ResearchPod Summary
SciFi-VIS is a proposed workshop for the IEEE VIS 2026 conference designed to explore the long-standing, yet under-researched, relationship between science fiction (SciFi) and data visualization. While SciFi media frequently depicts futuristic data interfaces that influence public expectations and researcher design choices, the visualization community lacks a formal, systematic understanding of this exchange. This workshop seeks to establish a collaborative space for researchers, interface designers, and media creators to analyze these connections.
The authors identify a significant gap in how the visualization community engages with speculative media. While prior workshops at other conferences (such as CHI and HCII) have touched upon SciFi-inspired human-computer interaction, they have largely focused on movies and television. SciFi-VIS aims to broaden this scope by including computer games and by specifically targeting the visualization community. The organizers seek to answer critical questions: How do researchers derive inspiration from SciFi? Do they credit these sources? And what concepts remain "way out there" due to current technical infeasibility?
The proposed half-day workshop is designed to move beyond traditional paper presentations. It emphasizes collaborative, hands-on activities, including:
The organizers invite non-traditional submissions, such as demos, posters, and curated examples of SciFi scenes, to foster a diverse dialogue between academic researchers and industry practitioners.
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