Enhancing experiential and subjective qualities of discrete structure representations with aesthetic computing

The task of visualization, as it applies to computing, includes by default the notion of pluralism and perspectivism since there is an explicit attempt at representing one, often textual, interface in terms of a more graphical one. This desire for alternate, subjective perspectives is consistent with art theory and practice, and even though rigor and formalism generally mean different things to artists and computer scientists, there is room for collaboration and connection by applying artistic aesthetics to computing, while maintaining that which makes computing a viable, usable field. This new area is called aesthetic computing. Within this area, there is an attempt to balance qualitative with quantitative representational aspects of visual computing, recognizing that aesthetics creates a dimension that is consistent with supporting numerous visual perspectives. We introduce one aspect of aesthetic computing, with specific examples from our research and teaching to illustrate the potential and possibilities associated with alternate representations of discrete structures such as finite state automata and a data flow network. We limit ourselves, and our methodology, to model notations with components that bear a largely symbolic connection to what they represent, thus providing greater degrees of representational freedom. We show that by exploring aesthetics, we surface some important philosophical and cultural questions regarding notation, which turn out to be at least as important as the algorithmic and procedural means of achieving customized model component representations.