Assistant professor, Head of Unit
Alexander Bock
Background
| Year | Location |
|---|---|
| 2019 - | Lecturer, Linköping University |
| 2019 - 2020 | Research Fellow, SCI Institute University of Utah |
| 2017 - 2018 | Moore-Sloan Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, New York University |
| 2015 | Visiting Research Scholar, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| 2011 - 2018 | Ph.D in Visualization and Interaction, Linköping University. Thesis: Tailoring Visualization Applications for Tasks and Users |
| 2005 - 2010 | Diploma work in Computer Science (Minor: Applied Physics), University of Münster, Germany. Thesis: Volume Fusion and Material-based Techniques for Multimodal Visualization |
Research Interests
My research interests have always focused on creating visualization applications and algorithms that provide insight for the largest possible number of people. On the one side, there are expert domain scientists that utilize these applications to gain insight into their datasets and either generate new hypotheses or test previously generated theories for a specific dataset. On the other side, visualization applications can be used as an expressive storytelling tool aimed at the general public.
In my PhD thesis I classified these into “Exploration", which are applications where users perform an initial investigation of a new dataset in order to arrive at these novel hypotheses, "Analysis", where an already established technique is repeatedly applied to a larger number of datasets as a means of confirming a specific hypotheses for a particular case. The last layer is "Communication" that covers the use case of disseminating research findings to a wider public audience.
The majority of my research work so far has been concerning astronomical and astrophysical phenomenæ, in particular in the development of the open-source software OpenSpace. In addition to using OpenSpace as a platform for computer graphics research, such as order-independent transparency methods and developing techniques for handling large scale differences in scenes, OpenSpace has served as a platform for three research projects aimed at both scientists and the general public.
One example is the development of tools for the analysis of time-varying volumetric simulations of space weather for the Community Coordinated Modeling Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. This application provides an analysis tool for the researchers to compare ensembles of simulations quickly and reliably in order to improve the predictive power of these simulation codes. Parts of this application were later merged into OpenSpace to be used during public presentations by the scientists to public audiences.
A second example is the visualization of space missions, such as New Horizons, Rosetta, or Osiris Rex. A third project is concerned with the high-resolution rendering of planetary surfaces. Centimeter-resolution images are available for large parts of Earth, the Moon, and Mars and are used in this project to provide an accurate and realistic surface context. While the environments can be used in public presentations directly, their main power comes from the usage when visualizing surface operations. In the case of Mars, this is the visualization of rover operations. In the case of the Moon, it is, for example, the dissemination of the Apollo moon missions.
An example of surface rendering as presented in the GlobeBrowsing paper.
Awards
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Best Scientific Visualization Paper |
| 2015 | Best Scientific Visualization Poster |
| 2014 | Best Scientific Visualization Poster |
Projects
OpenSpace
2013 — ongoing
OpenSpace is an open-source interactive data visualization software designed to visualize the entire known universe and portray our ongoing efforts to investigate the cosmos. Bringing the latest techniques from data visualization research to the general public, OpenSpace supports interactive presentation of dynamic data from observations, simulations, and space mission planning and operations.
ExoplanetExplorer in OpenSpace
2021 — ongoing
Interactive Contextualized Exploration of Exoplanet Data for Experts
Publications
Visualization in Astrophysics: Developing New Methods, Discovering Our Universe, and Educating the Earth
F. Lan, M. Young, L. Anderson, A. Ynnerman, A. Bock, M. Borkin, A. Forbes, J. Kollmeier, B. Wang
Computer Graphics Forum, 2021
OpenSpace Sonification: Complementing Visualization of the Solar System with Sound
E. Elmquist, M. Ejdbo, A. Bock, N. Rönnberg
International Community for Auditory Displays, 2021
Reaching Broad Audiences from a Science Center or Museum Setting
A. Ynnerman, P. Ljung, A. Bock
Foundations of Data Visualization, 2020
doi:10.1007/978-3-030-34444-3_19
Unwind: Interactive Fish Straightening
F. Williams, A. Bock, H. Doraiswamy, C. Donatelli, K. Hall, A. Summers, D. Panozzo, C. Silva
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2020
Interactive Visualization of Atmospheric Effects for Celestial Bodies
J. Costa, A. Bock, C. Emmart, C. Hansen, A. Ynnerman, C. Silva
