VALiD - Visual Analytics in Data-Driven Journalism

As data journalists face increasingly complex and heterogeneous data, the research project works on suitable Visual Analytics methods and their integration into journalistic workflows.

VALiD - Data-Driven Journalism

Like many other organizations, publishing houses and the news industry are facing tremendous challenges in making sense of the ever-growing amount of information. The goal of this project is to substantially improve Visual Analytics (VA) technologies to support the investigation of complex and heterogeneous data sources in Data-Driven Journalism (DDJ). The emphasis hereby will be on bridging three DDJ gaps we identified: the usage gap (usable systems), the technology gap (dealing with complex heterogeneous data), and the workflow gap (facilitating DDJ in daily newsroom routines) while focusing specifically on (1) time-oriented text and (2) time-oriented network data. To achieve this, a user-centered and problem-driven design and evaluation approach will ensure the practical utility and usability of the intended methods and concepts, which will be bundled and evaluated in form of a research prototype. The collaboration with prestigious Austrian media outlets and the future integration into the business partner’s IT service portfolio will guarantee the sustainable exploitation of results as well as the economic strengthening of the media landscape.

Data Driven Journalism

VALiD Consortium

Publications

Download Bibtex for all results
Aigner, W. (2023, May 22). Visualization Literacy & Onboarding. VRVis Forum #176 | Digital Humanism, Vienna, Austria. https://www.vrvis.at/news-events/events/176-digital-humanism
Stoiber, C., Emrich, Š., & Aigner, W. (2023). Design Guidelines for Visualization Onboarding Concepts in Data Journalism [Vortrag]. STS Conference, Graz. https://stsconf.tugraz.at/
Rind, A., Aigner, W., Böck, J., Grassinger, F., Oliveira, V. A. de. J., Wu, H.-Y., & Zauchinger, M. (2022, September 30). Daten erlebbar machen: Wie Daten sichtbar, hörbar und greifbar werden [Demo & Poster]. European Researchers" Night 2022, St. Pölten.
Aigner, W. (2022, June 30). TimeViz: Visualization of Time-Oriented Data [Invited Talk]. CSIG-VIS International Lecture Series - ChinaVis, Online. https://chinavis.org/lectures/english/index_en.html
Aigner, W. (2022, June 10). TimeViz: Visualization of Time-Oriented Data [Invited Talk]. Seminar Series on "Information Technology Outlook," Bari, Italy.
Rind, A., Böck, J., Boucher, M., Grassinger, F., Kirchknopf, A., Stoiber, C., Stumpe, E., & Zauchinger, M. (2022). Wie können wir Daten erlebbar machen? [Demo & Poster]. Lange Nacht der Forschung 2022, St. Pölten.
Stoiber, C., Rind, A., Grassinger, F., Gutounig, R., Goldgruber, E., Sedlmair, M., Emrich, S., & Aigner, W. (2019). netflower: Dynamic Network Visualization for Data Journalists. Computer Graphics Forum (EuroVis "19), 38. https://doi.org/10/ghm4jz
Dahnert, M., Rind, A., Aigner, W., & Kehrer, J. (2019). Looking beyond the horizon: Evaluation of four compact visualization techniques for time series in a spatial context. ArXiv:1906.07377 [Cs]. http://arxiv.org/abs/1906.07377
Niederer, C., Blumenstein, K., Wagner, M., Emrich, S., & Aigner, W. (2018). Visualizing Text Data in Space and Time to Augment a Political News Broadcast on a Second Screen. 9th International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications (IVAPP 2018). https://doi.org/10/gnt2vp
Niederer, C., Größbacher, S. G., Aigner, W., Judmaier, P., & Seidl, M. (2017). Comic Experience: Narrative & Collaborative Drawing on a Multi-Touch Table in an Art Museum. Proceedings of the 10th Forum Media Technology 2017.
Blumenstein, K., Niederer, C., Wagner, M., Pfersmann, W., Seidl, M., & Aigner, W. (2017). Visualizing Spatial and Time-Oriented Data in a Second Screen Application. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services.
Rind, A., Haberson, A., Blumenstein, K., Niederer, C., Wagner, M., & Aigner, W. (2017). PubViz: Lightweight Visual Presentation of Publication Data. In B. Kozlíková, T. Schreck, & T. Wischgoll (Eds.), Proc. Eurographics Conf. Visualization (EuroVis) – Short Paper (pp. 169–173). EuroGraphics. https://doi.org/10/cwdc
Blumenstein, K., Leitner, B., Thür, N., Kirchknopf, A., Seidl, M., & Aigner, W. (2017). LiveVis: Visualizing Results of Second Screen Surveys in Real Time at TV Stages. Workshop Vis in Practice - Visualization Solutions in the Wild, IEEE VIS 2017.
