PhD Researcher
Visual Exploration & Communication
- laura.garrison@uib.no
- HiB, room 310O2
Supervised by: Stefan Bruckner
I’m a PhD researcher working in the Visual Data Science for Large Scale Hypothesis Management in Imaging Biomarker Discovery (VIDI) project. This is a joint project between UiB and the Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization (MMIV) centre, and is funded by UiB and the Trond Mohn Foundation.
I use visualization to ask questions and tell stories about data. I earned my PhD in visualization earlier this year, where my research focused on visual exploration and communication methods for physiology data (data that describes how our bodies work). I am also a professional biomedical artist, meaning I’ve drawn guts for a living. Prior to my PhD, I worked for six years as an artist and content director in medical education start-ups in Silicon Valley, Chicago, and New York City. I love combining art, science, and technology to help people understand data or concepts, especially in the areas of biology and medicine. More recently, I’ve become interested in developing visualizations that are more accessible, i.e., usable and understandable, for different segments of the population. For more information, feel free to browse my publications below or visit my personal website.
If you want to talk more or work together (or grab a coffee if you’re in Bergen), please reach out!
Publications
2022
![[PDF]](https://vis.uib.no/wp-content/plugins/papercite/img/pdf.png)
[Bibtex] @phdthesis{garrison2022thesis,
title = {
From Molecules to the Masses: Visual Exploration, Analysis, and Communication
of Human Physiology
},
author = {Laura Ann Garrison},
year = 2022,
month = {September},
isbn = 9788230841389,
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3015990},
school = {Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, Norway},
abstract = {
The overarching theme of this thesis is the cross-disciplinary application of
medical illustration and visualization techniques to address challenges in
exploring, analyzing, and communicating aspects of physiology to audiences
with differing expertise.
Describing the myriad biological processes occurring in living beings over
time, the science of physiology is complex and critical to our understanding
of how life works. It spans many spatio-temporal scales to combine and bridge
the basic sciences (biology, physics, and chemistry) to medicine. Recent
years have seen an explosion of new and finer-grained experimental and
acquisition methods to characterize these data. The volume and complexity of
these data necessitate effective visualizations to complement standard
analysis practice. Visualization approaches must carefully consider and be
adaptable to the user's main task, be it exploratory, analytical, or
communication-oriented. This thesis contributes to the areas of theory,
empirical findings, methods, applications, and research replicability in
visualizing physiology. Our contributions open with a state-of-the-art report
exploring the challenges and opportunities in visualization for physiology.
This report is motivated by the need for visualization researchers, as well
as researchers in various application domains, to have a centralized,
multiscale overview of visualization tasks and techniques. Using a
mixed-methods search approach, this is the first report of its kind to
broadly survey the space of visualization for physiology. Our approach to
organizing the literature in this report enables the lookup of topics of
interest according to spatio-temporal scale. It further subdivides works
according to any combination of three high-level visualization tasks:
exploration, analysis, and communication. This provides an easily-navigable
foundation for discussion and future research opportunities for audience- and
task-appropriate visualization for physiology. From this report, we identify
two key areas for continued research that begin narrowly and subsequently
broaden in scope: (1) exploratory analysis of multifaceted physiology data
for expert users, and (2) communication for experts and non-experts alike.
Our investigation of multifaceted physiology data takes place over two
studies. Each targets processes occurring at different spatio-temporal scales
and includes a case study with experts to assess the applicability of our
proposed method. At the molecular scale, we examine data from magnetic
resonance spectroscopy (MRS), an advanced biochemical technique used to
identify small molecules (metabolites) in living tissue that are indicative
of metabolic pathway activity. Although highly sensitive and specific, the
output of this modality is abstract and difficult to interpret. Our design
study investigating the tasks and requirements for expert exploratory
analysis of these data led to SpectraMosaic, a novel application enabling
domain researchers to analyze any permutation of metabolites in ratio form
for an entire cohort, or by sample region, individual, acquisition date, or
brain activity status at the time of acquisition. A second approach considers
the exploratory analysis of multidimensional physiological data at the
opposite end of the spatio-temporal scale: population. An effective
exploratory data analysis workflow critically must identify interesting
patterns and relationships, which becomes increasingly difficult as data
dimensionality increases. Although this can be partially addressed with
existing dimensionality reduction techniques, the nature of these techniques
means that subtle patterns may be lost in the process. In this approach, we
describe DimLift, an iterative dimensionality reduction technique enabling
user identification of interesting patterns and relationships that may lie
subtly within a dataset through dimensional bundles. Key to this method is
the user's ability to steer the dimensionality reduction technique to follow
their own lines of inquiry.
