Summary

While the catch phrase these days is ‘big data’ it is often accompanied by the assumption that it is matched with big industry and big science. However, as individuals we are becoming more aware that data is also impinging on our personal lives. Since my over-arching research goal has long been to design, develop, and evaluate interactive visualizations so that they support our everyday practices as we view, represent, manage, and interact with information, I am interested in this impact. I still think that interaction is the key to exploration and manipulation capabilities that can make information comprehension viable. In this talk, I will show how the currently shifting information climate is opening up new research opportunities. I will discuss the interplay between small data and big data considering the potential for empowering ourselves in our everyday lives.

Vita

SheelaghCarpendaleSheelagh 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. Her research contributions have been multiply recognized. She has received the E.W.R. NSERC STEACIE Memorial Fellowship; a BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television Arts Interactive Awards); an ASTech Innovations in Technology award; and the CHCCS Achievement Award, which is presented periodically to a Canadian researcher who has made a substantial contribution to the fields of computer graphics, visualization, or human-computer interaction. She leads the Innovations in Visualization (InnoVis) research group and initiated the interdisciplinary graduate program in Computational Media Design. Her research on information visualization, large interactive displays, and new media draws on her dual background in Computer Science (BSc. and Ph.D. Simon Fraser University) and Visual Arts (Sheridan College, School of Design and Emily Carr, College of Art). She is an internationally renowned leader in both information visualization and multi-touch tabletop interaction and has received both the IEEE and ACM recognition of service awards.