Einari Vaaras, Manu Airaksinen, Okko Räsänencs.HC cs.AI cs.LG cs.SE
We present TSExplorer, a cross-platform tool for interactive annotation and exploration of time-series data. The tool enables users to inspect high-dimensional datasets through multiple complementary 2D visualizations derived from high-dimensional feature representations. TSExplorer is designed as a general-purpose research tool supporting a wide range of workflows, including exploratory data analysis, annotation of unlabeled or partially-labeled datasets, comparison of feature representations, and post-hoc inspection and refinement of existing labels with interactive visual feedback.
We present Chart2SVG, a multimodal large language model that converts static raster charts into structurally organized, semantically enriched SVGs that support programmatic editing. By incorporating chart-specific semantic tokens into a vision-language model, Chart2SVG captures both geometric primitives and their functional roles. To support robust structural recovery, we introduce Beagle+, a dataset of 33K canonicalized and structurally distilled chart samples. Our approach combines specialized training objectives with a rendering-aware post-training phase, producing SVGs that are both visually accurate and structurally consistent. To facilitate higher-level manipulations, we construct a Chart Structure Graph (CSG) that exposes visual dependencies, enabling tasks such as interactive exploration, chart repurposing, and layout reuse. Experiments show that Chart2SVG substantially outperforms baselines in reconstruction fidelity and downstream editing utility, advancing the development of intelligent and interactive visualization tools.
Aashish Panta, Hugo Lee, Giorgio Scorzelli +2cs.HC cs.AI
Modern scientific facilities and instruments generate datasets at scales that are difficult for individual researchers to discover, access, and explore. Although many datasets are publicly available, using them often requires familiarity with repository organization, data formats, multiresolution structures, and visualization parameters. We present WebVisus, a constrained and resource-aware multi-agent system for discovering and autonomously exploring remote, multiresolution scientific datasets. Given a natural-language research question, WebVisus identifies the user's intent and launches an autonomous exploration agent that examines slices, volumes, and timesteps while adapting data resolution and retrieval quality to available client memory and computational resources. This design supports progressive exploration without complete dataset downloads or manual configuration of low-level visualization parameters using natural languages. We report the system architecture, constrained agent protocol, resource-aware access mechanism, and case studies evaluating autonomous visual exploration and resource-aware agentic access across scientific datasets.
Dimensionality reduction methods are instrumental to visualize high-dimensional data, and t-SNE stands as one of the most widely used methods due to its emphasis on local neighborhood preservation. A central component of t-SNE is the affinity matrix, which expresses pairwise similarities in the form of symmetrized probabilities, over which the optimization problem of t-SNE is defined. We study how the sharpness of this probability distribution affects neighborhood preservation at different scales. We introduce a row-wise power transform controlled by a parameter gamma that can smooth or sharpen each row of the affinity matrix while preserving sparsity and rank order. We show that this transform is equivalent to rescaling the Gaussian bandwidth and thus to changing the perplexity. However, as the sharpness of the probability distribution varies per point, a fixed gamma leads to point-dependent effective perplexities, making it distinct from changing the global perplexity. Empirically, we find that sharpening improves preservation of the very nearest neighbors, while smoothing improves preservation of broader local neighborhoods, outperforming alternative affinity constructions including multiscale methods in the mid-local range.
Jiří Milička, Ivan Kraus, Arnold Stanovský +5cs.CL
Parts of speech categorization is understood in the European linguistic tradition as crisp categorization, which is also reflected in corpus linguistics, where each disambiguated token is assigned exactly one POS. However, the assigned categories are largely determined by arbitrary decisions distilled into annotation manuals. Since some words stand between parts of speech in their semantics or typical syntax, and some parts of speech are closer to each other than others, POS categorization seems inherently fuzzy. We analyze this fuzziness using word2vec embeddings, training a neural network to reduce their high dimensionality to three dimensions relevant for determining parts of speech. This creates a three-dimensional space onto which we map several thousand words, revealing which are prototypical and which lie on the boundaries, and visualizing relationships between parts of speech. The study uses Universal Dependencies POS tags for French, Czech, Finnish, Russian, and English.
