Visualisation is a crucial tool in evolutionary computation (EC), enabling vital insight and understanding about algorithm operation and problem landscapes, as well as enabling decision makers to explore solution sets comprising large numbers of conflicting objectives. In addition to visualising the solutions generated by an EC process, the processes themselves can be visualised to provide algorithm users with information about how successful their optimisers are. Advances in animation and the prevalence of digital displays, along with improvements in processing power, mean that it is possible to use visualisation methods to illustrate aspects of an algorithm’s performance in real time.

The focus of this special issue is to highlight the current state-of-the-art in visualisation research within evolutionary computation. In addition to including extensions of papers from GECCO’s “Visualisation in Genetic and Evolutionary Computation” workshop (VizGEC 2021) we are soliciting novel contributions from the wider community.

Topics of interest for this special issue include (but are not limited to) the following:

• visualisation of the evolution of a synthetic population;
• visualisation of algorithm operation;
• visualisation of problem landscapes;
• visualisation of multi-objective trade-off sets;
• the use of genetic and evolutionary techniques for visualising data;
• novel technologies for visualisation within genetic and evolutionary computation;
• visualisation to facilitate interactive evolution;
• visualisation in real-world applications.

Submitted manuscripts must not have been published or simultaneously submitted elsewhere. For extended papers, at least 30% additional material beyond that in the published proceedings is expected. Each paper (extended or not) will receive thorough peer reviews and evaluation. Papers will be selected based on their originality, scientific and technical quality of the contributions, organisation and presentation and relevance to the special issue. When submitting your manuscript please select “SI: VizGEC” as the article type. In order to ensure timely publication manuscripts must be submitted before 19 December 2021.

Please ensure you read the Guide for Authors before writing your manuscript. Manuscripts should be formatted according to the journal's formatting instructions. The Guide for Authors and link to submit your manuscript is on the journal’s home page, https://www.springer.com/journal/11047.

• Paper submission due: 19 December 2021
• First-round acceptance decision notification: 3 March 2022
• First revision submission due: 1 May 2022
• Second-round acceptance decision notification: 1 June 2022
• Notification of final decision: 1 August 2022

Dr David Walker

University of Plymouth, UK

Email: david.walker@plymouth.ac.uk

Prof. Richard Everson

University of Exeter, UK

Email: R.M.Everson@exeter.ac.uk

Prof. Neil Vaughan

University of Exeter, UK

Email: N.Vaughan@exeter.ac.uk

Dr Rui Wang

Uber AI, USA