Publication

Perception! Immersion! Empowerment!

Superpowers as Inspiration for Visualization

Abstract

We explore how the lens of fictional superpowers can help characterize how visualizations empower people and provide inspiration for new visualization systems. Researchers and practitioners often tout visualizations’ ability to u0022make the invisible visibleu0022 and to u0022enhance cognitive abilities.u0022 Meanwhile superhero comics and other modern fiction often depict characters with similarly fantastic abilities that allow them to see and interpret the world in ways that transcend traditional human perception. We investigate the intersection of these domains, and show how the language of superpowers can be used to characterize existing visualization systems and suggest opportunities for new and empowering ones. We introduce two frameworks: The first characterizes seven underlying mechanisms that form the basis for a variety of visual superpowers portrayed in fiction. The second identifies seven ways in which visualization tools and interfaces can instill a sense of empowerment in the people who use them. Building on these observations, we illustrate a diverse set of u0022visualization superpowersu0022 and highlight opportunities for the visualization community to create new systems and interactions that empower new experiences with data.

Download publication

Related Resources

See what’s new.

Publication

01/01/2010

Making Shapes from Modules by Magnification

We present a distributed algorithm for creating a modular shape by…

Publication

01/01/2011

Ambient Help

In this paper we present Ambient Help, a system that supports…

Publication

01/01/2017

Project Discover: An application of generative design for architectural space planning

This paper describes a flexible workflow for generative design applied…

Publication

01/01/2011

Simulation and the Future of Design Tools for Ecological Research

As buildings mediate between a complex external system (weather) and a…

Get in touch

Something pique your interest? Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about Autodesk Research, our projects, people, and potential collaboration opportunities.

Contact us