match human ratings of image quality, while minimizing the reported distances between subimages cropped from the same texture images. Experiments show that the optimized method explains human perceptual scores, both on conventional image quality databases, as well as on texture databases. The measure also offers competitive performance on related tasks such as texture classification and retrieval. Finally, we show that our method is relatively insensitive to geometric transformations (e.g., translation and dilation), without use of any specialized training or data augmentation.


Biography:

Kede Ma is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Computer Science at City University of Hong Kong (CityU). He received the B.E. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2012, the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Waterloo, in 2014 and 2017, respectively. Prior to joining CityU, he was a Research Associate with Howard Hughes Medical Institute and New York University, from 2018 to 2019. Dr. Ma’s research interests span perceptual image processing, computational vision, computational photography, and multimedia forensics. In recent years, he primarily focused on image/video quality assessment, based on which better image/video processing algorithms that are much “healthier” for our visual systems can be created.

Platform and Registration: 

This is an online event only. Registration: If you would like to attend, please email Leonel Merino to register.

 

Jul 10th, 2020
as part of the ICME 2020, London, UK, Jul 6th -10th, 2020

Workshop | Data-driven Just Noticeable Difference for Multimedia Communication (ICME 2020)

Call for Papers:

The Picture-wise Just Noticeable Difference (PJND) for a given subject, image/video, and compression scheme is the smallest distortion that the subject can perceive when the image/video is compressed with this compression scheme. The PJND is normally determined with subjective quality assessment tests for a large population of viewers. Knowing the PJND statistics allows to reduce the bitrate without perceptual quality loss for the chosen proportion of the population. The workshop seeks papers proposing novel techniques to determine or predict the PJND statistics, as well as using these statistics for image/video processing, compression, and communication. While the focus of the workshop is on the PJND concept, contributions to the conventional JND approach where a JND threshold is computed at the pixel or subband level are also welcome provided the work is data driven.

Scope and Topics:

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • PJND/JND datasets for images, video, 3D video, omni-directional images/video, and point clouds
  • PJND/JND visual attributes related to contents, displays, the environment and the human visual system
  • Data-driven computational models for PJND/JND
  • Machine learning techniques to estimate the PJND/JND
  • Evaluation methods and metrics for JND/PJND models
  • PJND/JND concept, visual attributes, perception and prediction models
  • Data-driven PJND/JND models and their application to visual perception
  • PJND/JND models and their application to multimedia signal processing, compression and communication

Format:

Oral and posters; half day

 

Organizers:

  • Prof. Yun Zhang, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
  • Prof. Raouf Hamzaoui, De Montfort University, UK, SFB-TRR 161 Cooperation with Project A05
  • Prof. C.-C. Jay Kuo, University of Southern California, USA
  • Prof. Dietmar Saupe, University of Konstanz, Germany, SFB-TRR 161 Project A05

 

Important Dates:

  • March 13, 2020: Paper submission deadline
  • April 15, 2020: Paper acceptance notification
  • April 29, 2020: Camera-ready paper submission deadline

Submissions should be made through Microsoft CMT.


Invited Talk:  Visual Perception and JND Modelling: Progress & Challenges

Speaker: Weisi Lin, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Abstract: Just-noticeable difference (JNDs), as perceptual thresholds of visibility, determine the minimal amounts of change for differences to be sensed by the human being (e.g., 75% of a population), and play an important role both explicitly and implicitly in many applications. The measurement, formulation and computationally-modeling for JND are the prerequisite for user-centric designs for turning human perceptual limitation into meaningful system advantages. In this talk, a holistic view will be presented on visual JND research and practice: absolute and utility-oriented JNDs; pixel-, subband- and picture- based JNDs; conventional and data-driven JND estimation; databases and model evaluation. Other factors influencing JND include culture and personality, as will be also highlighted. JND modeling for visual signals (naturally captured, computer-generated or mixed ones) has attracted much research interests so far, while those for audio, haptics, olfaction and gestation are expected to attract increasing research interests toward true multimedia. Possible new directions are then to be discussed in order to advance the relevant research.

Bio: Weisi Lin researches in image processing, perception-based signal modelling and assessment, video compression, and multimedia communication systems. In the said areas, he has published 240+ international journal papers and 260+ international conference papers, 9 patents, 9 book chapters, 2 authored books and 3 edited books, as well as excellent track record in leading and delivering more than 10 major funded projects (with over S$7m research funding). He earned his BSc and MSc from Sun Yat-Sen University, China, and Ph.D from King’s College, University of London. He had been the Lab Head, Visual Processing, Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R). He is a Professor in School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, where he served as the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) in 2013-2014.
He is a Fellow of IEEE and IET, and an Honorary Fellow of Singapore Institute of Engineering Technologists. He has been awarded Highly Cited Researcher 2019 by Web of Science, and elected as a Distinguished Lecturer in both IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (2016-17) and Asia-Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association (2012-13), and given keynote/invited/tutorial/panel talks to 20+ international conferences during the past 10 years. He has been an Associate Editor for IEEE Trans. on Image Processing, IEEE Trans. on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, IEEE Trans. on Multimedia, IEEE Signal Processing Letters, Quality and User Experience, and Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation. He was also the Guest Editor for 7 special issues in international journals, and chaired the IEEE MMTC QoE Interest Group (2012-2014); he has been a Technical Program Chair for IEEE Int’l Conf. Multimedia and Expo (ICME 2013), International Workshop on Quality of Multimedia Experience (QoMEX 2014), International Packet Video Workshop (PV 2015), Pacific-Rim Conf. on Multimedia (PCM 2012) and IEEE Visual Communications and Image Processing (VCIP 2017). He believes that good theory is practical, and has delivered 10+ major systems and modules for industrial deployment with the technology developed.

More Information

Jun 29th – 30th, 2020
Online

SFB-TRR 161 Status Seminar

June 2nd, 2020
as part of the ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications (ETRA), Stuttgart, June 2-5, 2020

CANCELLED - Workshop | PrEThics: Privacy and Ethics in Eye Tracking (ETRA 2020)

This workshop was cancelled and postponed to the ETRA 2021 in Stuttgart.

-----------------------------------------

 

The workshop will be held on June 2, 2020, at the Campus Vaihingen of the University of Stuttgart, Germany. This workshop is part of the ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications (ETRA).

With eye tracking becoming pervasive, researchers face fundamentally new challenges regarding privacy and ethics. However, these critical topics have received little attention in the eye tracking community so far. An active discussion about ethical and social implications as well as issues of data privacy is important for the further development of pervasive eye tracking technology and its acceptance in society.

This workshop aims to become the premier forum for these discussions as well as for the presentation of technical solutions towards privacy-aware and ethical eye tracking. Continuing the successful privacy panel held for the first time at ACM ETRA 2019, this interdisciplinary workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners from

  • eye tracking,
  • (usable) privacy,
  • human-computer interaction,
  • psychology
  • and other eye tracking-related research fields,
  • and industry.

 

Call for Papers

The hands-on workshop will consist of both paper presentations and interactive sessions with work on specific practical materials that will support the participants in identifying ethically and socially relevant aspects of eye tracking and transferring them into their everyday work. To this end, we welcome submissions of 2-page research papers (for attendees already actively working on privacy and ethics for eye tracking) or 1-page position papers (for attendees interested but without prior experience in these topics).

Based on the discussions and the network created at the workshop, we plan to edit a special issue in a journal on the topic of privacy and ethics in eye tracking. We hope to form a community around these topics and to establish the first of a whole series of follow-up workshops or (Dagstuhl) seminars.

The topics of interest include but are not limited to

  • Studies on Privacy-sensitive information that can be extracted from the eyes
  • Empirical analyses of privacy risks for eye tracking users and bystanders
  • Analyses of privacy risks from eyes in combination with other modalities and/or body-worn sensors
  • Computational methods for privacy-preserving gaze data analysis
  • Hardware solutions for privacy-aware and ethical eye tracking
  • Ethical considerations on the usage of gaze data for research, in medical devices, in commercial products etc.
  • User studies on the awareness of privacy and ethical issues arising from the usage of pervasive eye tracking

How to submit?

Your paper for the workshop should be sent to PrEThics2020@gmail.com and should follow the sigconf instructions. Please also indicate conflicts with the organizers in your submission email.

 

Important Dates:

  • March 6, 2020: 2-page research paper deadline (juried)
  • March 19, 2020: Notifications
  • April 2, 2020: Camera-ready deadline (hard deadline)
  • April 20, 2020: 1-page position paper deadline
  • June 2, 2020: Workshop date
 

Organizers: Inken Hagestedt, Tanja Blascheck, Michael Raschke, Céline Gressel, Andreas Bulling

Contact: PrEThics2020@gmail.com

More Information

Jun 2nd, 2020
as part of the ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications (ETRA), Stuttgart, June 2-5, 2020

Workshop (Online ) | ET-MM: Eye Tracking for Quality of Experience in Multimedia (ETRA 2020)

 

Multimedia applications are commonly targeted at the human sensory system. This fact renders subjectively perceived quality the ultimate performance metric in media applications. For visual media such as images and videos, eye tracking provides unprecedented insight into fundamental stages of visual perception. Moreover, it can be expected that eye trackers soon will become standard components in laptops, tablet computers, and smartphones. This allows to deepen our understanding of how humans perceive multimedia, interact with existing multimedia systems, and also to design novel applications that dynamically adapt according to an observer's gaze. In this workshop, we will explore how eye tracking can help to quantify and analyse visual multimedia aspects such as saliency and perceptual quality. ET-MM focuses more on data-driven algorithms and technology, including gaze based interfaces for control of multimedia applications.

 

The workshop will be held online on Jun 2nd, 2020 from 1 pm - 4 pm CEST (Central European Summer Time). This workshop is part of the ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications (ETRA).

 

Online registration for participation is free and available at eventbrite under this  URL.

 

Program

Welcome / Introduction (5 min)
Lewis Chuang

Session 1 - Keynote (Chair: Lewis Chuang)

Predicting eye movements in images and video: Recent progress and future challenges (40 min)
Thomas Wallis Amazon Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
For more details see below.

Session 2 - Contributed presentations A (Chair: Hantao Liu)

Sequence Models in Eye Tracking: Predicting Pupil Diameter During Learning (18 min)
Sharath C Koorathota Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States Fractal Media, New York, New York, United States
Kaveri Thakoor Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States
Patrick Adelman Fractal Media, New York, New York, United States
Yaoli Mao Human Development, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States
Xueqing Liu Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States
Paul Sajda Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States

Gaze Estimation in the Dark with Generative Adversarial Networks (18 min)
Jung-Hwa Kim Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, Korea, Republic of
Jin-Woo Jeong Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, Korea, Republic of

Analyzing Transferability of Happiness Detection via Gaze Tracking in Multimedia Applications (18 min)
David Bethge Porsche AG, Stuttgart, Germany LMU, Munich, Germany
Lewis L Chuang LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl Porsche AG, Stuttgart, Germany

Break (10 min)

Session 3 - Contributed presentations B (Chair: Dietmar Saupe)

Gaze Data for Quality Assessment of Foveated Video (18 min)
Oliver Wiedemann University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
Dietmar Saupe University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

Toward A Gaze-Enabled Assistance System (18 min)
Kenan Bektas University of St. Gallen, Institute of Computer Science (ICS-HSG), St. Gallen, Switzerland

Implications of Eye Tracking Research to Cinematic Virtual Reality (18 min)
Sylvia Rothe LMU Munich University, Munich, Germany
Lewis L Chuang LMU Munich, Munich, Germany

Session 4 - Discussion

Future challenges in eye tracking for multimedia research (18 min)

 

Keynote

Title: Predicting eye movements in images and video: Recent progress and future challenges.


Abstract: As an overt signature of attentional state and current task, gaze behaviour has captured the interest of psychologists and neuroscientists for at least half a century. Significant recent advances in predicting gaze behaviour have come from applying modern machine learning techniques to gaze data. I will present a (biased) review of recent advances in comparing gaze prediction models on the one hand, and the models themselves on the other. First, I will discuss how adopting a principled probabilistic view of model comparison can resolve confusion in ranking models, before presenting a broader perspective on the difference between a fixation prediction model, the "maps" it produces, and the metrics used to compare models. Second, I will present a fixation prediction model that leverages the power of transfer learning to yield state-of-the-art predictions for gaze densities and scanpaths. Finally, I will present recent work on predicting gaze in video stimuli and the weaknesses of current datasets for this purpose. I will also provide some speculations on opportunities for advancement in understanding beyond prediction of gaze behaviour.


Lecturer: Thomas Wallis, Senior Research Scientist, Amazon Tübingen. Thomas has conducted research over a diverse range of topics in the field of perception and cognition, including low-level visual processing, crowding, eye movements and fixation prediction models, perception in people with low vision, comparing human and machine perception, and hazard perception in driving. He holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Queensland (2010; with Derek Arnold). He was a postdoctoral fellow with Peter Bex (Schepens Eye Research Institute), a postdoctoral fellow with Matthias Bethge and Felix Wichmann (University of Tübingen) and a project leader in the DFG-funded research center for Robust Vision (University of Tübingen). Since 2019 he is a research scientist with Amazon in Tübingen.

 

Selected Publications

  1. M. Kümmerer, T. S. A. Wallis, and M. Bethge, “Information-theoretic model comparison unifies saliency metrics,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 112, no. 52, pp. 16054–1 6059, 2015.
  2. M. Kummerer, T. S. A. Wallis, and M. Bethge, “Saliency benchmarking made easy: Separating models, maps and metrics,” in Proceedings of the european conference on computer vision (ECCV), 2018, pp. 770–787.
  3. M. Kummerer, T. S. A. Wallis, L. A. Gatys, and M. Bethge, “Understanding low-and high-level contributions to fixation prediction,” in Proceedings of the IEEE international conference on computer vision, 2017, pp. 4789–4798.
  4. M. A. Pedziwiatr, M. Kümmerer, T. S. A. Wallis, M. Bethge, and C. Teufel, “Meaning maps and saliency models based on deep convolutional neural networks are insensitive to image meaning when predicting human fixations,” BioRxiv, p. 840256, 2019.
  5. T. S. A. Wallis, M. A. Dorr, and P. J. Bex, “Sensitivity to gaze-contingent spatial distortions in freely viewed movies,” Perception ECVP abstract, vol. 41, pp. 159–159, 2012.
  6. T. S. A. Wallis, M. A. Dorr, and P. J. Bex, “Sensitivity to gaze-contingent contrast increments in naturalistic movies: An exploratory report and model comparison,” Journal of vision, vol. 15, no. 8, pp. 3–3, 2015.

Scientific Chairs:

  • Dietmar Saupe, University of Konstanz, SFB-TRR 161 Project A05
  • Hantao Liu, University of Cardiff, Wales, UK, SFB-TRR 161 Cooperation with Project A05
  • Lewis Chuang, LMU Munic, SFB-TRR 161 Project C06

Program Committee:

Additionally to the chairs, the following people will be involved in the reviewing process:

  • Oliver Wiedemann, University of Konstanz, Germany
  • Jesse Grootjen, LMU Munich, Germany
  • Xin Zhao, University of Cardiff, UK

Contact Information

For questions and suggestions please contact Dietmar Saupe: dietmar.saupe@uni-konstanz.de.

Workshop Webpage

Twitter Thread

Apr 17th, 2020, 4 pm
Online

Festvortrag| Warum eigentlich Visualisierungen?

 

Michael Sedlmair hält im Rahmen der Abschlussfeier der Studiengänge der Informatik den Festvortrag Warum eigentlich Visualisierungen?

 

Um Anmeldung bis 30.03.2020 wird gebeten. Zur Anmeldung

 

Ort:

Elektrotechnik-Gebäude, Hörsaal 47.02

Pfaffenwaldring 47

70569 Stuttgart

  

Aus dem Programm:

Musikalische Eröffnung

Begrüßung
Prof. Dr. Manfred Berroth
Dekan der Fakultät für Informatik, Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik

Festvortrag
„Warum eigentlich Visualisierung?“
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Michael Sedlmair

Preise und Deutschlandstipendien
Verleihung der infos-Preise für herausragende Abschlüsse

Urkunden
Übergabe der Doktor-, Master- und Bachelorurkunden

Musikalischer Abschluss

 
 

Im Anschluss gegen 18:15 Uhr lädt infos zu einem geselligen Beisammensein mit Imbiss im Zentralbereich des Erdgeschosses ein.

Ab 17:30 Uhr besteht Gelegenheit zur Besichtigung des Computermuseums, Universitätsstraße 38, EG.

Ab ca. 19:15 Uhr lässt die Fachgruppe Informatik der Universität Stuttgart die Veranstaltung im Hörsaal 47.02 ausklingen.

Durch die Veranstaltung führt der Studiendekan Prof. Dr. Stefan Funke.

 

Mar 26th, 2020, 9 am
University of Stuttgart

ABGESAGT -- Girls' Day in Stuttgart | Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner

Leider werden aufgrund der aktuellen Lage zum Corona-Virus alle Veranstaltungen der Universität Stuttgart im Rahmen des Girls´ Day am 26. März 2020 abgesagt.

Wir bitten um Verständnis. Nächstes Jahr sind wir wieder dabei!

  

Der Girls' Day ist eine bundesweite Veranstaltung mit dem Ziel, das Interesse von Schülerinnen an Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu fördern. Dieses Jahr findet er am 26.3.2020 statt und wieder beteiligen sich unterschiedlichste Institutionen mit interessanten Aktionen rund ums Experimentieren und Forschen. Damit werden Einblicke in die Arbeit von Natur- und IngenieurwissenschaftlerInnen gegeben. Im Vordergrund der Veranstaltungen steht jedoch die Möglichkeit, selbst aktiv zu werden.

Beim Girls Day 2020 bieten das Visualisierungsinstitut (VISUS), der Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) 1313 und der transregionale Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB-TRR) 161 an der Universität Stuttgart folgenden Workshop an:

Programmieren? Das kann ich auch! - Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner
(Klasse 7 - 10)

Willst Du eigene Programme schreiben, die genau das machen, was du willst? Wir geben Dir die nötige Starthilfe dafür. In unserem Workshop kannst Du Dir Deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner programmieren. So bunt und ausgefallen wie Du willst! Sollten sich die Bilder bewegen? Hier kannst Du es ausprobieren und umsetzen. Natürlich darfst Du Deinen Bildschirmschoner mit nach Hause nehmen und mit anderen teilen. Oder ihn zu Hause noch schöner machen...

Zur Anmeldung

Interessierte Schülerinnen sind dazu herzlich eingeladen!

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

Mar 24, 2020
as part of the Programming 2020, Porto, Portugal, March 23-26, 2020

CANCELLED -- Workshop | NIP: New Interfaces for Programming (Programming 2020)

Scope

Since a long time, interfaces available for programming have remained mostly unchanged. Usually, software engineers (SE) interact with IDEs through text-based interfaces displayed on a computer screen. Software visualization (SOFTVIS) researchers investigate the use of visual properties to support software engineering tasks such as programming. Some of these software visualizations have explored the use of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR).

Recently, user studies that analyzed the impact of displaying visualizations in such immersive environments have shown preliminary results of positive effects on developers’ user experience. The inherently artistic value of visualizations can be a reason of boosting user experience, which could lead to an improved user performance.

NIP ’20 aims at gathering experts from (i) the SE community, (ii) the SOFTVIS community, (iii) the VR/AR community, and (iv) the Arts community in order to breed cross-community new interfaces to support programming tasks. The workshop aims at providing a forum for researchers and practitioners from these mostly disconnected research communities.

Workshop Topics

Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Software Visualization
  • Virtual and Augmented Reality
  • Multimodal input and output
  • Visual, aural, and haptic interfaces
  • Interaction techniques
  • Distributed and collaborative architectures
  • Real-time performance issues
  • Wearable and mobile computing
  • Collaborative interfaces

Keynote Speaker

Rainer Koschke, University of Bremen, Germany.

 

Program on NIP'20 website

 

Organizers:

Alexandre Bergel, University of Chile,  Leonel Merino, University of Stuttgart

 

Important  Dates:

January 31, 2020: Deadline for submissions

February 20, 2020: Notification of authors

March 13, 2020: Deadline for Pre-workshop Papers

March 24, 2020: Workshop

May 1, 2020: Deadline for Camera-Ready

 

More Information

Feb 17th, 2020, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Psychophysiological Assessment of Perceived Quality: Towards an Objective Measurement of Subjective Quality of Experience

Held by:

Sebastian Bosse, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Berlin


Abstract:

Due to the lack of reliable computational models, psychophysical methods are still considered the gold standard for assessing the perceptual quality of technical systems of visual communication and computing. The core of these methods is a judgment experiment: a human observer is presented with a stimulus, i.e. a distorted (or undistorted) image or video, and gives an overt response on its perceived quality. These methods are well standardized and widely used in practice. However, they inherently suffer from conceptual and practical flaws that impose certain limitations on the interpretation and the applicability of psychophysical tests.

In my talk I will describe how psychophysiological, e.g. EEG-based, methods may bypass the drawbacks of conventional quality assessment and outline avenues of research toward the objective assessment of subjectively perceived quality.


Biography:

Sebastian Bosse is a senior researcher with the Machine Learning group and the Image Video Coding group in the Video Coding & Analytics Department of Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications – Heinrich Hertz Institute, Berlin, Germany.
He studied Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain. He received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in from RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany and the Dr.-Ing. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Berlin University of Technology, Germany.
As a student, Sebastian was a visiting researcher at Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, USA. In 2014, he was a guest researcher at Stanford University, USA.
His major research interests are image and video compression, human visual perception for image communications, and neural correlates of perceived image quality and quality of experience, as well as signal processing.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

The talk will be transmitted to Stuttgart, VISUS, Powerwall Room, cellar

Feb 14th, 2020, 3pm
University of Stuttgart

Informatiktag an der Universität Stuttgart

Am 14. Februar 2020 ist an der Universität Stuttgart Informatiktag! Informatikbegeisterte Schüler und Schülerinnen können diesen Tag nutzen, um sich über spannende Themen im Fachbereich Informatik zu informieren und ihre Fähigkeiten in Sachen Technik und Programmierung in Workshops auszuprobieren.

