Foundations and frontiers in visual analytics

This introduction and future vision section for this special issue of the Journal of Information Visualization hopes to set the stage for an emerging worldwide effort to advance the state of the science of visual analytics. We present some of the driving needs followed by some foundational principals and methods for advancing this science through partnerships among national laboratories, academia, industry, and the international science community. We will present a selection of the many success stories the science, engineering, and industrial communities have of taking core science research to end users in the field during these early years. Next, we will present some thoughts on the future vision. Finally, we will introduce the 8 papers in this special issue, each one addressing part of that vision.