Final Examination (Project):
For the project, each student is free to work on a visualization problem of interest using either his/her own data or data made available in the Scientific Visualization Lab. The project is intended to provide the opportunity to explore and apply visualization methods and techniques learned in class. Since understanding is the ultimate goal, analysis of the data, in addition to techniques for visual representation, should be part of the project.

Each student may choose among a variety of visualization packages available in the SciVis Lab, or may instead develop a specific visualization/analysis technique. (Original software will, of course, be taken into account in assigning course credit.)

A two-page proposal outlining the project must be submitted by a deadline to be announced. Approval for undertaking the project will be based on this proposal. The proposal should contain:
1. Project goal(s) and rationale
2. Data characteristics
3. Visualization methods to be used, and why you think they will be useful
4. Planned methods for presentation
5. Analyses to be performed
6. Expected results

The finished projects will be demonstrated to the class by each student on a computer in the SciVis Lab (or GVU Center). At the time of demonstration, a summary (3-4 pages of text and images) will also be due. The summary should follow the above outline (instead of expected results, the summary will discuss the results obtained and offer a conclusion). Students are encouraged to attach a few images (with appropriate captions) of their visualizations to the summary. As discussed below, the summary will be posted as an HTML document attached to the Data Visualization Group Web page.

Tentative Project Due Dates

May 8	Proposal due (not tentative :-)
May 22	Preliminary Web page due
May 29	Final Web page due
June 4	Project due

The schedule is tight so there will be significant penalties for missed deadlines.

HTML Presentation:
An important part of any visualization/analysis project is the presentation of results. The presentation may be to colleagues at a research conference, to members of your group, to fellow students, to your advisors or bosses, or to others. It should be clear and to-the-point, taking into account that the people who receive the information may not be experts and certainly won't know the details of your work. Your presentation should be convincing and any images, plots, etc. you present should be telling, i.e., should provide substantive support for your arguments or your analysis.

To give you experience in making these presentations, your assignment will be to post your project summary as an HTML document. These pages will be linked to the Data Visualization Group Web page (in the GVU pages) and thus will be available to the many people who browse the GVU pages every day. As an extra incentive, a distinguished panel of graphics and visualization experts will review the pages and choose the top 3. This (along with results of your project presentations) will determine the best projects in the course. The winners of the best projects will be posted on the course page.

You will be required to post a preliminary page followed by a final page. Deadlines for both postings will be given in class. We don't expect a whiz-bang design for your page. You will be graded on content. However, you are expected to include images. Information on HTML formatting will be provided. Evaluations of your pages will contribute to both the project and homework grades.