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During the last decades, anatomy has become an interesting topic in education—even for laymen or schoolchildren. As medical imaging techniques become increasingly sophisticated, virtual anatomical education applications have emerged. Still, anatomical models are often preferred, as they facilitate 3D localization of anatomical structures. Recently, data physicalizations (i.e., physical visualizations) have proven to be effective and engaging—sometimes, even more than their virtual counterparts. So far, medical data physicalizations involve mainly 3D printing, which is still expensive and cumbersome. We investigate alternative forms of physicalizations, which use readily available technologies (home printers) and inexpensive materials (paper or semi‐transparent films) to generate crafts for anatomical edutainment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first computer‐generated crafting approach within an anatomical edutainment context. Our approach follows a cost‐effective, simple, and easy‐to‐employ workflow, resulting in assemblable data sculptures (i.e., semi‐transparent sliceforms). It primarily supports volumetric data (such as CT or MRI), but mesh data can also be imported. An octree slices the imported volume and an optimization step simplifies the slice configuration, proposing the optimal order for easy assembly. A packing algorithm places the resulting slices with their labels, annotations, and assembly instructions on a paper or transparent film of user‐selected size, to be printed, assembled into a sliceform, and explored. We conducted two user studies to assess our approach, demonstrating that it is an initial positive step towards the successful creation of interactive and engaging anatomical physicalizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing the evolution of thunderstorms is critical in determining the potential for the development of severe weather events. Existing visualization systems for short‐term weather forecasting (nowcasting) allow for basic analysis and prediction of storm developments. However, they lack advanced visual features for efficient decision‐making. We developed a visual analytics tool for the detection of hazardous thunderstorms and their characterization, using a visual design centered on a reformulated expert task workflow that includes visual features to overview storms and quickly identify high‐impact weather events, a novel storm graph visualization to inspect and analyze the storm structure, as well as a set of interactive views for efficient identification of similar storm cells (known as analogs) in historical data and their use for nowcasting. Our tool was designed with and evaluated by meteorologists and expert forecasters working in short‐term operational weather forecasting of severe weather events. Results show that our solution suits the forecasters' workflow. Our visual design is expressive, easy to use, and effective for prompt analysis and quick decision‐making in the context of short‐range operational weather forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental healthcare increasingly employs computer‐aided design software, to provide patients with high‐quality dental prosthetic devices. In modern dental reconstruction, dental technicians address the unique anatomy of each patient individually, by capturing the dental impression and measuring the mandibular movements. Subsequently, dental technicians design a custom denture that fits the patient from a functional point of view. The current Workflow does not include a systematic analysis of aesthetics, and dental technicians rely only on an aesthetically pleasing mock‐up that they discuss with the patient, and on their experience. Therefore, the final denture aesthetics remain unknown until the dental technicians incorporate the denture into the patient. In this Work, we present a solution that integrates aesthetics analysis into the functional Workflow of dental technicians. Our solution uses a video recording of the patient, to preview the denture design at any stage of the denture design process. We present a teeth pose estimation technique that enables denture preview and a set of linked visualizations that support dental technicians in the aesthetic design of dentures. These visualizations assist dental technicians in choosing the most aesthetically fitting preset from a library of dentures, in identifying the suitable denture size, and in adjusting the denture position. We demonstrate the utility of our system with four use cases, explored by a dental technician. Also, we performed a quantitative evaluation for teeth pose estimation, and an informal usability evaluation, with positive outcomes concerning the integration of aesthetics analysis into the functional Workflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical models of ordinary differential equations are used to describe and understand biological phenomena. These models are dynamical systems that often describe the time evolution of more than three variables, i.e., their dynamics take place in a multi‐dimensional space, called the phase space. Currently, mathematical domain scientists use plots of typical trajectories in the phase space to analyze the qualitative behavior of dynamical systems. These plots are called phase portraits and they perform well for 2D and 3D dynamical systems. However, for 4D, the visual exploration of trajectories becomes challenging, as simple subspace juxtaposition is not sufficient. We propose ManyLands to support mathematical domain scientists in analyzing 4D models of biological systems. By describing the subspaces as Lands, we accompany domain scientists along a continuous journey through 4D HyperLand, 3D SpaceLand, and 2D FlatLand, using seamless transitions. The Lands are also linked to 1D TimeLines. We offer an additional dissected view of trajectories that relies on small‐multiple compass‐alike pictograms for easy navigation across subspaces and trajectory segments of interest. We show three use cases of 4D dynamical systems from cell biology and biochemistry. An informal evaluation with mathematical experts confirmed that ManyLands helps them to visualize and analyze complex 4D dynamics, while facilitating mathematical experiments and simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]