Topological deep learning (TDL) methods rely on lifting raw data into higher-order discrete domains such as simplicial complexes, cell complexes, and hypergraphs. In practice, this lifting step is often treated as a black box: practitioners select a lifting and then tune architectures, with limited visibility into whether the induced higher-order connectivity is meaningful for the downstream task. To address this missing diagnostic layer, we propose a visualization technique called TopoExplorer that leverages the strictly augmented Hasse graph form of topological datasets for exploratory data analysis. For the first time, practitioners can easily visualize the incidence- and adjacency-based neighborhoods that define the lifted dataset, as well as read off key graph metrics that describe its structural and feature landscape. Via an extensive set of experiments across many datasets and liftings, we show that several of these metrics correlate with downstream model performance, suggesting they can help inform TDL preprocessing design. Our perspective reframes the TDL workflow from lift-train to lift-look-design-train, enabling more principled, interpretable, and efficient model development. TopoExplorer is hosted at https://topoexplorer.pagekite.me, and its source code is available at github.com/geometric-intelligence/topoexplorer.
Autonomous scientific discovery systems can generate large numbers of research ideas, experiments, and manuscripts with minimal human intervention. As these systems become increasingly capable, scientists require effective mechanisms to monitor output quality, identify recurring failure modes, understand research evolution, and prioritize promising discoveries for review. We present AIMC, a visual analytics framework for human oversight of autonomous scientific discovery. AIMC combines semantic embeddings, automated weakness extraction, temporal analysis, and interactive visualizations to support the exploration of AI-generated research artifacts. We demonstrate the framework through a case study of the papers generated by an autonomous AI Scientist (FARS), together with their associated review feedback. Our analysis reveals recurring methodological weaknesses, evolving research themes, domain-specific differences in quality, and a small set of highly novel papers that warrant deeper human inspection. These findings illustrate how visual analytics can support transparency, diagnosis, and human AI collaboration in emerging autonomous scientific discovery workflows.
Virtual cells employ machine learning models to simulate and predict cellular behaviors, serving as a critical computational framework for investigating health and disease. Injecting causal graphs into virtual cells can improve the interpretability, but such graphs are usually not available in real-world applications. Recently, many methods have been proposed to construct causal graphs from data, which group genes based on their similarities to form concepts and extract their causal relationships. However, since this automatic process is unsupervised, the causal graphs usually contain errors. In this paper, we propose a human-guided causal knowledge injection method for virtual cells. We developed a gene-similarity-aware causal graph visualization supported by a hybrid optimization algorithm to help explore both the causal relationships between concepts and the similarities between genes. Based on the exploration, we further developed a counterfactual analysis strategy supported by a counterfactual visualization and a causal path visualization to help validate and refine causal graphs. The effectiveness of our method is demonstrated through two real-world case studies, the extraction of scientifically meaningful causal insights, and positive feedback from domain experts.
Quality metrics play a crucial role in the proper use of dimensionality reduction projections for visual analysis of high-dimensional data. They quantify the degree of distortion of a projection compared to the high-dimensional data and provide a reliable indication of how confident users can be in the structures they see in the resulting layouts. However, most popular metrics focus on capturing direct relationships between points (e.g., distances or neighborhoods) while neglecting distortions in empty areas of the layout, even though these often compose visually relevant features of a 2D layout. In this paper, we introduce the Gap Index (GI), a quality metric for 2D projections that captures visual distortion by measuring spatial distortion in empty areas of a projection. It does so by decomposing the space into empty triangles, which are then compared to their high-dimensional counterparts to compute the deformation. This per-triangle deformation can be aggregated into a single scalar value or overlaid on a projection to visualize regional distortion patterns. Results show that, contrary to popular quality metrics, the GI is sensitive to small structural deformations that have high visual impact. It is also fast to compute and interpretable.
