Applications, Domain Science & Data Representationbookmark_border

Quantum computing (QC) has experienced rapid growth in recent years with the advent of robust programming environments, readily accessible software simulators and cloud-based QC hardware platforms, and growing interest in learning how to design useful methods that leverage this emerging technology for practical applications. From the perspective of the field of visualization, this article examines research challenges and opportunities along the path from initial feasibility to practical use of QC platforms applied to meaningful problems.

In this article, we present Public VaLUe Assessment TOol (PLUTO), a framework for assessing the public value of specific instances of data use. Grounded in the concept of data solidarity, PLUTO aims to empower diverse stakeholders—including regulatory bodies, private enterprises, nongovernmental organization (NGOs), and individuals—to critically engage with data projects through a structured assessment of the risks and benefits of data use, and by encouraging critical reflection. This article discusses the theoretical foundation, development process, and initial user experiences with PLUTO. Key challenges include translating qualitative assessments of benefits and risks into actionable quantitative metrics while maintaining inclusivity and transparency. Initial feedback highlights PLUTO’s potential to foster responsible decision-making and shared accountability in data practices.

Machine learning (ML) is widely used in medicinal chemistry, but accurate predictions alone are insufficient. Researchers need insight into which molecular features determine compound properties. We present an application-oriented case study that analyzes a trained model for compound potency as a source of domain knowledge. The model is converted into decision rules, and topic-guided visual analytics is used to identify co-occurring feature conditions associated with high predicted potency. These patterns are then mapped back to molecular substructures, yielding chemically interpretable motifs and testable hypotheses about structure–activity relationships. The study demonstrates how combining rule-based representations, topic modeling, and visual exploration can turn potency predictions into mechanistic insight, and outlines a reusable workflow for interpreting ML models of molecular properties.

Recent advancements have enabled tissue samples to be profiled at the unprecedented level of detail of a single cell. Analysis of these data has enabled discoveries that are relevant to understanding disease and developing therapeutics. Large-scale profiling efforts are underway, which aim to generate “atlas” resources that catalog cellular archetypes, including biomarkers and spatial locations. While the problem of cellular data visualization is not new, the size, resolution, and heterogeneity of single-cell atlas datasets present challenges and opportunities. We survey the usage of visualization to interpret single-cell atlas datasets by assessing over 1800 figure panels from 45 biological publications. We intend for this report to serve as a foundational resource for the visualization community as atlas-scale single-cell datasets are emerging rapidly with aims of advancing our understanding of biological function in health and disease.

This article presents a design report on a humanistically informed data visualization of a dataset related to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The visualization employs a quantitative dataset of slaving voyages that took place between 1565 and 1858 and uses historical scholarship and humanistic theory in order to call attention to the people behind the data, as well as to what the data do not or cannot represent. In this article, we summarize the intersecting histories of slavery and data and then outline the theories that inform our design: of the archive of slavery, of the dangers of restaging historical violence, and of visibility, opacity, representation, and resistance. We then describe our design approach and discuss the visualization’s ability to honor the lives of the enslaved by calling attention to their acts of resistance, both recorded and unrecorded.