A cleverly designed research project is underway at VisWeek2010 this year via the ‘Visual Backchannel’ project, sponsored by the University of Calgary and IBM Research.
The purpose of this research is to better understand how a Visual Backchannel interface can help people follow and explore computer-mediated conversations during large events. Visualizing backchannel communication during large- scale events raises questions of distraction and engagement of event participants. Furthermore, the volume of status updates occurring during large events poses system performance challenges with regard to data processing and transmission
The visualization interface is impressive, pulling in what seems to be everything containing the Twitter #visweek hashtag into a fully interactive interface. They show the most prolific twitterers (With @dr_tj taking the #1 spot), along with pictures, individual tweets, and trending keywords.
Check it out, and even submit some feedback to add to the research!