Contemporary LLM-based coding agents produce code as black-box outputs: the rationale behind each line is hidden, the evolution of the code through benchmark-driven repair is ephemeral, and post-hoc auditing is impossible. We present a code generation concept that addresses these shortcomings through three complementary mechanisms: (i) a relational snippet-history schema that records, per repair event, the benchmark reference, round number, failure text, and LLM explanation, enabling full provenance queries; (ii) a browser-based visualisation tool that renders this history as heat-mapped, hover-annotated source code; and (iii) a competitive fractional position-key indexing scheme with tree-node delimiters that assigns stable, lexicographically-ordered identifiers to each code snippet, enabling fine-grained tracking without disrupting surrounding lines. We evaluate TraceCoder on 30 algorithmic programming tasks spanning string processing, mathematical computation, and data-structure manipulation, across two provider configurations. Of these, 10 exhaust the 6-iteration budget on tasks with subtle edge-case behaviour. Mean Chg% reaches 30%, three in ten code snippets carry a traceable repair-event row, compared to 21% when using Gemini 2.0 Flash as sole provider on a 20-task subset. Three detailed case studies demonstrate how the system explains which specific benchmark failures shaped each line of the final program. The proposed mechanism makes the internal "narrative" of automated code generation auditable and replayable, a property essential for trust and accountability in production deployments.
It is common for two-dimensional embeddings of high-dimensional data to be read far beyond what they can support. Distances in and between clusters, the meaning behind empty spaces, and the amount of structure hidden at each point are generally invisible in the output of methods such as t-SNE and UMAP. This is because the information that could support the meaning of these properties is discarded during the optimisation process. Here, we present FloDR, a dimensionality reduction method that embeds data through an invertible normalising flow. While FloDR only uses the first two output coordinates to create a two-dimensional embedding, it retains the remaining coordinates rather than discarding them. In addition to the embedding, an exact inverse and an exact density are properties of a trained mapping, which enable diagnostic visualisations that are computed from the exact inverse of the model that drew the layout rather than from an approximate one. Specifically, we draw two fields, the conditional spread, which measures how much of the original data remains undetermined at each embedding position in input units, and the hidden contrast, which measures how much information about a labelled contrast the two plotted coordinates discard. Both fields are rendered with a prespecified test against a held out portion of the input data and a bootstrap confidence. A field that fails the test is reported as refused.
Julian Agudelo, Alberto Tonda, Gabriela Ochoa +3cs.LG
Search Trajectory Networks (STNs) are a graph-based tool for visualizing and characterizing the behavior of optimization algorithms. STNs' reliance on discretization of the search space has largely confined them to low-dimensional or combinatorial settings. We introduce a methodology for constructing STNs in semantic spaces, defined as the space of a model's predictions on a fixed sample set. Our approach discretizes semantic vectors and aggregates them into network nodes via agglomerative clustering with complete linkage under a normalized Hamming distance. Since any predictor can be summarized by its semantic vector, this method enables comparison of learning dynamics across otherwise incomparable algorithm families. We apply semantic space STNs to classification and regression tasks solved using different machine learning algorithms, recovering known qualitative differences between them. Additionally, we use semantic space STNs to study neural network generalization by contrasting standard training with the label randomization regime of Zhang et al. (2017). The resulting STNs exhibit consistent structural differences, training on real labels produces denser, more efficient and more centralized graphs than training on shuffled labels. Together, our results show that semantic space STNs capture functional training dynamics arising from the interaction between learning algorithms and data, providing a tool for analyzing and comparing learning dynamics across machine learning models and training regimes.
