News

New project: Crafting Futures

The Crafting Futures research project aims to use Augmented Reality (AR) technology and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make the often unseen impacts of climate change in urban spaces visible and immediately tangible. By embedding real-time and projected data visualizations into real-world environments, this project seeks to enable people to experience climate effects firsthand. Led by Hochschule Mannheim in collaboration with the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the initiative has secured €750,000 in funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation for a two-year period. Funding awarded for the ‘Crafting Futures’ project by the… more

Video interview: On data visualization

In a recent interview with TransforMA, Till Nagel, head of the Human Data Interaction Lab at Hochschule Mannheim, discussed ongoing research and projects at the lab. A central topic was the Smart City Mannheim project, a collaboration between the City of Mannheim, University of Mannheim, and University of Hamburg. Together with his colleagues and partners, Nagel explores how data visualization can offer new insights into urban phenomena. In the interview, he highlights our work on visualizing traffic flows in AR, showing heat distribution patterns, and analyzing emergency routes, demonstrating how these approaches can help make complex urban data more comprehensible… more

AR DXP at the DIVR XR Science Awards

The AR Data Experience Point (AR DXP) was nominated for the DIVR XR Science Awards. Christoph Huber and Ekkehard Petzold presented the concept and prototype at the Human Data Interaction Lab booth, where they also demonstrated a special version tailored to the host city Dortmund. Attendees had the chance to interact with the prototype in the immediate urban environment firsthand. Christoph and Ekkehard standing at the exhibition booth. Get more information on AR DXP on its project page. more

Two papers in medical informatics journals

Interactive Visualizations for Chronic Lung Disease Analysis in JAMIA We are pleased to share our paper “Designing Interactive Visualizations for Analyzing Chronic Lung Diseases in a User-Centered Approach” has been published in JAMIA, a top-tier journal that publishes research on the intersection of informatics and health care. The paper, Led by René Warnking and Jan Scheer, discusses the development of a web-based prototype designed to help medical practitioners analyze lung function data more efficiently. The study involved workshops with experts to gather requirements and iteratively design the prototype. The feedback from an initial formative study was positive, although some usability… more

Excellence in Teaching Award

Problem- and project-based learning, in close cooperation with science, industry and civil society: this is the focus of the teaching concept of Dr. Till Nagel, Research Professor for Visual Analytics, which has been awarded this year’s Albert and Anneliese Konanz Teaching Award of Mannheim University of Applied Sciences. The concept’s pedagogical approach convinced the jury, which had called on the university’s teaching staff to submit concepts related to STEM professionals, climate protection, or innovation/transformation. Presentation of the Excellence in Teaching Award to Prof. Dr. Till Nagel by Rector Prof. Dr. Angelika Altmann-Dieses and Vice-Rector for Studies, Teaching and Sustainability Prof.... more

Visualizing BUGA data - a student exhibition

The German National Garden Show (BUGA23) has been in full swing for several months and is proving very popular with visitors. Guests are enjoying relaxed walks through the stunning gardens, learning valuable facts about sustainability, marveling at the picturesque parks from the aerial cablecar, and taking part in various events and activities. But BUGA is also an important project in the context of digitalization and Smart City. As part of this concept, various data sets Are being collected with the aim to improve urban life. Data-based solutions play a crucial role in addressing the challenges posed by climate change, resource… more

Guest lecture ‘Zwischen Design und Technik’

Christopher Pietsch combines his knowledge of design, research and programming to explore the interface between design and technology. Based on selected projects, ranging from cultural data visualizations, to multi-device interactions, to data journalism pieces, he provides insights into his processes. Christopher works and researches at the Urban Complexity Lab at FH Potsdam and at the University of Design Schwäbisch Gmünd. The talk is part of the visualization lecture series, and will be held on campus on Thursday, May 25th. Teaser for guest lecture by Christopher Pietsch more

Smart Roots @ BUGA23

Last Friday, the German National Garden Show BUGA 23 opened in perfect weather. The number of visitors exceeded all expectations. Within the Smart Roots project, we participated at the exhibition area of Smart City Mannheim GmbH, a joint venture of the City of Mannheim and MVV Energie AG. Exhibition area at BUGA 23 (photo by Die Wegmeister) with one of the real-time dashboards, and the participatory physicalization wall. In the exhibition area, visitors can access real-time data from the city of Mannheim through two large interactive displays. The focus is on two crucial aspects that impact daily life in the… more

Interactive physical data sculptures

These works are the results from a course on data physicalizations in the module “Applied Project: Visualization (APV)” with this year’s theme inspired by our book Making with Data. Brazil’s Burning Green Lung (left), The Hidden Burden of Alcohol (right). Brazil’s Burning Green Lung seeks to shed light on the factors that have contributed to deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest. Its centerpiece is a sculpture consisting of laser engraved wooden charts and an interactive falling tree, showing the diminishing rainforest area. Johanna Kühle, Nicholas Klag, Barin Schemes, Mustafa Kiraz, Johannes Schnörr, and Robin Böhler. 2023. Mannheim University of Applied Sciences… more

