Applying Visualization to Understand Sports Data and Predict Results, featured in 'IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications'

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., Oct. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The most recent issue of IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, published by the IEEE Computer Society, presents timely research on applying data visualization to scores and statistics to understand trends, performances, and outcomes of sporting events.

Guest editors Rahul C. Basole of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Dietmar Saupe of the University of Konstanz reveal the impact of visualization and computer graphics research in real-world sports settings in the magazine's September/October 2016 issue.

Readers of this special issue will gain practical input from thought leaders and researchers with articles including:

• "Sports Tournament Predictions Using Direct Manipulation," by  Romain Vuillemot and Charles Perin;
• "Using Gap Charts to Visualize the Temporal Evolution of Ranks and Scores," by Charles Perin, Jeremy Boy, and Frédéric Vernier;
• "Director's Cut: Analysis and Annotation of Soccer Matches," by Manuel Stein, Halldór Janetzko, Thorsten Breitkreutz, Daniel Seebacher, Tobias Schreck, Michael Grossniklaus, Iain D. Couzin, and Daniel A. Keim;
• "StatCast Dashboard: Exploration of Spatiotemporal Baseball Data," by Marcos Lage, Jorge Piazentin Ono, Daniel Cervone, Justin Chiang, Carlos Dietrich, and Claudio T. Silva; and
• "Wearable Real-Time Skateboard Trick Visualization and Its Community Perception," by Benjamin H. Groh, Jasmin Flaschka, Markus Wirth, Thomas Kautz, Martin Fleckenstein, and Bjoern M. Esko‑fier

For every major sport, analysts can and often do extract large amounts of data, which can be leveraged by media and fans (for entertainment), athletes (to improve individual and team performance), and organizations (to yield a deeper understanding of the sport itself). Massive amounts of data are also generated and used for sports medicine applications, including preventative care and rehabilitation. 

While statistical analysis has primarily dominated much of the sports domain, such as the application of data analytics to personnel decisions in baseball, interest is growing in applying and developing visual representations and interactive exploration tools to a range of sports contexts. Sports data visualization has many context-specific nuances and is clearly important to a diverse set of stakeholders within the domain. It provides a fertile test ground to study novel visualization techniques that may prove applicable to problems in other fields.

"The area of sports is a rich application field for a variety of visualization areas," said IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications Editor in Chief L. Miguel Encarnação. "Whether it be for player and team management, sports media and entertainment, personal fitness and sports data, or sports medicine applications, sports applications greatly benefit from advances in sensor technology, big data analytics, scientific and data visualization, human-computer interaction, mobile computing, and virtual- and augmented-reality technology."

He continues, "IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications combines the technical rigor of scholarly contributions to research and science with access to a broader audience of practitioners and aficionados in the field of computer graphics and interactive visualization. Visualization in this context is the process of visually communicating data that otherwise would be hard to provide access to, such as for abstract data in information visualization or for data stemming from sensors in scientific visualization."

To access the entire IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications Sports Data Visualization September/October issue, visit https://www.computer.org/cga/

IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications bridges the theory and practice of computer graphics. From specific algorithms to full system implementations, CG&A offers a unique combination of peer-reviewed feature articles and informal departments, including product announcements. Theme issues guest edited by leading researchers in their fields track the latest developments and trends in computer graphics. Tutorials and surveys provide a broad overview of interesting and timely topics in computer graphics. Regular departments emphasize areas of general interest including visualization, virtual reality, applications, and opinions. Each month, the story of our cover focuses on creative applications of the technology by an artist or designer. Published six times a year, CG&A is indispensable reading for people working at the leading edge of computer graphics technology and its applications in everything from business to the arts.

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SOURCE IEEE Computer Society