Multimodal large language models (MLLMs) can connect visualization patterns to external causes, consequences, and domain knowledge, but the evidential basis of these interpretations is often unclear. We present an exploratory study of 102 visualizations from four sources, three MLLMs, and four input conditions that vary access to the image, source-specific accessible chart context, and withheld-context framing. Across 1,224 descriptions, we analyze model-attributed DIRECT, DERIVED, and SPECULATIVE labels and conduct an automated audit of numeric agreement. Accessible chart context shifted Gemini and GPT toward DIRECT claims and improved numeric agreement for some models. Adding the image to the full context did not yield a consistent numeric benefit, and the withheld-context prompt did not reliably increase cautious language. The prompt-defined Real-World Significance section remained predominantly SPECULATIVE. These results motivate accessible description systems that distinguish claims supported by supplied evidence from model-supplied interpretation
Multimodal large language models (MLLMs) are increasingly expected to automate visualization development by generating code directly from visual designs. However, existing evaluations mainly focus on single-chart generation and overlook coordinated multi-view interface construction, which requires joint reasoning about data semantics, view coordination, and interaction logic. Consequently, MLLM capabilities in this setting remain underexplored, and the field lacks a dedicated benchmark for systematic assessment. We introduce MV-Bench, a benchmark for evaluating MLLMs on coordinated multi-view interface construction. Instead of relying on incomplete or inconsistent open-source implementations, we use Tableau workbook files as ground truth because they explicitly encode data bindings, visual mappings, and interactions. We develop a multi-stage pipeline that converts these specifications into executable web interfaces through structured intermediate representations. The benchmark contains 92 base interfaces and 1,048 verified instances created by recombining chart types, datasets, and interaction patterns. Each instance includes executable code, a rendered interface, a dataset, and interaction annotations. We evaluate five state-of-the-art MLLMs in a single-pass setting using metrics for visual fidelity, data binding correctness, and interaction completeness. The strongest model achieves 75.45 percent accuracy in visual layout reproduction, but only 21.71 percent in data binding and 11.68 percent in interaction completeness. These results show that current MLLMs can reproduce visual appearance but remain limited in generating the data semantics and interactive logic required by coordinated multi-view interfaces. Iterative refinement improves code executability but does not substantially reduce the gap in data binding and interaction generation.
Hypergraph-based RAG systems surpass traditional graph-based approaches by organizing complex n-ary atomic facts among entities, rather than relying solely on binary relationships. Despite the advancements in multimodal large language models (MLLMs) with enhanced visual capabilities, current hypergraph-based RAG frameworks predominantly restrict knowledge retrieval and reconstruction to a unimodal, text-centric paradigm. This limitation prevents them from fully leveraging the powerful visual perception capabilities of modern MLLMs. To address this gap, we systematically explore the integration of hypergraph awareness in RAG systems through visual cues. By incorporating visual representations of hypergraphs into the RAG pipeline, we introduce VizRAG, the first RAG system to support visual hypergraph structure awareness. Experimental results demonstrate that VizRAG significantly outperforms strong baselines, validating the promising potential of hypergraph visualization as a novel approach for RAG systems.
Chun-houh Chen, Shun-Chuan Chang, Chiun-How Kao +5stat.ML cs.LG stat.CO stat.ME
High-dimensional categorical data arise in genetics, biomedicine, and the social sciences, yet visualization tools for such data remain far less developed than those for continuous variables. Existing methods either scale poorly, rely heavily on low-dimensional displays detached from the original data matrix, or prioritize predictive accuracy over interpretability. To address this gap, we introduce categorical Generalized Association Plots (cGAP), a visualization framework for nominal, ordinal, and binary data that preserves the original data matrix while augmenting it with interpretable geometric structure. cGAP uses Homogeneity Analysis (HOMALS) to embed subjects and category levels in a three-dimensional Euclidean space and maps the embedding to red-green-blue coordinates so that similar patterns receive similar colors. The framework integrates three coordinated views: a HOMALS-guided heatmap of the raw data matrix, a subject proximity matrix, and a variable proximity matrix. Seriation algorithms are then used to reorder rows and columns to reveal coherent clusters, outliers, and local-to-global structure. We also derive barycentric traceability, projection-distortion, and contrast-preservation properties that clarify how embedding geometry is transferred to the display. We demonstrate the versatility of cGAP through applications to student-animal classification data, mammalian dentition profiles, mushroom records from the UCI Machine Learning Repository, and the Clusters of Orthologous Genes database. These examples show that cGAP supports transparent exploratory analysis by maintaining traceability between derived visual structure and the original categorical observations. cGAP provides a full-matrix, heatmap-based visualization environment for investigating complex categorical datasets across scientific domains.
