About Us

The Data Storytelling research team of HKUST VisLab is dedicated to exploring storytelling techniques for communicating data-driven insights with visualizations. Our research interests are wide-ranging and include the investigation of novel techniques in data-driven storytelling and the development of authoring tools or automatic approaches to generate narrative visualizations. As we delve into these topics, we aim to bridge the gap between the complex world of data analytics and the intuitive realm of human communication. At the core of our research lies the belief that data storytelling is not only about presenting numbers and facts but also about crafting engaging narratives that resonate with the audience. By exploring innovative visualization techniques and narrative structures, we strive to create a powerful medium that simplifies complex data insights, making them approachable and relatable to a wide range of audiences.

News

  • Dynamic Typography was nominated for the Best Paper Finalist at ICCV 2025! Congrats to Zichen, Yihao, and Yue!
  • Dr. Xian Xu will join Lingnan University as an Assistant Professor. Congratulations!
  • DataWink was accepted to IEEE VIS. Congrats to Shelly!
  • Three papers were accepted to ACM UIST 2025. Congratulations!
  • Two full papers and one LBW will be presented at ACM CHI. Stay tuned!

Articles

All
Design Patterns/Guidelines
Designing & Evaluation
Authoring/Generation
Underline highlights VisLab members and alumni, while bold highlights works done as an active Vislab member.

2025

DataWink: Reusing and Adapting SVG-based Visualization Examples with Large Multimodal Models

Liwenhan Xie, Yanna Lin, Can Liu, Huamin Qu, Xinhuan Shu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2025. — Early Access
arXiv Website Video

SceneLoom: Communicating Data with Scene Context

Lin Gao, Leixian Shen, Yuheng Zhao, Jiexiang Lan, Huamin Qu, Siming Chen
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2025. — Collaborated Project
arXiv Website

Reflection on Data Storytelling Tools in the Generative AI Era from the Human-AI Collaboration Perspective

Haotian Li, Yun Wang, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2025. — Short Paper
arXiv

Dynamic Typography: Bringing Text to Life via Video Diffusion Prior

Zichen Liu*, Yihao Meng*, Hao Ouyang, Yue Yu, Bolin Zhao, Daniel Cohen-Or, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV). 2025.
Best Paper Finalist
arXiv Website

InSituTale: Enhancing Augmented Data Storytelling with Physical Objects

Kentaro Takahira, Yue Yu, Takanori Fujiwara, Ryo Suzuki, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST). 2025.
DOI arXiv Video

PaperBridge: Crafting Research Narratives through Human-AI Co-Exploration

Runhua Zhang, Yang Ouyang, Leixian Shen, Yuying Tang, Xiaojuan Ma, Huamin Qu, Xian Xu
Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST). 2025.
DOI arXiv Demo

Branch Explorer: Leveraging Branching Narratives to Support Interactive 360 Video Viewing for Blind and Low Vision Users

Shuchang Xu, Xiaofu Jin, Wenshuo Zhang, Huamin Qu, Yukang Yan
Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST). 2025.
DOI arXiv

Why is AI not a Panacea for Data Workers? An Interview Study on Human-AI Collaboration in Data Storytelling

Haotian Li, Yun Wang, Vera Liao, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2025.
DOI arXiv

Anidoc: Animation Creation Made Easier

Yihao Meng, Hao Ouyang, Hanlin Wang, Qiuyu Wang, Wen Wang, Ka Leong Cheng, Zhiheng Liu, Yujun Shen, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR). 2025.
DOI arXiv Website

MagicQuill: An Intelligent Interactive Image Editing System

Zichen Liu, Yue Yu, Hao Ouyang, Qiuyu Wang, Ka Leong Cheng, Wen Wang, Zhiheng Liu, Qifeng Chen, Yujun Shen
Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR). 2025. — Collaborated Project
DOI Website Demo Code

Reflecting on Design Paradigms of Animated Data Video Tools

Leixian Shen, Haotian Li, Yun Wang, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2025.
DOI arXiv

“You'll Be Alice Adventuring in Wonderland!” Processes, Challenges, and Opportunities of Creating Animated Virtual Reality Stories

Lin-Ping Yuan, Feilin Han, Liwenhan Xie, Junjie Zhang, Jian Zhao, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2025.
DOI arXiv Video

TangibleNet: Synchronous Network Data Storytelling through Tangible Interactions in Augmented Reality

Kentaro Takahira, Wong Kam-Kwai, Leni Yang, Xian Xu, Takanori Fujiwara, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2025.
DOI arXiv Video

