Visualisation as interface. Interface as visualisation.

The Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain researches age-related changes in brain plasticity. A great number of projects perform various experiment types along different age stages of six species. The visualisation helps the scientists to overlay projects that research humans from age 60 to 80 years and those of killifish aged 16 to 24 weeks which is equivalent to the relative species’ lifespan.

As a tool for experts, the interface allows to quickly sort, filter, explore, find and compare all studies. It offers a range of functionalities: The icons of the species function as a legend, toggle and also label when the user filters along life expectancy. The two graphs work together so that the chart displaying the survival percentage helps the user read the chart below. Hovering over a single project not only reveals detailed information but also highlights it in the table or charts respectively making it easier to locate. Filtering projects by facets or fuzzy search allows the scientists to display a unique set of studies.