Our third question considers the crafting of visualizations for communication
to audiences with different levels of expertise. It is natural to expect that
experts in a topic may have different preferences and criteria to evaluate a
visual communication relative to a non-expert audience. This impacts the
success of an image in communicating a given scenario. Drawing from diverse
techniques in biomedical illustration and visualization, we conducted an
exploratory study of the criteria that audiences use when evaluating a
biomedical process visualization targeted for communication. From this study,
we identify opportunities for further convergence of biomedical illustration
and visualization techniques for more targeted visual communication design.
One opportunity that we discuss in greater depth is the development of
semantically-consistent guidelines for the coloring of molecular scenes. The
intent of such guidelines is to elevate the scientific literacy of non-expert
audiences in the context of molecular visualization, which is particularly
relevant to public health communication.
All application code and empirical findings are open-sourced and available
for reuse by the scientific community and public. The methods and findings
presented in this thesis contribute to a foundation of cross-disciplinary
biomedical illustration and visualization research, opening several
opportunities for continued work in visualization for physiology.
},
pdf = {pdfs/garrison-phdthesis.pdf},
images = {images/garrison-thesis.png},
thumbnails = {images/garrison-thesis-thumb.png},
project = {VIDI}
}![[DOI]](https://vis.uib.no/wp-content/plugins/papercite/img/external.png){kind=small}
[Bibtex] @inproceedings {Kleinau2022Tornado,
booktitle = {Eurographics Workshop on Visual Computing for Biology and Medicine},
editor = {Renata G. Raidou and Björn Sommer and Torsten W. Kuhlen and Michael Krone and Thomas Schultz and Hsiang-Yun Wu},
title = {{Is there a Tornado in Alex's Blood Flow? A Case Study for Narrative Medical Visualization}},
project = {ttmedvis},
author = {Kleinau, Anna and Stupak, Evgenia and Mörth, Eric and Garrison, Laura A. and Mittenentzwei, Sarah and Smit, Noeska N. and Lawonn, Kai and Bruckner, Stefan and Gutberlet, Matthias and Preim, Bernhard and Meuschke, Monique},
year = {2022},
abstract = {Narrative visualization advantageously combines storytelling with new media formats and techniques, like interactivity, to create improved learning experiences. In medicine, it has the potential to improve patient understanding of diagnostic procedures and treatment options, promote confidence, reduce anxiety, and support informed decision-making. However, limited scientific research has been conducted regarding the use of narrative visualization in medicine. To explore the value of narrative visualization in this domain, we introduce a data-driven story to inform a broad audience about the usage of measured blood flow data to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases. The focus of the story is on blood flow vortices in the aorta, with which imaging technique they are examined, and why they can be dangerous. In an interdisciplinary team, we define the main contents of the story and the resulting design questions. We sketch the iterative design process and implement the story based on two genres. In a between-subject study, we evaluate the suitability and understandability of the story and the influence of different navigation concepts on user experience. Finally, we discuss reusable concepts for further narrative medical visualization projects.},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISSN = {2070-5786},
ISBN = {978-3-03868-177-9},
DOI = {10.2312/vcbm.20221183},
pdf = {pdfs/Kleinau_2022.pdf},
thumbnails = {images/Kleinau_2022.PNG},
images = {images/Kleinau_2022.PNG},
}@article{Meuschke2022narrative,
title = {Narrative medical visualization to communicate disease data},
author = {Meuschke, Monique and Garrison, Laura A. and Smit, Noeska N. and Bach, Benjamin and Mittenentzwei, Sarah and Wei{\ss}, Veronika and Bruckner, Stefan and Lawonn, Kai and Preim, Bernhard},
year = 2022,
journal = {Computers & Graphics},
volume = 107,
pages = {144--157},
doi = {10.1016/j.cag.2022.07.017},
issn = {0097-8493},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009784932200139X},
abstract = {This paper explores narrative techniques combined with medical visualizations to tell data-driven stories about diseases for a general audience. The field of medical illustration uses narrative visualization through hand-crafted techniques to promote health literacy. However, data-driven narrative visualization has rarely been applied to medical data. We derived a template for creating stories about diseases and applied it to three selected diseases to demonstrate how narrative techniques could support visual communication and facilitate understanding of medical data. One of our main considerations is how interactive 3D anatomical models can be integrated into the story and whether this leads to compelling stories in which the users feel involved. A between-subject study with 90 participants suggests that the combination of a carefully designed narrative structure, the constant involvement of a specific patient, high-qualitative visualizations combined with easy-to-use interactions, are critical for an understandable story about diseases that would be remembered by participants.},