Panel and Pictorial at CHI

We are happy to announce we are organizing the panel Making with Data (And Beyond) at the ACM CHI 2023 conference. The panel is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25 at 9:00 to 10:30 (new date!) in Hamburg. The panelists Alice Thudt, Ekene Ijeoma, Dietmar Offenhuber, and Eva Hornecker will discuss contemporary practices and envision ways to make physical representations of data in the future, and explore the intersection of data visualization, design, fabrication, and tangible interaction. In this panel, we will discuss the practice of Making with Data — the practice of creating physical artifacts that represent a dataset. This… more

Talk and Activity at CityVis 2022

Christoph Huber, a PhD student and researcher at HDIL, introduced our concept of Data Experience Points, and shared his insights from a project designing and deploying an air quality visualization for citizens. This project is part of sMArt roots, the Smart City initiative of the City of Mannheim. Air Quality Visualization on a mobile device Damla Cay, a former PhD student with the HDIL and now a postdoctoral researcher at MOME Innovation Center in Budapest, led the interactive session at the workshop, where she guided participants through a hands-on activity to analyze urban data visualizations using a card set. The… more

Guest lecture ‘Data Physicalization’

Dr. Samuel Huron, professor in Design of Information Technologies at Télécom Paris. His research addresses how humans create visual and physical representations of abstract information to think, collaborate, learn, analyze, explore, and design new data representations, systems and information artefacts. He will talk about data physicalizations, how to use these in learning, creativity, and self-reflection activities, and discuss the construction and rendering processes of physical data objects and experiences. The talk is part of the visualization lecture series, and will be held online on Tuesday, October 11th. Teaser for guest lecture by Samuel Huron more

Dagstuhl Seminar on Visualization Empowerment

Christoph Huber and Till Nagel participated in the Dagstuhl Seminar “Visualization Empowerment: How to Teach and Learn Data Visualization” in June 2022. At the seminar, Till reported on his teaching approaches in the field of data visualization in the context of MODAL and other courses. Christoph discussed with international colleagues current approaches to methods in visualization workshops, which we will use and adapt also in the context of sMArt roots. Furthermore, Till presented their approach to collecting design processes of physical data objects with an open-structured template as an activity for learners. Overall, an inspiring and stimulating seminar with colleagues… more

CityVis Workshop 2022

Visualization as a tool for analysis, exploration and communication has become a driving force in the task of unravelling the complex urban fabrics that form our cities. Yet, there is a crucial need to bridge the gap between the flood of urban data and the capacity of decision makers to integrate that data into effective and informed decisions. The CityVis workshop wants to critically assess this notion and ask how data and data visualization can be used to serve and better understand or even organize urban processes, focusing on an explicitly “human-centric” perspective. Underneath the smart city The theme of… more

Visualizing Smart City data of Mannheim

This semester, the Foundation in Data Visualization course was in cooperation with sMArt roots, the Smart City inititative of the City of Mannheim. Students will present their visualization projects investigating data from a traffic monitoring system, an air quality network, and many more. The results will be later published at https://infovis-mannheim.de more

Guest lecture ‘Data journalism and visualizations’

Patrick Stotz, data journalism editor at DER SPIEGEL, will talk about data journalism and visualizations as a means of informing a broad audience. The corona pandemic and the climate crisis are probably the greatest challenges of our time. The handling of data is of vital importance in both areas. Using concrete examples, this guest lecture will take a look into the engine room of how the SPIEGEL data journalism team deals with data and visualizes it for a mass audience on a daily basis. The talk is part of the visualization lecture series, and will be held online on Tuesday,… more

Analyzing visualizations on city dashboards

Christoph Huber gives a brief overview of selected German city dashboards and their visualization techniques in a talk at the Geoinformation Symposium. In this talk, Christoph will talk about our approach of collecting public facing urban dashboards in Germany, present results from analyzing the visualizations used, and discuss some of the common themes and challenges. Matrix showing occurrences and frequency of visualization techniques in selected city dashboards. more

Making with Data at Information+ Conference

While digital technologies have revolutionized how we represent data visually, humans continue the thousand-year tradition of creating physical representations. These physicalizations are experiencing a dramatic renaissance, fueled by a growing enthusiasm for all things data and driven by new fabrication technologies, materials, and processes. To highlight the diversity of approaches, we present five themes that capture how people are “Making with Data”. We showcase several first-hand accounts of artists, designers, and scientists creating rich and exciting art pieces, projects, and installations that bring data into the physical world. Together with Samuel Huron, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, and Lora Oehlberg and… more

Damla Çay successfully defends her PhD

Congratulations to Damla Çay for successfully defending her PhD with the title “Exploring the User-Centered Design Space for Geographical Data Visualization”. In her research, the overarching aim and contribution is to enrich formative and summative design and evaluation methods to better incorporate both expert and non-expert users in the process of designing data visualizations, and exploring visualization design possibilities that incorporate rich dimensions of data. Till Nagel co-supervised her PhD together with Prof. Dr. Asım Evren Yantaç from the Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. Damla Çay and committee at the online defense. more

