I have studied visualization at the VisGroup here in Bergen, Norway. Unfortunately, I managed not to complete the master thesis due to dyslexia and the fact that I am also bipolar. The first years were a fascinating time before I then got a down period.

My topic for the thesis was how to compare spatial objects and how abstracting them could make the comparison task simpler. The subtitle of it was Comparative Visualization by Abstracting a Spatial Ensemble Data of Plant Growth. I will try to make some posts about this topic and visualization in general. And I will end this with two citations on visualization and one on the comparison task.

The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures. - Ben Shneiderman 1

Computer-based visualization systems provide visual representations of datasets designed to help people carry out tasks more effectively. Visualization is suitable when there is a need to augment human capabilities rather than replace people with computational decision-making methods. - Tamara Munzner 2

... one may take the viewpoint that much, if not most, of analysis can be viewed as comparison. - Michael Gleicher 3

  1. Card, S. K., Mackinlay, J., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think (Interactive Technologies) (1st ed.). Morgan Kaufmann. https://dl.acm.org/doi/book/10.5555/300679
  2. Munzner, T. (2014). Visualization Analysis and Design (AK Peters Visualization Series) (1st ed.). A K Peters/CRC Press. https://www.routledge.com/Visualization-Analysis-and-Design/Munzner/p/book/9781466508910
  3. Gleicher, M. (2018). Considerations for Visualizing Comparison. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 24(1), 413-423. https://doi.org/10.1109/tvcg.2017.2744199