Michael Correll, Lucy Havens, Mahsan Nouranics.HC cs.AI
The persuasive power of data visualizations can go awry: for instance, in an explainable AI (XAI) context, visualizations can produce over-trust of predictive models. In this paper, we use a crowdsourced study to show that providing accurate (but superfluous or irrelevant) data in a model explanation can, in fact, result in unjustified trust and other positive beliefs about a model, even when the model is patently discriminatory and unfair. Our results suggest that XAI designers and developers need to consider the implicit or explicit rhetorics of their work, and beware of the potential of visualizations to imbue models with unearned trust.
Reinforcement learning is usually introduced through the Bellman update, yet the equation often remains abstract to undergraduates: they watch policy arrows converge but rarely observe how each value is computed or why an action is chosen. We present Q-Learning Lab, a single-file, browser-based, bilingual (Thai/English) tool for teaching tabular Q-learning that requires no installation. Beyond the usual gridworld visualization - color-coded Q-values and policy arrows on a $5 \times 5$ world - the tool exposes a live Bellman-substitution panel showing the numeric update at every step, and logs each transition, including the full pre-action Q-row, the greedy-versus-random decision under $\varepsilon$-greedy exploration, and wall-collision events, into an exportable trace. The central contribution is a learn-export-analyze loop: learners run their own agent, export the complete trace as CSV, and analyze it themselves, producing learning curves, value heatmaps, and visitation maps, turning a passive demonstration into a source of learner-generated data for reflective inquiry. We validate the tool without human-subject data through three complementary evaluations: (i) correctness of the learned values and policy against a value-iteration ground truth on the identical MDP; (ii) hyperparameter sweeps over $α$, $γ$, and $\varepsilon$ showing that every pedagogical claim the tool makes is reproducible; and (iii) a reward-editing study that uses the ground-truth optimal policy to separate two behaviorally identical but diagnostically opposite failure modes - an exploration failure versus genuine reward misspecification - that a single edited reward can produce. We also compare the tool against existing gridworld visualizers, describe its grounding in learning-by-doing pedagogy, and include a 50-minute lesson plan. The tool and all experiment code are openly available.
Zhiguang Zhou, Fengling Zheng, Miaoxin Hu +9cs.HC cs.AI
Structured representation can characterize semantic objects and relationships in images. It provides a possible effective way for the semantic understanding of Traditional Chinese Paintings (TCPs) to better support archaeology and art history research. However, most image-oriented structured representation methods perform poorly on TCPs, due to two major challenges: 1) the objects and events of TCPs exhibit substantial differences from modern natural images, which results in semantic misunderstandings of TCPs; and 2) it is difficult to achieve accurate identification of ancient objects and events in TCPs, even for domain experts.In this paper, we propose VisTCP, a visualization framework that combines a TCP-oriented intelligent model and expert knowledge, which enables art historians to achieve trustworthy structured representations of TCPs in a human-in-the-loop manner. Firstly, we conduct a pilot study with three domain experts to build a semantic taxonomy of TCPs. Then, expert-annotated data are used to train a TCP-oriented structured representation model, which can automatically extract meaningful objects and their relationships in TCPs. To inform users of the model uncertainty, we design a joint embedding visualization view to show the differences between expert annotations and model predictions. This allows users to refine the structured representation based on their domain knowledge, enabling iterative optimization of the model. Finally, we conduct a case study, a usage scenario, and expert interviews on a real dataset to demonstrate the effectiveness of VisTCP in supporting the structured representation and semantic understanding of TCPs.