Tominski, C., Aigner, W., Miksch, S., & Schumann, H. (2017). Images of Time: Visual Representation of Time-Oriented Data. In A. Black, P. Luna, O. Lund, & S. Walker (Eds.), Information Design: Research and Practice (pp. 23–42). Gower/Routledge. http://mc.fhstp.ac.at/sites/default/files/publications/Tominski17ImagesOfTime.pdf
Kromer, L., Wagner, M., Blumenstein, K., Rind, A., & Aigner, W. (2016). Performance Comparison between Unity and D3.js for Cross-Platform Visualization on Mobile Devices. Proceedings of the 9th Forum Media Technology 2016, 47–52. http://mc.fhstp.ac.at/sites/default/files/publications/Kromer_2016_FMT_crossVisComparison.pdf
Aigner, W., & Blumenstein, K. (2016, March 5). Data Visualisation in Time-Based Media [Workshop]. c-tv Konferenz, St. Pölten, Austria. https://ctvkonferenz.fhstp.ac.at/
Rind, A., Pfahler, D., Niederer, C., & Aigner, W. (2016). Exploring Media Transparency With Multiple Views. In W. Aigner, G. Schmiedl, K. Blumenstein, & M. Zeppelzauer (Eds.), Proceedings of the 9th Forum Media Technology 2016 (pp. 65–73). CEUR-WS.org. http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1734/fmt-proceedings-2016-paper8.pdf
Niederer, C., Rind, A., & Aigner, W. (2016). Multi-Device Visualisation Design for Climbing Self-Assessment. Proceedings of International Conference on Information Visualisation (IV16), 171–176. http://mc.fhstp.ac.at/sites/default/files/publications/2016_IV_Climbing_Niederer.pdf
Niederer, C., Rind, A., Aigner, W., Ausserhofer, J., Gutounig, R., & Sedlmair, M. (2016). Visual Exploration of Media Transparency for Data Journalists: Problem Characterization and Abstraction. Proceedings of the 10th Forschungsforum Der Österreichischen Fachhochschulen. http://mc.fhstp.ac.at/sites/default/files/publications/2016_FFH_VALiD_Niederer.pdf
Rind, A., Aigner, W., Wagner, M., Miksch, S., & Lammarsch, T. (2016). Task Cube: A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Space of User Tasks in Visualization Design and Evaluation. Information Visualization, 15(4), 288–300. https://doi.org/10/f3szvq
Blumenstein, K., Niederer, C., Wagner, M., Schmiedl, G., Rind, A., & Aigner, W. (2016). Evaluating Information Visualization on Mobile Devices: Gaps and Challenges in the Empirical Evaluation Design Space. Proceedings of 2016 Workshop on Beyond Time And Errors: Novel Evaluation Methods For Visualization, 125–132. https://doi.org/10/cwc6
Blumenstein, K., Wagner, M., & Aigner, W. (2015, November 15). Cross-Platform InfoVis Frameworks for Multiple Users, Screens and Devices: Requirements and Challenges. DEXiS 2015 Workshop on Data Exploration for Interactive Surfaces. Workshop in Conjunction Wirth ACM ITS"15.
Blumenstein, K., Wagner, M., Aigner, W., von Suess, R., Prochaska, H., Püringer, J., Zeppelzauer, M., & Sedlmair, M. (2015). Interactive Data Visualization for Second Screen Applications: State of the Art and Technical Challenges. In H.-J. Schulz, B. Urban, & U. Freiherr von Lukas (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Summer School on Visual Computing (pp. 35–48). Frauenhoferverlag. https://research.fhstp.ac.at/content/download/128715/file/Blumenstein_et_al_2015_Interactive_Data_Visualization_for_Second_Screen.pdf?inLanguage=ger-DE
Niederer, C., Aigner, W., & Rind, A. (2015). Survey on Visualizing Dynamic, Weighted, and Directed Graphs in the Context of Data-Driven Journalism. In H.-J. Schulz, B. Urban, & U. Freiherr von Lukas (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Summer School on Visual Computing (pp. 49–58). Frauenhoferverlag. http://mc.fhstp.ac.at/sites/default/files/publications/Niederer_et_al_2015_Survey_on_Visualizing_Dynamic%2C_Weighted%2C_and_Directed.pdf
Stitz, H., Gratzl, S., Aigner, W., & Streit, M. (2015). ThermalPlot: Visualizing Multi-Attribute Time-Series Data Using a Thermal Metaphor. Poster Abstracts of IEEE Conference on Information Visualization (InfoVis "15). http://mc.fhstp.ac.at/sites/default/files/publications/Stitz%20et%20al_2015_ThermalPlot.pdf
Blumenstein, K. (2015). Interactive Mobile Data Visualization for Second Screen. Doctoral Consortium on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (DCVISIGRAPP 2015).
Aigner, W., Miksch, S., Schumann, H., & Tominski, C. (2015). Visualization Techniques for Time-Oriented Data. In M. O. Ward, G. Grinstein, & D. Keim (Eds.), Interactive Data Visualization: Foundations, Techniques, and Applications (2nd ed., pp. 253–284). A K Peters/CRC Press. https://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781482257373

