Text - Code- Image: Dialogue Between Design and Science

Joint conference with leading European universities explores visual tools for simplifying understanding and accessibility of information

In the era of Big Data, when digital technologies make it possible to absorb and process huge amounts of information, they become a central engine for growth and development. Despite the huge potential digital technologies provide, if existing connections between multiple components cannot be identified, they may become worthless. Thus, visual tools become central to making information accessible and to achieving insights that might not have been reached by other means.  Not only can complex scientific phenomena be simplified through visual tools, but they also can be made accessible and therefore more impactful.  

The emerging field of information visualization often requires collaborations between scientists and designers.  The purpose of this conference was to better understand how scientists and designers can learn from one another in their development processes.

The conference, which took place on the HIT campus remotely with professionals from Israel, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Austria, was attended by students and faculty from a multitude of disciplines, various departments of design, computer science and data science. The primary item on the agenda:  major and innovative trends in the nascent but growing field of information visualization, of the connection between visual data and text. 

"This conference represents a one-of-a-kind collaboration which  brings together diverse faculties and specializations, noted  HIT's Rector Prof. Shaul Bar Lev. "Big knowledge systems help us in all areas of life." Prof. Bar Lev also added that this is a collaboration that will inevitably expand to other areas and institutions.

The Vice-Rector of the University of West Bohemia, Prof. Luděk Hynčík, spoke enthusiastically about the special relationship with HIT and the importance of the conference. "The roots of this conference were forged sometime in 2018, when the initial contact with HIT was made. Two weeks ago, I even visited the campus myself and was impressed by the eventuality of such an important academic event.  A conference of this kind is extremely important because design is not only about aesthetics, but is a tool for accessibility, especially with advanced tools like AI"

"Visual data has become important in all areas of life" says Dr. Yael Eylat Van Essen, Head of the International Department at the Faculty of Design and adds that although visualization of information is widely used in scientific fields today, it is always an interpretive process. This was also true when information was presented to describe the battles of Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th century, and this is also true today when information visualization is done automatically by artificial intelligence algorithms.

Cultivating meaningful active international partnerships, such as those demonstrated in this groundbreaking conference, is a major priority for HIT, which today has 130 agreements with institutions in 35 countries in Europe and around the world.

Posted: 14/12/2022