Visual analytics for immunologists: Data compression and fractal distributions

Abstract

Visual analytics is the science of analytical reasoning that facilitates research through the use of interactive visual interfaces. New techniques of visual analytics are designed to aid the understanding of complex systems versus traditional blind-context rules to explore massive volumes of interrelated data. Nowhere else is visualization more important in analysis than in the emerging fields of life sciences, where amounts of collected data grow increasingly in exponential rates. The complexity of the immune system in immunology makes visual analytics especially important for understanding how this system works. In this context, our effort should be focused on avoiding accurate but potentially misleading use of visual interfaces. The proposed approach of data compression and visualization that reveal structural and functional features of immune responses enhances systemic and comprehensive description and provides the platform for hypothesis generation. Further, this approach can evolve into a powerful visual-analytical tool for prospective and real-time monitoring and can provide an intuitive and interpretable illustration of vital dynamics that govern immune responses in an individual and populations. The undertaken explorations demonstrate the critical role of novel techniques of visual analytics in stimulating research in immunology and other life sciences and in leading us to understanding of complex biological systems and processes. © 2010 Landes Bioscience.