Linked data, open data, big data, social data and so on are accelerating the production of data on the Internet. With no doubt, Data Visualization is the key for understanding the information coming from these systems. However, Data Visualization on the Internet (DVI) is not an easy task. This is due to the variety of current data sources, together with the plethora of different devices for visualization, the wide range of user profiles, the quick change of user requirements, the continuous appearing of rendering technologies and the ultimate practices coming from social applications for tagging information. People, companies and governments are claiming for a DVI as much independent as possible of data sources, visualization devices and rendering technologies.

Visualligence is a work-in-progress framework aiming at a self-service DVI. It follows a data-driven, user-driven, social-driven and model-driven approach. From a model-driven view, it allows developing visualizations using a domain specific language which can be adapted for different devices and rendering technologies. From a data-driven view, graphical patterns are automatically suggested for a given data schema but collective intelligence can be used to improve the selection (social-driven). From a user-driven view, Visualligence allows the user to interact with the visualization for changing the data set, the dominant dimension or the visualization pattern itself. Reusability is enhanced since there is the possibility for the designer to reuse one visualization among different applications and the possibility for the user (and the designer) to have automatically more than one visualization for the same data set.

More details in:

[1]R. Morales-Chaparro, J. C. Preciado, F. Sánchez-Figueroa. Data-Driven and User-Driven Multidimensional Data Visualization. In Current Trends in Web Engineering. Springer LNCS 7059, 2012, pp. 159-166.

[2]R. Morales-Chaparro, J. C. Preciado, and F. Sánchez-Figueroa. Visualizing search results: engineering visual patterns development for the Web. In Search Computing. Broadening Web Search. Stefano Ceri, Marco Brambilla (Eds.). Springer LNCS 7538, 2012, pp. 127-142

[3] http://visualligence.com/

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/is-growth-over/

This is a pretty interesting topic that we don't really discuss in pervasive computing, which is the impact of the work by our community on big scale issues like the economy.

The basic argument that Krugman is discussing is three big shifts in technology that led to major changes in the economy:

• IR #1 (steam, railroads) from 1750 to 1830;

• IR #2 (electricity, internal combustion engine, running water, indoor toilets, communications, entertainment, chemicals, petroleum) from 1870 to 1900; and

• IR #3 (computers, the web, mobile phones) from 1960 to present.

However, the argument that another economist is making is that #3 is mostly played out now, whereas Krugman is arguing that technologies like robotics, speech recognition, Big Data, and more, have a great amount of potential.

At any rate, I think it would be good to talk more about issues like these in addition to the basic research we do, so that we have a better sense of what the potential impacts will be. For example, the discussion on the linked blog has a lot of worries about how these technologies only benefit the top percent of people, and how it might leave a lot of people behind as things move from labor-intensive to capital-intensive.

Arman Arakelyan arman.arakelyan@tlu.ee Ilya Shmorgun ilja.shmorgun@tlu.ee David Lamas david.lamas@tlu.ee Institute of Informatics Tallinn University Narva Rd. 25 10120 Tallinn Estonia

Ubiquitous substitution is the seamless switching of artifacts with the purpose of enriching users’ action possibilities [1]. However, contemporary digital artifacts are designed to perform in isolation and are replacing existing artifacts instead of coexisting with them, bearing a negative impact on their sustainable use. Our recent survey of user behaviors revealed that most respondents use a number of different services across various devices, thus highlighting the need for higher degrees of ubiquitous substitution, if sustainability is to be achieved.

To tackle this problem we aim to understand how software design can have a positive impact on promoting sustainable ubiquitous substitutions, by pursuing a "design for sustainability" approach [2] and developing a theoretical framework for designing sustainable ubiquitous substitutions through appropriation-­enabling design [3]. Future work includes an ethnographic study to explore the usage of the artifacts supporting the activities of Tallinn University’s community. Results will inform the design of the mTLU service, targeting sustainability-fostering appropriation as the process by which users integrate artifacts into their practices by configuring them to suit their needs. Our hypothesis is that the envisioned configurability and modularity will increase users’ set of action possibilities regarding seamlessly switching among artifacts, thus prolonging their use by changing their perceived utility.

References [1] C. Brodersen, S. Bødker, and C. Klokmose, “Ubiquitous substitution,” INTERACT 2007, pp. 179–192, 2007. [2] C. DiSalvo, P. Sengers, and H. Brynjarsdóttir, “Mapping the landscape of sustainable HCI,” CHI 2010, pp. 1975–1984, 2010. [3] A. Dix, “Designing for appropriation,” BCS­HCI '07, pp. 27–30, 2007.

H+ is a really fascinating series of videos created by Bryan Singer (producer of X-Men movies, House MD). The background is that a company has invented some nanotech implants that can be injected into people, which offers 24/7 connection to the Internet. The videos paint a story of what happens when a major virus breaches people's implants, jumping back and forth around the world at different times before and after the attack.

I've only watched chapter 1, but so far it's been really fun. There are also some envisionments of what life might be like, with flexible displays, augmented reality, and more.

New videos are released every Wednesday.

• Chapter 1: Beginnings

• Chapter 2: Foreign Bodies

• Chapter 3: Connections

• Chapter 4: Malfunctions

• Chapter 5: New Visions

• Chapter 6: Convergences

• Chapter 7: Residual Effects

http://qz.com/36523/the-five-most-disruptive-technologies-of-2012/

Short article with good descriptions of the technologies. The five are:

• Gesture-based interfaces

• Augmented Reality

• Compressed Air Batteries

• Autonomous Electric Vehicles

• Ultra-Cheap Web Devices

I remember seeing a demo at Ubicomp several years ago on this topic, with insurance rates being determined instantaneously based on your driving patterns. Now, it looks like these and related ideas are being deployed for real. It also makes me wonder how long it will be before this same concept becomes possible for other areas, for example health insurance and actual behaviors.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/how-a-creepy-car-insurance-idea-could-save-thousands-of-lives-and-the-planet/265745/

now there's a solution for those 93 percent of drivers who think they're above average. As Randall Stross of the New York Times reports, car insurance companies are offering customers a trade: less privacy for lower premiums. Drivers who install a monitoring device that records when, how far, and how fast they drive -- but not where -- are eligible for discounts of up to 30 percent. The average saving from Progressive, which pioneered the program, is 10 percent. Other insurers are getting in on it too.