Prompting Generative AI with Interaction-Augmented Instructions

Leixian Shen, Haotian Li, Yifang Wang, Xing Xie, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHIEA). 2025.
DOI arXiv

House Advantage or House of Cards? Stacking the Deck for Data Videos Leads to Null Results

Jen Rogers, Leixian Shen, Ab Mosca, Evan Peck, Mingwei Li, Anzu Hakone, Kristi Potter, Remco Chang
Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHIEA). 2025. — Collaborated Project
DOI

Narrative Player: Reviving Data Narratives with Visuals

Zekai Shao, Leixian Shen, Haotian Li, Yi Shan, Huamin Qu, Yun Wang, Siming Chen
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2025. — Collaborated Project
DOI arXiv Website

DataSway: Vivifying Metaphoric Visualization with Animation Clip Generation and Coordination

Liwenhan Xie, Jiayi Zhou, Anyi Rao, Huamin Qu, Xinhuan Shu
ArXiv Preprint (arXiv). 2025.
arXiv Website Video Demo

Composing Data Stories with Meta Relations

Haotian Li, Lu Ying, Leixian Shen, Yun Wang, Yingcai Wu, Huamin Qu
ArXiv Preprint (arXiv). 2025.
arXiv

2024

Data Playwright: Authoring Data Videos with Annotated Narration

Leixian Shen, Haotian Li, Yun Wang, Tianqi Luo, Yuyu Luo, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2024.
Website

WonderFlow: Narration-Centric Design of Animated Data Videos

Yun Wang*, Leixian Shen*, Zhengxin You, Xinhuan Shu, Bongshin Lee, John Thompson, Haidong Zhang, Dongmei Zhang
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2024.
DOI arXiv Website

Telling Data Stories with the Hero’s Journey: Design Guidance for Creating Data Videos

Zheng Wei, Huamin Qu, Xian Xu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2024.
PDF

How Good (Or Bad) Are LLMs at Detecting Misleading Visualizations?

Leo Yu-Ho Lo, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2024.
arXiv

PyGWalker: On-the-fly Assistant for Exploratory Visual Data Analysis

Yue Yu, Leixian Shen, Fei Long, Huamin Qu, Hao Chen
Proceedings of the IEEE Visualization Conference (VIS). 2024. — Short Paper
Best Short Paper Award
arXiv Code

From Data to Story: Towards Automatic Animated Data Video Creation with LLM-based Multi-Agent Systems

Leixian Shen, Haotian Li, Yun Wang, Huamin Qu
Companion Workshop in IEEE VIS Conference on Data Storytelling in an Era of Generative AI (Gen4DS). 2024.
arXiv

NotePlayer: Engaging Jupyter Notebooks for Dynamic Presentation of Analytical Processes

Yang Ouyang, Leixian Shen, Yun Wang, Quan Li
Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST). 2024. — Collaborated Project
arXiv

Narrative Player: Reviving Data Narratives with Visuals

Zekai Shao, Leixian Shen, Haotian Li, Yi Shan, Huamin Qu, Yun Wang, Siming Chen
ArXiv Preprint (arXiv). 2024. — Collaborated Project
arXiv Website

Reviving Static Charts into Live Charts

Lu Ying, Yun Wang, Haotian Li, Shuguang Dou, Haidong Zhang, Xinyang Jiang, Huamin Qu, Yingcai Wu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2024. — Collaborated Project
DOI arXiv

Where Are We So Far? Understanding Data Storytelling Tools from the Perspective of Human-AI Collaboration

Haotian Li, Yun Wang, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2024.
Best Paper Honorable Mention
DOI arXiv Website Talk

OutlineSpark: Igniting AI-powered Presentation Slides Creation from Computational Notebooks through Outlines

Fengjie Wang, Yanna Lin, Leni Yang, Haotian Li, Mingyang Gu, Min Zhu, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2024.
DOI arXiv Video Demo

Understanding Nonlinear Collaboration between Human and AI Agents: A Co-design Framework for Creative Designs

Jiayi Zhou, Renzhong Li, Junxiu Tang, Tan Tang, Haotian Li, Weiwei Cui, Yingcai Wu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2024. — Collaborated Project
DOI arXiv

VisTellAR: Embedding Data Visualization to Short-form Videos Using Mobile Augmented Reality

Wai Tong, Kento Shigyo, Linping Yuan, Mingming Fan, Ting-Chuen Pong, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2024. — Early Access
DOI

