data visualization + art
Hola Mundo and Hello `\pi`
Art is science in love.
— E.F. Weisslitz
art and algorithms
Some algorithms connect us and some keep us apart—we need them to remind us what it is to be human and what it is to be a computer.
My cover design for Hannah Fry's Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms is based on my 2013 `\pi` Day art. The book is published by Blackie Books.
creating the cover
The cover begins with a 57 × 35 matrix of 1,995 colored circles. Each circle encodes a digit of `\pi`, starting with 3.1415.... Inside each circle is a smaller circle whose color is based on the next digit. The radius of the inner circle is `1/\phi^2` where `1/\phi = 0.618` is the Golden Ratio.
Once the circles are drawn, neighbouring circles that correspond to the same digit are connected with thick lines. The thickness of these lines is `t_0 = 3/(2\phi^2)`, relative to the outer circle radius. Circles that correspond to digits whose difference is `1` or `-1` are connected by a slightly thinner line with thickness `t_1 = t_0/\phi`.
More lines are drawn that connect digits with a larger difference, `|d| > 1`. The thickness for these lines is `t_d = t_0/\phi^{|d|}`. When all differences up to `|d| < 6` are accounted for, we get a pleasant jumble of lines.
To accommodate the title and other text on the cover, the design was generated by avoiding drawing any circles within a certain distance of the text.
This way, the network of digits wraps around the text. In the final design, the front page has 1,418 digits and the back has 878 digits.
cover remixes
just the lines
Cell Genomics cover
Our cover on the 11 January 2023 Cell Genomics issue depicts the process of determining the parent-of-origin using differential methylation of alleles at imprinted regions (iDMRs) is imagined as a circuit.
Designed in collaboration with with Carlos Urzua.
Akbari, V. et al. Parent-of-origin detection and chromosome-scale haplotyping using long-read DNA methylation sequencing and Strand-seq (2023) Cell Genomics 3(1).
Browse my gallery of cover designs.
Science Advances cover
My cover design on the 6 January 2023 Science Advances issue depicts DNA sequencing read translation in high-dimensional space. The image showss 672 bases of sequencing barcodes generated by three different single-cell RNA sequencing platforms were encoded as oriented triangles on the faces of three 7-dimensional cubes.
More details about the design.
Kijima, Y. et al. A universal sequencing read interpreter (2023) Science Advances 9
Browse my gallery of cover designs.
Regression modeling of time-to-event data with censoring
If you sit on the sofa for your entire life, you’re running a higher risk of getting heart disease and cancer. —Alex Honnold, American rock climber
In a follow-up to our Survival analysis — time-to-event data and censoring article, we look at how regression can be used to account for additional risk factors in survival analysis.
We explore accelerated failure time regression (AFTR) and the Cox Proportional Hazards model (Cox PH).
Dey, T., Lipsitz, S.R., Cooper, Z., Trinh, Q., Krzywinski, M & Altman, N. (2022) Points of significance: Regression modeling of time-to-event data with censoring. Nature Methods 19.
Music video for Max Cooper's Ascent
My 5-dimensional animation sets the visual stage for Max Cooper's Ascent from the album Unspoken Words. I have previously collaborated with Max on telling a story about infinity for his Yearning for the Infinite album.
I provide a walkthrough the video, describe the animation system I created to generate the frames, and show you all the keyframes
The video recently premiered on YouTube.
Renders of the full scene are available as NFTs.
Gene Cultures exhibit — art at the MIT Museum
I am more than my genome and my genome is more than me.
The MIT Museum reopened at its new location on 2nd October 2022. The new Gene Cultures exhibit featured my visualization of the human genome, which walks through the size and organization of the genome and some of the important structures.
Annals of Oncology cover
My cover design on the 1 September 2022 Annals of Oncology issue shows 570 individual cases of difficult-to-treat cancers. Each case shows the number and type of actionable genomic alterations that were detected and the length of therapies that resulted from the analysis.
Pleasance E et al. Whole-genome and transcriptome analysis enhances precision cancer treatment options (2022) Annals of Oncology 33:939–949.
Browse my gallery of cover designs.
