Machine learning algorithms are widely applied to create powerful prediction models. With increasingly complex models, humans'ability to understand the decision function (that maps from a high-dimensional input space) is quickly exceeded. To explain a model's decisions, black-box methods have been proposed that provide either non-linear maps of the global topology of the decision boundary, or samples that allow approximating it locally. The former loses information about distances in input space, while the latter only provides statements about given samples, but lacks a focus on the underlying model for precise 'What-If'-reasoning. In this paper, we integrate both approaches and propose an interactive exploration method using local linear maps of the decision space. We create the maps on high-dimensional hyperplanes-2D-slices of the high-dimensional parameter space-based on statistical and personal feature mutability and guided by feature importance. We complement the proposed workflow with established model inspection techniques to provide orientation and guidance. We demonstrate our approach on real-world datasets and illustrate that it allows identification of instance-based decision boundary structures and can answer multi-dimensional 'What-If'-questions, thereby identifying counterfactual scenarios visually.
This paper documents the organization, the execution, and the results of the Topology ToolKit (TTK) hackathon that took place at the TopoInVis 2019 conference. The primary goal of the hackathon was to promote TTK in our research community as a unified software development platform for topology-based data analysis algorithms. To this end, participants were first introduced to the structure and capabilities of TTK, and then worked on their own TTK-related projects while being mentored by senior TTK developers. Notable outcomes of the hackathon were first steps towards Python and Docker packages, further integration of TTK in Inviwo, the extension of TTK with new algorithms, and the discovery of current limitations of TTK as well as future development directions.
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