Guest lecture ‘Visual Journalism’

Marie-Louise Timcke heads the interactive department at Funke Mediengruppe and will talk about how they are telling stories with numbers and interactive graphics. She is a programming journalist and works with an interdisciplinary team of developers, designers and journalists on new research methods and visual narrative forms. While studying data journalism at TU Dortmund, she founded Journocode, an initiative for more data literacy and IT skills in journalism. All students are cordially invited to get an exciting insight into the work of the Funke Interaktiv and to find out which stories are hidden behind complex data. Teaser for guest lecture… more

Jan Scheer presented work on ICU readmissions

Jan Scheer presented our work on visually analyzing ICU readmissions at the 11th Workshop on Visual Analytics for Healthcare (VAHC). In his talk he presented “A visual approach for analyzing readmissions in intensive care medicine”. Find the abstract in our publication list, and the paper in the proceedings. The paper has been co-authored with Thomas Ganslandt from the University Hospital Mannheim. This work is part of the MIRACUM research project. more

Guest lecture ‘Narrating with Machines’

The Tagesspiegel’s Innovation Lab focuses on developing new digital storytelling and data analytics. In his talk, lab director Hendrik Lehmann will provide insights into some of their data-driven projects and show how they use analytics, information visualizations, and sensors to uncover problems and make them understandable to a wide readership. All students are cordially invited to get an exciting insight into the work of the Tagesspiegel Innovation Lab and to find out which stories are hidden behind complex data. Teaser for guest lecture by Hendrik Lehmann more

Organizing IEEE VISAP’19

For the second time, Till Nagel helped organizing the IEEE VIS Arts Program (VISAP) as General Chair. The VIS Arts Program (VISAP) is a forum where visualization researchers, designers, and media artists come together to discuss topics in data visualization around an annual theme, intended to be relevant to art, design, and academic research communities. It is the biggest associated event in the IEEE VIS conference, and its main goal is to foster new thinking, discussion, and collaboration between fields. This year we have been a supporter with the MODAL project, as well. Additionally, PhD student Damla Çay designed the… more

Keynote at Urban Mobility Symposium

In his keynote, Till Nagel will talk about teaching dataviz concepts using urban mobility data, and feature selected lab projects. More than half of the world’s population already lives in urban areas. Urban mobility is essential, whether for the coexistence all of a city’s inhabitants or for the economic processes that drive the city forward. Traditional motorised traffic is an important factor influencing air and noise pollution in urban areas, whereas an increasingly diverse “modal split” is presenting transport planners with new challenges. These and other topics related to urban mobility will be addressed at the Urban Mobility Symposium, 11… more

Guest lecture ‘Storytelling with Data’

Data journalist Martina Schories will give insights into the process of research, data analysis and design, and reflect on her work in the data team of Süddeutsche Zeitung. All research begins with the question. From which data can I draw valid conclusions? How do I set the focus in a search? How much technical and visual complexity do I expect from the audience? Part of the interdisciplinary project “modal”, the guest lecture by Martina Schories, data journalist at the Süddeutschen Zeitung, on 22nd May 2019 at 11:30 am in room A210 will give possible answers using examples from data journalistic… more

Attending Dagstuhl Seminar on Data Physicalization

Data Physicalization is an emerging cross-disciplinary research area that examines how computer-supported, interactive physical representations of data can support communication, learning, problem solving, and decision-making with data. Together with renowned experts from computer science, psychology, design, and arts… more

Student research project won CityVis competition

Student research project PaxMotion wins international competition on urban data visualization. PaxMotion is a visualization system for public transit planners and policy makers to better understand and explore passenger demands. Running on large multi-touch tabletop, the system enables experts to investigate how delays and passenger load might affect each other through a zoomable Marey chart. Data from different sources are offered on a large multitouchtable in an interactive system for visual analysis. More info on the project. PaxMotion, an interdisciplinary research project of students from the Faculties of Computer Science and Design, was designed and prototypically implemented under the supervision… more

modal won the ‘Data Literacy Education’ competition

With modal, the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences took part in the “Data Literacy Education” competition sponsored by the Heinz-Nixdorf Foundation and the Stifterverband in Germany. Throughout Germany, 26 universities, 20 universities of applied sciences and one university of education applied. In the competitive final round, the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, the Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the University of Göttingen were able to prevail against high-ranking competing universities. Mannheim University of Applied Sciences is the only university of applied sciences to be accepted for funding by the international selection committee. The three winning universities each receive 250,000 euros… more

Smart City Hackathon

In cooperation with TU Kaiserslautern, DFKI Kaiserslautern, Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Leitstelle Xplanung / XBau and Kaiserslautern City Council, the SRL organizes a two-day workshop in the run-up to the Planners’ Meeting to explore the value and potential of spatial and open data. Against the backdrop of the growing amount of digital data, open-data platforms and crowdsourced data, we invite students to explore opportunities and challenges for the Smart City. In the two-day workshop, together with the participants we explore the use of digital infrastructures for the digital cities of tomorrow, present the added value of Open Data data,… more