Shapes and Patterns in Visualizing Human Knowledge

The concepts of knowledge presentation have their origin in the early Middle Ages and establish contemporary trends in visualization activity. Using the latest scientific observations, it is possible to conclude that circles and spheres are the most common natural shapes in both micro- and macrospace. The next most often used metaphor in medieval literature is a tree: an instance of fractals that today determines the geometry of nature. The fractals are the strong attractors of human mind space. The problem is how these two forms interact with each other and how they coexist in the context of effective visualization of information. The chapter presents an intercultural historical outline of appropriate graphical forms for knowledge representation. The authors strive to prove the main hypothesis: fractals and spheres contribute to modern complex visualization. The reasons may be sought in human perception and cognition. This chapter discusses visualization problems in the form of tree-like fractal structures embedded in spherical shapes over time, different cultures, and inter-personal relationships.

Social Context

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) and Evidence-based practice (EBP) are sets of standards and procedures created to search, verify, and select up-to-date findings implemented by medical staff as a basis for decision-making process in a daily clinical practice. Despite efforts of scientists and clinicians, neurorehabiltiation is regarded as a difficult area for EBM/EBP practices due to huge diversity of cases, clinical pictures, interventions, and scientific methodologies. More advanced tasks, including application of brain-computer interfaces and neuroprosteheses, show the need for a new approach from medical practitioners. This chapter presents challenges, barriers, and solutions in the aforementioned area based on the personal experiences of the authors. Visualisation tools provide cognitive support for social context, cooperation patterns, and data interpretation. Taking into consideration that social issues may extend the visibility of the results and allow for easier dissemination of the results, the aim was to show how visualisation helps identify cooperation networks and disseminate research results.

Perspectives and Good Practices in Visualization of Knowledge About Public Entities

Visualization of knowledge in public entities is becoming more and more popular due to the development of information technology tools, the demand for solutions allowing for reduction of information overload (IO), and new approaches to local government, including citizen participation. The chapter presents some case study examples of knowledge visualization in public entities with some conclusions and recommendations for policy makers. Additionally, it presents a complete map of certain Polish counties prepared by the authors. The authors applied, apart from the visualization in the form a map, the “Chernoff Faces” method (invented by Herman Chernoff in 1973). This method displays multivariate data on Polish counties in the shape of a human face. The individual parts, such as eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, represent values of the variables by their shape, size, placement, and orientation. The idea behind using faces is that humans easily recognize faces and notice small changes without difficulty. Chernoff Faces handle each variable differently.

Visualization Methods for Exploring Transborder Indigenous Populations

This chapter highlights the importance of information visualization using web mapping to shed light on the correlation between social actors. It shows how this method helps to understand if Berber identity beyond frontiers is a reality or just a motto in support of “cultural activism.” The suggested web mapping presents the hyperlinks weaved between websites whose focus is Berber cultural identity. Berbers are the indigenous people of North Africa. They are scattered in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya; they have built a “resistance identity,” including both cultural and political claims, long before the digital age. Since the 1960s they have been struggling for recognition against the state's cultural and political domination in which they live. The analysis of Berbers' relationships amongst each other on the internet is valuable for understanding the main features and issues of this digital connection, its shape, its contents, and actor typology.

Bibliometric Maps of Science

This chapter is devoted to directions in algorithmic classificatory procedures: co-citation analysis as an example of citation network and lexical analysis of keywords in the titles. The chapter gives the results of bibliometric analysis of the international scientific collaboration of EU countries. The three approaches are based on the same general idea of normalization of deviations of the observed data from the mathematical expectation. The application of the same formula leads to discovery of statistically significant links between objects (publication, journals, keywords, etc.) reflected in the maps. Material for this analysis is drawn from DBs presented in ISI Thomson Reuters (at present Clarivate Analytics).

Developing Visual Literacy Skills Through Library Instructions

Visual literacy skills have become an inevitable part of life in today's world. Technological innovations leading to new literacy skills have changed traditional ways of communication and made it necessary to learn and understand symbols, pictures, photos, illustrations, diagrams, infographics, pictograms, simulations, graphical interfaces, digitized images, and other visual tools. Therefore, it is very significant to teach individuals about visual literacy skills: the ability to understand, interpret, evaluate, organize, and construct visual information. Infographics are essential tools for learners. One of the most prominent institution to teach visual literacy skills is libraries. Visual tools, strategies, and methods should be applied in library instructions for users to realize these skills. The aim of the chapter is to show the importance of visualization, visual literacy, and infographics and present suggestions regarding how to develop the visual literacy skills of learners by libraries.

Generative Systems in Information Visualization

The author presents various approaches particularly in the field of visual arts and sound visualization based on hi-tech artificial agents and audiovisual systems. The number of digital artists and designers who tend to computational creativity has rapidly grown in recent years and their artworks and generative visuals that manifest the new cultural paradigm “Form Follows Data” meet with a wide interest. The author describes and presents a collection of tools and programming environments used for creating visual representations of sound as well as live coding visualizations which fall under so called generative art movement. Concepts of interactive audiovisual systems, sound-reactive programming software, and immersive environments refer to synergy of sound, visuals, and gestures. Another purpose is to point to applications of generative systems and agent-based frameworks in social and cognitive sciences to study environmental and social systems and their interactions.

Visualizations of the GRUBA Bibliographic Database

This chapter describes the author's experience of building the research environment for the implementation of bibliometric research on the science of mining, being developed in Poland in 1945-1989, on the basis of periodicals published by the major technical universities involved in teaching and research in that field at that time. The study was conducted on the volume of data entered (by typing), collected, and processed in a relational database. The data, covering information of more than 36,000 articles and more than 22,000 authors, formed bibliographic database named “GRUBA” (an acronym for polish phrase “Mining Register Enabling Bibliometric Analysis” and a word meaning mine in the Silesian dialect as well). The aim of this chapter is not to present a comprehensive and extensive bibliometric research results. Only a small part of it is a background for presenting the experience gained during the implementation of research, with the primary emphasis on the final stages – modeling and analyzing the visual maps created mainly using Gephi software and representing science development.

The Vizualization of the Dynamics of the Relationship Between the Bridegrooms in the “Song of Songs”

The dominant theme in the “Song of Songs” is the relationship of love between Bridegrooms. The subject of interest is the dynamism of the relationship. The attitude and feelings expressed by love, depicted in this book of the Old Testament, don't express only a description of their beauty, but a description of expressing mutual delight of all your loved ones. Mutual learning is shaping a unique spousal bond, which as a result of the involvement of the beloved and the beloved of each event, not always easy, brings them together; and thus they can build their own language of communication. Narrative character of text is treated in its literal sense. Presented course of events highlights everything that deepens and develops relationships between characters and clearly shows what returns as the leitmotif of the story. Focusing attention on events, using visualization as a way to telling about the people and events, puts less emphasis on the lyrical parties – descriptions of the beauty of the Bride appear in the text of the “Song of Songs.”

Lighting Simulation Algorithms in Real-World Sacral Building Visualisation

The most commonly used rules of modeling are limited to determine the level and direction beam of the light. However, such an approach does not reflect the real impact of lighting on the object. More accurate selection of lighting parameters is important, especially in the case of design objects, when it is still possible to change the structure or any selection of location and type of lighting. The chapter presents the use of specialized numerical methods in the design of modern sacred buildings as well as visualization methods used in communication between professionals creating and managing such models.