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Vialab is led by Dr. Christopher Collins at Ontario Tech University.
In addition to this site, visit our Github for software and our Blog for approachable reports of our innovations.

Research Blog

  1. AI Meets the Piano: How LLMs Are Transforming Sight-Reading Practice

    by Fareeha Malik

    Learning to play the piano is a deeply rewarding journey, but it comes with a notoriously steep hurdle: sight-reading. Sight-reading is the ability to read and play a piece of sheet music fluently on the first look, much like reading a book out loud in your native language. While essential  ...Read More


More from our blog

  1. Visualizing Language Transfer Effects in Large Learner Corpora

    by Ethan Duggan

    Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is a research field that studies the process of learning another language. Language transfer effects occur when the learner applies structural, grammatical, or semantic rules from their native language to the language they are trying to learn. For example, a native  ...Read More

  2. Making Every Letter Count: Abbreviating Text Labels on Demand

    by Fareeha Malik

    Have you ever tried to read a complex data visualization only to find the information buried under a mess of overlapping text or font so tiny you need a magnifying glass? Whether it’s a packed treemap or a busy map, fitting long words into small spaces is a classic headache in the world of data  ...Read More

  3. Spotting the Truth in the Social Media Storm: How Smart Algorithms Help Catch Rumors as They Spread

    by Fareeha Malik

    We’ve all seen it: a shocking headline or a blurry photo starts tearing across your social media feed. Before you know it, everyone is sharing it, and the “news” feels real, even if it seems a bit off. In the middle of a crisis, like a hurricane or a major news event, misinformation can be  ...Read More

  4. Your Webcam Might Be the Secret to Solving Your Back Pain

    by Fareeha Malik

    We’ve all been there: deeply focused on a project, only to realize hours later that our neck is stiff, our shoulders are hunched, and we’ve essentially transformed into a human pretzel. In our increasingly sedentary world, “chair-work” has become the norm, and while we’ve known for over 300 years  ...Read More

  5. Bridging the Gap: How We’re Connecting Text Mining and Visualization

    by Fareeha Malik

    Have you ever wondered how scientists keep track of the thousands of research papers published every year? In fields like Visual Text Analytics, where experts use interactive charts to make sense of massive amounts of text data, the sheer volume of new ideas can be overwhelming. In our survey  ...Read More

  6. Beyond Word Clouds: Exploring Your Car’s Problems in 3D

    by Fareeha Malik

    When your car makes a strange rattling sound, you might head online to see if others have had the same issue. But if you’ve ever waded through thousands of consumer complaint reports, you know the frustration. You’re often met with long, dry lists of text or simple “word clouds” that lack context.  ...Read More

For more posts from our research blog, check out our Medium Page.

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