IRTIC's new multidisciplinary group, DINA, has four lines of research to explore the link between data and the people who interpret it, whether it is presented in a traditional way or with the possibility of interaction, and the use of elements such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
The Data Interaction and Augmentation (DINA) research group of the Institute of Robotics and Information and Communication Technologies (IRTIC), located at the Parc Científic de la Universitat de València (PCUV), begins its activity with a multidisciplinary team focused on ICT that will work on four lines of research that explore the link between data and the people who interpret them, whether they are presented in a traditional way or with the possibility of interaction, and the use of elements such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
DINA will carry out important scientific research in data visualization, taking into account both the nature of the data and the visual variables and the human factor, as well as in the spatial analysis and visualization of georeferenced data. The study of the design of thematic maps enriched with graphics and interaction paradigms (VR and AR) to enrich the visualization of data, proposing new ways to access them, is another of its objectives.
"Data can be of a very diverse nature, representing very different concepts, with different levels of detail, dimensions, meanings and even uncertainties," says the director of the DINA group, Cristina Portalés, PhD and Ramón y Cajal researcher. Visualizing them correctly "helps the human being to understand their nature, meaning and scope," she adds.
In this sense, says the team leader, "the various ways of accessing visual representations of data, including interaction paradigms such as virtual reality and augmented reality, add a fundamental element to their mere graphics, i.e., they go beyond the static and allow the user to explore the data according to their needs and assimilate them. In addition, they enable collaborative environments to manipulate, analyze and study these data," he says.
"The data can be of a very diverse nature, representing very different concepts, with different levels of detail, dimensions, meanings and even uncertainties", Cristina Portalés, director of the DINA group
Four lines of research
The line focused on data visualization will explore the relationship that exists, at the level of perception, between types of data (continuous, discrete, categorical, etc.) and aesthetic variables (shape, size, color, etc.). In this field we will develop the design and implementation of new proposals for graphs, graphs that show the relationships that exist between data and maps for the visual representation of data.
By means of virtual reality technology, another of the group's arms, immersive environments and the exploration of devices and hardware for interaction with the virtual environment will be carried out. Likewise, the graphic design and implementation of algorithms to visualize data in this virtual environment will be carried out, as well as methodologies to interact with them.
As part of the research line focused on ontologies, graphs will be used to map information. The pre-processing of data for its homogenization, the processing of terms according to thesauri, the establishment of semantic relationships between data, database management and graph visualization will also be carried out.
The fourth of the DINA group's topics of interest, interaction, will explore graphical interfaces through the integration of data visualization by means of graphs and maps. In turn, it will address the needs of different target audiences in its usability studies for the improvement of interfaces.
The team has members from the fields of geomatics (geographic information management engineering), computer science and multimedia, as well as from the first graduating class of Data Science at UV
Multidisciplinary team
The team has members coming from the field of geomatics (geographic information management engineering), computer science and multimedia, as well as from the first promotion of Data Science at the Universitat de València. DINA has successfully completed projects such as SeMapAP and CreaLab, and is immersed in ClioViz.
"Interacting with data is enriching and allows us to examine it from a visual perspective. A paper map is not the same as navigating through the data and studying them as we wish, delving into different layers that allow us to analyze them in greater depth," says Portalés.
The group aims to advance its research in data analysis and visualization and contribute to consolidating the field of research. For example, with respect to interaction with data, augmented reality "is a territory to be explored," notes the director of DINA, without leaving aside questions apparently already answered that could be seen in a new light thanks to new forms of study.