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12 June: Greg McInerny (CIM)

BACKFILLZ and WAYS – Addressing longstanding visualisation problems at the site of production.

I will introduce the BACKFILLZ project that James and I have been working on. Here we address some issues in MCMC visualisation (MCMC, Markov Chain Monte Carlo is an optimisation/parametrisation algorithm that is widely used in data science). The problem with Monte Carlo is that there is no definitive way to know if the algorithm has been run for long enough and if you have enough samples. Our goal is to articulate concepts such as ‘mixing’ and ‘ergodicity’ in the visualisation and increase the information available to the user. This is difficult as MCMC chains contains so many samples, and we might have multiple chains and many parameters.

In the second half I will introduce the new project that the Alan Turing Institute have agreed to fund, which relates to the precursor visualisation concept that I have mentioned to some people previously. Here we are addressing the issue that visualisation software does not necessarily produce visualisations. In the WAYS project James and I will work with people in the Social Justice and Digital Twins: Data Centric Engineering themes at Turing, as well as conducting research on how people visualise data using a new spyware called GRAPHO. Its an exciting new project that will last 18 months, and hopefully start in September.

Lunchtime Lecture by Dr Karol Kurnicki at Connected Places Catapult

Cars provide us with flexible mobility, freedom, comfort and experience of progress. But these aspects of automobility are based on cars in movement – a partial picture which misses the fact that usually they remain stationary. As such, they are problematic for drivers, create obstacles for people in public places and have to be managed, often at a great cost, as they take up large portion of urban space.

Looking at parking as a social practice helps to understand it in the context of everyday mobility and production of infrastructure in cities. I want to distinguish parking from driving and see it immobility as it is achieved by people and that requires special set of skills, knowledge and rules. Although rarely seen in this context, parking also relates to a special kind of infrastructure composed not only from car parks and lots, but also temporary or self-made places occupied by vehicles.

The talk will draw on this twofold understanding of parking to show its relevance for everyday experiences of people as well as planning and control of urban spaces. It will discuss its problematic nature and argue that changes in how people practice immobility in cities and create infrastructure are necessary for achieving better urban futures.