Journalists and other communicators have used visualization for years to summarize sports statistics. Coaches and trainers use it, too, for training regimens, understanding injury patterns, and mapping the movement of players on the court and field.

With the growing popularity of fantasy sports leagues, fans are becoming more engaged with player stats and performance and getting in on the data vis action. We're also more visually literate—comfortable digesting bar graphs and scatter plots—according to School of Interactive Computing Associate Professor Rahul Basole.

“People are getting more data savvy and hungry, and the tools have gotten easier across the board,” said Basole. “We are visual creatures. We like to have [data] summarized visually and in an aesthetic and compelling fashion."

Basole also says there’s just simply more data out there on a wide range of sports, ready to be analyzed. He and fellow interactive computing Professor John Stasko are currently examining ShotLink data from the PGA Tour, which tracks every shot from every player across all courses. The organization has made the raw data available to academic researchers for novel analyses.

"Our goal is to visualize ShotLink data to make sense of individual player performance as well as their overall patterns across time and different courses,” said Basole.

He and Stasko plan to visualize the data in an interactive dashboard for a user-oriented perspective. "As with many domains, vis alone is not the sweet spot for sports. It's great for communicating and presenting; it's also great for sensemaking. But it's the combination with analytics that can truly provide insights."

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From USB-enabled cup holders and massive LED scoreboards and displays to the fastest wi-fi at any sporting venue in North America, SunTrust Park is considered one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in the country.

“We view technology as an enabler," said Greg Mize, senior director of marketing & innovation, Atlanta Braves. "One of our sayings is, ‘Don’t pursue and integrate technology for the sake of technology.’" It has to provide value for fans in the form of entertainment, engagement, or information according to Mize. "Our goal is to create the best experience for fans as possible, and technology plays a massive part in that.”

SunTrust Park and the Battery Atlanta are using artificial intelligence to help visitors navigate shops and services, and augmented reality technology to educate visitors about historical artifacts on display at Monument Garden.

Georgia Tech is also partnering with the Atlanta Braves to enhance the fan experience at SunTrust Park. Last season, graduate students studied how long visitors waited in concession lines and how long it took to prepare their food. The Braves then used this research to streamline the process.

Georgia Tech's Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC) is using augmented reality to give fans an in-depth look at SunTrust Park and Braves players. A high-resolution camera feeds a live view of the entire baseball field to a computer located in the Verizon Lounge. Using a 55-inch touchscreen, lounge visitors can explore the stadium and the live game by interacting with augmented reality (AR) graphics integrated into the camera video feed. Interactive AR graphics include showing the current lineup on the field and individual player statistics. They can also explore SunTrust Park and read little-known facts about the ballpark. Georgia Tech and the Atlanta Braves will launch the augmented reality experience later this spring.

“We’re so lucky to have one of the foremost research and technology universities in Georgia Tech right in our backyard," said Mize. "So it made perfect sense to align with Georgia Tech and form that partnership.”

Scott Robertson, research scientist and IMTC associate director, is envisioning the future of the project. “Right now this is a standalone system so all of the content is static, but the next version could include live information sources,” he said. “One thing we’re interested in doing is, when a player comes up to bat, rendering a transparent heat map on the field which shows where they’re statistically likely to hit the ball.”

Robertson and IMTC researchers are also exploring streaming AR content to mobile devices and installing more cameras for additional views around the ballpark.

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Researchers are also making sports more engaging for a community that venues have historically overlooked: the deaf and hard of hearing.

Captions for Life is a real-time, personal captioning system developed by Leanne West, a principal research scientist at Georgia Tech who has a background in optical physics, and Ethan Adler, a former computer scientist at Georgia Tech. It works by collecting captions on a server in one of three ways—through voice, typing them in real-time, or pre-recorded text. The captions are then sent out via wi-fi or cellular service and displayed on a smartphone screen or on electronic eyewear like Google Glass.

Initially designed for movie theaters, Captions for Life is now meant for use in classrooms, churches, and sports venues. “The idea is that wherever you are at a sports venue, you can get the color commentary to whatever degree they're doing it at the stadium, and it goes with you. You are not tied to a seat or screen,” said West. Using multiple channels, venues can also provide captions in different languages.