We present The Architect, a system that turns Microsoft Excel into an interactive view of deep learning mathematics. A user describes a neural network in a compact table. The system then generates a workbook that shows the full forward pass and, when requested, the backward pass and parameter updates. Computed values appear as live spreadsheet formulas, while user-controlled values such as inputs, weights, labels, and hyperparameters remain editable. Excel reactively updates the dependent computations through its recalculation engine. Most deep learning tools hide the numerical details behind library calls. Many visualization tools show architecture diagrams or training summaries, but they do not expose the full arithmetic of the model. The Architect focuses on that missing middle layer. It makes matrices, activations, losses, gradients, and updates visible as inspectable spreadsheet regions, with editable controls for values users naturally manipulate. The system also produces aligned PyTorch snippets, which helps users connect formulas to implementation. This report describes the motivation, design, implementation, and use cases of The Architect. We show how the system supports introductory arithmetic tracing, learning-rate exploration, diagnosis of dying ReLU, and inspection of vanishing gradients. The main idea is simple: spreadsheets already support formulas, direct editing, reactive recomputation, and tabular layout. These properties make them a useful medium for understanding how small educational and diagnostic neural networks compute.
Neuroimaging research requires manipulating heterogeneous data structures, including raw MRI volumes, volumetric parcellations, cortical surface meshes, tractograms, and connectivity matrices, across tools with incompatible interfaces and file formats, forcing researchers to repeatedly re-implement routine but technically demanding operations. We present CLABTOOLKIT, an open-source Python package that consolidates these operations into a single, coherent framework by representing volumetric, surface, and streamline data as interoperable Python objects. Five core data structures (Parcellation, Surface, AnnotParcellation, Tractogram, and Connectome) encapsulate common neuroanatomical entities and provide consistent methods for loading, processing, and exporting data across standard neuroimaging formats (e.g., NIfTI, GIFTI, FreeSurfer annotations, TCK/TRK), including connectome generation from a parcellation and scalar-map projection onto tractogram streamlines. Complementary modules support BIDS dataset management, FreeSurfer integration, diffusion MRI processing, morphometric analysis, graph-theoretical network analysis, and GPU-accelerated multi-panel visualization via PyVista. The toolkit comprises 19 modules organised into six layers, exposing 13 object-oriented classes with 234 methods and 207 standalone functions, and a JSON-based configuration system enables workflow customization without code changes. Unlike existing neuroimaging libraries, which typically address these tasks separately, CLABTOOLKIT combines color and lookup-table management, parcellation manipulation, multi-surface visualization, and tractography utilities within a single framework. CLABTOOLKIT is compatible with Python 3.9-3.12 and released under the Apache 2.0 license. Source code, documentation, and example workflows are available at https://github.com/connectomicslab/clabtoolkit.
Stephen McIntosh, Daisuke Saito, Nobuaki Minematsucs.CL cs.SD eess.AS
This paper presents Speech Playground, an interactive speech visualization and comparison tool. While existing tools such as Praat are excellent, it can be cumbersome to integrate them with modern deep learning representations and use them for comparison. Speech Playground addresses this by combining a Python backend with a web-based frontend for interactive exploration of multiple feature types, including continuous, discrete, and variable-length representations. It includes TextGrid and forced alignment support together with configurable distance and alignment settings for visual and auditory comparison. Speech Playground is intended for use in speech research, representation validation, and computer-aided pronunciation training (CAPT)-oriented experimentation.
Graphs are commonly visualized in 2D, where humans readily interpret spatial relationships, yet such layouts often distort higher-dimensional structure. We propose to embed graphs in high-dimensional space and search for informative 2D viewpoints that optimize aesthetic and readability metrics (e.g., edge crossings and angular resolution), enabled by a novel differentiable surrogate for edge crossings. Numerical experiments show that these viewpoints consistently outperform standard 2D layouts, and can even surpass methods explicitly designed to optimize these metrics. We further introduce DataFly, an interactive system for exploring multiple candidate viewpoints through seamless navigation. A usability study demonstrates that our approach reveals structural patterns that remain hidden in conventional 2D visualizations.