Der SFB-TRR 161 ermöglicht auch diesmal wieder Einblicke in die wissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen und aktuelle Forschungsthemen im Bereich Visual Computing. Wir bieten in diesem Jahr an:

 

Lab Tour Visual Computing: Wie aus Informationen Bilder und aus Bildern Informationen werden

Unser Alltag ist zunehmend geprägt durch die Interaktion mit Technik. Dabei spielen Bilder eine immer wichtigere Rolle. Sie ermöglichen es, umfangreiche Daten und Informationen gut verständlich visuell darzustellen. So können etwa soziale Netzwerke visualisiert und anschließend analysiert werden. Auch große Datenmengen wie die Ergebnisse von Computersimulationen können auf diese Weise aufbereitet und bearbeitet werden. Komplexe Informationen werden somit in einfacher zu begreifende Formen gebracht. Zusätzlich können wir aus Bildern aber auch zusätzliche Informationen gewinnen. Zum, Beispiel wenn Kameraaufnahmen in Autos automatisiert ausgewertet werden, um den Fahrer vor Hindernissen zu warnen. Heute arbeiten Visual Computing Experten daran, visuelle Informationen mit Hilfe von Computern besser erfassbar, analysierbar und darstellbar zu machen.

Auf der hochauflösenden Powerwall, die hinsichtlich Auflösung und technischem Aufbau in Europa einzigartig ist, könnt ihr aktuelle Entwicklungen in diesem Bereich der Informatik in 3D bestaunen und einiges über die Herausforderungen bei der Erzeugung der interaktiven Bilder und Verarbeitung großer Daten erfahren. Eine anschließende Führung durch die Technikräume des Visualisierungslabors vermittelt Euch ein Gefühl von der Komplexität und dem Umfang der dazu verarbeiteten Datenmengen.

 

Mehr Informationen und die Möglichkeit zur Anmeldung zu allen Workshops findet Ihr unter
https://www.f05.uni-stuttgart.de/informatik/veranstaltungen/informatiktag/

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

Feb 10th, 2020, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Model-based optimized bit allocation for video-based 3D Point Cloud Compression

Held by:

Raouf Hamzaoui, DeMontfort University, Leicester, UKn


Abstract:

To standardize 3D point cloud compression (PCC) technologies, the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) launched a call for proposals in 2017. As a result, three point cloud compression technologies were developed: surface point cloud compression (S-PCC) for static point cloud data, video-based point cloud compression (V-PCC) for dynamic point clouds, and LIDAR point cloud compression (L-PCC) for LIDAR point clouds. In V-PCC, the quality of the reconstructed 3D point cloud depends on both the geometry and color distortions. Finding an optimal allocation of the total bitrate between the geometry information and the color information is a challenging task due to the large number of possible solutions. The talk will introduce a method to efficiently solve this bit allocation problem. We first propose analytical distortion and rate models for the geometry and color information. Using these models, we formulate the joint bit allocation problem as a constrained optimization problem and solve it with an interior point method. Experimental results show that the rate-distortion performance of the proposed solution is close to that obtained with exhaustive search but at only 0.68% of its time complexity.


Biography:

Raouf Hamzaoui received the MSc degree in mathematics from the University of Montreal, the Dr. rer. nat. degree from the University of Freiburg, and the Habilitation degree in computer science from the University of Konstanz. In 2006, he joined De Montfort University, Leicester, where he is a professor in media technology and head of the Signal Processing and Communications Systems research group. Raouf Hamzaoui has published 90 peer-reviewed research papers on multimedia communication, error control systems, pattern recognition, and machine learning. His publications have received international awards, including best paper awards and best student paper awards for joint work with his PhD students. He is on the Editorial Board of the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia after serving six years on the Editorial Board of the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, receiving two best Associate Editor awards. He is Workshops Co-Chair of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, was Technical Program Committee Co-Chair of the 2017 IEEE Multimedia Signal Processing Workshop, and served on the Technical Program Committee of many leading multimedia conferences such as NOSSDAV and ACM Multimedia.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

The talk will be transmitted to Stuttgart, VISUS, Powerwall Room, cellar

Feb 7th, 2020, 2 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Agency + Automation: Designing Artificial Intelligence into Interactive Systems

Held by:

Jeffrey Heer, University of Washington


Abstract:

Much contemporary rhetoric regards the prospects and pitfalls of using artificial intelligence techniques to automate an increasing range of tasks, especially those once considered the purview of people alone. These accounts are often wildly optimistic, understating outstanding challenges while turning a blind eye to the human labor that undergirds and sustains ostensibly “automated” services. This long-standing focus on purely automated methods unnecessarily cedes a promising design space: one in which computational assistance augments and enriches, rather than replaces, people’s intellectual work. This tension between agency and automation poses vital challenges for design, engineering, and society at large. In this talk we will consider the design of interactive systems that enable adaptive collaboration among people and computational agents. We seek to balance the often complementary strengths and weaknesses of each, while promoting human control and skillful action. We will review case studies in three arenas -- exploratory visualization, data wrangling, and natural language translation -- that integrate proactive computational support into interactive systems. To improve outcomes and support learning by both people and machines, I will describe the use of shared representations of tasks augmented with predictive models of human capabilities and actions.


Biography:

Jeffrey Heer is the Jerre D. Noe Endowed Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where he directs the Interactive Data Lab and conducts research on data visualization, human-computer interaction and social computing. The visualization tools developed by Jeff and his collaborators (Vega, D3.js, Protovis, Prefuse) are used by researchers, companies, and thousands of data enthusiasts around the world. Jeff's research papers have received awards at the premier venues in Human-Computer Interaction and Visualization (ACM CHI, ACM UIST, IEEE InfoVis, IEEE VAST, EuroVis). Other honors include MIT Technology Review's TR35 (2009), a Sloan Fellowship (2012), an Allen Distinguished Investigator Award (2014), a Moore Foundation Data-Driven Discovery Investigator Award (2014), and the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award (2016). Jeff holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, whom he then "betrayed" to join the Stanford faculty (2009–2013). He is also a co-founder of Trifacta, a provider of interactive tools for scalable data transformation.

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

Feb 7th, 2020, 2 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Efficient Software Development at Scale and Challenges of Hugh, Distributed Services like Remote Control

Held by:

Mike Eissele, TeamViewer


Abstract:

Although software development within bigger, distributed projects is often simply described as: Big projects that are split-up in smaller work packages and then developed independently; in practice software development at scale needs much more work on setup, alignment, communication, etc. and very often looks very different from small projects. Some of the pitfalls and inefficiencies will be shown and suggestions are given to prevent these issues.

When building a SaaS (Software as a Service) product, additional opportunities and challenges arise: Software development ranges from research to operations. Some challenges will be shown using the example of a Remote Control service, addressing research topics, production-grade software implementation, and efficient 24/7 operation of a world-wide distributed infrastructure.


Biography:

Chief Technology Officer at TeamViewer

Prior to this, he was Senior Vice President for Software Development, and Vice President of Engineering at TeamViewer. Mike joined TeamViewer in 2009 as the Head of Software Development, and since then, he has been responsible for driving the team behind the development and implementation of all of TeamViewer’s products.

From 2003 to 2009, Mike joined the Visualization Research Group at the University of Stuttgart as a research associate and earned his Doctorate in Computer Science for his contributions to various visualization and computer graphics topics.

Mike studied Computer Science at the University of Stuttgart with a focus on visualization, computer graphics, and distributed systems. He also was awarded an MSc in Computer Science in 2002.

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

Jan 20th, 2020, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Social Media Visual Analytics with Interactive Semantic Maps

Held by:

Siming Chen, Fraunhofer IAIS, Sankt Augustin


Abstract:

A Large number of people are using social media. The data of social media records all the behaviors of social interactions of users, which are fruitful to analyze. However, it is challenging to gain insights from such large and heterogeneous data, which includes social networks, spatial-temporal information, and text information, etc. We first identify the problems in social media analysis, including exploring movement patterns in the physical world, exploring information diffusion patterns among social media users, and analyzing significant events' evolution in social media. To solve these problems and challenges, we propose novel methods of map-based visual analytics approaches. We project the unstructured information in physical space and abstracted space onto a structured map space with semantics. With these approaches, users are able to understand the data features of the social media data space. Moreover, we support the interactive visual analytics process in the constructed map, to support users to analyze the spatial, temporal and attributes to derive the insight. We also apply our methods in real-world social media data and analyze many patterns from the complex dataset.


Biography:

Dr. Siming Chen is a Research Scientist at Fraunhofer Institute IAIS (Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems) and a Postdoc Researcher at the University of Bonn in Germany. He received his Ph.D. in computer science at the School of EECS, Peking University and received his BS degree in computer science at Fudan University. His research interests are visualization and visual analytics, with the emphasis on social media visualization, spatial-temporal visual analytics, and cybersecurity visual analytics. He has published papers in top conferences and journals, including IEEE VIS, IEEE TVCG, EuroVis, etc. He was awarded 10 best paper/poster awards and honorable mentioned awards in multiple conferences, including EuroVA, ChinaVis, AGILE, IEEE VIS Poster and won multiple IEEE VAST Challenge Excellent Awards.

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

Jan 13th, 2020, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Neural Software Engineering: Learning Developer Tools from Code

Held by:

Michael Pradel, University of Stuttgart


Abstract:

Effective tools can make software developers much more productive, but manually developing such tools is difficult and time-consuming. This talk advocates a learning approach toward creating developer tools. The basic idea is to consider the enormous amounts of existing code as training data and to learn models that predict properties of code. The talk will present two examples of learned developer tools. First, we present a learned bug detection technique, which predicts whether a piece of code is correct or buggy. Second, we present a learned type prediction technique, which predicts otherwise missing type annotations for code written in dynamically typed languages. Both techniques make use of natural language information embedded in identifier names, a rich source of knowledge ignored by traditional program analysis techniques. Evaluating the ideas on millions of lines of JavaScript code shows that automatically learned developer tools can be highly effective and even outperform traditionally developed techniques.

Biography:

Michael Pradel is a full professor at University of Stuttgart, which he joined after a PhD at ETH Zurich, a post-doc at UC Berkeley, an assistant professorship at TU Darmstadt, and a sabbatical at Facebook. His research interests span software engineering, programming languages, security, and machine learning, with a focus on tools and techniques for building reliable, efficient, and secure software. In particular, he is interested in dynamic program analysis, test generation, concurrency, performance profiling, JavaScript-based web applications, and machine learning-based program analysis. Michael has been awarded the Software Engineering Award of the Ernst-Denert-Foundation for his dissertation, the Emmy Noether grant by the German Research Foundation (DFG), and an ERC Starting Grant.

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

2019

Dec 16th, 2019
University of Konstanz

Seminarkurs "Algorithmen"

Held by Michael Aichem (D04). Using LEGO bricks and other materials, high school students are introduced to the art and complexity of dynamic programming.  

Dec 11th, 2019, 1.30 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Molecular Visualization meets Immersive Analytics

Held by:

Michael Krone, University of Tübingen


Abstract:

Molecular visualization is one of the oldest branches of scientific visualization, ranging back more than five decades. However, due to the constant increase in data set sizes and complexity, molecular visualization is still a very active and vibrant field of research. The field has also adopted immersive technologies like stereoscopic displays and virtual or augmented reality early on. The recent resurgence of interest in virtual and augmented reality – sparked by the availability of affordable and technologically advanced head-mounted displays – has also gained a lot of attention from visualization researchers, who investigate how to employ these technologies for immersive data analysis. This has also led to new developments in the field of immersive molecular visualization.

In my talk, I will give an overview of the field of molecular visualization and show how we have applied immersive technologies to facilitate the visual analysis of biomolecular simulation data, ranging from classical stereoscopic high-resolution tiled displays to modern head-mounted displays that enable the use of virtual and augmented reality. Based on these recent and ongoing efforts, I will discuss future challenges and opportunities for immersive analytics of molecular data.


Biography:

Michael Krone received a diploma in Computer Science in 2008 and a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in 2015 from the University of Stuttgart. Since 2018, he is a junior professor at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, where he leads the Big Data Visual Analytics in Life Sciences research group. In 2016 and 2017, he had appointments as guest lecturer at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His main research interests are in scientific visualization and visual analytics for the life sciences, especially the interactive visual analysis of large, dynamic molecular structures, GPU-accelerated computing, and using immersive technologies for visual analysis.

Location:

University of Konstanz, PZ 1001

The talk will not be transmitted, but recorded. We will provide a download link of the video on request. 

Dec 9th, 2019, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Natural video quality prediction based on temporal and spatial feature

Held by:

Jari Korhonen, Shenzhen University, China


Abstract:

Due to the wide range of different natural temporal and spatial distortions appearing in user generated video content, blind prediction of natural video quality is a challenging research problem. In this talk, we discuss different approaches for tackling the problem. We also propose a two-level method for modeling video quality: low complexity features, including temporal features derived via statistical analysis of motion vectors, are computed for every second frame, whereas the high complexity spatial features are computed for a representative subset of frames only. We have tested the technique on recently published databases by using both hand-crafted features and deep convolutional neural networks for spatial feature extraction, with promising results.


Biography:

Jari Korhonen received the M.Sc. (Eng.) degree in information engineering from University of Oulu, Finland, in 2001 and the Ph.D. degree in  telecommunications from Tampere University of Technology, Finland, in 2006. Currently, he is with the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Shenzhen University, China, where he has worked as Research Assistant Professor since 2017. From 2001 to 2006, he was Research Engineer with Nokia Research Center, Tampere, Finland. In 2007, he was with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, and from 2008 to 2010 with Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. From 2010 to 2017 he was with Technical University of Denmark. His research interests include both telecommunications and signal processing aspects in multimedia communications. Recently, his research focus has been primarily in image and video analysis and enhancement, including development of models for blind prediction of subjective video quality.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Powerwall Room, C202

The talk will be transmitted to Stuttgart, VISUS, Powerwall Room

Nov 25th, 2019, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Application of evolutionary computation in image generation

Held by:

Olivier Teytaud, Facebook AI Research, Paris


Abstract:

Evolutionary computation is basically zero-th order optimization; in many cases, it is based on comparisons only. This makes this paradigm convenient when something non-numerical or at least non-differentiable, such as human preferences, is in the loop. Computer vision is a typically AI field in which non-differentiability rules and humans are the right evaluation process. It makes therefore sense to apply evolutionary computation to image generation.


Biography:

Olivier Teytaud is research scientist at Facebook AI Research in Paris. He has been working in power systems, arithmetics, games, control, optimization, computer vision. He currently contributes to Nevergrad ( https://github.com/facebookresearch/nevergrad ), a platform for derivative-free optimization, and Polygames (to be open sourced soon), which recently won the first game against a top level player in the game of Hex. He currently combines evolutionary optimization and deep learning, including applications in computer vision.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Powerwall Room, C202

The talk will be transmitted to Stuttgart, VISUS, Powerwall Room

Nov 11th, 2019, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Understanding users behaviours, applications and challenges

Held by:

Ayman Atia, Helwan University, Egypt


Abstract:

Understanding users behaviours and human daily activities is a challenging area of research. Current methods suffer from real-time recognition issues, classifiers, and pattern recognition problems. In this talk, we explore diverse methods to capture human activities, sensor-based and camera-based. We subsequently introduce HCI-LAB research in this area from different application perspectives (Sports, drivers behaviours, hand gestures, and autistic child behaviours etc).


Biography:

Dr. Atia is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Helwan University, Egypt. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tsukuba, Japan 2011, and the B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees from the Department of Computer Science, Helwan University, Egypt in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Dr. Atia is a Co-Founder of HCI-LAB, and head of the interaction group.  His work includes finding new interaction techniques for large display and finding abnormal behaviour for driving vehicles, theft detection, sports activities and software engineering frameworks. Despite the education and research challenges that face countries like Egypt, Dr. Atia is continuously supervising master and bachelor theses and was a recipient of governmental-fund and/or awards on several occasions. He is currently a member of ACM SIGCHI and a former senior member of the IEEE computer society till 2016.

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

Sep 16-18th, 2019
Hotel Waldachtal - Waldachtal

SFB-TRR 161 Status Seminar FP 2

Jun 29th, 2020, 1pm
University of Stuttgart

Tag der Wissenschaft an der Universität Stuttgart

 

Am 29. Juni 2019 wird die Universität Stuttgart zum Tag der Wissenschaften einladen. Dabei wird der SFB-TRR 161 im Foyer des Visualisierungsinstitutes (VISUS) im Allmandring 19 in Stuttgart Vaihingen seine Arbeiten präsentieren.

Folgende Aktionen sind geplant:

Großes Kino für die Wissenschaft
Auf der VISUS-Powerwall – in Europa einzigartig in Auflösung und Aufbau – erleben Sie Visualisierungen aus diversen Fachbereichen. Zudem erfahren Sie, was für eine Herausforderung es ist, solche interaktiven Bilder zu erstellen.

 

Malen mit optischem Fluss
Werden Sie zum Videokünstler! Die Webcam nimmt ein Video von Ihren Bewegungen auf und lässt diese in Echtzeit zum faszinierenden Kunstwerk werden.

 

Die Augen als Gamepad
Eye-Tracking erfasst unsere Augenbewegungen und ermöglicht es, Visualisierungen weiterzuentwickeln oder Software intuitiver zu gestalten. Sogar Computerspiele lassen sich damit steuern.

 

Mixed Reality – Digitale Bilder im virtuellen Raum
Wie können wir Visualisierungen im virtuellen Raum betrachten, sie von allen Seiten sehen oder an ihnen vorbeigehen? Mixed-Reality-Technologien bieten uns dazu die Möglichkeit. Probieren Sie es aus!

 

Der virtuelle Friseur
Welche Frisur steht Ihnen am besten? Der virtuelle Friseur erstellt Ihre Wunschfrisur – durch mathematische Optimierungsalgorithmen individuell Ihrem Gesicht angepasst.

 

Digital-reale Arbeitswelt
Am Touch-Tisch des SFB-TRR 161 können Sie interaktiv in aktuelle Forschungsthemen rund um mögliche Arbeitswerkzeuge der Zukunft eintauchen.

 

Junior Coding Lab – Bring einem Roboter das Sehen bei!
In unserer Programmierwerkstatt dürfen junge Nachwuchsinformatiker selbst Hand anlegen und einem Lego-Roboter das Sehen beibringen.
Jun 17th - 19th, 2019
University of Konstanz
 
5th Summer School on Video Compression and Processing (SVCP) 2019 

The 5th Summer School on Video Compression and Processing (SVCP) 2019 of the ITG/VDE will be held from 17-19 June 2019 at the University of Konstanz organized by Prof. Dietmar Saupe and his team and supported by the SFB-TRR 161.

The purpose of the summer school is to provide an informal forum for young researchers working in visual computing, in particular video and compression related topics to exchange ideas, establish personal contacts and to identify common research interests. The summer school is open for PhD- and advanced master students, for post docs, and academic advisors working in the research areas listed. The working language will be English. 

The invited speaker will be Christopher Schoers from Disney Research in Zürich, and he will speak on Neural Video Processing in Post Production.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Compression algorithms for 2D, 3D, 360-degree and multi-view video and images
  • Machine learning for image, video and data processing and compression
  • Deep learning for video compression
  • Image and video signal analysis
  • Quality assessment / Quality of experience
  • Virtual, mixed and augmented reality
  • Data compression, transmission and processing
  • Coding and processing of multispectral data

The joint accommodation for all participants will be at the ibis Hotel Konstanz.

Please visit the summer school website 
http://www.mmsp.uni-konstanz.de/svcp-2019/overview/ for registration and more information. 

Anyone who is interested in participating in SVCP 2019 is invited to come.

The registration fee is  € 270 including accommodation for two nights (sharing a twin room) and  € 350 with a single room, meals, a social event with a boat ride on the lake, and summer school participation. For participants of the University of Konstanz it is € 100, without a hotel room.

The deadline for submission of a title/abstract for a presentation is 18 April 2019. Registration deadline is 30 April 2019.

We look forward to seeing you in Konstanz in June 2019!

Jun 25 - 27th, 2019
Zollhaus/Hotel Adler - Ludwigshafen (Bodensee)

SFB-TRR 161 Status Seminar FP 1

 

May 28th, 2019, 1 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Topological Analysis for Exascale Computing: Approaches & Challengess

Held by:

Gunther Weber, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA, USA / University of California, Davis, CA, USA


Abstract:

Simulation has quickly evolved to become the “third” pillar of science and supercomputing centers provide the computational power needed for accurate simulations. Furthermore, there are concentrated efforts in the Exascale Computing Project to cross the next barrier and build a supercomputer that can run simulations at quintillion calculations per second. This talk provides an overview over how topological data analysis has helped in abstracting and analyzing simulation results. It furthermore outlines the challenges that current developments in supercomputer architecture pose to efficient algorithm design for topological data analysis and presents initial solution approaches.


