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*Arya, Agustin A. The Hidden Side of Visualization.Techn??: Research in Philosophy and Technology. Winter 2003
What is a Visualization? How do we know we're looking at
one? What happens when we do? What goes into making one?
In his article, Arya goes to great length to describe not only
what a visualization is, but a number of factors that go into and
come out of a visualization. The real meat of the article seems to
center around proving to the reader that a visualization is really
only as good as the sum of its parts. The user of a any
visualization is provided with an opportunity to be shown
information in a new and different way and, with any luck and if
done correctly, the visualization, Arya argues, has the potential
to literally change the way the user thinks';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'thinks';this.style.color = '#000000';">thinks.
An interesting section of the article is where Arya develops the
idea of the user, or even the creator, of a visualization
experiencing what he describes as a Galilean Moment.';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'Galilean Moment.';this.style.color = '#000000';">Galilean Moment. This
moment,';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'moment,';this.style.color = '#000000';">moment, in layman's terms, is the moment when a person
can make sense of the environment in such a way that geometric
shapes can be used as models or visual aids';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'visual aids';this.style.color = '#000000';">visual aids for explanation
and understanding. This is where a visualization becomes powerful.
Expanding further on this topic, Arya suggests that a more advanced
Cartesian Moment';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'Cartesian Moment';this.style.color = '#000000';">Cartesian Moment can also occur, where the user not only
realizes the potential of geometric shapes as representations of
the environment, but also that these can be measured, and therefore
provide even further opportunity for understanding of the
information they represent.
Arya also makes note of the moment in which a visualization
becomes useful';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'useful';this.style.color = '#000000';">useful to the user, like a tool, relating it to
Heideggerian philosophy. Heideggerian philosophy talks about a tool
being "present at hand" vs being "ready at
hand." A tool is considered present-at-hand when it is not
obvious what it can be used for, by the user. A tool being
ready-at-hand, conversely, is a tool where it is not only obvious
to the user what it is used for, but it actually becomes an
extension of';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'of';this.style.color = '#000000';">of the user. The tool exists as a thing, and the
thing things';this.style.color = '#ff0000';" onMouseOut = "this.innerHTML = 'things';this.style.color = '#000000';">things when it is ready-at-hand. This is the ideal,
Arya argues, of any visualization: to be ready-at-hand for the user
in such a way that the user is not held back by the visualization,
but is cognitively extended by it, so that their thinking can be
enhanced, or even changed by the information it represents.
The article requires a certain amount of concentration to read,
as it is packed with information about visualization. Given the
opportunity, however, the article also has the potential to change
the way the reader views visualizations in general.