The document discusses big data visualization and its role in enhancing human perception and cognition through carefully designed images. It highlights the importance of filtering and summarizing data, utilizing clustering algorithms to present complex information. The Overview Project and its association with prominent figures like Ben Fry and Tamara Munzner emphasize the need for effective visualization tools in understanding and interacting with big data.

1. interfaces for big data visualization
jonathan stray
overview project
associated press

2. Ben Fry,
Computational Information Design

7. visualization extends perception

10. “Visualization allows people to offload
cognition to the perceptual system, using
carefully designed images as a form of
external memory.
The human visual system is a very high-
bandwidth channel to the brain, Tamara Munzner
with a
significant amount of processing occurring in
parallel and at the pre-conscious level.”

15. a visualization
turns something you want to find
into something you can see

16. clusters outliers
extents correlations

17. work with human perception

18. work with human senses
work with human memory
work with human cognition

19. you have never seen a violin.
perception involves interactively
directing narrow attention

20. don’t show it all.
(you can’t anyway)

21. filter

25. summarize

30. categories =
“distance metric” +
clustering algorithm
d(x, y) ≥ 0
d(x, x) = 0
d(x, y) = d(y, x)
d(x, z) ≤ d(x, y) + d(y, z)
k-means
single link
hierachical

32. annotate

33. snapshots tags
notes history

34. demo
the overview project
overview.ap.org

35. the world does not spring
magically into our heads.
neither does big data.
Interface extends perception. thanks
@jonathanstray