Biography:

Gunther H. Weber received a Ph.D. in computer science, with a focus on computer graphics and visualization, from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany in 2003. He is currently a Staff Scientist in the Computational Research Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), where he serves as Deputy Group Lead of the Data Analysis and Visualization Group in the Data Science and Technology Department. Gunther Weber is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include computer graphics, scientific visualization, data analysis with using topological methods, parallel and distributed computing for visualization and data analysis applications, hierarchical data representation methods, and bioinformatics. He has extensive experience in working with researchers from diverse science and engineering fields, including applied numerical computing, combustion simulation, gene expression, medicine, civil engineering, cosmology, climate and particle accelerator modeling. Dr. Weber has authored or co-authored over 80 publications, five of which won best paper awards. He has served as principal investigator (PI) or Co-PI on several Department of Energy (DOE) and National Science Foundation (NSF) projects. He is a reviewer for major funding agencies (DOE, NSF), conference proceedings and journals. Dr. Weber served as co-organizer, co-chair and program committee member of more than 40 internationally recognized conferences.

Location

University of Stuttgart, VISUS, Powerwall Room, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz.

May 27-29, 2019
University of Konstanz

Workshop | Vistrates and Ubiquitous Analytics

 

Organized by the SFB-TRR 161, HCI Group Konstanz, Project C01

Monday, May 27th, 2019

09:00  -  Welcome
09:30  - Technical Introduction (Webstrates, Codestrates, Vistrates)
12:00  - Lunch
13:30  - Technical Introduction cont’d
14:30  - Fast Forward Demos: Current Mixed Reality Data Visualization Tools
15:30  - Break & Time for Talk Preparation
16:00  - Invited Talk - Niklas Elmqvist - "Always Annexing Pixels: On Techniques and Infrastructures for Cross-Device Visualization" 


Tuesday, May 28th, 2019

09:00  -  Demo Session 1
11:00  - Discussion and Hands-on with the technologies
12:30  - Lunch
13:30  - Demo Session 2
16:00  - Discussion and Hands-on with the technologies

 

Wednesday, May 29th, 2019

09:00  -  Demo Session 3
11:00  - Discussion and Hands-on with the technologies
12:30  - Lunch
Afternoon  - Reflection / Next steps (open end, including demos) - Individual Departure

 

Registration until May 20th, 2019 via email to johannes.zagermann@uni-konstanz.de.

 

May 27th, 2019, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Always Annexing Pixels: On Techniques and Infrastructures for Cross-Device Visualization

Held by:

Niklas Elmqvist, University of Maryland, USA


Abstract:

Data visualization lives and dies by screen real estate, or, more accurately, the pixels it can leverage. While typical screen resolutions grow only slowly--we're up to commodity-level 4k displays now--mobile computing is making leaps and bounds in both increasing the pixel density as well as the number of screens we surround ourselves with. Combining these two facts--visualization's hunger for pixels as well as the proliferation of mobile devices--means that the future of visualization likely involves many separate devices and screens. This kind of cross-device visualization has been the implicit guiding principle for my research for several years now. In this talk, I will review my past work on techniques and infrastructures for cross-device visualization, including our most recent Vistrates platform, and discuss my ideas for the future.


Biography:

Niklas Elmqvist is a full professor in the iSchool (College of Information Studies) at University of Maryland, College Park. He received his Ph.D. in computer science in 2006 from Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. Prior to joining University of Maryland, he was an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. Since 2016, he is the director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL) at University of Maryland, one of the oldest and most well-known HCI research labs in the country. His research area is information visualization, human-computer interaction, and visual analytics. He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award as well as best paper awards from the IEEE Information Visualization conference, the ACM CHI conference, the International Journal of Virtual Reality, and the ASME IDETC/CIE conference. He was papers co-chair for IEEE InfoVis 2016 and 2017. He is also associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Visualization & Computer Graphics, the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, and the Information Visualization journal, and co-editor of the Morgan & Claypool Synthesis Lectures on Visualization. His research has been funded by both federal agencies such as NSF, NIH, and DHS as well as by companies such as Google, NVIDIA, and Microsoft. He is also the recipient of the Purdue Student Government Graduate Mentoring Award (2014), the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teacher Award (2012), and the Purdue ECE Chicago Alumni New Faculty award (2010).

Location:

University of Konstanz, Powerwall Room, C202

The talk will be transmitted to Stuttgart, VISUS, Powerwall Room

 

May 16th, 2019, 3.30 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Summarizing and Understanding Ensembles of Complex, High-Dimensional Objects

Held by:

Ross Whitaker, University of Utah, USA


Abstract:

A variety of technologies developed in diverse areas such as medical imaging, industrial inspection, and oil and gas present a common challenge-which is that the analysis of models and/or data present scientists with large collections, or ensembles, of complex data objects. Often times, data analysists or application scientists benefit from a holistic view of the data. These views could be concise summarizes that allow people to develop intuitions about overall patterns or to confirm very general expectations, e.g. regarding data quality. This talk describes the use of data depth and rank statistics for organizing and visualizing collections of complex data objects.


Biography:

Ross Whitaker earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University in 1986, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina in 1994. Since 2000 he has been at the University of Utah, where he is the Director of the School of Computing and a Professor in the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute. He is a recipient of the NSF Career Award and an IEEE and AIMBE Fellow. He teaches discrete math, scientific visualization, probability and statistics, and image processing. He has leads a graduate-level research group in image analysis, geometry processing, and scientific computing, with a variety of projects supported by both federal agencies and industrial contracts. His published works have received over 13,000 citations.

Location:

University of Stuttgart, VISUS, Powerwall Room, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz.

 

May 8th, 2019, 5 pm
University of Konstanz

PROGRAMMIERKURS für Schülerinnen ab Klasse 9 | Computergrafik mit Processing

 

Mit wem?
Thomas Ningelgen

Wann?
4 x Mittwoch nachmittags
8.5.2019 / 15.5.2019 / 22.5.2019 / 29.5.2019 - jeweils 17 Uhr bis 18.30 Uhr
sowie eine Abschlussveranstaltung mit Besuch unseres Malroboters am 5.6.2019 um 17 Uhr.

Wo? 
Universität Konstanz, Gebäude Z, Raum Z613

Was?
In diesem Kurs lernt ihr “Processing” kennen – einen einfach zu bedienenden Editor, mit dem ihr schnell wunderschöne Grafiken, Computeranimationen und interaktive kleine Spiele programmieren könnt.

Processing wurde am MIT entwickelt und wird von vielen Künstlern und Mediengestaltern verwendet. Es basiert auf der Programmiersprache Java, die auch die Grundlage unseres Kurses ist. Anstelle aber irgendwelche langweiligen Beispiele zu programmieren, werdet ihr die Programmierung anhand von Computergrafik lernen, was wesentlich mehr Spaß macht. Dennoch gibt es auch genug zu knobeln.

Der Kurs ist eine Einführung in die Programmierung. Vorkenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich.

Anmeldung bei Claudia Widmann (E-Mail: Claudia.Widmann@uni-konstanz.de)

Flyers downloaden

 

Mar 28th, 2019, 8.30 am
University of Konstanz

Girls' Day in Konstanz | Wie programmiert man eine Schneeflocke?

 

Der Girls' Day ist eine bundesweite Veranstaltung mit dem Ziel, das Interesse von Schülerinnen an Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu fördern. Dieses Jahr wird er am 28.3.2019 organisiert und wieder beteiligen sich unterschiedlichste Institutionen mit interessanten Aktionen rund ums Experimentieren und Forschen. Damit können Einblicke in die Arbeit von Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften geboten werden sowie die Möglichkeit, selbst aktiv zu werden.

Beim Girls Day 2019 bietet der SFB-TRR 161 an der Universität Konstanz folgenden Workshop an:

Wie programmiert man eine Schneeflocke?

Schneeflocken zeichnen lassen? Hm...das geht! 
 
Bei uns lernt ihr mit Hilfe der Bildbeschreibungssprache Turtle einen Stift so auf einer Zeichenebene zu bewegen, daß coole geometrische Formen dabei herauskommen, wie zum Beispiel die Schneeflocke. Unsere Informatik Studenten haben sich dazu Aufgaben ausgedacht von leicht bis schwer. Ihr bekommt natürlich zuerst eine Einführung in die Programmiersprache und dann kann es auch schon losgehen. Um die Lösungen herauszutüfteln, braucht ihr zunächst mal euer Hirn. Etwas Grips für Mathe ist auch hilfreich. Aber keine Sorge, wenn ihr mal nicht weiter kommt, helfen euch unsere superschlauen Studenten gerne weiter.  
 
Dabei könnt ihr sie auch gleich alles fragen, was ihr schon immer über den Studiengang Informatik wissen wolltet. Und damit ihr gleich ein Gefühl für das echte Studentenleben bekommt, laden wir euch mittags in unsere Mensa ein. Am Ende des Tages bekommt ihr euer Turtle Zertifikat und natürlich eure geplotteten Werke mit nach Hause …. und vielleicht noch eine Überraschung.  
 
Wir freuen uns!
Euer Informatik Team der Uni Konstanz

Die Veranstaltung ist für Schülerinnen ab Klasse 9. 
Dieses Angebot ist barrierearm.
Plätze insgesamt: 2

Interessierte Schülerinnen sind dazu herzlich eingeladen! Weitere Infos folgen in Kürze.

Mar 28th, 2019, 9.30 am
University of Stuttgart

Girls' Day in Stuttgart | Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner 

 

Beim Girls Day 2019 bietet der SFB-TRR 161 an der Universität Stuttgart folgenden Workshop an:

Programmieren? Das kann ich auch! - Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner
(Klasse 7 - 10)

Willst Du eigene Programme schreiben, die genau das machen, was du willst? Wir geben Dir die nötige Starthilfe dafür. In unserem Workshop kannst Du Dir Deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner programmieren. So bunt wie Du willst! Sollten sich die Bilder bewegen? Hier kannst Du es ausprobieren und umsetzen. Natürlich darfst Du Deinen Bildschirmschoner mit nach Hause nehmen und mit anderen teilen. Oder ihn zu Hause noch schöner machen ...

Zur Anmeldung

 

Interessierte Schülerinnen sind dazu herzlich eingeladen!

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

 

Mar 25th, 2019, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Integrated Processes for Modelling & Simulation

Held by:

Nikolas Popper, TU Wien

Abstract:

The complexity of man-made systems increases rapidly and so do costs spent for them. To measure efficiency and effectiveness becomes more and more complex but is an urgent need. Development of new methods, models and technologies is needed in order to support analysing, planning and controlling. Quantity and quality of available data strongly increases and therefore facilitates the description and analysis of all areas in complex systems like health care, mobility or infrastructure planning. Bringing together necessary technologies is an enormous challenge. Data-based Demographic models have to be combined with models for the spread of diseases. Dynamic modelling concepts must be parametrized with complex data sets from various sources. For system simulation an important aspect is the possibility to implement changes inside the system, like interventions within the computer model, and to analyse their effects. On basis of experiences of the Austrian DEXHELPP Competence Centre for Decision Support in Health Policy and Planning, where an innovative research infrastructure – the DEXHELPP Research Server - was developed to enable researchers and other stakeholders to share data and methods for research and decision making, N. Popper will point out how large, interdisciplinary teams can handle these complex processes in the future and what are similarities and differences to other complex man-made systems.

Biography: 

Nikolas “Niki” Popper studied Mathematics, Philosophy and Jazz Theory in Vienna, Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain) and Moscow, Idaho (US) and received his ScD (Dr.techn.) at TU Wien. Niki Popper published and presented about 150 articles and talks in journals and at international conferences. He is coordinator of COCOS “Centre for Computational Complex Systems” at TU Wien as well as chairman of DEXHELPP, the COMET K-Project (Decision Support for Health Policy and Planning: Methods, Models and Technologies based on Existing Health Care Data), which is dedicated to the development models and to efficient and safe use of data for decision making in health systems. His main research interests are theory and applications of modelling & simulation of dynamic and complex systems, especially: comparative modelling & simulation; coupling and comparison of mathematical model approaches; development of new modelling methods; implementation, parametrization, calibration and validation concepts and domain and application integration of simulation models like health system research and model based HTA (Health Technology Assessment). He co-invented the award winning Master College for Applied Modelling, Simulation and Decision Making at TU Wien and the award winning blended learning courses in basic maths at the same university. He worked as science editor and journalist and co-founded two successful companies, the production company drahtwarenhandlung for scientific films, data journalism and computer animation and the R&D company dwh GmbH for technical solutions and simulation services, dedicated to develop new and innovative pipelines from the basic idea for a data driven analysis up to a ready for market solution. Niki Popper is married and is father of two children.  

Location

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116

Download slides as PDF

Mar 21st, 2019, 9 am
University of Stuttgart

Workshop | Modelling & Simulation Methods: Method overview and modelling processe

Held by:

Nikolas Popper, TU Wien

Biography:

Nikolas “Niki” Popper studied Mathematics, Philosophy and Jazz Theory in Vienna, Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain) and Moscow, Idaho (US) and received his ScD (Dr.techn.) at TU Wien. Niki Popper published and presented about 150 articles and talks in journals and at international conferences. He is coordinator of COCOS “Centre for Computational Complex Systems” at TU Wien as well as chairman of DEXHELPP, the COMET K-Project (Decision Support for Health Policy and Planning: Methods, Models and Technologies based on Existing Health Care Data), which is dedicated to the development models and to efficient and safe use of data for decision making in health systems. His main research interests are theory and applications of modelling & simulation of dynamic and complex systems, especially: comparative modelling & simulation; coupling and comparison of mathematical model approaches; development of new modelling methods; implementation, parametrization, calibration and validation concepts and domain and application integration of simulation models like health system research and model based HTA (Health Technology Assessment). He co-invented the award winning Master College for Applied Modelling, Simulation and Decision Making at TU Wien and the award winning blended learning courses in basic maths at the same university. He worked as science editor and journalist and co-founded two successful companies, the production company drahtwarenhandlung for scientific films, data journalism and computer animation and the R&D company dwh GmbH for technical solutions and simulation services, dedicated to develop new and innovative pipelines from the basic idea for a data driven analysis up to a ready for market solution. Niki Popper is married and is father of two children. 

Location:

University of Stuttgart, VISUS building Allmandring 19, seminar room 00.012

Mar 7th, 2019, 11 am
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Visual data science and its applications

Held by:

Koji Koyamada, Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies, Kyoto University, Japan

Abstract:

Currently, we are focusing on the development of visual analytics systems which use interactive visualization technologies in order to draw a scientific discovery from big data from supercomputer, measurement systems and social networks. We are doing research on advanced visualization technologies which can effectively and efficiently process the big data. The fundamental visual data science is research on systems and related technologies for deriving new discoveries from big data by applying visualization technology. Currently, we are aiming at improving the visualization performance from a comprehensive viewpoint, a heuristic viewpoint, and an empathetic viewpoint in each process of research question asking, hypothesis forming and testing, and social implementation that form the framework of scientific methods. In this talk, we will show our research accomplishments on fused volume rendering in the computational fluid dynamics, causality exploration in Life and Fishery Sciences.

Biography: 

Prof. Koji Koyamada is currently a professor at the Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. His research interest includes modeling & simulation and visualization. He is a member of the Science Council of Japan, a former president of the Visualization Society Japan, and a former president of Japan Society of Simulation Technology. He received the IEMT/IMC outstanding paper award in 1998, the VSJ contribution award in 2009 and the VSJ outstanding paper award in 2010. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electronic engineering from Kyoto University, Japan in 1983, 1985 and 1994, respectively, and worked for IBM Japan from 1985 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001 he was an associate professor at the Iwate Prefectural University, Japan. From 2001 to 2003, he was an associate professor at Kyoto University, Japan.

Location

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz.

Mar 1st, 2019, 10.30 am
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Multidimensional Projection at Scale on the Web: Tips and Tricks

Held by:

Jean-Daniel Fekete, INRIA Saclay, Paris

Abstract:

In the recent years, multidimensional projection has become more popular thanks to algorithms such as t-SNE and UMAP. New articles have been published to explain tasks and issues related to the multiple algorithms at hand, and scalability has improved dramatically.

In this talk, I will present some of our recent work to improve the scalability of multidimensional projections, in particular stressing all the details to address to reach the visualization of several millions of projected points online. The talk will be a conversation about the methods we use and potential improvements given novel algorithms and data structures that become usable, such as compressed bitmaps for dynamic queries, fast approximate nearest-neighbors, and novel algorithms such as UMAP that offer interesting opportunities for scalability. I will also raise some challenges that remain to be solved to make multidimensional projections usable for a larger audience.

Biography: 

Jean-Daniel Fekete is Senior Research Scientist (DR1) at INRIA, Scientific Leader of the INRIA Project Team AVIZ that he founded in 2007.

He received his PhD in Computer Science in 1996 from Université Paris-Sud. From 1997 to 2001, he joined the Graphic Design group at the Ecole des Mines de Nantes that he led from 2000 to 2001. He was then invited to join the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland in the USA in 2001-2002. He was recruited by INRIA in 2002 as a confirmed researcher and became Senior Research Scientist in 2006. In 2015, he was on Sabbatical at the Visualization and Computer Graphics group at NYU-Poly, and at the Visual Computing Group at Harvard.

His main Research areas are Visual Analytics, Information Visualization and Human Computer Interaction. He published more than 150 articles in multiple conferences and journals.

He is member of the Eurographics publication board, and Associate Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

Location

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz.

Feb 15th, 2019, 3 pm
University of Stuttgart

Informatiktag an der Universität Stuttgart

 

Am 15. Februar 2019 ist an der Universität Stuttgart Informatiktag! Informatikbegeisterte Schüler und Schülerinnen können diesen Tag nutzen, um sich über spannende Themen am Fachbereich zu informieren und ihre Fähigkeiten in Sachen Technik und Programmierung in Workshops auszuprobieren.

Der SFB-TRR 161 ermöglicht auch diesmal wieder Einblicke in die wissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen und aktuelle Forschungsthemen im Bereich Visual Computing. Wir bieten in diesem Jahr an:

Lab Tour Visual Computing: Wie aus Informationen Bilder und aus Bildern Informationen werden

Bilder spielen in der zunehmend technisierten Welt eine immer wichtigere Rolle. Sie ermöglichen es, umfangreiche Daten und Informationen optimal darzustellen, etwa die Ergebnisse von Computersimulationen oder Daten aus sozialen Netzwerken visuell aufzubereiten. Andererseits können wir aus Bildern auch zusätzliche Informationen gewinnen, etwa wenn Kameraaufnahmen in Autos automatisiert ausgewertet werden, um den Fahrer vor Hindernissen zu warnen. Heute arbeiten Visual Computing Experten daran, visuelle Informationen mit Hilfe von Computern besser erfassbar, analysierbar und darstellbar zu machen.

Auf der hochauflösende Powerwall, die hinsichtlich Auflösung und technischem Aufbau in Europa einzigartig ist, könnt ihr aktuelle Entwicklungen in diesem Bereich der Informatik bestaunen und einiges über die Herausforderungen bei der Erzeugung der interaktiven Bilder und Verarbeitung großer Daten erfahren. Eine anschließende Führung durch die Technikräume des Visualisierungslabors vermittelt Euch ein Gefühl von der Komplexität und dem Umfang der dazu verarbeiteten Datenmengen.

Mehr Informationen und die Möglichkeit zur Anmeldung zu allen Workshops findet Ihr unter
http://www.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/fachbereich/veranstaltungen/informatiktag

Feb 12th, 2019, 10 am
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Research Through Visualization Design Study

Held by:

Miriah Meyer, University of Utah, Visualization Design Lab 

Abstract:

Designing effective visualization systems requires a careful consideration of factors beyond basic perceptual principles and software functionality — it requires deeply understanding the needs, intuitions, and goals of target users. Visualization design studies are a methodical approach for acquiring this understanding. In this talk I’ll discuss the way we conduct design studies in my group, and how we use what we learn to contribute new visualization knowledge. I’ll layout open challenges in conducting design study research, and propose a new model for achieving rigor in this messy, iterative, and emergent research approach.

Biography: 

Miriah is an associate professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah and a faculty member in the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute. She co-directs the Visualization Design Lab, which focuses on the design of visualization systems for helping analysts make sense of complex data, as well on the development of design methods for helping visualization designers make sense of real-world problems. She obtained her bachelors degree in astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, and earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Utah. Prior to joining the faculty at Utah Miriah was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University and a visiting scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Miriah is the recipient of a NSF CAREER grant, a Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship, and a NSF/CRA Computing Innovation Fellow award. She was named a University of Utah Distinguished Alumni, both a TED Fellow and a PopTech Science Fellow, and included on MIT Technology Revi's TR35 list of the top young innovators. She was also awarded an AAAS Mass Media Fellowship that landed her a stint as a science writer for the Chicago Tribune. During the 2018-2019 academic year, Miriah is on sabbatical at the University of Vienna.

Location

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz.

Jan 28th, 2019, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Filling the gap between theory and practice in Machine Learning: an engineer’s perspective

Held by:

Prof. Davide Anguita, SmartLab – DIBRIS – Università degli Studi di Genova

Abstract:

Since the recent (re)discover and great success of Deep Neural Networks it has become clear that Machine Learning has been developing on two parallel and somewhat not-so-converging paths. On one hand theoretical results achieved by Statistical Learning Theory (SLT) allow to derive new learning approaches and build a theoretical framework for answering questions like “how can we select the optimal predictive model?”, “how can we rigorously assess its prediction performance?”.  This is of paramount importance in industrial and engineering applications where the risk of using a ML algorithm, which learns from empirical data, should be estimated with reasonably accuracy. On the other hand, theory seems of limited applicability to practical problems, because learning algorithms achieve incredibly successful results, in many applications, that SLT cannot explain. 

In this seminar I will summarize recent theoretical advances in this direction and some engineering applications of ML algorithms.

