A virtual revolution in visualization has contributed to dramatic advances in fields such as chemistry, nanotechnology, genomics and systems biology, medicine, and earth and space science. New tools to create stunning visual images have given frontier researchers the perspective needed to set new research directions. Interactive, computer based animations and visualizations have also equipped students and teachers to see and understand complex science concepts.

Yet tools alone do not shape research or create educational change. Communities of learning must be created and brought together to develop a collective vision for how to best use these powerful tools for the advancement of science and improvement of education in and outside of the classroom. The technologies and use of visualizations are advancing much more rapidly than our knowledge of the perceptual and cognitive processes that they engage. Seeing does not always lead to understanding. Better theories and practices require sustained interaction among disciplinary specialists, visualization practitioners, and researchers in vision science, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, assessment, and education. The 2005 visualization conference brings together this interdisciplinary community to develop that collective vision for using these tools in research in science and education.