Ways of Thinking, Ways of Doing, and the Future of Visualization Research

Authors

Anamaria Crisan (University of Waterloo)

Presentation

Session

VISions

Time

Wednesday, Nov 11, 15:12 – 15:24 (US/Eastern) · session 15:00 – 16:30

Location

Hall America center

Keywords

Research Methodology, Open Science, Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Visualization research is inherently interdisciplinary, yet much of the field advances knowledge through two complementary modes of inquiry: design engineering, which explores what visualization systems could become through the creation of artifacts, and scientific empiricism, which seeks to understand how those systems work through observation and evidence. Increasingly, AI is transforming both. As models become capable of generating visualization designs, proposing experiments, and analyzing evidence, they force us to confront a fundamental question: what are the actual intellectual contributions of visualization research? I argue that when AI makes it easier to build artifacts and produce evidence, our field becomes less about creating things and measuring things, and more about shaping the spaces of possibility and knowledge that define our future. This shift elevates the importance of openness, reproducibility, and human agency, challenging us to rethink not only how we conduct visualization research, but why also we do it.