Biography: 

Davide Anguita (MSc - 1989,  PhD - 1993) is Full Professor of Information Processing Systems at the University of Genova, Italy (Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering), where he teaches “Business Intelligence” (Industrial Eng.), “Data Analysis and Data Mining” (Computer Eng.) and “Theory and Practice of Learning from Data” (Doctorate in Computer Science), after holding visiting positions at the Hewlett-Packard Laboratories (HP-Labs, Analytical/Medical Dept., Palo Alto, CA, USA), the International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, USA and the University of Trento, Italy.

His main research interests are in the field of theory, methodologies and industrial applications of Machine Learning and Data Analysis. He has been principal investigator of numerous research and technology transfer projects (Finmeccanica, National Institute for Cancer Research, Whirlpool Europe, etc.) and was in charge of the research agreement between the University of Genova and Ferrari S.p.A. for the application of intelligent data analysis to FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) auto racing.

He has been Member of the EC-Network of Excellence NeuroNet 1 and NeuroNet 2, Chair of the Smart Adaptive Systems section of the EC-Network of Excellence EUNITE (European Network of Intelligent Technologies for Smart Adaptive Systems), and Chair of the EC Concerted Action NiSIS (Nature-inspired Smart information Systems) Focus Group in “Data Technologies”. He has been principal investigator for the University of Genova of the EC-H2020 project In2Rail (Innovative Intelligent Rail – coordinator: Network Rail, UK) and currently of the EC-H2020 project IN2DREAMS (INtelligent solutions 2ward the Development of Railway Energy and Asset Management Systems in Europe). He has been evaluator of European (EC-FP7 and H2020), national (MIUR) and regional (Liguria, Veneto) research projects.

He co-founded "Smartware & Data Mining S.r.l.", “Novigo Technology S.r.l.” and “Zenabyte S.r.l.”, spin-offs of the University of Genova, operating in the field of Business Intelligence and Industrial Analytics.

He is co-author of more than 170 publications on international journals or refereed conference proceedings, two patents on intelligent data analysis methods, and is a Senior Member of the IEEE.

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

2018

Dec 10th, 2018, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Interactive Design and Visualization of Branched Covering Spaces

Held by:

Eugene Zang, Oregon State University


Abstract:

Branched covering spaces are a mathematical concept which originates from complex analysis and topology and has applications in tensor field topology and geometry remeshing. Given a manifold surface and an N-way rotational symmetry field, a branched covering space is a manifold surface that has an N-to-1 map to the original surface except at the ramification points, which correspond to the singularities in the rotational symmetry field. 

Understanding the notion and mathematical properties of branched covering spaces is important to researchers in tensor field visualization and geometry processing, and their application areas. In this paper, we provide a framework to interactively design and visualize the branched covering space (BCS) of an input mesh surface and a rotational symmetry field defined on it. In our framework, the user can visualize not only the BCSs but also their construction process. In addition, our system allows the user to design the geometric realization of the BCS using mesh deformation techniques as well as connecting tubes. This enables the user to verify important facts about BCSs such as that they are manifold surfaces around singularities, as well as the Riemann-Hurwitz formula which relates the Euler characteristic of the BCS to that of the original mesh. Our system is evaluated by student researchers in scientific visualization and geometry processing as well as faculty members in mathematics at our university who teach topology. We include their evaluations and feedback in the paper.


Biography:

Eugene Zhang received the PhD degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2004. He is currently a Professor with Oregon State University, where he is a member in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. During part of 2011 and 2012, he was a guest professor with the Free University of Berlin and the Max-Planck-Institute in informatics. His research interests include computer graphics, scientific visualization, geometric modeling, and computational topology. He received the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2006. He has also served as a program co-chair for CAD/CG 2013. He is a senior member of the IEEE and the ACM.

Location:

University of Stuttgart, Powerwall Room, VISUS, cellar

The talk will be transmitted to Konstanz.

Dec 3-4, 2018
University of Konstanz

Workshop | Crowdsourcing Visual Quality

Organized by:

Vlad Hosu and Franz Götz-Hahn (University of Konstanz)

 

Description:
This extension to last year’s in-depth crash-course on crowdsourcing is aimed at both teaching doctoral students new to the topic of crowdsourcing to efficiently conduct crowdsourcing studies as part of their doctoral thesis work and conveying new insights on crowdsourcing to those doctoral students who already participated last year. The seminar will cover the whole process of performing an experiment and introduce all the analysis and auxiliary tools we have successfully applied. Starting with an introduction to the topic, participants will be shortly introduced to the basic experimental procedure. Subsequently, students will get to design a small scale crowdsourcing study by themselves or extend a previous study to incorporate some of the information learnt. In the process, they will be guided around the pitfalls of experiment design, as well as given a spectrum of handy tools that simplify the process. Particular attention will be focused on crowdsourcing subjective quality attributes and annotations, such as qualities of non-photorealistic renderings and visualizations, or annotating artifacts in such renderings. Additionally, participants will experience crowdsourcing from the crowd worker’s position, to better understand the crowd. One invited speaker will share their insight into the dynamics of crowdsourcing and experimental procedures. Finally, the results of an example crowd-study will be analyzed, and any remaining questions will be resolved in an open discussion.


Invited Speaker:
Matthias Hirth – Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
1. Crowdsourcing in an enterprise setting
2. Best practices for quality of experience
3. Mobile crowdsensing

Dec 3rd, 2018, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Ethos Mining: foundations, applications and future works

Held by:

Rory Duthie, Centre for Argument Technology (arg.tech), University of DundeeRory Duthie, Centre for Argument Technology (arg.tech), University of Dundee


Abstract:

Ethos, defined by Aristotle as the character of the speaker, plays a fundamental role in day to day society being present in conversation to political debate. Despite this fact the automatic extraction of ethos from natural language, ethos mining, has rarely been studied with the primary focus in the argumentation community being upon the reasoning expressed in language (logos). In this talk I will show the foundations of ethos mining, focussing upon the intricacies of UK parliamentary debate and the natural language processing methods used in extraction. I will then describe the current applications of ethos mining, in particular, the initial qualitative and quantitative visualisations which can be expressed from ethos mining for individual politicians and political groupings. Finally, I will explore possible future avenues of work in ethos mining, especially improvements which can be made from a deeper understanding of the natural language and the possibilities of further visualisation.per.


Biography:

Rory is a PhD student within the Computational Ethos Lab (CELab), part of the Centre for Argument Technology at the University of Dundee. His research has focussed on the creation of the first corpus of manually annotated ethos and the first automatic extraction of ethos in political debate, using Machine Learning and Deep Learning, as well as the visualisation of political relationships and data trends. During his PhD, Rory has published at several international conference venues most notably winning the best student paper award at the International Conference on Computational Models of Argument (COMMA) 2016 and presenting at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) 2018.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

The talk will be transmitted to Stuttgart.

Nov 26th, 2018, 9 am
University of Stuttgart

Workshop | C#, Unity, and maybe HoloLens programming

We invite you to the following workshop as part of the SFB/Transregio 161 at the University of Stuttgart:

C#, Unity, and maybe HoloLens programming

on November 26, 2018 with Michael McGuffin.

Please go to this doodle and mark that you want to participate:
https://doodle.com/poll/2vp9zu6nh3utycuh

To learn the most during the seminar, bring a laptop with Visual Studio (if you don't know which edition to use, try "community edition"), and and also Unity, pre-installed on your laptop.

Description:

Topics than can be covered in this workshop:

  1. Some general discussion of 3D user interfaces, pointers to surveys in the literature, potential research topics and technical challenges related to AR and VR
  1. introduction to C#: why learn C#; differences between C#, Java and JavaScript; How to do basic programming things (basic data types, loops, arrays, classes)
  1. how to make a C# console (DOS) program with just standard input and standard output; programming exercise with sample code provided
  2. how to program 2D graphics with GDI+ and a Windows Forms application; programming exercise with sample code provided, using basic widgets and event handling
    (Topics 3 and 4 above might sound useless, but it can sometimes be useful to know how to test pieces of C# code without any dependencies on Unity, because this can accelerate your development cycle of compiling, testing, and modifying source code)
  3. how to program 3D graphics with Unity; programming exercise with sample code provided; tips for how to develop with Unity
  4. programming for VR versus AR; summary of capabilities of the HoloLens, my (mis)adventures in tracking external objects and getting them registered with the HoloLens coordinate system, mistakes to avoid, why I don't like Vuforia
  5. how to program for the HoloLens with C# and Unity; a few programming exercises with sample code: implementing a heads-up display and how to add filtering to make it easier to read; reading hand position events and implementing the mid-air drawing program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbvLJo5EPdA ; tips for programming with the HoloLens
  6. if people want, I can explain some C# code to do registration of two 3D coordinate systems (it involves a singular value decomposition)

Note: I cannot show how to do Oculus/Vive programming, nor the HoloToolkit / MixedRealityToolkit, nor HoloLens research mode, nor how to use the depth camera / spatial mapping on HoloLens, because I have no experience with these.

Oct 26th, 2018, 12.30 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | State of the Art in Methods and Representations for Fabrication-Aware Design

Held by:

Dr. Amit Bermano, Tel Aviv University


Abstract:

Computational manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing hold the potential for creating objects with previously undreamed-of combinations of functionality and physical properties. Human designers, however, typically cannot exploit the full complexity of which these devices are capable. This talk is based on a survey which examines recent systems developed by the computer graphics community in the context of design for fabrication. It summarizes frameworks for interaction, simulation, and optimization, as well as documents the range of general objectives and domain-specific goals that have been considered. An important unifying thread in this analysis is that different underlying geometric and physical representations are necessary for different tasks. We analyze how classes of representations possess obvious advantages for some needs, but have also been used in creative manners to facilitate unexpected problem solutions. From the analysis, I will also portray one of the pressing issues I believe should be investigated: design through objectives, instead of geometry, using a hierarchical, modular, representation.


Biography:

Dr. Amit H. Bermano is a recently starting assistant professor at Tel-Aviv University. Until several weeks ago, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Princeton Graphics Group, hosted by Prof. Szymon Rusinkiewicz and Prof. Thomas Funkhouser. Beforehand, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Disney Research Zurich in the computational materials group (2016). He conducted his doctoral studies at ETH Zurich, in collaboration with Disney Research Zurich (2016), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Markus Gross. His Masters and Bachelors degrees were obtained at The Technion–Israel Institute of Technology. His research focuses on connecting the geometry processing field with other fields in computer graphics and vision, mainly by using geometric methods to facilitate other applications. His interests in this context include computational fabrication, animation, augmented reality, medical imaging, and machine learning.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Z 613

Oct 24th, 2018, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Image quality research at the Colourlab - image difference metrics, evaluation and subjective assessment

Held by:

Prof. Marius Pedersen, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Gjøvik, Norway


Abstract:

Many image quality and image difference metrics have been proposed over the last decades. An important factor when evaluating
the image quality or image difference is the viewing distance. In this talk we present an image difference metric based on the simulation of detail visibility and total variation. The simulation of detail visibility takes into account the  viewing conditions and the viewing distance, and calculation of the image difference is done by total variation.

Further, we also present the results of an extensive evaluation of 60 state-of-the-art image quality metrics, including well-known metrics, such as SSIM, multiscale SSIM, VIF, MSE, S-DEE, CID, MAD, S-CIELAB, SHAME, VSNR, and PSNR. Evaluation is performed on the on the Colourlab Image Database: Image Quality (CID:IQ), a database consisting of 690 images where the subjective data has been collected at two different viewing distances. The performance of the image quality metrics is assessed in terms of correlation to subjective data.

At least, we will also touch upon aspects that influence subjective quality assessment; including high level visual masking and short term memory.


Biography:

Marius Pedersen is professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His work is centered on image quality assessment; he has more than 60 publications in this field. He received his PhD in color imaging (2011) from the University of Oslo. He is currently the head of the computer science group in Gjøvik in the department of computer science, as well as the head of the Norwegian Colour and Visual Computing Laboratory, both at NTNU.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Powerwall Room C202

Oct 21st, 2018, 10 am
Berlin

Sino-Germany Visualization Workshop at IEEE VIS 2018, Berlin

http://www.sino-germany-vis.org/

Oct 19th, 2018, 9 am
University of Konstanz

Doctoral Workshop at BDVA 2018 | Visualizations + Interactions + Workflows = Data Science for Everyone – An Introduction to Orange

We announce the following doctoral workshop as part of the SFB/Transregio 161:

Title:          Visualizations + Interactions + Workflows = Data Science for Everyone
                  - An Introduction to Orange -

Time:         Friday, 19 October 2018,  9 - 11.30h

Room:       University of Konstanz, Room C425

The workshop is free of charge for TRR members. In the afternoon an additional workshop of the BDVA can also be attended free of charge.

Please register simply via email to claudia.widmann@uni-konstanz.de .

Workshop Website: http://bdva.net/2018/index.php/trr-workshop-introduction-to-orange/
BDVA Website: http://bdva.net/2018/index.php/workshops/

Abstract:
Useful data is all around us, and capturing vast amounts of data is easier than ever. Skilled data scientists are less ubiquitous than data. Data science has become increasingly challenging, and to master it, one needs a deep understanding of math, statistics and computer science. This complexity drives away many potential data explorers and consumers, leaving the joy of data-based discovery to a few enlightened gurus. In this workshop, we will argue that -- after a few hours of training -- virtually anyone can do data exploration and machine learning. Besides curiosity and a good mentor, though, an essential part of such endeavor is the right tool. We will claim that interactive visualizations, visual programming for construction of workflows, and linking-and-brushing type of interactivity can empower anyone curious about their data. The workshop will start with cases from image analytics, geo data mining, and molecular biology. We will show how we can employ a small number of components -- the Lego bricks of explorative data analysis -- to construct powerful workflows to solve them all. We will go through cases of clustering, data projection, and supervised learning. And at the end, we will dive deeper and, for computer savvy, show how to build these components in Python. The workshop will use Orange, a data mining framework, and participants are welcome to download and install it from http://orange.biolab.si to follow along.

Bio:
Blaž Zupan is a Professor of Computer Science at University of Ljubljana, where he heads the bioinformatics lab. His research revolves around techniques for data fusion and data visualization. His lab developed Orange (http://orange.biolab.si), an evolving data mining suite with a visual programming environment. He also enjoys writing the scripts for YouTube videos that explain Orange and data science, and preparing courses that introduce data science to diverse audiences in biomedicine, pharmaceuticals, the humanities and commerce.  

URL: https://www.fri.uni-lj.si/en/employees/blaz-zupan

Oct 17th - 19th, 2018
University of Konstanz

4th International Symposium on Big Data Visual and Immersive Analytics

From October 17 - 19 2018, there will be the BDVA 2018, the 4th International Symposium on Big Data Visual and Immersive Analytics at the University of Konstanz. General Chair of this international forum is Falk Schreiber, project investigator of Transregio project D04. Besides, there are further members of the SFB-TRR 161 part of the conference commitee. 

About the BDVA 2018

Visual Analytics plays a major role in the analysis and decision-making processes for science, industry, and government organisations. It is one of the best ways we have for making sense of big and/or complex data sets. Reflecting its history of encouraging research into less-traditional approaches to visual analytics, this year BDVA has broadened scope to include the emerging field of Immersive Analytics. Immersive Analytics aims to support data understanding and decision making everywhere and by everyone, working individually or collaboratively. It aims to make embodied tools that are intuitive, engaging, and appropriately utilise all sensory channels. This may be achieved through the use of immersive virtual environment technologies, data physicalisation, natural interfaces or responsive analytics, but is not tied to the use of any particular technology.

For more information, see www.bdva.net/2018

Oct 8th - 9th, 2018
University of Stuttgart

SFB-TRR 161 2018 | 1st International Conference on Quantification in Visual Computing

Further Information on
http://www.sfbtrr161.de/events_sfbtrr161/SFB-TRR161-Conference-2018/

Oct 4th, 2018, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Auto-evaluating Image Retargeting Algorithms

Held by:

Prof. Weisi Lin, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore


Abstract:

There are numerous situations where images need to be auto-adapted into different sizes and compositions. For instance, the increasing diversity of visual display devices (especially mobile ones) has demanded for effective image adaptation (retargeting) for a given aspect ratio; automatic (or semi-automatic) image editing is required for Photoshop (and other similar tools), native advertising, webpage content creation, post-processing of TV/movies, VR/AR scenarios, etc; there will be also future possibilities for reducing the amount of visual data  transmitted over the wireless network (with low bit-rates) while ensuring the required accuracy for a specific AI task. To date, there is not a single image retargeting method that works consistently well for all visual content, and this call for effective, objective image retargeting quality assessment (IRQA) to be developed for on-line benchmarking and then selecting the best retargeting scheme dynamically at servers; furthermore, IRQA facilitates the advancement of image retargeting techniques themselves. In this talk, a new IRQA methodology is presented, being able to predict the perceived retargeting quality by proper evaluation of salient content loss and visual distortion. Its key contribution lies in dense correspondence (DC) estimation and multi-level feature (MLF) fusion: the former makes IRQA truly full-reference assessment for the first time, while the latter enables better agreement with human appreciation and adjustment.


Biography:

Lin Weisi is an active researcher in image processing, perception-based signal modelling and assessment, video compression, and multimedia communication systems. In the said areas, he has published 180+ international journal papers and 230+ international conference papers, 7 patents, 9 book chapters, 2 authored books and 3 edited books, as well as excellent track record in leading and delivering more than 10 major funded projects (with over S$7m research funding). He earned his Ph.D from King’s College, University of London. He had been the Lab Head, Visual Processing, Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R). He is a Professor in School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, where he served as the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) in 2013-2014. 

Location:

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Z 613

Oct 6th - 7th, 2018
University of Konstanz

Workshop | Visualization for the Web: Front- & Backends (WIP)

Held by:

Hendrik Strobelt (MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab) and Josua Krause (Accern prev. NYU Tandon School of Engineering) 

Organized by Jochen Görtler (University of Konstanz), Project A01

 

We invite you to the following workshop as part of the SFB/Transregio 161 at the University of Konstanz:

Visualization for the Web: Front- & Backends (WIP) from August 06 - 07, 2018.


Abstract:
Low fidelity prototyping is important for designing visual analytics systems with domain experts. To facilitate this, a code template for creating simple, yet powerful interactive visualization prototypes is a key ingredient. In this two-day workshop, the participants will develop such a starter template to be re-used and adapted for future design study research. The workshop will be led by Hendrik Strobelt (MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab) and Josua Krause (Accern prev. NYU Tandon School of Engineering) who have long hands-on experience in developing web prototypes. They will teach current best practices and will get the participants ready to create their own web-based visualizations with analytical backends.

 

Day 1
Start of Workshop: 10.30 am

On the first day, we will focus on the frontend, introducing D3.js as a visualization framework, including its data model with ‘merges’, ‘joins’, and ‘transitions’. After that, we will explore the communication of the frontend with backends written in other languages such as Python and Node.js as a way to visualize more complicated datasets and models.

End of Day 1: 5.30 pm

Dinner at the ‘Brauhaus’: 7 pm


Day 2
Start of Day 2: 9.30 am

On the second day, we will introduce web sockets as an additional way of communication between the frontend and backend that lends itself in particular for real-time and streaming data. Following up on this, we will look at ways to structure our frontend code and write reusable components with React.

End of Workshop: 4.30 pm

Jul 23th - 24th, 2018
University of Konstanz

Girls Camp 2018 in Konstanz

organized by Barbara Pampel

 

Programm

Montag 23.7.
9:30 Uhr Begrüßung
10-12 Uhr Workshop 1: Robotik mit Lego Mindstorms und Scratch – Wir programmieren einen Zeichenroboter
12-13 Uhr Mittagessen in der Mensa
13-14 Uhr Führung im Immersive Analytics Lab von Prof. Dr. Falk Schreiber
14-14:30 Uhr kleine Tour durch die Uni (Biologische Lehrsammlung, Bibliothek)


Dienstag 24.7.
9:30 Uhr Präsentation Programmierprojekt Soumya Sinha: Eine Roboter-Blume dreht sich ins Sonnenlicht
10-12 Uhr Workshop 2: Robotik mit Lego Mindstorms und Scratch – Sensoren
12-13 Uhr Mittagessen in der Mensa
13-14 Uhr Besuch beim Malroboter e-David

Jul 12th, 2018, 3 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Modelling Saliency in Visual Quality Assessment

Held by:

Dr. Hantao Liu, Cardiff University, UK


Abstract:

Reliably predicting visual media quality as perceived by humans remains challenging and is of high practical relevance. A significant research trend is to investigate visual saliency and its implications for visual quality assessment. Fundamental problems regarding how to acquire reliable eye-tracking data and how saliency should be incorporated in computational quality assessment models are largely unsolved. This talk will focus on methodologies for reliably collecting eye-tracking data, assessment of the capabilities of saliency in improving the performance of quality assessment models, as well as the optimized use of saliency in visual quality assessment systems.


Biography:

Dr Hantao Liu is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) with the School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, United Kingdom. He received the Ph.D. degree from the Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, in 2011. Since 2006, he has been working closely with industry to develop next generation image and video technologies. He led a project funded by Philips Research Laboratories that developed novel algorithms for visual media quality assessment; and a project funded by Philips Healthcare that addressed a number of issues related to medical image perception. He is a founder member of the Delft Image Quality Lab.

His research interests include visual media quality assessment, visual attention modelling and applications, visual scene understanding, medical image perception and human-machine interaction. He served as a Management Committee member (UK representative) of COST Action IC1003 Qualinet: European Network on Quality of Experience in Multimedia Systems and Services, and Area Chair of IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo 2015, 2016 and 2017. He is now serving as the Chair of IEEE MMTC Interest Group on Quality of Experience for Multimedia Communications. He is serving as an Associate Editor for the following international journals: IEEE Transactions on Multimedia; IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems; Signal Processing: Image Communication; Signal, Image and Video Processing; and Neurocomputing.

