Computer Science Presentation: Collect, Connect, Communicate: Designing Data Systems and Visualizations for Personal and Social Impact, Dr. Poorna Talkad Sukumar, New York University Tandon School of Engineering

Abstract: 

In this talk, I present two strands of research that explore how data-driven systems and visual interfaces can support personal insight and public understanding. I begin with large-scale, longitudinal sensing studies conducted during my Ph.D., where we developed infrastructure to collect wearable, Bluetooth, and phone-based data from hundreds of participants. I describe the backend systems I helped build and discuss the research contributions these studies enabled—such as modeling everyday behaviors at scale and designing a personal visualization interface that logged participant interactions in the wild.
I then turn to my current postdoctoral research on communicative visualizations, focusing on how visual and rhetorical design choices shape audience perceptions of contentious issues. Using mass shooting data as a case study, I show how viewers’ beliefs and emotions shift based on what data is shown—and how. Together, these projects illustrate how building sensing and visualization systems unlocks new research opportunities at the intersection of behavior, perception, and societal impact—opportunities I am eager to pursue through future collaborations in areas such as healthcare and urban safety.

Bio:
Poorna Talkad Sukumar is a Postdoctoral Associate at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. She completed her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses on human-computer interaction and information visualization, exploring how visual and data-driven systems can support personal insight, public understanding, and societal impact. Her work spans large-scale, longitudinal sensing studies—developing infrastructure to collect and visualize behavioral data from wearable and mobile sensors—as well as the study of how communicative visualizations shape audience perceptions and emotions around complex social issues.