West and Adler developed the system in 2000, and the following year received funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) through Georgia Tech’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC). Back then there weren’t many captioning options for the deaf and hard of hearing, but according to West things have changed over the past 15 years. “Now, people are much more aware. Venues are starting to be more proactive, so we think that’s a good sign.”

Competition organizers say CIC categories are intended to shape student ideas, not exclude them. Matt Sanders, co-director of RNOC, said, "Over the life of the CIC, we’ve seen innovation and value creation across a broad spectrum of technologies and domains. We look forward to seeing students develop core technologies that can be applied in targeted ways to one or more of these important category areas. For example, how a ride-sharing service can apply its core technologies to food delivery, flu shots, or last mile access to public transit to provide value to fans attending a game, aging adults, and those who want to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Email RNOC staff with questions about project ideas. Faculty in any college interested in incorporating the CIC into their courses for the spring semester should contact RNOC Co-Directors Matt Sanders or Russ Clark, while companies interested in leveraging the benefits of CIC sponsorship should contact IPaT Partnerships Manager Siva Jayaraman.

The CIC encourages students at all levels and disciplines on the Atlanta and Georgia Tech-Lorraine campuses to create innovative, viable products and experiences whether they are projects for classes or individual or group side projects. Campus, industry, and community partners inform our categories; winning entries will include a working end-to-end prototype and a clear value proposition. CIC winners have gone on to other competitions, commercialization opportunities, as well as internships and future jobs strengthened by their competition experience.

The submission deadline for the Fall 2018 CIC is Sunday, November 11 by midnight. IPaT and RNOC will host invitation-only live demo and judging events in Atlanta and France on Wednesday, November 14. To learn more, visit the CIC website.

• Climate Solutions – Citatem allows travelers to discover and book carbon-friendly destinations and routes based on group preferences mined from photo album metadata.
• Players and Fans – SCATTER is a mobile SCAT-5 concussion assessment tool that enables sports trainers to test and monitor an athlete’s performance.
• Active Aging – Stumble is an Android mobile and wearable app for elderly adults that can detect falls and send an alert to their emergency contacts.
• People’s Choice – Hingama helps people embrace positivity in their lives through self-analysis, peer support, and encouragement to reach out for help.

See photos from the competition on IPaT’s Facebook page.

The CIC is now in its 12th year overall and fifth year at Georgia Tech-Lorraine. Faculty in any college interested in incorporating the CIC into their courses for the spring semester should contact RNOC Co-Directors Matt Sanders or Russ Clark, while companies interested in leveraging the benefits of CIC sponsorship should contact IPaT Partnerships Manager Siva Jayaraman.

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Two recent nationwide Georgia Tech studies — the first to examine Medicaid capacity at the provider level — confirm the experiences of oral health providers and recipients of publicly-funded dental insurance: children who rely on Medicaid for dental care may not have adequate access to providers.

Nicoleta Serban, professor in the Georgia Tech School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), compared provider and Medicaid data to state access information reported by the Health Policy Institute (HPI), a branch of the American Dental Association. HPI produces research related to the U.S. oral health care system and is considered a leading expert on the topic.

During a May 2017 webinar, HPI Chief Economist and Vice President Marko Vujicic said, “…nationwide, the majority of publicly-insured children live within 15 minutes of a Medicaid dentist, and in some states, it’s as high as 99-percent.”

Serban wanted to know more about HPI’s statistic, so she examined publicly-available provider information and Medicaid data for 43 states. The result is a more holistic view of the U.S. Medicaid program, including the most important information about dental providers, according to Serban: whether or not they’re accepting new Medicaid patients.

“Dentists dedicate a small portion of their caseload to children on Medicaid, and many dentists don’t accept new patients,” she said.

For example, HPI’s data shows that 30-percent of dentists accept Medicaid in Florida, but according to a recent survey of nearly all of the state’s licensed dentists, a limited number reported accepting new Medicaid-enrolled children.
 

Another factor which skews access numbers is the patient-to-provider ratio. HPI estimates, on average, one provider sees 500 children a year. Serban found, though, that less than a quarter of dentists nationwide provide care for 500 or more children on Medicaid. 
 