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2020
Visualizing a Billion Stars for Science and Education
J. Faherty, B. Abbott, A. Alsegård, C. Emmart, A. Bock, E. Axelsson, A. Ynnerman, M. Acinapura
American Astronomical Society meeting #235, 2020
OpenSpace: A System for Astrographics
A. Bock, E. Axelsson, J. Costa, G. Payne, M. Acinapura, V. Trakinski, C. Emmart, C. Silva, C. Hansen, A. Ynnerman
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2020
IDEAS: Immersive Dome Experiences for Accelerating Science
J. Faherty, M. SubbaRao, R. Wyatt, A. Ynnerman, N. deGrasse Tyson, A. Geller, M. Weber, P. Rosenfield, W. Steffen, G. Stoeckle, D. Weiskopf, M. Magnor, P. Williams, B. Abbott, L. Marchetti, T. Jarrett, J. Fay, J. Peek, O. Graur, P. Durrell, D. Homeier, H. Preston, T. Müller, J. Vos, D. Brown, P. Giorla, E. Rice, D. Bardalez Gagliuffi, A. Bock, J. Hedberg, D. Rosen, C. Emmart
ASTRO 2020 White Paper, 2019
OpenSpace: Bringing NASA Missions to the Public
A. Bock, C. Hansen, A. Ynnerman
IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, 2018
Tailoring visualization applications for tasks and users
A. Bock
PhD Thesis, 2018
OpenSpace: Changing the Narrative of Public Dissemination in Astronomical Visualization from What to How
A. Bock, E. Axelsson, C. Emmart, M. Kuznetsova, C. Hansen, A. Ynnerman
IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, 2018
Globe Browsing in OpenSpace
K. Bladin, A. Bock, A. Ynnerman
Computer, 2018
Globe Browsing: Contextualized Spatio-Temporal Planetary Surface Visualization
K. Bladin, E. Axelsson, E. Broberg, C. Emmart, P. Ljung, A. Bock, A. Ynnerman
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2017
TopoAngler: Interactive Topology-based Extraction of Fishes
A. Bock, H. Doraiswamy, A. Summers, C. Silva
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2017
OpenSpace: An Open-Source Astrovisualization Framework
A. Bock, E. Axelsson, K. Bladin, J. Costa, G. Payne, M. Territo, J. Kilby, M. Kuznetsova, C. Emmart, A. Ynnerman
Journal of Open-Source Software, 2017
Dynamic Scene Graph: Enabling Scaling, Positioning, and Navigation in the Universe
E. Axelsson, J. Costa, C. Silva, C. Emmart, A. Bock, A. Ynnerman
Computer Graphics Forum, 2017
A Visualization-Based Analysis System for Urban Search & Rescue Mission Planning Support
A. Bock, Å. Svensson, A. Kleiner, J. Lundberg, T. Ropinski
Computer Graphics Forum, 2016
OpenSpace: An Open-Source Framework for Data Visualization and Contextualization
A. Bock, A. Pembroke, M.L. Mays, A. Ynnerman
Abstracts at American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, 2015
OpenSpace: Public Dissemination of Space Mission Profiles
A. Bock, M. Marcinkowski, J. Kilby, C. Emmart, A. Ynnerman
IEEE Vis Poster Session, 2015
Visual Verification of Space Weather Ensemble Simulations
A. Bock, A. Pembroke, M.L. Mays, L. Rastaetter, A. Ynnerman, T. Ropinski
IEEE Vis, 2015
Shocks in unmagnetized plasma with a shear flow: Stability and magnetic field generation
M. Dieckmann, A. Bock, H. Ahmed, D. Doria, G. Sarri, A. Ynnerman, M. Borghesi
Physics of Plasmas, 2015
Interaction Techniques as a Communication Channel when Presenting 3D Visualizations
E. Sundén, A. Bock, D. Jönsson, A. Ynnerman, T. Ropinski
IEEE VIS International Workshop on 3DVis, 2014
An Interactive Visualization System for Urban Search & Rescue Mission Planning
A. Bock, A. Kleiner, J. Lundberg, T. Ropinski
International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, 2014
VCMass: A Framework for Verification of Coronal Mass Ejection Ensemble Simulations
A. Bock, M.L. Mays, L. Rastaetter, A. Ynnerman, T. Ropinksi
IEEE Vis Poster Session, 2014
Supporting Urban Search & Rescue Mission Planning through Visualization-Based Analysis
A. Bock, A. Kleiner, J. Lundberg, T. Ropinski
Vision, Modeling, and Visualization, 2014
Guiding Deep Brain Stimulation Interventions by Fusing Multimodal Uncertainty Regions
A. Bock, N. Lang, G. Evangelista, R. Lehrke, T. Ropinski
Pacific Visualization, 2013
Interactive Urban Search & Rescue Planning
A. Bock, A. Kleiner, T. Ropinksi
Excellence Centre at Linköping-Lund in Information Technology, 2013
Supporting Deep Brain Stimulation Interventions by Fusing Microelectrode Recordings with Imaging Data
A. Bock, N. Lang, G. Evangelista, R. Lehrke, T. Ropinski
Visual Computing for Biology and Medicine, 2012
Coherency-Based Curve Compression for High-Order Finite Element Model Visualization
A. Bock, E. Sundén, L. Bingchen, B. Wuensche, T. Ropinski
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2012
GPU-Accelerated Direct Volume Rendering of Finite Element Data Sets
B. Liu, A. Bock, T. Ropinski, M. Nash, P. Nielsen, B. Wuensche
Conference on Image and Vision Computing New Zealand, 2012
Deriving and Visualizing Uncertainty in Kinetic PET Modeling
K. T. Nguyen, A. Bock, A. Ynnerman, T. Ropinski
Visual Computing for Biology and Medicine, 2012
Interactive Visualization of Space Weather Data
M. Törnros, D. Berrios, A. Bock, C. Emmart, R. Harberts, A. Ynnerman
Abstracts at American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, 2012