Communicating Science Module 3 – Visualizing your science

The theme of the course autumn 2013 is: Changing Landscapes of the North Interactive landscape data visualization and sonification

Arctic and Subarctic landscapes are more than ever contested as they are faced with an increased interest for mineral extraction and energy production. Such activities displace both traditional ways of living and landscape practices inherent to them. They change not only the surface of the earth, but also affect social development, as well as the narratives about the landscape.

Based on the applications, up to 20 students will be selected to participate in the course. The course is aimed at PhD students and researchers, but is open for others. In other words, master/bachelor students are welcome to apply too (they will not be able to get credits, but we will provide with a course certificate). If you aim to get credits from the course, you should discuss it with both your supervisor and your faculty. If you do not want credits, but want to take the course anyhow, we will provide you with a course certificate.

This workshop aims to explore and visualize landscape changes in the Arctic and Subarctic in an experimental manner. On the basis of data, collected in research projects at UiT and elsewhere, students will learn to communicate landscape data in multidimensional ways with the help of digital media and media art.

The workshop concentrates on making complex things simple and conceivable. The focus lies on designing an experience of scientific data which reflects different aspects of changing and contested landscapes in an intuitive and interactive way. So the end emphasis of the training is on interaction design, not only software or hardware techniques or tools. Tomi tries to keep the entry level very low, and not go very deep in any certain program or technique. Simple, non-programming-based plug-and-play methods are shown, and based on the skill level of the students the complexity of construction can be raised higher. Examples of artistic ways to represent scientific information are displayed during the course, as is Tomi's own work.

The workshop deals with making connections between our physical, tangible world and the more abstract world of numerical data obtained by measuring something. The connection between the two is made by selecting information that is interesting, and defining what it could sound like and look like. Numbers form data, data forms information and information can be represented in many ways. Very basic digital values are manipulated in real time to map and match data (base) values.

Getting the values from one software (and hardware) to another is crucial in new media design, many methods how to do this are shown. Also room for user interaction to data selection / manipulation is thought about: building a possibility for the viewers to become the players / participants of this data representation. If time permits, we can bring this interaction with information back to the physical world with a short introduction to electronics, sensors, mechanical sliders etc.

The workshop is a cooperation between the University of the Arctic, the High North Academy at UiT and the Tromsø Academy of Landscape and Territorial Studies. It was initiated by ReCO Research Communication and Outreach at UiT.

Learning Outcomes:

The students will learn how to communicate scientific landscape data in experimental and experiential manners, how to create simple physical interactive installations, and how to add sound and movement to scientific visualization.

Skills learned:

• Information visualization and sonification
• Interaction design
• Simplification
• Basics of programming connectivity

Output:

Create an interactive data installation based on (changing) Arctic landscapes and cartography, with emphasis on real-life data for the Arctic Frontiers Conference January 2014.

If you pass the examination in this course, you will get an reduction in credits (as stated below), if you previously have passed the following courses:

• BIO-8008 Communicating Science Module 3 – Visualizing your science 1 stp

This is an intensive course, with theoretical lectures by experts, practical exercises and and demonstrations, interdisciplinary group-work in small groups of 3-4 persons, focusing on a self-selected case related to the course topic. The project coordinators provide all of the equipment that you need for the course.

Requirements:

• Basic skills in multimedia (image, video, audio, animation)
• Programming skills are helpful but not a requirement

Techniques:

• Data searching and selection
• Software connections between physical world, databases, display and audio software
• Hardware connections (electronics, computers, audio devices, display devices etc.)

Software (Macintosh):

• Quartz Composer
• Processing, NodeBox, (Arduino for physical computing interfaces)
• Ableton Live (or Max/MSP, PureData, SoundCollider, etc. based on the student skills

Language of instruction and examination