Scientific Visualization & Data Analytics Help Power Discoveries
Watch a quick overview of how SciViz aids researchers featuring highlights from last year’s SciViz Showcase finalists.
HPC accelerates scientific and engineering discoveries. In the process, it often creates overwhelming amounts of data. To better understand their data, researchers frequently turn to scientific visualization, also known as SciViz, to graphically represent their data. This is not making bar-charts and graphs like you would for a presentation slide, however.
As a science, SciViz is concerned with the (often interactive) display and analysis of data. This involves research in computer graphics, image processing, HPC, and other areas. Basic visualization techniques include surface rendering, volume rendering, and animation — software designed especially for scientific visualization. The resulting images can usually be manipulated by the researcher, allowing them to gain new insights into what they are studying.
But scientific visualization isn’t limited to visualizing data output. Data analytics is the science of analyzing raw data to make conclusions about that information, and often researchers would like the ability to do real-time analysis and visualization of data from any source. There are existing software packages, with many more being researched and developed, that incorporate scientific or engineering visualization with computational steering or multivariate analysis. These capabilities involve research in computer graphics, image processing, HPC, and other areas.
We should note that SciViz isn’t just used by researchers. Blockbuster Hollywood movies like Interstellar and The Tree of Life incorporated astrophysics visualizations into the films. And you’ll regularly see SciViz in educational programs and IMAX theaters. You’ll even occasionally see a scientific visualization on a news site if it helps explain information.
About the SciViz Showcase
The Scientific Visualization & Data Analytics Showcase (SciViz) provides a forum for the year’s most instrumental videos in HPC.
Each submission has two main components: a video and a manuscript. There are two categories of submissions: explanatory and exploratory visualizations.
Explanatory submissions aim to convey a science story in a manner accessible by a broad audience. Exploratory visualizations illuminate research discoveries in a format targeted towards science domain experts. While an exploratory submission may not have the same level of professional polish as an explanatory submission, its impact stems from the scientific insights gleaned or the scale of the visualization achieved.
You can view last year’s SciViz Showcase winners playlist on the SC Conference Series YouTube channel to fully appreciate the artistry, computer science, and domain science knowledge required to be a successful visualization expert.
For those considering submitting to this year’s SciViz Showcase, the videos may also spark some ideas for your submission. Deadline for submitting is August 5. Videos are judged by overall quality, how they illuminate science, and for creative innovations in the production process. Submissions are peer-reviewed by the SciViz Committee.
View the SciViz Showcase in Dallas
Six finalists will compete for the Best Scientific Visualization & Data Analytics Showcase Award. There will be a live display of their submissions on high resolution monitors for the duration of the conference so that attendees can experience and enjoy the latest in science and engineering HPC results expressed through state-of-the-art visualization technologies.
Each finalist will present the work behind their submission in a 15-minute presentation in a special session of the Technical Program on Wednesday, November 16. Presenters will also participate in the Posters Reception on Tuesday, November 15, to answer attendees’ questions. We hope to see you there!
Videos will also have representation in the Digital Experience.