Traveling for Dental Care

A second, more in-depth study of dental care access from the Georgia Tech Health Analytics Group, co-led by Serban, looked at distance — how far children on Medicaid and their families travel to receive dental care.

Amanda Black’s children – 11 and 4-years-old – have received Medicaid benefits their entire lives. The family lives in rural Union County, and twice a year, Black drives two hours round trip to the closest dental provider at the Gilmer County Health Department where her kids receive regular dental check-ups and cleanings. The single mother takes unpaid time off of work from her job as a home health aide.

“When you lose income, it's for the whole household,” Black said. “When you live in a small town, it’s almost like you’re being punished. People in big cities don’t have to travel; what’d we do wrong?”

Families like Black’s aren’t uncommon. Serban estimates in Georgia, 23-percent of Medicaid-eligible children exceed state standards for travel distance — 30 miles for urban communities and 45 miles for rural.

“Needless to say, 30 to 45 miles of travel means missing a whole school day and hours of time off from work,” she said. Meanwhile, families that pay out of pocket for dental care or have private insurance experience shorter travel distances.

Serban and her research team examined data from 39 states and also found that the number of Medicaid-enrolled children per dentist varied by location and the type of provider. Urban and suburban communities have higher numbers than rural areas (which may be driven by demand), while pediatric dentists often see more patients than general dentists. Specialists generally treat few children on Medicaid. Overall, dentists see fewer patients than the minimum caseload amount outlined by HPI. 

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Estimating access is more than a matter of data, noted Serban and Scott Tomar, a study co-author, and professor in the University of Florida’s College of Dentistry. HPI presents its estimates to state health policy committees, which control the Medicaid program at the state level.

“In my state of Florida, testimony has been given before the state legislature to oppose other proposed workforce models. The HPI data was used as justification to deny funding for dental therapists,” said Tomar, who is also a consultant with the American Dental Association.

“The takeaway message is, there’s not really a problem with access.” He continued, “Families are getting hurt when the HPI information is used to stave off other programs and other models that might be effective in increasing access to care.”

Without access to preventive care, dental issues like tooth decay can worsen and require emergency care. Over 212-thousand children in the U.S. had dental emergency visits in 2012; more than two-thirds were covered by Medicaid.
 

HPI's Response

During presentations to Medicaid policymakers, HPI’s Marko Vujicic acknowledges that HPI’s data shows approximately where enrolled providers are located relative to Medicaid patients, but not whether they’re accepting new patients. He said determining the level of Medicaid access is a complex issue. “There is no gold standard way of measuring access.”

In a statement provided to the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT), HPI congratulated Serban and Tomar on their study published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry, and said it enhanced its own findings:   
 

We applaud these authors’ efforts to build on our analysis and advance the policy discussion in Florida and Georgia. The Health Policy Institute is currently collaborating with government agencies in several states on a much more refined analysis of access to and utilization of dental care services among publicly insured children and adults, based on detailed administrative and claims data as well as innovative primary data we are helping to collect. We will continue to help advance this important area of health policy research, including collaborating with outside researchers, and welcome additional feedback on our work as it evolves. 

(Read the Health Policy Institute's full statement) 

Serban said her studies also have limitations; providers don’t always file claims or have missing or inactive identification numbers. She said, though, that these findings can help states begin to gauge the level of dental care provided to Medicaid-insured children.

In September 2018, Serban and Tomar received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue researching access to preventive dental care for children. IPaT, the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta have previously provided funding for this research. IPaT also provides access to multiple years of Medicaid data to support a deeper understanding of the challenges and patterns surrounding healthcare access.

Graphics by: Raul Perez

Ying Yao realizes that finding the perfect seat is a small problem, but it’s one she wanted to tackle. So she and two other Georgia Tech students decided to build a web-based application.

“So you know when you look online and book a flight?” she said. “You wanna know where’s the best place to sit. So we wanted to apply that issue to classroom seating."

SeatMe is a crowdsourced app; students can log in, find the appropriate building and classroom and rate their seat based on specific criteria. The evaluation is represented via a heat map—a two-color scale of good and bad. (WATCH: A demo of SeatMe)

Yao’s team developed the app in 2012 as part of Tech’s bi-annual Convergence Innovation Competition. The competition is open to all Georgia Tech undergraduate and graduate students, including those studying abroad. Applications, services and prototypes developed during the Fall CIC benefit the Georgia Tech community; winning apps are then made available in the official GT Mobile platform.