Location:

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Z 613

Jul 10th, 2018, 10 am
University of Konstanz

Talk | Visual-Interactive Machine Learning: The Conceptual Process, Application Examples, and Experimental Studies

Held by:

Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Bernard, TU Darmstadt

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

Unfortunately, the talk will not be transmitted to Stuttgart and Tübingen.

Jul 2nd - Dec 30th, 2018
Berlin

Exponat in der BMBF Foyerausstellung "Arbeitswelten der Zukunft"

Mit Informationen über Forschungsaktivitäten des SFB-TRR 161 

Jun 30th, 2018, 1 pm
University of Stuttgart

Tag der Wissenschaft an der Universität Stuttgart

Am 30. Juni 2018 wird die Universität Stuttgart zum Tag der Wissenschaften einladen. Dabei wird der SFB-TRR 161 im Foyer des Visualisierungsinstitutes (VISUS) im Allmandring 19 in Stuttgart Vaihingen seine Arbeit präsentieren.

 

Jun 23rd, 2018, 5 pm
University of Konstanz

Am 23. Juni 2018 findet in Konstanz die 5. Konstanzer Lange Nacht der Wissenschaft statt. In den zurückliegenden Jahren hat diese Veranstaltung zahlreiche Besucherinnen und Besucher angelockt. Und auch in diesem Jahr wird wieder ein buntes Programm rund um die Wissenschaft geboten sein.

Mit dabei sind diesmal auch Visual Computing Wissenschaftler der Universität Konstanz bei folgenden Veranstaltungen:

 

+++

 

21.30 - 22.00 Uhr | Vortrag | Visualisierungsmöglichkeiten von Big Data

Riesige Datenmengen erfordern spezielle Analyse- und Visualisierungsmethoden. Wir zeigen die Möglichkeiten und Herausforderungen der Analyse von Big Data am konkreten Beispiel von Ernährungsdaten.

Wer?
Michael Blumenschein (Fachbereich Informatik und Informationswissenschaft)
Karoline Villinger, Deborah Wahl (Fachbereich Psychologie)

Wo? Treffpunkt: Ebene A5

Kostenlose Tickets am Infostand auf Ebene A5

 

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17.00 - 23.00 Uhr | Demonstration | Virtual Bird Flight: Fliege mit den Störchen von der Mainau nach Afrika

Ergänzend zur „ICARUS“-Ausstellung (Insel Mainau) werden Virtual Reality-Anwendungen vorgestellt, um Zug- und Schwarmverhalten von Vögeln virtuell zu explorieren und den Bodensee mit Vogelaugen zu sehen.

Wer?
Prof. Dr. Martin Wikelski (Max-Planck-Institut für Ornithologie und Universität Konstanz)
Prof. Dr. Harald Reiterer (Fachbereich Informatik und Informationswissenschaften)
Prof. Dr. Falk Schreiber (Fachbereich Informatik und Informationswissenschaften)

Wo? PZ1011
Zugang zu Gebäude PZ: Eingang Gebäude N, von dort rechts ins Gebäude P, im Gebäude P mit dem Aufzug in den 10. Stock und dort links nach PZ

 Programmheft zur 5. Konstanzer Langen Nacht der Wissenschaft   |  Zur Webseite

Jun 18th - 21st, 2018
Schloss Dagstuhl

Dagstuhl Seminar | Ubiquitous Gaze Sensing and Interaction

Lewis Chuang (MPI Tübingen), Daniel Weiskopf (University of Stuttgart), and their colleagues Andrew Duchowski (Clemson University, US) and Pernilla Qvarfordt (FX Palo Alto Laboratory, US) organize the Dagstuhl seminar "Ubiquitous Gaze Sensing and Interaction".

Further information are available on
https://www.dagstuhl.de/de/programm/kalender/semhp/?semnr=18252

Jun 15th - Oct 22nd, 2018

Exponat auf der MS Wissenschaft Tour 2018

Die MS Wissenschaft 2018 lädt ein in die Arbeitswelten der Zukunft. Kommen Sie an Bord. Erfahren Sie mehr darüber, wie neueste Technologien unser Arbeitsleben verändern und verbessern können und welche Fähigkeiten morgen gefragt sein werden. Am 15. Mai 2018 startet die Tour des Ausstellungsschiffes in Berlin. Bis zum 9. Oktober kann man die Ausstellung in verschiedenen Orten Deutschlands besuchen.

Mit dabei ist in diesem Jahr das Exponat "Digital-Reale Arbeitswelt" des SFB-TRR 161, in dem Visual Computing Experten über ihre Forschungsaktivitäten und ihre Visionen für die Arbeitswelt der Zukunft berichten.

Zum Tourplan der MS-Wissenschaft

Weitere Infos zum Exponat

Apr 26th, 9 am
University of Stuttgart

Girls' Day in Stuttgart | Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner 

Der Girls' Day ist eine bundesweite Veranstaltung mit dem Ziel, das Interesse von Schülerinnen an Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu fördern. Dieses Jahr wird er am 28.4.2018 organisiert und wieder beteiligen sich unterschiedlichste Institutionen mit interessanten Aktionen rund ums Experimentieren und Forschen. Damit können Einblicke in die Arbeit von Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften geboten werden sowie die Möglichkeit, selbst aktiv zu werden.

Beim Girls Day 2018 bietet der SFB-TRR 161 an der Universität Stuttgart folgenden Workshop an:

Programmieren? Das kann ich auch! - Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner
(Klasse 7 - 10)

Willst Du eigene Programme schreiben, die genau das machen, was du willst? Wir geben Dir die nötige Starthilfe dafür. In unserem Workshop kannst Du Dir Deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner programmieren. So bunt wie Du willst! Sollten sich die Bilder bewegen? Hier kannst Du es ausprobieren und umsetzen. Natürlich darfst Du Deinen Bildschirmschoner mit nach Hause nehmen und mit anderen teilen. Oder ihn zu Hause noch schöner machen ...

Zur Anmeldung

 

Interessierte Schülerinnen sind dazu herzlich eingeladen!

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

Apr 24th, 4 pm
Montreal, Canada

CHI 2018 | Special Interest Group: Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines in HCI 

Special Interest Group at CHI 2018, Montreal, Canada

This special interest group addresses the status quo of HCI research with regards to research practices of transparence and openness. Specifically, it discusses whether current practices are in line with the standards applied to other fields (e.g., psychology, economics, medicine). It seeks to identify current practices that are more progressive and worth communicating to other disciplines, while evaluating whether practices in other disciplines are likely to apply to HCI research constructively. Potential outcomes include: (1) a review of current HCI research policies, (2) a report on recommended practices, and (3) a replication project of key findings in HCI research.

Organizers

Lewis Chuang & Ulrike Pfeil

Further information

http://www.sfbtrr161.de/events_sfbtrr161/research-workshops/chi18-sig/

Apr 4th - 6th
Waldhotel Zollernblick (Freudenstadt)

SFB-TRR 161 Doctoral Retreat 

Feb 23rd, 3 pm
University of Stuttgart

Informatiktag an der Universität Stuttgart

Am 23. Februar 2018 führt die Universität Stuttgart den jährlich stattfindenden Informatiktag durch. Schüler und Schülerinnen, die sich für ein Studium der Informatik und Softwaretechnik interessieren, sind hierzu herzlich eingeladen. In Vorträgen lernen Sie spannende Themen der Fachbereiche kennen und können in verschiedenen Workshops eigene Erfahrungen sammeln.

Der SFB-TRR 161 ermöglicht in diesem Rahmen einen Blick auf wissenschaftlich relevante Fragestellungen und aktuelle Forschungsthemen im Bereich Visual Computing. Folgende Workshops bieten wir in diesem Jahr an:

Lab Tour Visual Computing: Wie aus Informationen Bilder und aus Bildern Informationen werden

Bilder spielen in der zunehmend technisierten Welt eine immer wichtigere Rolle. Sie ermöglichen es, umfangreiche Daten und Informationen optimal darzustellen, etwa die Ergebnisse von Computersimulationen oder Daten aus sozialen Netzwerken visuell aufzubereiten. Andererseits können wir aus Bildern auch zusätzliche Informationen gewinnen, etwa wenn Kameraaufnahmen in Autos automatisiert ausgewertet werden, um den Fahrer vor Hindernissen zu warnen. Heute arbeiten Visual Computing Experten daran, visuelle Informationen mit Hilfe von Computern besser erfassbar, analysierbar und darstellbar zu machen.
Auf der hochauflösende Powerwall, die hinsichtlich Auflösung und technischem Aufbau in Europa einzigartig ist, könnt ihr aktuelle Entwicklungen in diesem Bereich der Informatik bestaunen und einiges über die Herausforderungen bei der Erzeugung der interaktiven Bilder und Verarbeitung großer Daten erfahren. Eine anschließende Führung durch die Technikräume des Visualisierungslabors vermittelt Euch ein Gefühl von der Komplexität und dem Umfang der dazu verarbeiteten Datenmengen.

Workshop: Programmieren mit Processing
Handys, Autos und sogar Flugzeuge sind heute eigentlich leistungsfähige Computer. Computer funktionieren aber nur, wenn sie richtig programmiert sind. Die Entwicklung von Computerprogrammen ist eine der Hauptaufgaben von Informatikern.
In diesem Workshop wollen wir zeigen, dass Programmieren Spaß macht, nicht schwierig sein muss und man schnell beeindruckende Ergebnisse erzielen kann. Ihr lernt, wie man mit der Programmiersprache Processing einfache Programme schreiben kann. Dabei schauen wir uns an, wie ein Computer die Aktionen des Nutzers verstehen kann und wie sich dadurch die Anzeige auf dem Bildschirm verändert.

Mehr Informationen und die Möglichkeit zur Anmeldung zu den Workshops findet Ihr unter
http://www.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/fachbereich/veranstaltungen/informatiktag

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

Feb 5th, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Deep Learning for Fluid Simulations

Held by:

Prof. Dr. Nils Thuerey, Technische Universität München

Talk Abstract

Physics simulations for virtual smoke, explosions or water are by now crucial tools for special effects. Despite their widespread use, it is still difficult to get get these simulations under control, and they are still far too expensive for practical interactive applications. 

In this talk I will discuss using deep learning for physics problems, and outline research directions to alleviate the inherent difficulties of fluids simulations with the help of deep convolutional neural networks. As powerful tools to approximate complex nonlinear functions these networks can enable new directions of working with fluid simulations. I will show several recent examples of how fluid simulations and neural networks can work together, e.g., to synthesize new simulations with pre-computed patches of flow data, or to enable interactive liquids applications by warping space-time surfaces. 

In the end, I will also discuss possible future directions for this area. It's of course hard to predict how well deep learning will do in the long run, but fluids (as placeholders for complex physics phenomena in general) are posing very interesting research challenges for deep learning techniques.

Speaker’s Bio

Nils Thuerey is an Assistant-Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). He works in the field of computer graphics, with a particular emphasis on physically-based animation. One focus area of his research targets the simulation of fluid phenomena, such as water and smoke. These simulations find applications as visual effects in computer generated movies and digital games. Examples of his work are novel algorithms to make simulations easier to control, to handle detailed surface tension effects, and to increase the amount of turbulent detail.

After studying computer science, Nils Thuerey acquired a PhD for his work on liquid simulations in 2006. He received both degrees from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Until 2010 he held a position as a post-doctoral researcher at ETH Zurich. He received a tech-Oscar from the AMPAS in 2013 for his research on controllable smoke effects. Subsequently, he worked for three years as R&D lead at ScanlineVFX, before he started at TUM in October 2013.

More information on  https://www.professoren.tum.de/thuerey-nils/ 

Location

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202 (Live Transmission)

Jan 29th, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Visual-Interactive Machine Learning for Time-Oriented Data

Held by:

Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Bernard, TU Darmstadt

Talk Abstract

In the last years, the Visual Analytics (VA) community has made a considerable step towards Machine Learning (ML). Conceptual models for knowledge generation have been proposed that seek to combine VA and ML, VA approaches have been presented that make massive use of ML techniques in a visual-interactive way. Finally, real-world applications (involving domain experts from various application areas) have been designed, making use of the combined strengths of VA and ML.

In my talk, I will share my experiences on the conflation of ML with VA, by the example of time-oriented data. Time-oriented data is a data type with the characteristics that every value depends on a specific point in time. This characteristics allows to store special natural or human-made phenomena. As such, time-oriented data has special analytical potential for researchers, engineers, or doctors (to name experts groups of my personal collaboration record), but also has special challenges that we are confronted with. After several collaborative projects, a PhD thesis, and a considerable amount of publications that involved time-oriented data, I will reflect on visual-interactive machine learning for time-oriented data in two parts.

First, I will talk about exploratory search, a concept that combines two complementary analysis tasks with the goal to create increased analytical benefit in the knowledge generation process. I will emphasize three aspects that allow the combination of VA and ML: (i) preprocessing, (ii) clustering and dimensionality reduction, and (iii) seeking relations between data content and metadata.

Second, I want to share research results for the segmentation and labeling of time-oriented data. Segmentation is the principle to divide complex (time-oriented) data into yet more meaningful units, while labeling refers to the principle to create meaning to data, e.g., to segments. Again, combinations of VA and ML techniques have proven to be beneficial to achieve useful solutions.

Speaker’s Bio

Jürgen Bernard is Post-doc at the department of Computer Science, TU Darmstadt, Germany. He is leading the Visual-Interactive Machine Learning research group in the Interactive Graphics Systems Group (GRIS). He was with Fraunhofer IGD when he received is PhD degree in 2015, entitled “ Exploratory Search in Time-Oriented Primary Data”.

In 2016, his work was awarded with the Hugo-Geiger Prize for excellent PhD theses. His research is in information visualization, visual analytics, machine learning, and user-centered design and addresses a broad range of application fields with an emphasis on medical health care and data-driven human-centered health. In 2017, J. Bernard received the Dirk Bartz Prize for Visual Computing in Medicine from the Eurographics Association (EG).

His data-centered focus is on multivariate data, multimodal data, and time-oriented data. Many of his visual-interactive solutions combine techniques from cluster analysis, dimensionality reduction, similarity search, active learning, or other approaches related to information retrieval, data mining, and machine learning.

His publication list contains over 60 entries, more than half authored by J. Bernard in the leading position. His publication list includes more than ten journal publications, over 30 conference publications (and conference participations), overall with almost ten award-bringing entries.

URL: http://www.gris.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/~jubernar/

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202 

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

Jan 22nd, 9am
University of Konstanz

Workshop | Data Provenance and Annotation in Computational Linguistics 

Co-located with the Treebanks and Linguistic Theory (TLT) conference 2018 in Prague
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
January 23-24, 2018

Call for posters!

Deadline for submission: December 22 nd, 2017
Notification of acceptance: December 31 st, 2017

Further information about the call for posters on https://typo.uni-konstanz.de/dataprovenance/index.php/call-for-posters/

Invited Speakers

Adriane Boyd, Universität Tübingen
Peter Buneman, University of Edinburgh
Nicoletta Calzolari, Italian National Research Council
Sarah Cohen Boulakia, Université Paris Sud

The workshop seeks to bring together researchers from the fields of provenance, data annotation, and data curation with researchers working within computational linguistics and dealing with the annotation of language data. Provenance is concerned with understanding how to model, record, and share metadata about the origin of data and the further sharing or processing that data has undergone. While provenance has been studied in various domains (e.g., for business applications or in the life sciences), many of the central issues are also of vital interest for computational linguistics.

For example, issues of "data cleaning“ and data curation both have serious repercussions for the reproducibility of analyses or experiments. In general, computational linguistic work with data tends to involve several pre-processing steps (stop-lists, data normalization, filtering out of information that is considered to be not at-issue or error correction). However, these steps are seldom documented or described in detail. Data sets may also undergo several rounds of pre-processing, with information about the successive changes again not well documented. Data may also be automatically or semi-automatically generated. In computational linguistics this often takes the form of automatic or semi-automatic data annotation. This, as well as manual annotation, is prone to errors and inter-annotator disagreement, leading to rounds of adjucation or correction. This work with data is also generally not documented (in detail) so that annotation decisions may be hard to „undo“. Finally, once a data set is released, newer versions will inevitably also have to be released to deal with data expansion or correction. In this case, proper versioning and data curation is vital to ensure experimental and analytical reproducability.

While computational linguists deal with these issues on a daily basis, there is little awareness of established methodology and best practices coming from the field of data provenance. The aim of this workshop is to begin a dialog. On the one hand, we aim to create awareness of the needs and challenges posed by linguistic data in the data provenance community. On the other hand, we aim to import an understanding of the experiences and best practices established with respect to data provenance into the computational linguistics community.

Organising committee

Miriam Butt, University of Konstanz
Melanie Herschel, University of Stuttgart
Christin Schätzle, University of Konstanz

For more information about the workshop, follow this link: https://typo.uni-konstanz.de/dataprovenance/

2015 – 2017

December 18th, 2017, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Perceptual Display: Towards Reducing Gaps Between Real World and Displayed Scenes

Held by:

Karol Myszkowski, Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik, Department 4: Computer Graphic

Talk Abstract

In this talk we refer to selected properties of human visual perception, which can be employed to apparent improvement of displayed image quality. First, we demonstrate how to display image details beyond physical resolution of display devices and we investigate the impact of image framerate on the perception of hold-type blur and judder. Second, we demonstrate how to reduce viewing discomfort on stereoscopic and multiscopic displays by exploiting complex interactions between monoscopic depth cues, such as motion parallax and binocular vision. Then, we discuss gaze-driven depth manipulation to enhance perceived scene depth, and we present our predictor for saccade landing position, which significantly reduces latency in foveated rendering applications. Finally, we discuss the role of eye lens accommodation and we present a prototype stereoscopic display that can reproduce this important viewing cue.

Speaker’s Bio

Karol Myszkowski is a senior researcher at the MPI Informatik, Saarbruecken, Germany. In the period from 1993 till 2000 he served as an associate professor in the Department of Computer Software at the University of Aizu, Japan. In the period from 1986 till 1992 he worked for Integra, Inc. a Japan-based, company specialized in developing rendering and global illumination software. He received his PhD (1991) and habilitation (2001) degrees in computer science from Warsaw University of Technology (Poland). In 2011 he was awarded with a lifetime professor title by the President of Poland. His research interests include global illumination and rendering, perception issues in graphics, high dynamic range imaging, and stereo 3D. He co-authored the book High Dynamic Range Imaging, and participated in various committees and editorial boards. He also co-chaired Rendering Symposium in 2001, ACM Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization in 2008, Spring Conference on Computer Graphics 2008, and Graphicon 2012.

More information on https://people.mpi-inf.mpg.de/~karol/

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

December 11th, 2017, 4 pm
University of Stuttgart

Lecture | Extending Touchscreen Interaction

Held by:

Ashley Colley, Lapin Yliopisto University of Lapland

Talk Abstract

Touchscreens have become a de facto interface for mobile devices, and are penetrating further beyond their core application domain of smartphones. The presentation discusses the design space for extending touchscreen interaction, including e.g. enhancements in the domains of manual input, visual output and haptic feedback. 

Speaker’s Bio

Please see https://lacris.ulapland.fi/en/persons/ashley-colley(c2f1f926-bd32-4c4e-8622-a4dcabc5acfc).html)

Location

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202 (Live Transmission)

December 4th, 2017, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Image quality assessment based on visual perception

Held by:

Vinit Jakhetiya, Bennett University, Greater Noida, India

Talk Abstract

The application and use of multimedia signals such as image, video, and sound have increased immensely in daily-life. These visual signals are contaminated with several varieties of distortions during the acquisition, compression, transmission and/or display of the signal on screens. The human vision is the ultimate receiver of these multimedia signals. Consequently, visual perception based image quality assessment (IQA) and just noticeable difference (JND) have become important as they can predict the signal quality and highlight the regions of importance which are compatible with human vision. With this view, we will discuss the modelling of human vision based on how it perceives information from visual signals. Our goal is to discuss the properties of human vision with the statistical properties of visual signals for efficient quality assessment of these signals and JND estimation. We will discuss mainly four algorithms 1) a new JND estimation algorithm for images using RMS contrast and feed-back mechanism, 2) the first no-reference IQA algorithm for 3D synthesized images using local descriptors, 3) a reduced-reference IQA algorithms for screen content images based upon the prediction, and 4) an application of perceptual IQA metrics in forming a generic image reconstruction algorithm which can be applied to several image/video processing applications.

Speaker’s Bio

Vinit Jakhetiya works as an assistant professor in Bennett University, India. His research interests are image and video processing, perceptually motivated image reconstruction, image quality assessment, image and video coding, and visual perception.

Previously, he was working as a senior engineer (R & D) in the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), where his topic of research was image processing and 3D reconstruction. Before that, he was working as a project officer in the School of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University ( NTU), Singapore. He was working with Prof. Weisi Lin and his research areas were visual perception, application of visual perception for image processing and medical imaging. From 2011-2016, he was working as the PhD candidate in the Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technolgy (HKUST), Hong Kong. He was a member of the Multimedia Technology Research Center (MTREC) of HKUST, under supervision of Prof. Oscar C. Au and Prof. Matthew Mckay. He did his undergraduate studies from The LNM Institute of Information and Technology (LNMIIT), Jaipur, India. During his stay at LNMIIT, he worked under the guidance of Prof. Anil Kumar Tiwari (Currently working with the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, Rajasthan) for a period of two and half years.

