Visualization of an Imperfect World

“Seeing is believing” goes the popular saying—our brains are wired to accept what we see as the truth. Excluding visual deceivers like chameleons and their like, this holds true in nature most of the time. In synthetic imagery, however, it doesn’t always. To begin with, the visualized data and information can be inaccurate or even wrong. Moreover, in the synthetic digital world anybody can visualize anything in any shape or form, disregarding how users might perceive or get the information. Worse, as technology develops, it becomes easier to do so. Understanding the data and information and reaching sound decisions require knowing what pieces of information or data are accurate, complete, consistent, and certain, identifying which are not and by how much, and making the presentation accurate. Here I’ll briefly discuss