Dr. Nathalie Riche envisions a future in which all of our data will be accessible, meaningful, compelling and artistic. And as a researcher in human computer interaction and information visualization at Microsoft Research, she’s working on technical tools that will help us wrangle our data, extract knowledge from it, and communicate with it in a memorable, persuasive and aesthetically pleasing way. In other words, she wants our data to be both smart… and beautiful!

Today, Dr. Riche shares her passion for the art of data driven storytelling, reveals the two superpowers of data visualization, gives us an inside look at some innovative projects designed to help us th(ink) with digital ink, and tells the story of how a young woman with an artist’s heart headed into computer science, took a detour to the beach, paid for it with research and ended up with a rewarding career that brings both art and computing together.

https://www.microsoft.com/research