computer science

Starlight Information Visualization System

Starlight Information Visualization System is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Starlight Information Visualization System rather than just read about it. In short: Starlight is a software product originally developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and now by Future Point Systems. It is an advanced visual analysis environment.

Key takeaways

Starlight Information Visualization System belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Starlight Information Visualization System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Starlight Information Visualization System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Starlight is a software product originally developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and now by Future Point Systems. It is an advanced visual analysis environment. In addition to using information visualization to show the importance of individual pieces of data by showing how they relate to one another, it also contains a small suite of tools useful for collaboration and data sharing, as well as data conversion, processing, augmentation and loading. The software, originally developed for the intelligence community, allows users to load data from XML files, databases, RSS feeds, web services, HTML files, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, CSV, Adobe PDF, TXT files, etc. and analyze it with a variety of visualizations and tools. The system integrates structured, unstructured, geospatial, and multimedia data, offering comparisons of information at multiple levels of abstraction, simultaneously and in near real-time. In addition Starlight allows users to build their own named entity-extractors using a combination of algorithms, targeted normalization lists and regular expressions in the Starlight Data Engineer (SDE). As an example, Starlight might be used to look for correlations in a database containing records about chemical spills. An analyst could begin by grouping records according to the cause of the spill to reveal general trends. Sorting the data a second time, they could apply different colors based on related details such as the company responsible, age of equipment or geographic location. Maps and photographs could be integrated into the display, making it even easier to recognize connections among multiple variables. Starlight has been deployed to both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and used on a number of large-scale projects. PNNL began developing Starlight in the mid-1990s, with funding from the Land Information Warfare Agency, a part of the Army Intelligence and Security Command and continued developed at the laboratory with funding from the NSA and the CIA. Starlight integrates visual representations of reports, radio transcripts, radar signals, maps and other information. The software system was recently honored with an R&D 100 Award for technical innovation. In 2006 Future Point Systems, a Silicon Valley startup, acquired rights to jointly develop and distribute the Starlight product in cooperation with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The software is now also used outside of the military/intelligence communities in a number of commercial environments.

References

Further reading Inside Energy With Federal Lands. (March 10, 2003) PNNL offers info-system license. Volume 20; Issue 45; Page 2 Research & Development. (September 1, 2003) Software Offers 3-D Data Management. Section: Special; Volume 45; Issue 9; Page 58. R&D Management. (September 1, 2003) 11 innovative, award winning technologies. Volume 45; Issue 9; Page 18. Kritzstein, Brian. (December 10, 2003) Military Geospatial Technology. Starlight, the leading edge of an emerging class of information systems that couples advanced information modeling and management techniques within a visual interface, links data and information top points on a map. Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Commercial terrain visualization software product information. (2003) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Starlight. Reid, Hal. (March 8, 2005) Directions Magazine. Starlight Overview and Interview with Battelle's Brian Kritzstein. St. John, Jeff. (February 16, 2006) Tri-City Herald PNNL earns 4 technology awards. Ascribe Newswire. (February 16, 2006) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Recognized for Commercializing Technology.

External links Starlight PNNL website Starlight Official Website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Starlight Information Visualization System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Starlight Information Visualization System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Starlight Information Visualization System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Starlight Information Visualization System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Starlight Information Visualization System

In research: Starlight Information Visualization System appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Starlight Information Visualization System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Starlight Information Visualization System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computational science, Computer graphics, Data and information visualization software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Starlight Information Visualization System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Starlight Information Visualization System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Starlight Information Visualization System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Starlight Information Visualization System out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Starlight Information Visualization System in simple terms?

Starlight is a software product originally developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and now by Future Point Systems. It is an advanced visual analysis environment.

Why does Starlight Information Visualization System matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Starlight Information Visualization System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Starlight Information Visualization System.