pdf = {pdfs/Narrative_medical_MEUSCHKE_DOA18072022_AFV.pdf},
thumbnails = {images/Meuschke2022narrative-thumb.png},
images = {images/Meuschke2022narrative.png},
project = {VIDI}
}@article{Kristiansen2022ContentDriven,
title = {Content-Driven Layout for Visualization Design},
author = {Kristiansen, Yngve and Garrison, Laura and Bruckner, Stefan},
year = 2022,
journal = {Proceedings of the International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (to appear)},
volume = {},
pages = {},
doi = {},
issn = {},
url = {},
abstract = {Multi-view visualizations are typically presented in a grid layout with elements positioned according to their bounding rectangles. These rectangles often contain unused white space. In cases where Tufte’s Shrink Principle can be applied to reduce non-data-ink without impairing the communication of information, unused white space can be utilized for the placement of other elements. This is often done in manually “hand-crafted” layouts by designers. However, upon changes to individual elements, this design process has to be repeated. To reduce non-data-ink and repetitive manual design, we contribute a method for automatically turning a grid layout into a content-driven layout, where elements are positioned with respect to their contents. Existing approaches have explored the use of a force simulation in conjunction with proxy geometries to simplify collision handling for irregular shapes. Such customized force directed layouts are usually unstable, and often require additional constraints to run properly. In addition, proxy geometries become less accurate and effective with more irregular shapes. To solve these shortcomings, we contribute an approach for identifying central elements in an original grid layout in order to set up corresponding attractive forces. Furthermore, we utilize an imagebased approach for collision detection and avoidance that works accurately for highly irregular shapes. We demonstrate the utility of our approach with three case studies.},
images = "images/Kristiansen-2022-LungsDt.PNG",
thumbnails = "images/Kristiansen-2022-LungsDt.PNG",
pdf = {pdfs/Kristiansen-2022-CDL.pdf},
project = "MetaVis",
}@ARTICLE {Garrison2022MolColor,
author = "Laura A. Garrison and Stefan Bruckner",
title = "Considering Best Practices in Color Palettes for Molecular Visualizations",
journal = "Journal of Integrative Bioinformatics",
year = "2022",
abstract = "Biomedical illustration and visualization techniques provide a window into complex molecular worlds that are difficult to capture through experimental means alone. Biomedical illustrators frequently employ color to help tell a molecular story, e.g., to identify key molecules in a signaling pathway. Currently, color use for molecules is largely arbitrary and often chosen based on the client, cultural factors, or personal taste. The study of molecular dynamics is relatively young, and some stakeholders argue that color use guidelines would throttle the growth of the field. Instead, content authors have ample creative freedom to choose an aesthetic that, e.g., supports the story they want to tell. However, such creative freedom comes at a price. The color design process is challenging, particularly for those without a background in color theory. The result is a semantically inconsistent color space that reduces the interpretability and effectiveness of molecular visualizations as a whole. Our contribution in this paper is threefold. We first discuss some of the factors that contribute to this array of color palettes. Second, we provide a brief sampling of color palettes used in both industry and research sectors. Lastly, we suggest considerations for developing best practices around color palettes applied to molecular visualization.",
images = "images/garrison-molecularcolor-full.png",
thumbnails = "images/garrison-molecularcolor-thumb.png",
pdf = "pdfs/garrison-molecularcolor.pdf",
publisher = "De Gruyter",
doi = "10.1515/jib-2022-0016",
project = "VIDI"
}@ARTICLE {Garrison2022PhysioSTAR,
author = "Laura A. Garrison and Ivan Kolesar and Ivan Viola and Helwig Hauser and Stefan Bruckner",
title = "Trends & Opportunities in Visualization for Physiology: A Multiscale Overview",
journal = "Computer Graphics Forum",
year = "2022",
volume = "41",
number = "3",
publisher = "The Eurographics Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",
pages = "609-643",
doi = "10.1111/cgf.14575",