2023

Wakey-Wakey: Animate Text by Mimicking Characters in a GIF

Liwenhan Xie*, Zhaoyu Zhou*, Kerun Yu, Yun Wang, Huamin Qu, Siming Chen
Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST). 2023.
DOI arXiv Talk Slides Demo Code

Why Change My Design: Explaining Poorly Constructed Visualization Designs with Explorable Explanations

Leo Yu-Ho Lo, Yifan Cao, Leni Yang, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2023.
DOI arXiv Talk Demo

Creating Emordle: Animating Word Cloud for Emotion Expression

Liwenhan Xie, Xinhuan Shu, Jeon Cheol Su, Yun Wang, Siming Chen, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2023.
DOI arXiv Website Talk Slides Demo

Notable: On-the-fly Assistant for Data Storytelling in Computational Notebooks

Haotian Li, Lu Ying, Haidong Zhang, Yingcai Wu, Huamin Qu, Yun Wang
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2023.
DOI arXiv Video Talk

GeoCamera: Telling Stories in Geographic Visualizations with Camera Movements

Wenchao Li, Zhan Wang, Yun Wang, Di Weng, Liwenhan Xie, Siming Chen, Haidong Zhang, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2023.
DOI arXiv Demo

NetworkNarratives: Data Tours for Visual Network Exploration and Analysis

Wenchao Li, Sarah Schöttler, James Scott-Brown, Yun Wang, Siming Chen, Huamin Qu, Benjamin Bach
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2023.
DOI arXiv Demo

Is It the End? Guidelines for Cinematic Endings in Data Videos

Xian Xu, Aoyu Wu, Leni Yang, Zheng Wei, Rong Huang, David Yip, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2023.
DOI arXiv Talk

Understanding 3D Data Videos: From Screens to Virtual Reality

Leni Yang, Aoyu Wu, Wai Tong, Xian Xu, Zheng Wei, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium (PacificVis). 2023.
DOI PDF Website

2022

Misinformed by Visualization: What Do We Learn From Misinformative Visualizations?

Leo Yu-Ho Lo, Ayush Gupta, Kento Shigyo, Aoyu Wu, Enrico Bertini, Huamin Qu
Computer Graphics Forum (EuroVis). 2022.
DOI arXiv

From 'Wow' to 'Why': Guidelines for Creating the Opening of a Data Video with Cinematic Styles

Xian Xu, Leni Yang, David Yip, Mingming Fan, Zheng Wei, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2022.
DOI arXiv Video Talk

2021

Explore Mindfulness Without Deflection: A Data Art Based on the Book of Songs

Yifang Wang, Yifan Cao, Junxiu Tang, Yang Wang, Huamin Qu, Yingcai Wu
IEEE VIS Arts Program (VISAP). 2021.
DOI PDF Website Talk Slides

A Design Space for Applying the Freytag’s Pyramid Structure to Data Stories

Leni Yang, Xian Xu, Xingyu Lan, Ziyan Liu, Shunan Guo, Yang Shi, Huamin Qu, Nan Cao
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2021.
DOI PDF Website Video

Learning to Automate Chart Layout Configurations Using Crowdsourced Paired Comparison

Aoyu Wu, Liwenhan Xie, Bongshin Lee, Yun Wang, Weiwei Cui, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2021.
DOI arXiv Talk

Explaining with Examples Lessons Learned from Crowdsourced Introductory Description of Information Visualizations

Leni Yang, Cindy Xiong, Jason Kam Kwai Wong, Aoyu Wu, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2021.
DOI arXiv

AI4VIS: Survey on Artificial Intelligence Approaches for Data Visualization

Aoyu Wu, Yun Wang, Xinhuan Shu, Dominik Moritz, Weiwei Cui, Haidong Zhang, Dongmei Zhang, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2021.
DOI arXiv Website Talk Slides

Applying Machine Learning Advances to Data Visualization: A Survey on ML4VIS

Qianwen Wang, Zhutian Chen, Yong Wang, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2021.
DOI arXiv Website

InfoColorizer: Interactive Recommendation of Color Palettes for Infographics

Linping Yuan, Ziqi Zhou, Jian Zhao, Yiqiu Guo, Fan Du, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2021.
DOI arXiv Website Video

Augmenting Sports Videos with VisCommentator

Zhutian Chen, Shuainan Ye, Xiangtong Chu, Haijun Xia, Hui Zhang, Huamin Qu, Yingcai Wu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2021.
Best Paper Honorable Mention
DOI PDF Website Video

2020

Augmenting Static Visualizations with PapARVis Designer

Zhutian Chen, Wai Tong, Qianwen Wang, Benjamin Bach, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2020.
DOI PDF Video Talk

What Makes a Data-GIF Understandable?

