On Monday, April 27, dozens of researchers, innovators and key players in academia, government and the investment sectors gathered at the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Discovery conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The conference presented a forum for innovation to commercialization initiatives and showcased leading edge technologies, best practices and research in Ontario. Exhibiting at OCE Discovery were dozens of researchers from The Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design (CIVDDD), a research hub for innovation and training in information and scientific visualization in Ontario that is led by York University.
CIVDDD is an $11.5-million Ontario Research Fund Research Excellence grant in big data analytics and visualization. Funds extend over five years and CIVDDD involves researchers from York University, OCAD University and the University of Toronto. It includes 12 private sector partners and encompasses 11 research teams involving academic and private sector researchers who work to develop next generation data discovery, design and visualization techniques for new computational tools, representational strategies and interfaces.
The CIVDDD team received a surprise visit by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who expressed her fascination with the exhibit. “She tried out several of the new technologies on display in the CIVDDD booth and interacted with the researchers present,” said CIVDDD Project Manager Barbara Whitmer, who explained the different technologies to the premier.
The CIVDDD group was among 3,200 national and international delegates and over 500 exhibitors at OCE Discovery.
The CIVDDD exhibit was centrally located at the two-day conference and featured presentations, demos and research posters by its research teams highlighting data analytics and visualization tools, applications and interactive gesture interfaces.