abstract = "Combining elements of biology, chemistry, physics, and medicine, the science of human physiology is complex and multifaceted. In this report, we offer a broad and multiscale perspective on key developments and challenges in visualization for physiology. Our literature search process combined standard methods with a state-of-the-art visual analysis search tool to identify surveys and representative individual approaches for physiology. Our resulting taxonomy sorts literature on two levels. The first level categorizes literature according to organizational complexity and ranges from molecule to organ. A second level identifies any of three high-level visualization tasks within a given work: exploration, analysis, and communication. The findings of this report may be used by visualization researchers to understand the overarching trends, challenges, and opportunities in visualization for physiology and to provide a foundation for discussion and future research directions in this area. ",
images = "images/garrison-STAR-taxonomy.png",
thumbnails = "images/garrison-STAR-thumb.png",
pdf = "pdfs/Garrison_STAR_cameraready.pdf",
publisher = "The Eurographics Association and John Wiley \& Sons Ltd.",
project = "VIDI"
}2021
![[VID]](https://vis.uib.no/wp-content/papercite-data/images/video.png)
[Bibtex] @Article{Kristiansen-2021-SSG,
author = {Kristiansen, Y. S. and Garrison, L. and Bruckner, S.},
title = {Semantic Snapping for Guided Multi-View Visualization Design},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics},
year = {2021},
volume = {},
pages = {},
doi = {},
abstract = {Visual information displays are typically composed of multiple visualizations that are used to facilitate an understanding of the underlying data. A common example are dashboards, which are frequently used in domains such as finance, process monitoring and business intelligence. However, users may not be aware of existing guidelines and lack expert design knowledge when composing such multi-view visualizations. In this paper, we present semantic snapping, an approach to help non-expert users design effective multi-view visualizations from sets of pre-existing views. When a particular view is placed on a canvas, it is “aligned” with the remaining views–not with respect to its geometric layout, but based on aspects of the visual encoding itself, such as how data dimensions are mapped to channels. Our method uses an on-the-fly procedure to detect and suggest resolutions for conflicting, misleading, or ambiguous designs, as well as to provide suggestions for alternative presentations. With this approach, users can be guided to avoid common pitfalls encountered when composing visualizations. Our provided examples and case studies demonstrate the usefulness and validity of our approach.},
note = {Accepted for publication, to be presented at IEEE VIS 2021},
project = {MetaVis,VIDI},
pdf = {pdfs/Kristiansen-2021-SSG.pdf},
vid = {vids/Kristiansen-2021-SSG.mp4},
thumbnails = {images/Kristiansen-2021-SSG.png},
images = {images/Kristiansen-2021-SSG.jpg},
keywords = {tabular data, guidelines, mixed initiative human-machine analysis, coordinated and multiple views},
doi = {10.1109/TVCG.2021.3114860},
}@InProceedings{Garrison-2021-EPP,
author = {Laura Garrison and Monique Meuschke and Jennifer Fairman and Noeska Smit and Bernhard Preim and Stefan Bruckner},
title = {An Exploration of Practice and Preferences for the Visual Communication of Biomedical Processes},
booktitle = {Proceedings of VCBM},
year = {2021},
pages = {},
doi = {},
abstract = {The visual communication of biomedical processes draws from diverse techniques in both visualization and biomedical illustration. However, matching these techniques to their intended audience often relies on practice-based heuristics or narrow-scope evaluations. We present an exploratory study of the criteria that audiences use when evaluating a biomedical process visualization targeted for communication. Designed over a series of expert interviews and focus groups, our study focuses on common communication scenarios of five well-known biomedical processes and their standard visual representations. We framed these scenarios in a survey with participant expertise spanning from minimal to expert knowledge of a given topic. Our results show frequent overlap in abstraction preferences between expert and non-expert audiences, with similar prioritization of clarity and the ability of an asset to meet a given communication objective. We also found that some illustrative conventions are not as clear as we thought, e.g., glows have broadly ambiguous meaning, while other approaches were unexpectedly preferred, e.g., biomedical illustrations in place of data-driven visualizations. Our findings suggest numerous opportunities for the continued convergence of visualization and biomedical illustration techniques for targeted visualization design.
Best Paper Honorable Mention at VCBM 2021},
note = {Accepted for publication, to be presented at VCBM 2021},
project = {VIDI,ttmedvis},
pdf = {pdfs/Garrison-2021-EPP.pdf},
thumbnails = {images/Garrison-2021-EPP.png},
images = {images/Garrison-2021-EPP.jpg},
url = {https://github.com/lauragarrison87/Biomedical_Process_Vis},
keywords = {biomedical illustration, visual communication, survey},
}![[YT]](https://vis.uib.no/wp-content/papercite-data/images/youtube.png)