28-29 Oct 2013
Kolkata, India
International Workshop on Diagram Logic and Cognition 2013 Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India 28th and 29th October 2013 http://www.cem.brighton.ac.uk/dlac2013/ Our world is increasingly visual, and diagrams are an essential aspect of many of the fields that try to make sense of it. These include demography, cartography, medical imaging, aviation, and so on. In particular, diagrammatic logic is gaining ground in logic and mathematics as an alternative to or when used in parallel with symbolic logics, and recent years have seen the appearance of increasingly expressive diagrammatic systems. Considering the growing interest in reasoning with diagrams in India, a session has been planned on the history, current state-of-the-art and future of diagrammatic logics such as Euler-Venn diagrams, concept diagrams and spider diagrams, to mention a few recent and representative systems. Though our main focus is on the following topics, submissions need not be limited to these. . History of diagrams . Inference in diagrammatic logics . Diagrams and cognition . Aesthetics and visual complexity We invite authors to submit an extended abstract (3-4 pages) via easychair at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=dlac2013. Accepted authors will then be required to prepare an 8-page paper for inclusion in the proceedings, which will be published online by CEUR (http://ceur-ws.org). As well as the refereed talks, we are delighted to be able to present several keynote speakers, including Dr Gem Stapleton -- see below for details. We also hope to include talks from several other distinguished researchers, whose names will be announced when available. The purpose of the workshop is twofold. Firstly, we want to gain deeper insights into the activities involved in reasoning with diagrammatic systems. The questions under consideration include: how can a modern, highly-expressive diagrammatic logic help with inferential tasks in practice, such as those undertaken in the field of knowledge engineering? What are the advantages and limitations of such a logic when considered for these tasks, and to what extent are any limitations defined by notations, tools, or the nature of the information itself? Answering these questions will lead to more suitable notations and better tools, and has a wide potential impact. Our second purpose, closely related to the first, is cognition. Reasoning through diagrams facilitates inferential tasks for a group of users known as the "visualisers". Recent research in cognitive science has examined the verbaliser-visualiser cognitive style classification. The category of visualiser can be divided into two contrasting groups: those with relatively high or low spatial ability. In recent work, Kozhevnikov has showed visualizers with high spatial ability usually generate abstract images whereas visualizers with low spatial ability tend to generate detailed pictorial images of individual objects. Barbara Tversky claims that when congruent mappings are made, the abstract concept matches the spatial representation, implying that abstract thought has roots in spatial world. The elegance of diagrams needs to be investigated from this perspective and these concepts should be considered in the context of the logic of diagrams. Finally, the use of diagrams as a vehicle of reasoning calls for simplicity, accessibility, visual clarity and expressiveness. Accordingly, our meeting will also focus on the topics of diagram aesthetics and visual complexity. Attendance at the workshop is free, but you will need to register in advance. Accommodation at Jadavpur University can be arranged at a minimal fee by contacting Dr Lopmudra Choudhury (choudhuryl@yahoo.com). . Keynote speakers Gem Stapleton on Inference in Diagrammatic Logics (title and abstract to be announced) Dr Gem Stapleton is a Reader in Computer Science at the University of Brighton. She first began research into diagrams during 2001 and has continued working on them ever since. She has published around 70 articles on topics spanning diagrammatic logics, automated reasoning, automated diagram generation and layout, and sketch recognition technologies. Much of this research has been collaborative, with colleagues at the Universities of Auckland, Cambridge and Kent. Her research has been supported by Nokia, who are applying results of her research in practice. Gem has undertaken many roles in the diagrams and visual languages communities, including being the Steering Committee Chair for the Diagrams Conference Series and a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Visual Languages and Computing. . Program Committee Dave Barker Plummer, Stanford University, US Mihir Kumar Chakraborty, Jadavpur University, India Mark Minas, Universitt der Bundeswehr Mnchen, Germany Kim Marriott, Monash University, Australia Peter Rodgers, University of Kent, UK Ryo Takemura, Keio University, Japan . Important dates Submission period ends: 2nd July 2013 Notification to authors: 6th August 2013 Registration opens: 6th August 2013 Workshop: 28th and 29th October 2013 The workshop is followed by the annual meeting of The Kolkata Logic Circle, 30th October to 2nd November 2013. If you have any queries, please contact one of the organisers Jim Burton (j.burton@brighton.ac.uk) or Lopmudra Choudhury (choudhuryl@yahoo.com).