CALL FOR PAPERS

VOILA 2016 - Visualization and Interaction for Ontologies and Linked Data

2nd International Workshop at ISWC 2016, 15th International Semantic Web Conference
October 17 or 18, 2016, Kobe, Japan

http://voila2016.visualdataweb.org

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Abstracts Deadline (Extended): July 1, 2016
Submission Deadline (Extended): July 7, 2016
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Motivation and Objectives
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'A picture is worth a thousand words', we often say, yet many areas are in demand of sophisticated visualization techniques, and the Semantic Web is not an exception. The size and complexity of ontologies and Linked Data in the Semantic Web constantly grows and the diverse backgrounds of the users and application areas multiply at the same time. Providing users with visual representations and intuitive interaction techniques can significantly aid the exploration and understanding of the domains and knowledge represented by ontologies and Linked Data.

Ontology visualization is not a new topic and a number of approaches have become available in recent years, with some being already well-established, particularly in the field of ontology modeling. In other areas of ontology engineering, such as ontology alignment and debugging, although several tools have recently been developed, few provide a graphical user interface, not to mention navigational aids or comprehensive visualization and interaction techniques.

In the presence of a huge network of interconnected resources, one of the challenges faced by the Linked Data community is the visualization of multidimensional datasets to provide for efficient overview, exploration and querying tasks, to mention just a few. With the focus shifting from a Web of Documents to a Web of Data, changes in the interaction paradigms are in demand as well. Novel approaches also need to take into consideration the technological challenges and opportunities given by new interaction contexts, ranging from mobile, touch, and gesture interaction to visualizations on large displays, and encompassing highly responsive web applications.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution but different use cases demand different visualization and interaction techniques. Ultimately, providing better user interfaces, visual representations and interaction techniques will foster user engagement and likely lead to higher quality results in different applications employing ontologies and proliferate the consumption of Linked Data.


Topics of Interest
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Topics, subjects, and contexts of interest include (but are not limited to):

* Topics:
- visualizations
- user interfaces
- visual analytics
- requirements analysis
- case studies
- user evaluations
- cognitive aspects

* Subjects:
- ontologies
- linked data
- ontology engineering (development, collaboration, ontology design patterns, alignment, debugging, evolution, provenance, etc.)

* Contexts:
- classical interaction contexts (desktop, keyboard, mouse, etc.)
- novel interaction contexts (mobile, touch, gesture, etc.)
- special settings (large, high-resolution, and multiple displays, etc.)
- specific user groups and needs (people with disabilities, domain experts, etc.)


Submission Guidelines
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Paper submission and reviewing for this workshop will be electronic via EasyChair. The papers should be written in English, following the Springer LNCS format, and be submitted in PDF on or before July 7, 2016. Paper abstracts are due by July 1, 2016.

The following types of contributions are welcome. The recommended page length is given in brackets. There is no strict page limit but the length of a paper should be commensurate with its contribution.

Full research papers (8-12 pages);
Experience papers (8-12 pages);
Position papers (6-8 pages);
Short research papers (4-6 pages);
System papers (4-6 pages).

Accepted papers will again be published as a volume in the CEUR Workshop Proceedings series.


Attendance
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Note that workshop attendees cannot register for the workshop only, but need to register for the main conference, as well.


Special Issue in JWS
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We are preparing a special issue on the workshop topic for the Journal of Web Semantics. More details on the special issue are given in the call for papers available at http://journalofwebsemantics.blogspot.com/2016/05/cfp-special-issue-on-visualization-and.html


Important Dates
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Abstracts (Extended): July 1, 2016
Submission (Extended): July 7, 2016
Notification: July 29, 2016
Camera-ready: August 12, 2016


Organizers
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Valentina Ivanova, Linköping University, Sweden
Patrick Lambrix, Linköping University, Sweden
Steffen Lohmann, Fraunhofer IAIS, Germany
Catia Pesquita, University of Lisbon, Portugal