Press coverage

Die schönsten Geschichten schreiben die Zahlen
03/01/2019

Medium: Die Presse
Autor: Daniel Pohselt

Forum Medientechnik
12/01/2016

Medium: Film, Sound & Media

Vorbereiten auf die digitale Welt
11/16/2016

Medium: Der Standard

Wissenschaft und Forschung in Niederösterreich
11/01/2016

Medium: UNIVERSUM Magazin

Sinn aus der Informationsflut ziehen
04/01/2016

Medium: Monitor

Campustalk – Visuelle Aufbereitung von Daten im Journalismus
11/18/2015

Medium: Campus & City Radio 94.4

Big Data & Co: Wie filtert man Informationen und Zusammenhänge aus einem Berg an Daten? Das mehrere Hochschulen übergreifende Forschungsprojekt "VALID - Visual Analytics in Data-Driven Journalism" beschäftigt sich mit komplexen und heterogenen Daten und ihre mögliche Implementierung in journalistische Arbeitsprozesse. Projektleiter FH Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Aigner (FH St. Pölten) und -mitarbeiter Mag. (FH) Julian Ausserhofer (FH JOANNEUM) sprechen dazu u. a. über die Entwicklung von Visual Analytics Technologien und den historischen Begriff des Datenjournalismus.

Sinnsuche in Parlamentsprotokollen
11/01/2015

Medium: FH-Magazin FUTURE Ausgabe 03
Author: Mark Hammer

Wenn JournalistInnen heutzutage die Welt erklären wollen, müssen sie aus gewaltigen Datenmengen die richtigen Schlüsse ziehen. Ein Projekt der FH St. Pölten entwickelt Hilfsmittel dafür.
von Mark Hammer

Malen nach komplexen Zahlen
09/09/2015

Medium:  Der Standard
Author: Selina Thaler

Big Data – und welche Chancen Daten bieten
06/10/2016

Medium: Die Presse

"Landkarte und Kompass für den Datendschungel"
11/30/2016

Medium: Der Standard
Autor: Alois Pumhösel

Project manager
Staff
External Staff
Dipl.-Inf. Dr. Michael Sedlmair, Universität Wien
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Elena Rudkowsky, Universität Wien
Mag. (FH) Julian Ausserhofer, FH Joanneum
Mag. Thomas Wolkinger, FH Joanneum
Mag. Dr. Robert Gutounig, FH Joanneum
Dipl.-Ing. Niki Popper, Landsiedl, Popper OG
Dr. Štefan Emrich, Landsiedl, Popper OG
Mag. Michael Schmid, Landsiedl, Popper OG
Partners
  • University of Vienna, Department of Computer Science, Visualization and Data Analysis research group (VDA)
  • Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Journalism and Public Relations (PR)
  • Landsiedl, Popper OG – drahtwarenhandlung film & animation
Funding
Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology under the initiative "ICT of the future", project 845598
Runtime
01/01/2015 – 12/31/2018
Status
finished
Weblink
Involved Institutes, Groups and Centers
Institute of Creative\Media/Technologies
Research Group Media Computing