A half-day workshop at IEEE VIS 2023

Not all work that moves the field forward fits into the model of a standard conference paper or conference talk. The memorability or intellectual impact of work is often inextricably linked to this non-conventional form, whether it is a reflection, provocation, critique, satire, artistic statement, or manifesto. Successful venues like ACM CHI’s alt.chi (“a forum for controversial, risk-taking, and boundary pushing research at CHI”) and various “unconferences” have emerged in the past years as a way of providing an outlet for this sort of unconventional work.

Visualization, and IEEE VIS specifically, which incorporates perspectives in the intersection between art and design, statistics and psychology, we believe is uniquely placed to both generate and value the non-traditional. What’s more, we observed a long-running desire for an outlet for non-traditional work among both long-time attendees as well as those researchers or practitioners who do not currently feel welcome or appreciated in the IEEE VIS environment.

Therefore, based on the (often unexpected) utility of unconventional work, the long standing and successful models of “alternative” conferences, and an expressed interest in bringing these models to the IEEE VIS community, we founded an “alt.VIS” workshop in 2021 as a venue for work that is otherwise difficult to place in the main conference for reasons of form, format, or topic.

The remit of this workshop, mirroring alt.CHI, is relatively broad both in terms of scope of topics and presentation types: our selection criteria are more focused on impact. What sort of work might cause the field to rethink its priorities or ways of operating? What work might highlight under-explored or neglected areas of visualization study or application? What, as per Kant, would “interrupt [our] dogmatic slumber” and stir us to action?

Call for Submissions

Note: deadline extended!!

We invite the submission of original bold, provocative, unusual, unconventional, thought-provoking works related to visualization in the broad sense. The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2023 July 7 2023, End of Day (AoE) on PCS. Note that the submission itself does not need to have the form of a traditional conference paper: You are welcome to use any template format or medium that works for your submission (this can include, but is not limited to, the familiar TVCG conference format). While alternative presentations (such as websites, videos, zines, or comics) are welcome, each work must include a PDF submission for archiving purposes including at least a title, author names*, an abstract. Traditionally written works should be no longer than 4000 words (not including references). Plagiarism (of any kind) will result in a rejection.

Examples of submissions we encourage include (but are not limited to):

Submissions will be evaluated on clarity, novelty, and their ability to promote productive thought and discussion for the alt.VIS audience. The purpose of this venue is to provide a place for works that fall outside of the purview of the main VIS paper program, and so submissions that would be more at home in the main track are unlikely to be accepted. Please consider taking a look at the submissions from last year’s alt.VIS 2022 for inspiration!

Accepted submissions will be made publicly available on the workshop’s webpage. Authors are also welcome and encouraged to archive on their repository of choice, e.g. OSF, ArXiv. Submissions will not be archived within the main IEEE VIS conference archive.

If you are unsure of how to submit your work, or if you want to discuss your submission with us, do not hesitate to contact us at alt.vis.workshop@gmail.com

* Authors serving in this workshop's organizing roles should include a COI statement in their PDF.

NOTE FOR EU SUBMITTERS: The alt.VIS workshop is Plan S compliant. Plan-S Logo

Previous Editions (and proceedings):

Organizers




Head shot of Lonni Besancon

Lonni Besançon
Monash University
@lonnibesancon
lonnibesancon.me

Head shot of Derya Akbaba

Derya Akbaba
Linköping University
@gotdairyya
gotdairyya.github.io

Head shot of Andrew McNutt

Andrew McNutt
University of Chicago
@_mcnutt_
mcnutt.in




Head shot of Sara Di Bartolomeo

Sara Di Bartolomeo
Northeastern University
@sara_picorana
picorana.github.io

Head shot of Victor Schetinger

Victor Schetinger
TU Wien
@VSchetinger
tuwien.ac.at/victor-schetinger




Steering Committee




Head shot of Jane Adams

Jane Adams
Northeastern University
@JaneLydiaAdams
universalities.com

Head shot of Charles Perin

Charles Perin
University of Victoria
@charles_perin
charlesperin.net

Michael Correll

@Birdbassador
correll.io

Questions? Contact us at alt.vis.workshop@gmail.com.