In this talk, leading Visual Analytics (VA) expert, Dr. Brian Fisher, will provide a brief background on VA science, theory and applications that apply to work being conducted in partnership with Cubismi.

Visual Analytics (VA), “the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces” seeks to design interactive visualization environments to augment human reasoning. VA research blends cognitive, perceptual and social sciences with engineering and informatics. We seek to bridge cognition as it takes place “in the wild” -- by individuals, in organizations and in society-- and research in perception, cognition, and collaboration that focuses on the specific aspects of that interaction that are most likely to support better outcomes.

Methods include ethnographic field studies, “pair analysis” field experiments, laboratory studies of interaction with visualization systems, and design of new visualization systems. As with any (natural, social) science visual analytics develops and tests general theories, in this case theories about how fluent interaction with visual information systems might enable us to understand situations, solve problems, and manage complex operations.