Interactive visualizations support conceptual understanding in undergraduate mathematics, but building them has required programming expertise most instructors lack. Using a design-based research approach, we develop, deploy, and evaluate a six-phase workflow (Foundation, Customization, Mathematical Depth, Application, Accessibility, Pedagogical Control) that uses generative AI to build WCAG~2.2 Level~AA compliant visualizations without programming. The six phases structure every prompt, scaffold the AI's code generation, and define where human verification is applied. We ask whether the structure reliably yields correct and accessible tools, whether it runs both backward (reverse-engineering prompts from a finished tool) and forward (generating a tool from a plain-language idea), and what verification each phase requires. Across four deployed tools spanning calculus, multivariable calculus, and differential equations, we evaluate mathematical correctness against closed forms, accessibility through automated and manual screen-reader testing, and the errors that recurred. The structure produces structurally complete first-pass tools, but human verification remains mandatory at every phase: each output must be checked for mathematical correctness, accessibility, and pedagogical fit before the next phase begins. The workflow is platform-independent and serves both instructors and students.
Brian Keith-Norambuena, Fausto German, Chris Northcs.HC cs.CL cs.IR
We introduce Information Terra, a narrative-anchored semantic-first projection that places a document corpus on an Earth-like globe whose poles are two user-chosen endpoint documents and whose prime meridian is the great-circle geodesic between them on the embedding hypersphere -- so latitude encodes narrative progress and longitude thematic deviation. Land features are recovered from document density via kernel density estimation and labeled by theme. A narrative trail built from the underlying narrative coherence graph, and constrained to be monotone in geodesic progress, provides a readable storyline. The projection's axes are semantically grounded in the user's chosen narrative endpoints, and the globe metaphor affords rotation and antipodal reading. We demonstrate the method on a 540-article Cuban Protests corpus, showing a storyline from Obama's 2016 visit to the 2021 International Aid during the protests.
Efficient tactical knowledge extraction and analysis in real-time strategy (RTS) games micromanagement are constrained by the high-dimensional coupled state-action sequential data and the black-box decision-making process. Current research rarely provides a hierarchical visualization-based attribution analysis from the perspective of data decoupling and abstraction. To facilitate interpretable tactical knowledge extraction and visualization-based analysis in RTS games, a systematic framework named state-action-tactic analysis pipeline (SAT-RTS) is proposed. To decipher the deep-seated drivers of critical decisions in RTS learning systems, this work integrates interpretable visualization with the automated extraction of latent tactical patterns from high-dimensional sequence data. By adapting a cluster-centric BK-tree algorithm and incorporating specialized distance metrics designed to quantify multi-aspect similarities, the proposed framework facilitates robust state-stream abstraction. Furthermore, a rule-based multi-label extraction method is developed to transform unstructured state-action sequences into discrete and interpretable tactical labels, effectively bridging the gap between raw behavioral data and high-level tactical insights. By holistically integrating these computational methods into a hierarchical visualization-based pipeline, the proposed framework effectively addresses the challenges of processing massive real-time data streams while providing fitness landscape visualizations and analytical insights to decipher deep-seated tactical drivers. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed SAT-RTS significantly enhances the interpretability and efficiency of tactical analysis in complex RTS environments.
Lisa Schirch, Beth Goldbergcs.HC cs.AI cs.CY cs.ET cs.GR
Traditional visual data storytelling relies on binary graphics that depict two simplified groups in conflict. This can increase political polarization by oversimplifying intra-group disagreements and erasing ambiguity and shared ideas or values. This can inadvertently foster "us versus them" thinking. Intentional, pluralistic design choices for AI-enabled digital platforms can produce visualizations that emphasize nuance, opinion distribution, and intergroup commonalities. To demonstrate this potential, we examine deliberative technologies that map high-dimensional opinion spaces and highlight areas of both consensus and dissensus. The paper highlights the We the People deliberation conducted by Jigsaw and the Napolitan Institute in September 2025, which engaged over 2,400 Americans across all 435 congressional districts in an AI-supported, asynchronous dialogue regarding freedom and equality. By utilizing AI to synthesize long-form, text-based participant inputs into interactive "opinion landscapes," the initiative provided an alternative format for pluralistic data storytelling that humanized diverse viewpoints and revealed hidden areas of substantial broad consensus. The paper concludes that shifting from divisive, contrast-heavy visual frameworks to distribution-focused, interactive models represents a highly scalable, low-cost intervention capable of bridging perceptual gaps and cultivating a more resilient, collaborative democratic culture.