More information on https://sites.google.com/view/vinitjakhetiya/home

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

November 23rd, 2017, 11.45 am
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Argument Technology in the Wild 

Held by:

Katarzyna Budzynska & Chris Reed, University of Dundee,  Scotland

Talk Abstract

The Centre for Argument Technology has a twenty-year track record in developing foundational theory in philosophy and linguistics that is then operationalised to take the transformative step to deployed technology. The most recent example of such application was a pilot project with the BBC that led, amongst other things, to live deployment of large-scale argument analytics in conjunction with BBC programming and offered profile-raising amongst an audience of millions. This talk tells the story of this large-scale public deployment, describing theoretical foundations provided by Inference Anchoring Theory, practical organisation and choreography of time-critical, close annotation across five timezones, and then technology engineering and BBC deployment of analytics, of learning resources and of unique interactive applications. Finally, the talk reflects on a range of insights that the intensity and scale of the collaboration offers for any project seeking high-impact outcomes.

Finally, as an application domain, we studied how bundling can be used as an efficient visualization technique for societal health challenges. In the context of a national study on Alzheimer disease, we focused our research on the analysis of the mental representation of geographical space for elderly people. We show that using bundling to compare the cognitive maps of dement and non-dement subjects helped neuro-psychologist to formulate new hypotheses on the evolution of Alzheimer disease. These new hypotheses led us to discover a potential marker of the disease years before the actual diagnosis.

Speaker's Bio

Chris Reed and Katarzyna Budzynska are part of  the VW-Stiftung project "Augmented Deliberative Democracy (ADD-up): Computational Enhancement of Large-scale Public Arbitrations in Real Time", represented in Konstanz by Annette Haulti-Janisz from the Department of Linguistics and will also be cooperating with the new DFG project on "Visual Analytics and Linguistic Analysis of the Interpretation of Deliberative Argumentation" (together with Daniel Keim and Katharina Holzinger).

Katarzyna Budzynska is an associate professor (senior lecturer) in the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), and a lecturer & Dundee fellow at Computing at the University of Dundee (UK). She is also a member of the Centre for Argument Technology (ARG-tech). Her research interests concentrate on the formal analysis of communicative processes of argumentation, dialogue and persuasion. The interdisciplinary approach links together the elements of logic, philosophy of language, rhetoric, linguistics, cognitive science, social psychology, artificial intelligence and computer science. Her projects have attracted over £680k of funding from government and commercial sources and has authored and co-authored 2 books and 70 peer-reviewed papers.

Chris Reed is Professor of Computer Science and Philosophy at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where he heads the Centre for Argument Technology (arg-tech.org). Chris has been working at the overlap between argumentation theory and artificial intelligence for two decades and specialises in the theory, practice and commercialisation of argument technology. He has won over £5.6m of funding from government, charity and commercial sources, has over 140 peer-reviewed papers in the area including five books, and has served as a director of several technology companies. He has also been instrumental in the development of the Argument Interchange Format, an international standard for computational work in the area; he is spear-heading the major engineering effort behind the Argument Web; and he is a founding editor of the Journal of Argument & Computation.

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

November 23rd, 2017, 2.30 pm
University of Stuttgart

Aya Jaff: Wie hat man als Frau Erfolg in der Informatik?

Um dieser Frage nachzugehen, hat der SFB-TRR 161 und das Service Gender Consulting Aya Jaff an die Universität Stuttgart eingeladen.

Aya Jaff wurde von der ZEIT als „Mrs. Code“ bezeichnet und gilt aktuell als bekannteste Programmiererin Deutschlands. Sie arbeitet aktuell als Head of Communications am Gründerzentrum Zollhof in Nürnberg.

Der Vortrag findet am 23.11. um 14:30 Uhr im SimTech-Gebäude (Pfaffenwaldring 5a, Raum 00.015) statt.

Wir laden alle interessierten Studentinnen und Studenten zum Vortrag und Diskussion mit Aya Jaff ein.

Die Veranstaltung ist eine Kooperation des SFB-TRR 161 und des Service Gender Consulting der Universität Stuttgart.

November 22nd, 2017, 3.30 pm
University of Konstanz

Zwei beispielhafte Karrieren von erfolgreichen Frauen in technischen Berufen: Von sprachgesteuerten Autos und Unternehmertum im Silicon Valley

ReferentIn: Aya Jaff, Anja Ziemer

Wie hat man als Frau Erfolg in der Informatik?

Aya Jaff (Head of Communications, Gründerzentrum Zollhof, Nürnberg) gibt eine Keynote zu ihren Erfahrungen als Programmiererin, über hilfreiche Stipendien und Förderungen und berichtet über ihre Erfahrungen in Silicon Valley und China. Aya Jaff programmiert seit ihrer Kindheit, gründete in ihrer Schulzeit Programmierclubs und studierte zunächst Wirtschaftsinformatik und zur Zeit Sinologie und Ökonomie an der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Erlangen-Nürnberg. Durch ihr Interesse an Technologie, Unternehmertum, Jugend- und Frauenförderung ist sie eine gut gebuchte Rednerin auf technischen Konferenzen wie z.B. den code.talks.

Wo treffen sich Sprachwissenschaften und Informatik?

In ihrem Vortrag wird Anja Ziemer  (Principal Sales Engineer, Nuance Communications, Aachen) ihre persönlichen Erfahrungen teilen, die sie in der Schule, dem Studium und dem Beruf in den letzten Jahren sammeln konnte, mit wertvollen Tipps dazu, wie man oder frau sich durchsetzen kann um die Karriere anzustreben, die man möchte. Zudem soll ein Überblick über Spracherkennung und Künstliche Intelligenz in der Industrie gegeben werden – insbesondere zur Zukunft der intelligenten Autos, die schon bald auf unseren Straßen unterwegs sein werden. Hier gibt es eine Demo, in der die Systeme in Aktion erlebt werden können.

Alle, die an dem Thema interessiert sind, zum Vortrag und Diskussion mit Aya Jaff und Anja Ziemer ein.

Die Veranstaltung ist eine Kooperation des SFB-TRR 161 und des Referat für Gleichstellung, Familienförderung und Diversity der Universität Konstanz.

November 20th, 2017, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Geometric Algorithms for Complex Moving Objects 

Held by:

Bettina Speckmann, TU Eindhoven, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

Talk Abstract

Over the past years the availability of devices that can be used to track moving objects has increased dramatically, leading to an explosive growth in movement data. Objects being tracked range from animals and cars, to hurricanes, sports players, and suspected terrorists. The study of (geometric) algorithms for the analysis and visualization of movement data is hence a rapidly expanding research area at the intersection of computational geometry and graph drawing, geographic information science, automated cartography, and information visualization. In this talk we will go beyond the basic setting of moving point objects and describe algorithms for groups of moving objects and for moving geometric networks (river networks as defined by elevation data of river beds).

Speaker’s Bio

Bettina Speckmann is a professor at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science of TU Eindhoven (the Netherlands) where she leads the "Applied Geometric Algorithms" group. She received her PhD from the University of British Columbia (Canada) in 2001. Afterwards she spent two years as a postdoc at the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science of ETH Zurich (Switzerland) before joining TU Eindhoven in 2003. Bettina was a member of both the Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Global Young Academy. In 2011 she won the first Netherlands Prize for ICT Research. Her research interests include the design and analysis of algorithms and data structures, discrete and computational geometry, and applications of computational geometry to geographic information systems, moving object analysis, visualization, and eHumanities.

More information on http://www.win.tue.nl/~speckman/

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

November 15th, 2017, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Shareable Dynamic Media: A revisit of the fundamentals of interactive computing?

Held by:

Clemens Nylandsted Klokmose, University of Aarhus (Denmark)

+++ This talk is part of the Webstrates Workshop +++

Talk Abstract

Developing interactive systems that support collaboration between people, distribution across heterogeneous devices and user appropriation is notoriously difficult. Today’s software rests on a foundation built for personal computing, and to properly support the aforementioned qualities we need to revisit this foundation. In this talk, I will present you with a vision called Shareable Dynamic Media, inspired by Alan Kay’s seminal vision of Personal Dynamic Media. I will present a prototype implementation of the vision called Webstrates, and demonstrate how it enables the development of software where distribution across devices, collaboration between people, and malleability and reprogrammability are the norm rather than the exception. I will show our latest project, Codestrates, that combines Webstrates with the literate computing approach of interactive notebooks.

Speaker’s Bio

Clemens Nylandsted Klokmose is an associate professor in the development of advanced interactive systems at the Department of Digital Design and Information Studies, at the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. He co-directs the Digital Creativity Lab that is part of the Center for Advanced Visualisation and Interaction (CAVI). Clemens has worked as a postdoc at Computer Science, Aarhus University and at Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique, Université Paris-Sud. He has furthermore spent a year as a user interface specialist in the industry. Clemens received his PhD in Computer Science in 2009 from Aarhus University supervised by prof. Susanne Bødker.

Clemens’ main interest is the fundamentals of interactive computing, particularly to support and understanding computing with multiple devices and multiple people. Many of his ideas are crystallised into the Webstrates platform (webstrates.net), which he leads the development of.

More information on http://www.klokmose.net/clemens

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

November 15th, 2017, 9.30 am
University of Konstanz

Workshop | Webstrates Workshop

with Clemens Nylandsted Klokmose & Roman Rädle, Aarhus University, DK, and HCI Group Konstanz

Organized by the SFB-TRR 161, HCI Group Konstanz, Project C01

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

09:30   -  Welcome
10:00  -  Session 1: Technical Introduction (Webstrates and Codestrates)
   -  Lunch -
13:30  -  Session 2: Hands-on with the technology
15:30  -  Break & Time for Talk Preparation
16:00  -  Invited Talk (SFB-TRR 161 Lecture Series) - “Shareable Dynamic Media: A revisit of the fundamentals of interactive computing”

  
Thursday, November 16, 2017

10:00   -  Session 3: Group sessions - How to use Webstrates in your own research? Prototypes? Experiments?
   -  Lunch -
Afternoon   -  Session 4: Discussion - Opportunities for collaboration

 

Please note: Please bring your own laptop and be ready for programming.

Registration via email: Johannes.Zagermann@uni-konstanz.de

November 6th, 2017, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | What is the interaction in human-computer interaction?

Held by:

Kasper Hornbæk, University of Copenhagen

Talk Abstract

The term interaction is field-defining, yet surprisingly confused. I will talk about different concepts of interaction in human-computer interaction, and how these concepts are associated with different scopes, different notions of goodness, and ways of construing the causal relationships between the human and the computer. Moreover, I will talk about empirical findings concerning interaction and what they show about the open questions about interaction science.

Speaker’s Bio

Kasper Hornbæk received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in  Computer Science from the  University of Copenhagen, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. Since 2009 he has been a professor with special duties in Human-centered Computing at University of Copenhagen. His core research interests are human-computer interaction, usability research, and information visualization; detours include eye tracking, cultural usability, and reality-based interfaces. Kasper serves on the editorial board of ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. He has published at CHI, UIST, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, and Human-Computer Interaction, and won IJHCS’s most cited paper award 2006-2008.

More information on http://www.kasperhornbaek.dk

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

October 23rd, 2017, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Lecture | Visualization as a Process

Held by:

Uta Hinrichs, School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews

Talk Abstract

Over the years, building visualizations has become a process that a wide variety of people engage in independent of their background. People build sophisticated visualizations of their personal data, and it is hard to imagine any discipline that does not use any types of visualization as part of their practice or research. In parallel, a variety of visualization tools have come out that target a large variety of audiences outside of the sciences and traditional data analysis domains (e.g., children, "everyday people", and researchers in the humanities).

This raises questions around the roles that visualization tools play as part of the visualization creation process. What is important to consider when building visualization tools for non-expert audiences? How do certain approaches enforced by visualization tools influence people’s (thinking) processes? And what is the role of visualization in these new usage contexts?

In this talk, I will examine visualization as a (creative, sometimes speculative) thinking process, rather than a means to an end. I will illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of different visualization tool paradigms on the visualization creation process and outline how an emphasis on “ process” may open up new ways of discussing the role of visualization across disciplines and contexts.

Speaker’s Bio

Uta Hinrichs a Lecturer at the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, specializing in Information Visualization and Human Computer Interaction (HCI). She received her PhD in Computer Science with specialization in Computational Media Design from the University of Calgary, Canada. Heavily drawing form fields outside of Computer Science (e.g., Design, Literary Studies, and Information Sciences), Uta’s research is driven by the question of how to facilitate insightful, pleasurable and critical interactions with information in physical and digital spaces, both as part of professional activities and everyday life. She explores this question through the design of visualizations and visual interfaces and through the study of their use in-situ. As a visualization researcher Uta has been involved in number of collaborations with artists, historians, and literary scholars which have fueled her interest in the role of visualization as part of humanities research and practice. Her research has been presented and published at academic venues spanning the fields of Visualization, HCI, Literary Studies, and Digital Humanities, as well as, museums, libraries, and art galleries.

More information on http://www.utahinrichs.de

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

October 18th - November 22nd, 2017
University of Konstanz

Programmierkurs für Schülerinnen | Computergrafik mit Processing

Im Herbst bietet der SFB-TRR 161 in Konstanz folgenden Programmierkurs für interessierte Schülerinnen ab Klasse 10 an:

Computergrafik mit Processing

Mit wem?
Thomas Ningelgen

Wann?
4 x Mittwoch nachmittags, 18.10 / 25.10. / 8.11. / 15.11.2017 - jeweils 15.40 Uhr bis 17.15 Uhr
sowie eine Exkursion an die Universität Konstanz am 22.11.2017 - 15.40 Uhr, bei der wir
„Mrs. Code“ treffen - Aya Jaff, die bekannteste Programmiererin Deutschlands

Wo?
Universität Konstanz, Gebäude Z, Raum Z613

Was?
In diesem Kurs lernt ihr “Processing” kennen – einen einfach zu bedienenden Editor, mit dem ihr schnell wunderschöne Grafiken, Computeranimationen und interaktive kleine Spiele programmieren könnt.
Processing wurde am MIT entwickelt und wird von vielen Künstlern und Mediengestaltern verwendet. Es basiert auf der Programmiersprache Java, die auch die Grundlage unseres Kurses ist. Anstelle aber irgendwelche langweiligen Beispiele zu programmieren, werdet ihr die Programmierung anhand von Computergrafik lernen, was wesentlich mehr Spaß macht. Dennoch gibt es auch genug zu knobeln.

Der Kurs ist eine Einführung in die Programmierung. Vorkenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich.

Die Teilnahme ist kostenfrei.

Anmeldung über Claudia Widmann (E-Mail: Claudia.Widmann@uni-konstanz.de. Telefon: 07531 88-3021)

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

October 12th, 2017, 2 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk| Bundling: A clutter reduction technique and its application to Alzheimer study

Held by:

Antoine Lhuillier, Université Paul Sabatier 

Talk Abstract

Dense and complex data visualizations suffer from occluded items which hinders insight retrieval. This is especially the case very large graph or trails set. To address cluttering issues, several techniques propose to visually simplify the representation, often meeting scalability and computational speed limits. Among them, bundling techniques provide a visual simplification of node-link diagrams by spatially grouping similar items. This presentation strives to bridge the gap between the technical complexity of bundling techniques and the end-point user.

The first aim of this thesis was to improve the understanding of graph and trail bundling techniques as a clutter reduction method for node-link diagrams of large data-set. To do so, we created a data-based taxonomy that organizes bundling methods on the type of data they work on. From this thorough review and based on a formal definition of path bundling, we propose a unified framework that describes the typical steps of bundling algorithms in terms of high-level operations and show how existing methods classes implement these steps. In addition, we propose a description of tasks that bundling aims to address and demonstrate them through a wide set of applications.

Although many techniques exist, handling large data-sets and selectively bundling paths based on attributes is still a challenge. To answer the scalability and computational speed issues of bundling techniques, we propose a new technique which improves both. For this, we shift the bundling process from the image to the spectral space thereby increasing computational limits. We address the later by proposing a streaming scheme allowing bundling of extremely large data-sets.

Finally, as an application domain, we studied how bundling can be used as an efficient visualization technique for societal health challenges. In the context of a national study on Alzheimer disease, we focused our research on the analysis of the mental representation of geographical space for elderly people. We show that using bundling to compare the cognitive maps of dement and non-dement subjects helped neuro-psychologist to formulate new hypotheses on the evolution of Alzheimer disease. These new hypotheses led us to discover a potential marker of the disease years before the actual diagnosis.

October 1st, 2017, 10 am

Workshop | IEEE VIS 2017  | Career Plans for Women

organized by Alexandra Diehl

September 27-29, 2017
Tagungshotel Blaubeuren

 SFB-TRR 161 | Status Seminar

September 29th, 2017, 4 pm
University of Konstanz

Kinder-Uni | "Wie bringt man Computern das Sehen bei?"

Bastian Goldlücke und seine Arbeitsgruppe versuchen Computern beizubringen, Bilder zu verstehen. Ein Computer ist nämlich leider nicht besonders schlau: Alles muss ihm haarklein erklärt werden, sonst tut er überhaupt nichts. Wollen wir zum Beispiel, dass Roboter uns das Zimmer aufräumen oder Autos einmal von ganz alleine fahren, dann müssen sie sehen und verstehen, was um sie herum passiert.

Zunächst scheint es vielleicht, das sei nicht besonders schwierig, weil wir als Menschen so überhaupt keine Mühe mit dem Sehen haben. Schon kleine Kinder können auf alle Tiere in einem Bild zeigen und laufen auch normalerweise nicht mehr gegen Wände. Aber wie machen wir Menschen das eigentlich? Könntet Ihr jemand anderem erklären, wie wir Dinge erkennen und woher wir wissen, wie weit sie weg sind?

In dieser Vorlesung werden wir einmal darüber nachdenken. Unter anderem werden wir untersuchen, wie ein Computer lernen kann, was eine Katze ist, indem er sich eine Woche lang Filme im Internet anschaut.

September 9th, 2017, 10 am
University of Konstanz

Talk | Interactive Sports Analytics: Going Beyond Spreadsheets

Held by:

Patrick Lucey, STATS, Chicago, USA

Talk Abstract

Imagine watching a sports game live and having the ability to find all plays which are similar to what just happened immediately. Better still, imagine having the ability to draw a play with the x’s and o’s on an interface, like a coach draws up on a chalkboard and finding all the plays like that instantaneously and conduct analytics on those plays (i.e., when those plays occur, how many points a team expects from that play). Additionally, imagine having the ability to evaluate the performance of a player in a given situation and compare it against another player in exactly the same position. We call this approach “Interactive Sports Analytics” and in this talk, I will describe methods to find play similarity using multi-agent trajectory data, as well as predicting fine-grain plays. I will show examples using STATS SportVU data in basketball and football and Hawk-Eye in tennis. 

Speaker’s Bio

Patrick Lucey currently is the Director of Data Science at STATS, where his goal is to maximize the value of the 35 years worth of sports data that they have. Previously, he was at Disney Research for 5 years, where he conducted research into automatic sports broadcasting using large amounts of spatiotemporal tracking data. Previous to that, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University/Department of Psychology at University of Pittsburgh conducting research on automatic facial expression recognition. He received his BEng(EE) from USQ and his PhD from QUT, Australia in 2003 and 2008 respectively. He was a co-author of the best paper at the 2016 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and in 2017 was co-author of best-paper runner-up at the same conference. Additionally, he has won best paper awards at INTERSPEECH (2007) and WACV (2014) international conferences. His main research interests are in artificial intelligence and interactive machine learning in sporting domains.

This talk is organized in the context of the 11. International Symposium Computer Science and Sport. For TRR members there is no need to register for the Symposium in order to attend the talk.

This talk cannot be transmitted to the powerwall room at VISUS in Stuttgart.

September 8th, 2017, 2 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | Virtual reality technology as a tool for sports science

Held by:

Betty Mohler, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen

Talk Abstract

Technologies associated with virtual reality, i.e. sensory display technology, motion capture, eye-tracking and computer vision techniques for abstracting information from the world have proven to be useful for training, assessing and evaluating sports performance. In the past five years, virtual reality has gone from being costly and under development (typically greater than 10K Euro) to mostly commodity prices. In this talk I will present some of the most exciting research findings in sports science that have used virtual reality technology, some examples of how virtual reality can control stimuli such as to better understand human motor control (i.e. Streuber et al. 2012 and von Lassberg et al. ) and a future vision that virtual reality technology can help in several areas of sports sciences, i.e. health across the lifespan; sports training; and sports evaluation. 

Speaker’s Bio

Betty Mohler currently is a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany. Her research focuses on using and improving virtual reality technology by scientifically exploring human perception and action. Specifically, she investigates the impact that the visual body has on subsequent actions. She has investigated human adaptation of complex task performance, human perception of self-motion and human perception of space. Her research group, Perception & Action in Virtual Environments (PAVE), explores the perception of self, the influence of the visual body on actions and learning in virtual environments. They conduct their research by animating and manipulating virtual human characters (avatars). Using avatars they systematically explore the influence of visual information about the body (size, shape, identity) on human behavior, such as space perception, object interaction, communication and decision making. Additionally, they are also collaborating with a university hospital to develop applications, such as medical training simulations and virtual reality rehabilitation.

This talk is organized in the context of the  11. International Symposium Computer Science and Sport. For TRR members there is no need to register for the Symposium in order to attend the talk.

This talk cannot be transmitted to the powerwall room at VISUS in Stuttgart.

