Visualization, Dr. Dave
Perceptual Engineering
A novel discipline developed by Dr. Dave Warner, our Emeritus Science Officer , this will become a core design practice as leaders and organizations seek to make sense of the mountains of information available to them and collaborate with disparate groups to take action.
Our research indicates that the ability to meaningfully distribute information in a spatialized way that is consistent with the natural neural processes of human perceptual experience enables a more efficient mechanism for identifying patterns and relationships in data.
Humans are naturally hard-wired to visually perceive, and therefore understand, objects in volumes of space. To help us move naturally through the world, the brain evolved to perceive things in three-dimensional space even when it can’t actually directly sense it. By representing multiple data variables by a symbol we call a glyph at any visual depth, in proper proportion – the brain automatically interprets the data as if it were in the real world, with real volume and in context with other objects. By rendering data in a way that the neural system expects, we can deliver a persistent spatial understanding experience by showing objects in a way for which the brain is optimized.
In this video from the 2015 SwitchPoint Conference, Dave discusses the theoretical underpinnings of his work, as well as multiple examples of information interface design - perceptual engineering.
“The ultimate goal - to close the cognitive loop between users and powerful logic engines known as computers”
ANTZ visualization of search results
With Perceptual Engineering we are optimizing the interaction between a sentient source and information. Information technology has exploded in terms of speed, volume and variety of data processed and contained, and capacity for manipulation, what has often been left out of this progress is the human - specifically an educated, trained, intelligent and motivated human. Because humans are naturally hard-wired to visually sense and perceive, and therefore understand objects distributed in volumes of space, we can render data in a way that the neural system expects to deliver a persistent understandable/interpretable spatial experience. rendering information in ways which capitalize on the powerful features of the human nervous system for perceiving and rendering to consciousness different kinds of information.
The human experts tasked with responding to any crisis need a highly integrated information gathering and representational technology. The representation of information in highly concentrated perceptual, in this case visual, forms is our current objective. Innovative perceptualizations allow the expert to quickly see context and make decisions.
“Glyphs are a neurally optimized perceptual engineering tool - designed to take advantage of the human nervous systems ability to discover, identify, compare, and contrast patterns spatially ”
