Visual analytics is the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces. One key aspect that separates visual analytics from other related fields (InfoVis, SciVis, HCI) is the focus on analytical reasoning. While the final products generated at from an analytical process are of great value, research has shown that the processes of the analysis themselves are just as important if not more so. These processes not only contain information on individual insights discovered, but also how the users arrive at these insights.

Hans Rosling’s famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport’s commentator’s style to reveal the story of the world’s past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before – using augmented reality animation. In this spectacular section of ‘The Joy of Stats’ he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers – in just four minutes. Plotting life expectancy against income for every country since 1810, Hans shows how the world we live in is radically different from the world most of us imagine.

Attached is the November 2010 edition of the Integrated Visualization and Analytics Community (iVAC) Newsletter. The Basic/Futures Research (BFR) Program believes that regular communication is one of the most effective ways to enable our Data and Visual Analytics enterprise to flourish.

The iVAC Newsletter is envisioned as a coordinating function for the various activities coming out of the BFR program, international university partners and other government agencies.

The thought is to present and share knowledge of these initiatives, accomplishments in various areas (technology, publications, new funding, etc.), up-coming conferences and events, and other significant happenings to the entire community.

As you might know Jacques Bertin, the great geographer who laid the foundations of information visualization, passed away few months ago.

During the last VisWeek Jean-Daniel Fekete gave a Salute to Jacques Bertin and I was totally amazed to know all these details about him: the impact he had on our field, the way he thought about visualization, the unexplored gems hidden in his Semiology of Graphics, etc.