An investigation into a new aesthetics of scientific data visualisation

Visualisation is an essential part of scientific discovery where it is used as a visual tool to assist scientists identifying patterns for analysing and interpreting the scientific data (Cox 2006). The primary focus of visualisation has traditionally been on pure communication, however, this paper argues that aesthetic considerations have the potential to enhance emotional engagement in user perception of visual images. This is supported by existing research that reinforces the utility of aesthetics in terms of making people more open to identifying problems and developing creative solutions to them (Norman 2004). This paper explores the development of a new aesthetic of data visualisation by applying a Chinese traditional yijing [意境] aesthetic. This aesthetic emphasises the unification of subjective experience and objective scene (Li 2009; Zhang 2005). In traditional Chinese painting, yijing focuses on a unity of the spirit of subject and the reality of object, which is a unification of void [虚] and reality [实] (Zong 2005). A theoretical model is proposed that provides a framework for integrating aesthetics into scientific visualisation to enhance emotional engagement in a subject. This is demonstrated through the instantiation of a product that illustrates sleep using Electroencephalography (EEG) data.