We introduce a set of integrated interaction techniques to interpret and interrogate dimensionality-reduced data. Projection techniques generally aim to make a high-dimensional information space visible in form of a planar layout. However, the meaning of the resulting data projections can be hard to grasp. It is seldom clear why elements are placed far apart or close together and the inevitable approximation errors of any projection technique are not exposed to the viewer. Previous research on dimensionality reduction focuses on the efficient generation of data projections, interactive customisation of the model, and comparison of different projection techniques. There has been only little research on how the visualization resulting from data projection is interacted with. We contribute the concept of probing as an integrated approach to interpreting the meaning and quality of visualizations and propose a set of interactive methods to examine dimensionality-reduced data as well as the projection itself. The methods let viewers see approximation errors, question the positioning of elements, compare them to each other, and visualize the influence of data dimensions on the projection space. We created a web-based system implementing these methods, and report on findings from an evaluation with data analysts using the prototype to examine multidimensional datasets.
Keywords affective computation, affective interaction, believable agents, agent architecture, interactive installations, interactive sound, tangible interfaces, interaction design, critical technical practices DIS2002, London. Affective computation generally focuses on the informatics of affect: structuring, formalizing, and representing emotion as informational units. We propose instead an enigmatics of affect, a critical technical practice that respects the rich and undefinable complexities of human affective experience. Our interactive installation, the Influencing Machine, allows users to explore a dynamic landscape of emotionally expressive sound and child-like drawings, using a tangible, intuitive input device that supports open-ended engagement. The Influencing Machine bridges the subjective experience of the user and the necessary objective rationality of the underlying code. It functions as a cultural probe, reflecting and challenging users to reflect on the cultural meaning of affective computation. 88 | DIS2002 maximally effectively with human beings [30]. While defining, classifying, creating logical structure for, and understanding the relationship of rationality to emotions can be useful exercises, bringing with them the pleasures of both computability and scientific respectability, we believe this mindset is in danger of missing a fundamental point: affect is not just a formal, computational construct, but also a human, rich, enigmatic, complex, and ill-defined experience. Rationalizing it may be necessary to make it computable, but an affective computation that truly inspires and incorporates human emotion must include a broader cultural perspective, in which the elusive and nonrational character of emotion does not need to be explained away. From this perspective, computation may be used, not to acquire and reason about user's emotional states, but rather to create intuitive experiences of affect by the user during interaction. We term this alternative approach to affective computation an enigmatics of affect. This approach does not, however, liberate us from the constraints of computability. In order to function, technology requires us to discretize, analyze, and formalize. A substantial design challenge in constructing a technical system that supports enigmatic, open interpretation,then, is the need to bridge the rational objectivity of the soft-and hardware with the interpretational complexity of users' subjective experiences. Doing this well requires combining technology design in the tradition of AI research with cultural analysis of the meaning and metaphors embedded in the interaction, in the spirit of a critical technical practice [1]. Here, we will describe the Influencing Machine, an interactive installation we built to explore issues in the enigmatics of affect. In this installation, users influence the emotions of an (invisible) artificial agent, which expresses its emotions by generating real-time, dynamic, child-like scribblings and through an emotionally evocative soundscape. For t...
The goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 C as set out in the Paris Agreement calls for a strategic assessment of societal pathways and policy strategies. Besides policy makers, new powerful actors from the private sector, including finance, have stepped up to engage in forward-looking assessments of a Paris-compliant and climate-resilient future. Climate change scenarios have addressed this demand by providing scientific insights on the possible pathways ahead to limit warming in line with the Paris climate goal. Despite the increased interest, the potential of climate change scenarios has not been fully unleashed, mostly due to a lack of an intermediary service that provides guidance and access to climate change scenarios. This perspective presents the concept of a climate change scenario service, its components, and a prototypical implementation to overcome this shortcoming aiming to make scenarios accessible to a broader audience of societal actors and decision makers. ll
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