September 4-8th, 2017
University of Stuttgart

Programmierkurs für Schülerinnen | Digitale Bilder generieren

In den Sommerferien bietet der SFB-TRR 161 in Stuttgart einen Programmierkurs für Schülerinnen der Oberstufe an:

Digitale Bilder generieren
Computergrafik programmieren – das kannst du auch!
Mit Rebecca Kehlbeck

4. bis 8.9.2017 (Ende der Sommerferien)
jeweils 10 bis 16 Uhr

Universität Stuttgart, Campus Vaihingen, Universitätsstr. 38, 70569 Stuttgart

Du möchtest lernen, wie man schöne Bilder, Computeranimationen oder interaktive Spiele auf dem Bildschirm entstehen lässt – und das mit reiner Programmierung am Computer?

Bei uns lernst du, wie das mit „Processing“ geht, einer einfachen Programmiersprache, die auch von Künstlern und Mediengestaltern genutzt wird. Dabei wollen wir dir zeigen, dass Programmieren Spaß macht, nicht schwierig sein muss und man schnell beeindruckende Ergebnisse erzielen kann.

Der Kurs ist eine Einführung für Schülerinnen der Oberstufe. Vorkenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich.

Die Teilnahme ist kostenfrei.

Hast du Lust, dabei zu sein?
Dann melde dich an bei Marcel Hlawatsch (marcel.hlawatsch@visus.uni-stuttgart.de, 0711 685 88-608)

Wir freuen uns auf dich! 

September 4-6th, 2017
Waldhotel Zollernblick (Freudenstadt)

SFB-TRR 161 Doctoral Retreat

August 31st, 2017, 10 am
University of Konstanz

Talk | Adapative Visual Computing

Held by:

Eduard Gröller, Institute of Computer Graphics and Algorithms (ICGA), TU Wien

Talk Abstract

Visual computing uses computer‐supported, interactive, visual representations of (abstract) data to amplify cognition. In recent years data complexity concerning volume, veracity, velocity, and variety has increased considerably. Several adaptive visual computing approaches are discussed in detail. Data‐sensitive navigation for user‐interface elements is presented. The approach normalizes user input according to visual change, and also visually communicates this normalization. In this way, output‐sensitive interactions can be realized. Quantitative and reproducible linking & brushing as integral part of visual analytics is approached through structured brushing, percentile brushes, linked statistics, and change visualization. Multiscale models, e.g., from structural biology, require multiscale dynamic color mapping with sometimes overlapping or contradicting colors. We present a technique, which adaptively, based on the current scale level, nonlinearly and seamlessly adjusts the color scheme to depict or distinguish the currently best visible structural information. Adaptive visual computing is addressing the amplified data complexity through increased scalability. Research challenges and directions are sketched at the end of the talk.

Speaker’s Bio

Eduard Gröller is professor at the Institute of Computer Graphics and Algorithms (ICGA), TU Wien, Austria, and adjunct professor of Computer Science at the University of Bergen, Norway. His research interests include computer graphics, visualization, and visual computing. He is heading the visualization group at ICGA. The group performs basic and applied research in all areas of visualization He is a scientific proponent and key researcher of the VRVis research center (http://www.vrvis.at/). The center performs applied research in visualization, rendering, and visual analysis. Dr. Gröller has been chief editor of the Journal Computer Graphics Forum (http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cgf) in the period 2008‐2011. He became a fellow of the Eurographics association in 2009. He is the recipient of the Eurographics 2015 Outstanding Technical Contributions Award.

More information on http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/staff/EduardGroeller.html 

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall room C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 Live Transmission)

July 25-27th, 2017
University of Konstanz

Lexical-Functional Grammar Conference 2017

The  22nd International Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) Conference takes place in Konstanz from 25th to 28th of July and will be organized by members of the SFB-TRR 161, Miriam Butt and Christin Schätzle (inter alia).

More infos on https://typo.uni-konstanz.de/lfg2017

July 24-25th, 2017
University of Konstanz

Workshop | Uncertainty Visualization: From Uncertain Data to Uncertainty Theory

Organized by the SFB-TRR 161

Oliver Deussen, Universität Konstanz
Daniel Weiskopf, Universität Stuttgart
Rüdiger Westermann, TU München

Many data sources are subject to inaccuracies, missing information, or other types of uncertainty. In this workshop, we want to discuss all aspects related to the visualization of such data, we want to understand different means for displaying different uncertain data types. Likewise, interaction with uncertainty visualization will be considered to address uncertainty-aware visual analytics. Is it possible to quantify the extent of perceived uncertainty transported by a visualization? What are mechanisms to specify uncertainty ranges from the user perspective? This workshop will address uncertainty in scientific visualization, information visualization, and visual analytics alike? We will also include the application perspective on uncertainty visualization.

Invited talk:

What is More Uncertain: Data, Visualization, or Insight?
Prof. Min Chen, University of Oxford

When one uses Shannon entropy to measure the uncertainty at different stages of a basic visualization process, the uncertainty typically decreases from the data alphabet, to the visualization alphabet, and further to the decision alphabet. Meanwhile, the transformation from data to visualization introduces new uncertainty (e.g., due to occlusion and omission), and that from visualization to decision introduces further uncertainty (e.g., due to perceptual errors). In this talk, the speaker will explore the paradox about the uncertainty in visualization, addressing fundamental questions such as "why may uncertain visualization be beneficial?" as well as practical questions such as "what would be the design principles for uncertainty visualization?

All SFB-TRR 161 scientists and associated researchers are invited to this workshop. We have seats for 15 participants.

This workshop is free for members of the SFB-TRR 161. For others the fee is 100 €.

July 20th, 2017, 10.30 am
University of Stuttgart

Talk | The Power of Alternate Representations

Held by:

Sheelagh Carpendale, University of Calgary 

Talk Abstract:

To visualize data one of the first steps is to develop a visual representation. This representation is a result of a mapping by which the data can be specified. Much has been said of about the power of these visual representations. Simon (1981) said that solving a problem is simply a matter of representing so as to make the solution transparent – implying that finding the right representation solves the problem. Card et al. (1998) said that interactive visual representations can amplify our cognition – can in effect make us smarter. In spite of this, the small box in the visualization creation pipeline that signifies the development of the visual representation remains one of the least unpacked. Through examples from my own work and others’, I will discuss the power and potential of alternate visual representations.

Speaker’s Bio

Sheelagh Carpendale is a Professor in Computer Science at the University of Calgary where she holds a Canada Research Chair in Information Visualization and NSERC/AITF/SMART Technologies Industrial Research Chair in Interactive Technologies. She has many received awards including the E.W.R. NSERC STEACIE Memorial Fellowship; a BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television Arts Interactive Awards - British equivalent to an Oscar); the industrially focused ASTech Innovations in Technology award; and the CHCCS Achievement Award, which is presented to a Canadian researcher who has made a substantial contribution to the fields of computer graphics, visualization, or human-computer interaction.

She has served in significant international roles such as Papers, Program, or Conference Chair for IEEE InfoVis, and ACM ISS (Interactive Surfaces and Spaces, formerly ITS) and has received both the IEEE and ACM recognition of service awards. She is currently on the IEEE Infovis Steering Committee and Chairs the ACM ISS Steering Committee. She leads the Innovations in Visualization (InnoVis) research group and initiated the interdisciplinary graduate program, Computational Media Design. Her research draws upon her combined backgrounds in computer science and visual arts, benefiting from the interdisciplinary cross-fertilization to enable the design of innovative, people-centred information technologies. By studying how people interact with information both in work and social practices, she works towards designing more natural, accessible and understandable interactive visual representations of data. She combines information visualization, visual analytics and human-computer interaction with innovative new interaction techniques to better support the everyday practices of people who are viewing, representing, and interacting with information.

Location

University of Stuttgart, Informatik-Building, Universitätsstr. 38, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room 38.01

July 16-19th, 2017
Quindao, China

Workshop | China-Germany Visualization Workshop

This event will be held on July 16th, at Qingdao, China. Its purpose is to inspire and initiate collaborations between China and Germany on visualization related topics. Therefore we carefully choose the free talks and round-table discussions as the main slots of the workshop. The workshop will be highlighted by two plenary talks from Prof. Jim Foley and Prof. Jean-Daniel Fekete.

Meanwhile, we sincerely invite every senior researcher to give a 10-min position talk andeach junior researcher to give a 5-min talk to speak about his/her recent research projects and provide more details in a poster. Should you present a poster, please send us your electronic poster document for printing no later than July 12th.

Workshop Program

July 1st, 2017, 1 pm
University of Stuttgart

Tag der Wissenschaft an der Universität Stuttgart

Am 1. Juli 2017 wird die Universität Stuttgart zum Tag der Wissenschaften einladen. Dabei wird der SFB-TRR 161 im Foyer des Visualisierungsinstitutes (VISUS) im Allmandring 19 in Stuttgart Vaihingen seine Arbeit präsentieren.

Weitere Infos finden Sie im
Programmheft zum Tag der Wissenschaften (Seiten 20/21) bzw. im
Programmheft für Kinder und Jugendliche (Seiten 12/13).

Wir freuen uns auf Sie!

June 22nd, 2017, 10.30 am
University of Konstanz

Talk | Visual Analytics: A Modern View of its Future and Research Opportunities 

Held by:

Prof. Georges Grinstein, UMass Center for Data Science, University of Rochester, MA, USA

Talk Abstract:

Big data comes in many forms: millions of variables, billions of records, large document, image, audio and video collections, real-time sensor feeds, and of course combinations of these.  Big data has many descriptive definitions including the classic three, four or five Vs (volume, velocity, variety, veracity, value). Add complexity in data and tasks, and we now have numerous implications for visual analytics one of which is that decisions need to be made rapidly, often in seconds or minutes (think trading on the stock market or air traffic sensor feeds). The human is now in trouble and we are not un-similar to primitive man with primitive tools.

Scientific Data Visualization, Information Visualization and Visual Analytics share the same pipeline aimed at data to human consumption: start with data, analyze that data, and produce visual representations on various interactive media and for diverse applications. There are some minor differences but all in all they’re quite similar.  All three have very analogous Grand Challenges (scalability, developing a theory, streaming visualizations, computing the best presentation, etc…).  I’ve spoken on such and other grand challenges in each of these areas over the last 30 years, identifying what wicked problems really need to be addressed and which key problems would have tremendous impact.

In this talk I will provide an alternative and expanded view. I’ll provide a very rapid overview of key issues with humans, interactive visualization and visual analytics, and highlight several points which need to be addressed (think research opportunities). I will present three related challenges I am currently working on as examples: ultra high dimensional interactive data visualization; visualization theory; and coupled interactive visualization and machine learning.

Speaker’s Bio

Georges Grinstein is a new member of the UMass Amherst Computer Science Department and Center for Data Science. Prior to his joining UMass he was Professor of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, head of its Bioinformatics Program and Director of its Institute for Visualization and Perception Research. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Rochester in 1978.

Well-known in the visualization community, Dr. Grinstein is a member of IEEE’s “ Visualization Pioneers Group”, routinely serves as Chair or Co-Chair for major visualization and visual-analytics related conferences and review panels, and provides tutorials and training sessions many times per year.  He has had over 300 research grants, products in use nationally and internationally, several patents, numerous publications in journals and conferences, co-authored several textbooks on visualization and visual analytics, founded several companies, directed the development of Weave, an open source web-based visualization system, and has served as a consultant to NIST, NASA, DARPA, USAF, PNNL, CDC, IBM, Pfizer, and Boehringer Ingelheim among many others and now with STRATCOM, Serono/Merck and Bristol Meyers Squibb. He has given numerous keynotes, and mentored over 40 doctoral students and hundreds of graduate students. He has been on the editorial boards of several journals in Computer Graphics and Data Mining, a member of ANSI and ISO, and a NATO Expert.

For the last ten years he has co-chaired the IEEE VAST Challenges in visual analytics focusing on critical research needs, been a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Center of Excellence CCICADA (Command, Control and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis) and is now centering his research activities on developing cognitively integrative visualizations and visual analytics systems.

URL: https://www.cics.umass.edu/faculty/directory/grinstein-georges

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

Unfortunately, transmitting talks to Tübingen is not possible yet.

June 19th, 2017, 2 pm
University of Stuttgart

Talk | Visual Analytics Methods for Spatiotemporal Analysis

Held by:

Prof. Ross Maciejewski, Arizona State University

Talk Abstract:

From smart phones to fitness trackers to sensor enabled buildings, data is currently being collected at an unprecedented rate. Now, more than ever, data exists that can be used to gain insight into how policy decisions can impact our daily lives. For example, one can imagine using data to help predict where crime may occur next or inform decisions on police resource allocations or diet and activity patterns could be used to provide recommendations for improving an individual's overall health and well-being. For spatial data, the translation of such data into a visual form allows users to quickly see patterns, explore summaries and relate domain knowledge about underlying geographical phenomena that would not be apparent in tabular form. However, several critical challenges arise when visualizing and exploring these large spatiotemporal datasets. While, the underlying geographical component of the data lends itself well to univariate visualization in the form of traditional cartographic representations (e.g., choropleth, isopleth, dasymetric maps), as the data becomes multivariate, cartographic representations become more complex. In this talk, I will discuss ongoing research in spatiotemporal visualization and analytics, describing examples from criminology, genealogy and demographics.

Speaker’s Bio

Ross Maciejewski is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University in the School of Computing, Informatics & Decision Systems Engineering. His primary research interests are in the areas of geographical visualization and visual analytics focusing on public health, dietary analysis, social media, criminal incident reports, and the food-energy-water nexus. He has served on the organizing committee for the IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology and the IEEE/VGTC EuroVis Conference. He is a recipient of an NSF CAREER Award (2014) and was recently named a Fulton Faculty Exemplar and Global Security Fellow at Arizona State.

URL: http://rmaciejewski.faculty.asu.edu/

Location

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202 (Live Transmission)

Unfortunately, transmitting talks to Tübingen is not possible yet.

June 12-13th, 2017
Barcelona, Spain

EuroVA Workshop

In conjunction with EuroVIS, Barcelona, Spain

May 29th, 2017, 3 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | The ABC of Data Science Down Under: On Analytics, Bees, and Cognition

Held by:

Dr. Ulrich Engelke, CSIRO, Hobart, Australia

Talk Abstract:

Studying and developing computational mechanisms based on or augmenting human-like information processing is at the heart of what we do in the Cognitive Informatics Team at the CSIRO, Australia. Through our work, we aim to improve existing processes in a wide range of domain sciences by tightly integrating human and computational performance. In this talk, I will give an overview of the CSIRO – the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – and some of the science we are doing. I will then go into more detail concerning our work in Cognitive Informatics and Data Visualization, and specifically focus on one project that aims to discover the causes of why our honey bees are dying globally.

Speaker’s Bio

Ulrich Engelke received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in Electrical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, in 2004. In 2010, he received the Ph.D. degree in Telecommunications from the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden. In 2011, he pursued a post-doc position at the University of Nantes, France. From 2011 to 2013 he was with the Visual Experiences Group at Philips Research, The Netherlands, and with Philips Color Kinetics, USA, working with perception in lighting applications.
Currently, Ulrich is a Senior Research Scientist in Cognitive Informatics and leader of the ‘ VizzzBees – Visual Analytics of Honey Bee Behaviour’ project at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Hobart, Australia. The VizzzBees project aims to develop a scientific framework and software platform for visual analytics of honey bee data collected in the Global Initiative for Honey Bee Health (GIHH).
Ulrich is editorial board member for ELSEVIER Signal Processing: Image Communication and is on the technical programme committee of several international conferences. He is the co-founder and general co-chair of the 1st IEEE International Symposium on Big Data Visual Analytics (BDVA). He is a co-chair of the Psychophysiology-based Quality Assessment (PsyPhyQA) project of the Video Quality Experts Group.
Ulrich is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2015 OCE Julius Career Award, 2014 CSIRO Excellence in Research Ethics Award as a member of the Cognitive Engineering team, and 2006 Graduate School of Telecommunications (GST) PhD scholarship awarded through the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.
Ulrich's research interests lie within visual data analytics, perception driven signal processing, and user experience. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.

URL: http://people.csiro.au/E/U/Ulrich-Engelke

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

Unfortunately, transmitting talks to Tübingen is not possible yet.

May 29th, 2017, 3 pm
University of Konstanz

Talk | The ABC of Data Science Down Under: On Analytics, Bees, and Cognition

Held by:

Dr. Ulrich Engelke, CSIRO, Hobart, Australia

Talk Abstract:

Studying and developing computational mechanisms based on or augmenting human-like information processing is at the heart of what we do in the Cognitive Informatics Team at the CSIRO, Australia. Through our work, we aim to improve existing processes in a wide range of domain sciences by tightly integrating human and computational performance. In this talk, I will give an overview of the CSIRO – the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – and some of the science we are doing. I will then go into more detail concerning our work in Cognitive Informatics and Data Visualization, and specifically focus on one project that aims to discover the causes of why our honey bees are dying globally.

Speaker’s Bio

Ulrich Engelke received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in Electrical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, in 2004. In 2010, he received the Ph.D. degree in Telecommunications from the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden. In 2011, he pursued a post-doc position at the University of Nantes, France. From 2011 to 2013 he was with the Visual Experiences Group at Philips Research, The Netherlands, and with Philips Color Kinetics, USA, working with perception in lighting applications.
Currently, Ulrich is a Senior Research Scientist in Cognitive Informatics and leader of the ‘ VizzzBees – Visual Analytics of Honey Bee Behaviour’ project at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Hobart, Australia. The VizzzBees project aims to develop a scientific framework and software platform for visual analytics of honey bee data collected in the Global Initiative for Honey Bee Health (GIHH).
Ulrich is editorial board member for ELSEVIER Signal Processing: Image Communication and is on the technical programme committee of several international conferences. He is the co-founder and general co-chair of the 1st IEEE International Symposium on Big Data Visual Analytics (BDVA). He is a co-chair of the Psychophysiology-based Quality Assessment (PsyPhyQA) project of the Video Quality Experts Group.
Ulrich is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2015 OCE Julius Career Award, 2014 CSIRO Excellence in Research Ethics Award as a member of the Cognitive Engineering team, and 2006 Graduate School of Telecommunications (GST) PhD scholarship awarded through the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.
Ulrich's research interests lie within visual data analytics, perception driven signal processing, and user experience. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.

URL: http://people.csiro.au/E/U/Ulrich-Engelke

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

Unfortunately, transmitting talks to Tübingen is not possible yet.

 

May 19th - June 30th, 2017
University of Konstanz

Research Seminar | Experiments in HCI

“Experiments in HCI” is a seminar designed for students (Master, PhD) in the domain of Human-Computer Interaction. Goal of the seminar is to guide students in conducting experimental user studies as part of their thesis. The seminar covers the whys and hows of conducting good experiments in HCI covering both quantitative and qualitative practices. Students will learn how to build on existing work in formulating their research questions and devising hypotheses. In addition, the seminar addresses how to perform the data collection and select analysis methods that provide evidence for conclusions. Also, students learn how to narrate findings and deal with alternative explanations for results. Based on a carefully selected reading list comprised of theoretical information about experiments, best-practice material, and good examples, students present their own experiments and get detailed feedback on it. Additionally, we will summarize the lessons learned to generate hands-on take-home messages. Students will be provided a reading before the presence dates.

The seminar consists of three presence dates:

  • Session 1 (full day): Introduction – Theoretical part: quantitative experiments
  • Session 2 (full day): Theoretical part: qualitative experiments – Selection of study
  • Session 3 (full day): Presentation of Study and Feedback – Wrap-up: Lessons learned

Session 1 on the 19.05.2017 (full day):

  1. Lecture: Introduction - Why do we need experiments?
  2. Theoretical part: Quantitative experiments. This includes but is not limited to:
    • Defining research questions and formulating useful hypotheses    
    • Designing quantitative experiments
    • Conducting quantitative experiments
    • Reporting quantitative experiments

Session 2 on the 22.05.2017 (full day):

  1. Theoretical part: Qualitative experiments. This includes but is not limited to:
    • Designing qualitative experiments
    • Conducting qualitative experiments
    • Analysing qualitative data
    • Reporting qualitative experiments
  3. Select an experiment (ideally, students bring their own ideas for experiments as part of their thesis – if not, we will provide examples that they can choose from)
  4. Homework: Submission of short written summary before next session, preparation of presentation

Session 3 on the 30.06.2017 (full day):

  1. Students’ presentation of planned experiment
  2. Discussion and feedback to student (as we will have a short written summary about their user study beforehand, we can prepare additional reading material)
  3. Wrap-up of ‘hot topics’ to provide practical take-home messages

At the end of this seminar, students will know

  • ... how to develop and define research questions and hypotheses in HCI
  • ... the crucial components of successful study designs
  • ... how to run experiments
  • ... the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative data acquisition
  • ... how to analyse quantitative and qualitative data
  • ... pitfalls and tips for successful report writing

At the end of this seminar, students will be able to

  • ... define a clear research goal for their Bachelor/Master thesis
  • ... choose applicable tasks, metrics and measurements for their experiment
  • ... set up a study setting and conduct the experiment
  • ... successfully analyse and report the results

All SFB-TRR 161 scientists and associated researchers are invited to this research seminar.

If you want to participate, please write Ulrike Pfeil.

April 27th, 2017, 9 am
University of Konstanz

Girls' Day in Konstanz | Wie programmiert man eine Schneeflocke?

Der Girls' Day ist eine bundesweite Veranstaltung mit dem Ziel, das Interesse von Schülerinnen an Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu fördern. Dieses Jahr wird er am 27.4.2017 organisiert und wieder beteiligen sich unterschiedlichste Institutionen mit interessanten Aktionen rund ums Experimentieren und Forschen. Damit können Einblicke in die Arbeit von Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften geboten werden sowie die Möglichkeit, selbst aktiv zu werden.

