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Visualisation: An Introduction and Applications
Tuesday 8th May 2007
6.30pm - 8.30pm (Doors open 6pm)
Robert Recorde Room, Faraday Building
Swansea University, SA2 8PP
Guest speaker: Dr Robert Laramee, Lecturer, Computer Science, Swansea University
Dealing effectively with the amount of digital information currently being generated is clearly one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.
Visualisation is key to navigating through the vast amounts of data we are constantly bombarded with, offering a means of overviewing and analysing the information stored. It allows us to summarise
underlying patterns and important phenomenon in the data using pictures.
How many numbers can you look at in a spreadsheet?
A simple spreadsheet of data can be converted to visual format by using the chart option in Excel, but megabytes, gigabytes, or terabytes of data need advanced visualisation techniques to generate
meaningful images using computing machinery.
So how much data do we generate?
According to a study performed at the University of California, Berkeley (How Much Information? 2003), about five exabytes of new information were produced in the year 2002 alone.
How large is five exabytes?
If all of the information was digitised and formatted, then the seventeen million books in the Library of Congress (in the United States) would contain about 136 terabytes of information. So, five exabytes
of information is equivalent in size to the information contained in 37,000 new libraries the size of the Library of Congress!
This talk will introduce the topic of visualisation and discuss a variety of applications.
This event forms part of the ITWales Software Developers programme and is supported by the Welsh Assembly Government.
Following the presentations there will be a buffet and networking opportunity.
Booking is now closed for this event
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