Xinhuan Shu, Aoyu Wu, Junxiu Tang, Benjamin Bach, Yingcai Wu, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2020.
DOI arXiv Website Video

Improving Engagement of Animated Visualization with Visual Foreshadowing

Wenchao Li, Yun Wang, Haidong Zhang, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the IEEE Visualization Conference (VIS). 2020. — Short Paper
DOI arXiv Video Slides

DancingWords: Exploring Animated Word Clouds to Tell Stories

Xinhuan Shu, Jiang Wu, Xinke Wu, Hongye Liang, Weiwei Cui, Yingcai Wu, Huamin Qu
Journal of Visualization (ChinaVis). 2020.
Best Paper Honorable Mention
DOI PDF Website Video

Narrative Transitions in Data Videos

Junxiu Tang, Lingyun Yu, Tan Tang, Xinhuan Shu, Lu Ying, Yuhua Zhou, Peiran Ren, Yingcai Wu
Proceedings of the IEEE Visualization Conference (VIS). 2020. — Short Paper, Collaborated Project
DOI arXiv Website Talk

2019

Towards Automated Infographic Design: Deep Learning-based Auto-Generation of Extensible Timeline

Zhutian Chen, Yun Wang, Qianwen Wang, Yong Wang, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2019.
DOI arXiv Website Video

Narvis: Authoring Narrative Slideshows for Introducing Data Visualization Designs

Qianwen Wang, Zhen Li, Siwei Fu, Weiwei Cui, Huamin Qu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). 2019.
DOI arXiv Website Video Talk

Designing Narrative Slideshows for Learning Analytics

Qing Chen, Zhen Li, Ting-Chuen Pong, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium (PacificVis). 2019.
DOI Video

2018

Storytelling and Visualization: An Extended Survey

Chao Tong, Richard Roberts, Rita Borgo, Sean Walton, Robert S Laramee, Kodzo Wegba, Aidong Lu, Yun Wang, Huamin Qu, Qiong Luo, Xiaojuan Ma
Information. 2018.
DOI PDF

MARVisT: Authoring Glyph-based Visualization in Mobile Augmented Reality

Zhutian Chen, Yijia Su, Yifang Wang, Qianwen Wang, Huamin Qu, Yingcai Wu
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (VIS). 2018.
DOI PDF Website Video

InfoNice: Easy Creation of Information Graphics

Yun Wang, Haidong Zhang, He Huang, Xi Chen, Qiufeng Yin, Zhitao Hou, Dongmei Zhang, Qiong Luo, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2018.
DOI PDF Video Talk

2016

Data Edibilization: Representing Data with Food

Yun Wang, Xiaojuan Ma, Qiong Luo, Huamin Qu
Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2016. — Poster
DOI PDF Talk

Animated Narrative Visualization for Video Clickstream Data

Yun Wang, Zhutian Chen, Quan Li, Xiaojuan Ma, Qiong Luo, Huamin Qu
SIGGRAPHAsia. 2016.
DOI PDF

A Guided Tour of Literature Review: Facilitating Academic Paper Reading with Narrative Visualization

Yun Wang, Dongyu Liu, Huamin Qu, Qiong Luo, Xiaojuan Ma
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI). 2016.
DOI PDF

Current Members

Prof. Huamin Qu
PI
Linping Yuan
RAP
Liwenhan Xie
PhD Candidate
Leixian Shen
PhD Candidate
Yihao Meng
PhD Candidate
Zheng Wei
PhD Candidate
Jiayi Zhou
PhD Student
Runhua Zhang
PhD Student
Yuying Tang
PhD Student
Hanlu Ma
PhD Student

Alumni

Xian Xu
Lingnan Uni.
AP
Yifan Cao
HKUST Postdoc
PhD
Leni Yang
Inria
Postdoc
Leo Yu-Ho Lo
RBC Borealis AI
PhD
Haotian Li
MSRA
Researcher
Wenchao Li
Huawei
Researcher
Wai Tong
TAMU
AP
Aoyu Wu
Harvard
Postdoc
Yifang Wang
Northwestern
Postdoc
Xinhuan Shu
Newcastle Univ.
AP
Qianwen Wang
UMN
AP
Chen Zhu-Tian
UMN
AP
Yun Wang
MSRA
Senior Researcher
Qing Chen
Tongji Univ.
AP
Weiwei Cui
MSRA
Senior Researcher
Nan Cao
Tongji Univ.
Professor

Collaborators