Beim Girls Day 2017 bietet der SFB-TRR 161 an der Universität Konstanz folgenden Workshop an:

Wie programmiert man eine Schneeflocke?

Schneeflocken zeichnen lassen? Hm...das geht! 
 
Bei uns lernt ihr mit Hilfe der Bildbeschreibungssprache Turtle einen Stift so auf einer Zeichenebene zu bewegen, daß coole geometrische Formen dabei herauskommen, wie zum Beispiel die Schneeflocke. Unsere Informatik Studenten haben sich dazu Aufgaben ausgedacht von leicht bis schwer. Ihr bekommt natürlich zuerst eine Einführung in die Programmiersprache und dann kann es auch schon losgehen. Um die Lösungen herauszutüfteln, braucht ihr zunächst mal euer Hirn. Etwas Grips für Mathe ist auch hilfreich. Aber keine Sorge, wenn ihr mal nicht weiter kommt, helfen euch unsere superschlauen Studenten gerne weiter.  
 
Dabei könnt ihr sie auch gleich alles fragen, was ihr schon immer über den Studiengang Informatik wissen wolltet. Und damit ihr gleich ein Gefühl für das echte Studentenleben bekommt, laden wir euch mittags in unsere Mensa ein. Am Ende des Tages bekommt ihr euer Turtle Zertifikat und natürlich eure geplotteten Werke mit nach Hause….und vielleicht noch eine Überraschung.  
 
Wir freuen uns!
Euer Informatik Team der Uni Konstanz

Die Veranstaltung ist für Schülerinnen ab Klasse 9. 
Dieses Angebot ist barrierearm.
Plätze insgesamt: 4

Interessierte Schülerinnen sind dazu herzlich eingeladen! Weitere Infos unter
https://www.uni-konstanz.de/gleichstellungsreferat/gleichstellung/angebote-und-ausschreibungen/girls-day-maedchen-zukunftstag/

April 27th, 2017, 9 am
University of Stuttgart

Girls' Day in Stuttgart | Programmieren mit Processing  ++  Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner 

Der Girls' Day ist eine bundesweite Veranstaltung mit dem Ziel, das Interesse von Schülerinnen an Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu fördern. Dieses Jahr wird er am 27.4.2017 organisiert und wieder beteiligen sich unterschiedlichste Institutionen mit interessanten Aktionen rund ums Experimentieren und Forschen. Damit können Einblicke in die Arbeit von Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften geboten werden sowie die Möglichkeit, selbst aktiv zu werden.

Beim Girls Day 2017 bietet der SFB-TRR 161 an der Universität Stuttgart folgende Workshops an:

Programmieren mit Processing
(Klasse 7 - 10)

Handys, Autos und sogar Flugzeuge sind heute eigentlich leistungsfähige Computer. Computer funktionieren aber nur, wenn sie richtig programmiert sind. Die Entwicklung von Computerprogrammen ist eine der Hauptaufgaben von Informatikern.

In diesem Workshop wollen wir zeigen, dass Programmieren Spaß macht, nicht schwierig sein muss und man schnell beeindruckende Ergebnisse erzielen kann. Ihr lernt, wie man mit der Programmiersprache Processing einfache Programme schreiben kann. Dabei schauen wir uns an, wie ein Computer die Aktionen des Nutzers verstehen kann und wie sich dadurch die Anzeige auf dem Bildschirm verändert. Zur Anmeldung

Programmieren? Das kann ich auch! - Bau dir deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner
(Klasse 7 - 10)

Willst Du eigene Programme schreiben, die genau das machen, was du willst? Wir geben Dir die nötige Starthilfe dafür. In unserem Workshop kannst Du Dir Deinen eigenen Bildschirmschoner programmieren. So bunt wie Du willst! Sollten sich die Bilder bewegen? Hier kannst Du es ausprobieren und umsetzen. Natürlich darfst Du Deinen Bildschirmschoner mit nach Hause nehmen und mit anderen teilen. Oder ihn zu Hause noch schöner machen ... Zur Anmeldung

March 30th, 2017, 9 am
University of Stuttgart

Workshop | Crowdsourcing 

This In-depth crash-course to crowdsourcing is a seminar aimed at teaching doctoral students to efficiently conduct crowdsourcing studies as part of their doctoral thesis work. In essence, the seminar will cover the whole process of performing an experiment and introduce some useful tools for analyzing the results. Starting with an introduction to the topic, participants will be introduced to the basic experimental procedure. Subsequently students will get to design a small scale crowdsourcing study by themselves. In the process, they will be guided around the pitfalls of experiment design, as well as given a spectrum of handy tools that simplify the process.

Particular attention will be focused on crowdsourcing subjective quality attributes and annotations, such as qualities of NPR graphics and visualizations, or annotating artifacts in renderings. Additionally, participants will experience crowdsourcing from the crowd worker’s position, to better understand the crowd. One invited speaker will share their insight into the dynamics of crowdsourcing and experimental procedures. Finally, the results of an example crowd-study will be analyzed, and any remaining questions will be resolved in an open discussion.

Agenda

Thursday, March, 30th 2017

9:00 Introduction to Crowdsourcing

10:30 Coffee Break

10:45 Practical Introduction to Designing Crowd Experiments

12:15 Lunch

13:15 Hands-on Session & Toolsets

14:45 Coffee Break

15:00 Discussion of Issues & Pitfalls

16:30 Invited Speaker

19:00 Dinner at Brigantinus

Friday, March 31st 2017

9:00 Analysis of Results

10:30 Coffee Break

10:45 Q&A session

12:15 Lunch

13:00 TRR Collaboration Sessions

March 9th, 2017, 9 am
University of Stuttgart

Be-greifbare Interaktion: Erfinderworkshop

In this workshop, we will introduce the basic concepts for sensing of human muscle activity. We provide a basic explanation of how physiological sensing works, introduce how it can be technically realized, and show different applications and usage scenarios.

Using Arduino-boards with EMG shields all participants can acquire hands-on experience in creating their own EMG controlled device. During the workshop, we will first use a pre-programmed setup to demonstrate working principle and the signal output that can be expected. Then teams will define their own ideas (e.g. EMG controlled musical instrument, EMG controlled game, an innovative visualization of EMG signals, or something completely different) and work towards a fully functional prototype. At the end of the workshop, each team will present what they have created.

Optionally participants can stay for another day to continue on their project.

Agenda

Thursday, March, 9th 2017

11:00 Lab tour HCILab Stuttgart (optional)

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Welcome to the Workshop

13:15-14:00 Keynote by Leonardo Gizzi: Physiological sensing for Human Computer Interaction

14:00-14:30 Introduction to EMG and Control through Muscle Activity (Jakob Karolus, Albrecht Schmidt)

14:30-15:00 EMG try-out session (all)

15:00-15:30 Coffee break

15:30-16:00 Ideation Session (all)

16:00-18:00 Hands-On Prototyping (all)

19:00 We leave for Dinner…
19:30 KÖNIGSBAU Café (Königstraße 28, 70173 Stuttgart – Haltestelle Stadtmitte)

Friday, March 10th 2017

9:00-9:30 Intermediate presentations: EMG controlled Devices

9:30-12:30 Hands-On Prototyping: EMG controlled Devices continued

12:30-13:30 Lunch

13:30-15:00 Presentation of Results and Discussion

15:00-16:00 GI-Fachgruppensitzung

Friday from 16:00 to Saturday 16:00 (optional)

Hands-On Prototyping: EMG controlled Devices continued

February 24th, 2017, 3 pm
University of Stuttgart

Informatiktag an der Universität Stuttgart

Am 24. Februar 2017 führt die Universität Stuttgart den jährlich stattfindenden Informatiktag durch. Schüler und Schülerinnen, die sich für ein Studium der Informatik und Softwaretechnik interessieren, sind hierzu herzlich eingeladen. In Vorträgen lernen Sie spannende Themen der Fachbereiche kennen und können in verschiedenen Workshops eigene Erfahrungen sammeln.

Der SFB-TRR 161 ermöglicht in diesem Rahmen einen Blick auf wissenschaftlich relevante Fragestellungen und aktuelle Forschungsthemen im Bereich Visual Computing. Folgende Workshops bieten wir in diesem Jahr an:

Lab Tour Visual Computing: Wie aus Informationen Bilder und aus Bildern Informationen werden

Bilder spielen in der zunehmend technisierten Welt eine immer wichtigere Rolle. Sie ermöglichen es, umfangreiche Daten und Informationen optimal darzustellen, etwa die Ergebnisse von Computersimulationen oder Daten aus sozialen Netzwerken visuell aufzubereiten. Andererseits können wir aus Bildern auch zusätzliche Informationen gewinnen, etwa wenn Kameraaufnahmen in Autos automatisiert ausgewertet werden, um den Fahrer vor Hindernissen zu warnen. Heute arbeiten Visual Computing Experten daran, visuelle Informationen mit Hilfe von Computern besser erfassbar, analysierbar und darstellbar zu machen.
Auf der hochauflösende Powerwall, die hinsichtlich Auflösung und technischem Aufbau in Europa einzigartig ist, könnt ihr aktuelle Entwicklungen in diesem Bereich der Informatik bestaunen und einiges über die Herausforderungen bei der Erzeugung der interaktiven Bilder und Verarbeitung großer Daten erfahren. Eine anschließende Führung durch die Technikräume des Visualisierungslabors vermittelt Euch ein Gefühl von der Komplexität und dem Umfang der dazu verarbeiteten Datenmengen.

Workshop: Programmieren mit Processing
Handys, Autos und sogar Flugzeuge sind heute eigentlich leistungsfähige Computer. Computer funktionieren aber nur, wenn sie richtig programmiert sind. Die Entwicklung von Computerprogrammen ist eine der Hauptaufgaben von Informatikern.
In diesem Workshop wollen wir zeigen, dass Programmieren Spaß macht, nicht schwierig sein muss und man schnell beeindruckende Ergebnisse erzielen kann. Ihr lernt, wie man mit der Programmiersprache Processing einfache Programme schreiben kann. Dabei schauen wir uns an, wie ein Computer die Aktionen des Nutzers verstehen kann und wie sich dadurch die Anzeige auf dem Bildschirm verändert.

Mehr Informationen und die Möglichkeit zur Anmeldung zu den Workshops findet Ihr unter
http://www.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/fachbereich/veranstaltungen/informatiktag

Wir freuen uns auf Euch!

February 10-13th, 2017
Söllerhaus (Kleinwalsertal)

Winter School of the SFB-TRR 161

10th – 13th February 2017 | Söllerhaus (Kleinwalsertal)

 

PROGRAMM

Freitag 10.2.

Anreise (bis 18 Uhr)

18:30 Abendessen

19:30-21:30 Diskussion zu Kooperationsmöglichkeiten im TRR

Samstag 11.2.

13:00-16:00 Bilaterale Gespräche (oder in Kleingruppen) zu Projektkooperationen

16:30-18:00 Vorträge von Doktoranden (Alexander Wender - A06: Quantitative Quality Assessment of Computational Photography; Jakob Karolus - C02: Physiologically Based Interaction)

18:30 Abendessen

19:30-21:30 Diskussion zum Thema Evaluation

Sonntag 12.2.

13:00-16:00 Bilaterale Gespräche (oder in Kleingruppen) zu Projektkooperationen

16:30-18:00 Vorträge von Doktoranden (Franz Hahn - A05: Image/Video Quality Assessment; Mohsen Jenadeleh - A05: No-Reference Image/Video Quality Assessment)

18:30 Abendessen

19:30-21:30 Eingeladener Vortrag und Diskussion zum Thema Sicherheit

February 9th, 2017, 4 pm
Universitz of Konstanz

Talk | ProgressiVis: a New Language Paradigm for Scalability in Exploratory Analytics

Held by:

Dr. Jean Daniel Fekete, Paris-Sud University, France 

Talk Abstract:

Information Visualization (infovis) has, for years, been limited to small data: a typical infovis application will work well with up-to 1000 items/records, a few can scale to 100,000 items, and very few have been able to deal with millions of items. Billions are seldom mentioned in the infovis literature. In contrast, the research fields of machine learning and databases are sometimes dealing with datasets of several billions of items, and the numbers are growing.

There are legitimate reasons why it takes time for infovis to start catching-up with these large numbers, and some work such as Lins et al. Nanocubes (http://www.nanocubes.net/) and Liu et al. imMens (http://idl.cs.washington.edu/papers/immens), have started to show possible routes to scalability. However, they both rely on either pre-computed aggregations that need hours to compute for large datasets, or on a highly parallel infrastructure performing aggregations on the fly. In my talk, I will explain why we need more flexible solutions and present a new workflow architecture called ProgressiVis, to achieve progressive computations and visualization over massive datasets in a generic way.

Speaker’s Bio

Jean-Daniel Fekete is Senior Research Scientist (DR1) at INRIA, the French National Research Institute in Computer Science. He received his PhD in Computer Science in 1996 from Université Paris-Sud. From 1997 to 2001, he joined the Graphic Design group at the Ecole des Mines de Nantes that he led from 2000 to 2001. He was then invited to join the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland in the USA for one year. During 2015, he was on Sabbatical at NYU and Harvard.

He was recruited by INRIA in 2002 as a confirmed researcher and became Senior Research Scientist in 2006. He is the Scientific Leader of the INRIA Project Team AVIZ (see www.aviz.fr) that he founded in 2007 and that is well known worldwide in the domains of visualization and human-computer interaction. His main research areas are Visual Analytics, Information Visualization and Human Computer Interaction.

He is currently the chair of the IEEE Information Visualization Conference Steering Committee, member of the IEEE VIS Executive Committee, member of the EuroVis Steering Committee, and member of the Eurographics publication board. He is also an ACM Distinguished Speaker. He was the General Chair of the IEEE VIS Conference in 2014.

URL: http://www.aviz.fr/~fekete/, http://www.aviz.fr

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Seminar Room 00.012 (Live Transmission)

February 6th, 2017, 5 pm
Universitz of Stuttgart

Science Talk with Petra Isenberg

Panel discussion for female scientists about an academic career.

February 6th, 2017, 4 pm
Universitz of Stuttgart

Lecture | Evaluation in Visualization: A closer look at current practices, issues, and perspectives

Held by:

Petra Isenberg, INRIA / AVIZ research group

Talk Abstract

The need for evaluating visualization research has been widely recognized. We have come a long way in establishing a more formal way for validating visualization research. Yet, our current evaluation practices in visualization are not without criticism. There even seems to be a common perception in the community that we have to some extent overemphasized evaluation culminating in the expression of the "tyranny of the user study".  In this presentation I will shed some light on the current state of evaluation practices, discuss some (potential) problems with our current approaches and how to deal with them and highlight issues that the community will likely encounter in the coming years.

Speaker’s Bio

Petra Isenberg is a research scientist (CR1) at Inria, Saclay, France in the Aviz research group. Prior to joining Inria, Petra received her PhD from the University of Calgary in 2009 and her Diplom-degree in Computational Visualistics from the University of Magdeburg in 2004.

Her main research areas are information visualization and visual analytics with a focus on collaborative work scenarios, interaction, and evaluation. She is interested in exploring how people can most effectively work together when analyzing large and complex data sets on novel display technology such as small touch-screens, wall displays, or tabletops.

More information on https://petra.isenberg.cc/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=AboutMe.MyResume 

Location

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Seminar Room 00.012

Unfortunately this talk cannot be transmitted to the Power Wall Room at the University of Konstanz.

January 30th, 2017, 4 pm
Universitz of Stuttgart

Lecture | Computer Graphics for 3D/4D Cultural Heritage Preservations

Held by:

 Michael Klein, 7reasons GmbH

Talk Abstract

Modern Computer Graphics is a bridge builder, linking 3D data collection disciplines such as archeology, computer vision, laser scanning, photogrammetry and surveying with serious gaming. In order to exploit the full potential of data like point clouds, meshed and/or triangulated surface models, archeological radar and hyper spectral imaging huge efforts are necessary to transform this data into high quality 3D/4D graphic worlds embedding stories and semantics in the right place. In archeology, quite often intangible models in 3D or 4D are extented by tangible models just to demonstrate life and cultural habbits at a given point in time.

The talk will demonstrate the power of modern computer graphics for daily productions of 3D/4D content, to be visualized on screens of any size and using Augmented and Virtual Reality. Virtual reality tools are reflected and examples will be given.

3D/4D Apps are demonstrated as well, using the game engine Unity as core element, importing the individual models created in highly interactive platforms such as Autodesk 3ds Max. 

Speaker’s Bio

Michael Klein, Founder and CTO of 7reasons GmbH, Vienna, is a professional in Computer Graphics and serving for more than 3 decades for computer graphics applications in archaeology and cultural heritage. He delivered astonishing deliverables for the Naturhistorisches Museum (NHM) Vienna, the outdoors preservations of the roman settlement Carnuntum, Austria, the Virgil chapel Vienna, and Haus der Geschichte Bonn, Germany, to name only a few.

He studied originally design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and changed his professional orientation in the beginning of the 1990ties to 3d Modelling and Animation and applied these skills to the sector of cultural heritage and film production.

Most recently he is creating apps for Windows, iOS and Android platforms to transform archaeological and CH content for “on the move" usage. He is also a professional for AR and VR applications exploiting recent computer graphics hardware for 3D/4D indoors and outdoors visualizations.

He is actually involved in the following EU Projects: Four-dimensional Cultural Heritage World (4D CH World, FP 7)), the Marie Curie International Training Network (ITN) Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) (FP 7), and ViMM Virtual Multimodal Museum (Horizon 2020).

Location

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202 (Live Transmission)

January 24th, 2017, 3 pm
Universitz of Konstanz

Talk | Visual Analysis for (Early) Discovery

Held by:

Dr. Hendrik Strobelt, Harvard University SEAS

Talk Abstract:

Data Visualization is effectively used to explore and explain complex data. In the talk, I will present three visual tools for different data domains that can help to formulate hypotheses in early stages of data discovery:

  1. Data often comes with categorical information that assigns each item to one or multiple sets. We developed UpSet to explore the set intersections. Interactively, a user can filter and recombine intersections and calculate statistical measures on them. I will introduce the visual mapping and in a short demo, I will demonstrate the core features of our system.
  2. Acquisition of  biological data has become fast and cost-efficient. As a result, a domain scientist spends a large share of time in analyzing the experimental data. For example, RNAseq allows to sequence RNA which can then be used to investigate alternative splicing events within different conditions (different patient groups, different human tissues). ‘Vials’ provides a visual analysis tool to investigate this complex data. I will introduce the biological data, explain it’s mapping to visual  variables, and show a short demo of the interactive system.
  3. The increased interest in neural networks and their common use imposes the question about the ‘ How ?’ - How do they work? What do they capture?. I will present a visual tool, LSTMVis, that allows investigation of state changes on trained models (LSTMs) and can be one puzzle piece in the quest of white-boxing neuronal networks.

All three projects resulted in open source tools which are used by domain experts to help them to generate hypothesis as a first step towards insight. 

Speaker’s Bio

Hendrik Strobelt was postdoctoral researcher in the Visual Computing Group at Harvard SEAS. He will join IBM research, Cambridge, US. He received his PhD in Computer Science from University of Konstanz, Germany and his MSc (Diplom) from TU Dresden, Germany.

URL: http://hendrik.strobelt.com/Personal/index.html

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

January 23rd, 2017, 4 pm
Universitz of Konstanz

Lecture | Visual Computing - Bridging Real and Digital Domain

Held by:

Marcus Magnor, TU Braunschweig

Talk Abstract

Any luminous or illuminated object continuously emits images of itself, in all directions and over huge distances. At the speed of light images convey a wealth of information about their origins, which our visual system can decipher almost without effort, in real time, extremely efficient, and enormously robust. Consequently, the visual sense has evolved to become our prime modality for gathering information of our environs.

In my talk I will outline how we have only just begun to exploit visual information as the ideal interface between the real and digital world, as well as between the digital domain and human brains. In this respect, Visual Computing constitutes an enabling technology of the 21. century that will pave the way for technological advances of substantial socio-economic impact.

Speaker’s Bio

Marcus Magnor heads the Computer Graphics Lab of the Computer Science Department at Technische Universität Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig). He received his BA (1995) and MS (1997) in Physics from Würzburg University and the University of New Mexico, respectively, and his PhD (2000) in Electrical Engineering from Erlangen University. For his post-graduate studies, he joined the Computer Graphics Lab at Stanford University. In 2002, he established the Independent Research Group Graphics-Optics-Vision at the Max-Planck-Institut Informatik in Saarbrücken. He completed his habilitation in 2005 and received the venia legendi for Computer Science from Saarland University. In 2009, he was Fulbright Scholar at the University of New Mexico, USA, where he holds an appointment as adjunct professor at the Physics and Astronomy Department. His research interests meander along the visual information processing pipeline, i.e. from image formation, acquisition, and analysis to image synthesis, display, perception, and cognition. Areas of research include (but are not limited to) computer graphics, computer vision, visual perception, image processing, computational photography, astrophysics, imaging, optics, visual analytics, and visualization.

Location

University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz
Powerwall C202

University of Stuttgart, VISUS-Building, Allmandring 19, Vaihingen
Powerwall Room -01.116 (Live Transmission)

January 21st, 2017, 4 pm
Universitz of Konstanz

Talk | Searching Cultural Heritage - Heterogeneity as a Challenge and as a Key

Held by:

Petras Vivien - Humboldt Universität Berlin

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Ein BOGY im SFB-TRR 161 gibt dir die Chance, dich mit unseren Forschern auszutauschen und in die Arbeitswelt der Wissenschaft einzutauchen.

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