The emergence of Large Reasoning Models has introduced exceptionally long Chain-of-Thought traces, creating a transparency burden where critical logic is often buried under massive procedural text. To address this, we present ReasoningLens, an open-source framework designed for the hierarchical visualization and diagnostic auditing of complex reasoning chains. ReasoningLens addresses information necropsy by: (1) structuring traces into interactive hierarchies that separate high-level strategy from low-level execution; (2) leveraging an agentic auditor for automated error detection and tool-augmented verification; and (3) synthesizing systemic reasoning profiles to reveal model-specific blind spots. By transforming unstructured walls of text into actionable insights, ReasoningLens provides a modular foundation for interpreting, debugging, and optimizing the next generation of reasoning-centric AI.
Amirali Sajadi, Tu Nguyen, Kimmie Huynh +2cs.SE cs.AI cs.HC
LLM-based automated program repair (APR) agents generate patches to fix software bugs with minimal human intervention. These agents often produce long trajectories of reasoning, tool use, and feedback to produce candidate patches. Final patch outcomes show whether a repair attempt succeeded or failed, but they do not show how the agent reached that outcome, or where the process became repetitive or misaligned with the task. This makes agentic repair failures difficult to diagnose, reproduce, and prevent. To help developers address these challenges, we present TraceView, an interactive tool for labeling and visualizing repair trajectories from APR systems. TraceView organizes raw and pre-labeled agentic runs with Thought, Action, and Result components to support semantic relation labeling and diagnosis, and renders the resulting trajectory as graph views. Furthermore, TraceView provides relation filters, patch outcome summaries, metrics, and node-level evidence panels to help users inspect how reasoning, actions, and feedback connect across the various steps of an agentic repair attempt. We evaluate TraceView with five researchers through a survey-based user study. Participants reported that TraceView made trajectories easier to scan and that its overview-to-detail workflow helped them better understand repair behavior. The TraceView source code is available at https://github.com/SOAR-Lab/agent-traj-visualization. A screencast of TraceView is available at https://youtu.be/9ZCh7Ifj2AQ.
Dong Hyun Jeong, Feng Chen, Jin-Hee Cho +3cs.LG cs.AI
Understanding when and why deep neural networks are uncertain is crucial for deploying reliable machine learning systems in safety-critical domains. While existing uncertainty quantification methods provide scalar measures of model confidence, they offer limited insight into which spatial regions of an input contribute to different types of uncertainty. We propose a novel visualization framework, Uncertainty Activation Map (UAM), that combines Evidential Deep Learning (EDL) with Full-Gradient Class Activation Mapping (FullGrad) to generate interpretable spatial uncertainty activation maps. Our approach distinguishes between two fundamental types of uncertainty: vacuity, representing lack of evidence, and dissonance, capturing conflicting evidence between competing hypotheses. By leveraging the complete gradient decomposition property of FullGrad and the principled uncertainty quantification of Subjective Logic, our method produces theoretically grounded visualizations that highlight specific image regions responsible for model uncertainty. With this framework, vacuity and dissonance activation maps are generated by computing belief-weighted attributions, enabling identification of where models lack knowledge versus where they encounter ambiguous evidence. Extensive evaluations across multiple benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed framework effectively addresses the critical gap between uncertainty quantification and explainability, providing intuitive visual feedback to assess model reliability in complex visual recognition tasks.