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Scientists Draw Inspiration From Art And Psychology

September 04, 2002

An imaginative research project will draw together neurobiologists, engineers, geographers and computer scientists, to develop new tools to visualize complex scientific data and the physical phenomena they measure. The team from the United States of America and the University of Edinburgh will also pull in expertise from the areas of art and perceptual psychology to assist with the work. The project may not only help scientists have a better understanding of the data they interpret, but could in turn lead to improved knowledge of, and treatment for, various medical conditions.

The team will look for solutions to important visualization problems, such as 'explaining' radar imagery obtained from an aircraft or satellite, using centuries of experience from art and decades of research from perceptual psychology for inspiration. They aim, this way, to give extra information to improve the quality of computer images, by adding texture, icons and a three-dimensional element to each image.

Reseachers will create a four-wall, 40 square foot virtual environment 'cave' containing a head mounted display, stereo head-tracked workbenches and desktop workstations to develop and test interactive cases. Static visualizations will be created for computer display, paper output and 3D rapid-prototyping output.

Iain Woodhouse of the Department of Geography at the University of Edinburgh said: "Development of these new tools will enable us to give extra information in the same way that the brush strokes in a Van Gogh painting add quality and depth. Art has evolved a long tradition of techniques to create visual representations for particular communication goals, and art history provides a language for understanding that knowledge. We will draw inspiration from painting, sculpture, drawing and graphic design to apply these techniques to scientific visualization.
"Perceptual psychologists will also help evaluate the techniques: the evaluations are difficult because the goals are hard to define and tests to assess them meaningfully are difficult to design and carry out.
Scientists will collaborate closely with, for example, developmental neurobiologists studying early neural development by means of biological imagining; researchers learning about flows through blood vessels; and geographers using remote sensing for environmental monitoring and resource management. The study of blood flow could lead to improved understanding of and treatment for cardiovascular pathologies, and an understanding of early neural development could enable new therapies for birth defects, genetic disorders and other diseases.

The three year project, funded by Brown University, Rhode Island is part of larger research project undertaken by the United States National Science Foundation.

For further details, please contact:
Dr Iain Woodhouse, Department of Geography
Tel: 0131 6502527 Email I.H.Woodhouse@ed.ac.uk

Edinburgh, University of