The Fall CIC is sponsored through the GT Journey initiative, which provides resources as well as technical support and space to work. What makes the competition unique, though, is the access students have to campus data.

Andrew Nelson, who helped Yao to develop the SeatMe app, is currently working with Facilities Management to open up their data on how much electricity is flowing to buildings on campus. He’s also taken campus crime data and developed it into an API format.

“Programmers could go in and pull in all of the crime data live as it’s posted,” he said.

Brighton Jegarajan leveraged GT Journey transportation data to develop a Google Glass app that tells users when the next bus or trolley will arrive.

“Once you have this (data), it’s up to users and the students here to think of innovative ways of using it,” he said. “So there’s a lot of innovation and creativity engaged by making this data available to students here.”

Some colleges and universities aren’t as comfortable with allowing students to access campus data. They’re concerned about student privacy and find it’s easy to just say no.

"Georgia Tech is able to provide access to data and protect that data appropriately because it has developed API's which enforce access controls specific to the data being accessed. This allows developers to create applications using those API's without having direct access to another student's data, and without ever having to handle the students password," said Matt Sanders, Associate Director of the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center (GT-RNOC) which hosts the CIC. "These API's also allow data which is normally not accessible to students to be made available in scalable and secure ways which do not impact production systems."

Yao believes student-built apps developed with campus data help to enrich the campus experience.

“We have such smart students,” said Yao. “They want to be able to not only practice their professional skillset, but also contribute something to the campus community as well.” 

The Fall GT Journey CIC is underway right now. Organizers are hosting weekly information sessions and tutorials, and there’s a four-day Hack Break starting October 11th. Entries are due October 31st; for more information, visit http://cic.gatech.edu or http://gtjourney.gatech.edu.

“We wanted to build a completely new app from the ground up that looked great on all of the new screen sizes and had a ton of new features that had been missing or severely lacking in the old version,” said Perez.

Perez put a lot of time into the app, working with the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center (GT-RNOC) to receive access to data, resources and advice. Jeremy Johnson, Georgia Tech Senior Research Scientist, was instrumental in the app’s development and launch. Geunbae Lee, a graduate student in the Human Computer Interaction program, and Graduate Research Assistant in RNOC, informed aspects of the design. RNOC also has a Device Lending Library, where Perez was able to test the app on an assortment of phones and tablets running different versions of the operating system. “I have one model of the iPhone,” he explained. “There’s at least four different screen sizes I needed to test the app on to make sure that it looks right.”

Through RNOC’s GT-Journey initiative, which gives the Georgia Tech community the opportunity to collaborate on applications and solutions that benefit the campus, Perez obtained access to data, something other colleges and universities aren’t always comfortable doing for student developers. Working closely with partners from virtually every part of campus, RNOC also hosts the app’s server. GT Journey provides application developers access to data through APIs with appropriate controls specific to the data being accessed, facilitating smart campus academic research and entrepreneurship broadly. Perez believes having open access to real data enriches the quality of apps that students can make.

“As an app developer, having access to APIs and data sources where you can just easily tap into and build any app you want – that’s just an amazing thing. If I was at a different university that didn’t have that sort of thing, it would be so much harder to build the apps I build because I would have to build the entire data source myself.”

Matt Sanders, co-director of GT-RNOC, worked with Perez throughout the project. He said,“While Georgia Tech has no shortage of talented developers, Alex stands out because he balanced his vision and skills with thoughtfully dealing with a variety of challenges and saw the project to completion. Because of his dedication, he was able to leverage and improve upon the resources we provided and leaves a legacy that future students can build upon.”

Illustrating how rewarding and motivating he finds his work, Perez said, “I had a huge sense of accomplishment that I can have any app I want as long as I can write it.”

He's now working with students to support the iOS version of the app, and to develop it for Android.

Perez’ love of programming and app development and the knowledge he gained at Georgia Tech will stay with him in the next phase of his life. After graduation, he’s planning a cross country road trip and move to San Francisco to begin a job with Uber.

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