Data Visualization - Its Art!

First, I'm reproducing this post on the "Interdisciplinary Research Seminar" and the "Digital Culture and Convergence" blogs. This way, I should be able to reach everyone who was interested in my DCC mid-term project. As many of you saw, my interest in both of these classes are combining and motivating me to explore how to display complex datasets. In this post I'll point to some pioneers in data visualization, suggest some useful software that you can start learning, and end with links to my own projects.

-Data Visualization-

Edward Tufte is a pioneer in the field of data visualization. His books have led the way for an entire generation of researchers, artists, and hobbyists in exploring how to visualize information in exciting ways. I think Tufte is so successful because his visualizations are artistic and have an inherent beauty about them which appeals to people before they understand what statistics are being shown. Recently, people have begun exploring how to combine artistic data visualizations with interactivity.

-Interactive Data Visualization-

A number of websites have appeared over the years showcasing interactive data visualization. Gapminder is probably the most well-known, but others are starting their own sites as well. For instance, my cousin runs a site called indiemaps where he uses Python to program interactive maps. Personally, the ability to create these kinds of interactive graphics is creating an unprecedented interest in statistics, and appeal to me as a cutting-edge way to deliver information online. Other sites of interest include FlowingData (where you can also find data) and Information Aesthetics.

-DIY Data Visualization-

The most flexible way learn how to do this is to learn the Processing programming language. This is a Java-based language that is incredibly flexible. In fact, you can have Processing interact with a variety inputs (including real-world robotics!). Processing is free to download and you can start learning immediately online with a series of tutorials. Also, a number of excellent books exist to teach you, and I took Arturo Sinclair's suggestion and picked up Learning Processing by Daniel Shiffman. While Processing is probably one of the easier to learn programming languages out there, it still takes time and there is a bit of a learning curve depending on how comfortable you are with computers and programming. If you have a background in Java, you'll learn it in a snap! (I do not have experience with Java and am still learning it relatively quickly)

There are other ways to deliver information online, particularly spatial information. The most common now is through the creation of a Google Maps Mashup. If you have a website you can apply for a free Google Maps API and start delivering information online in a few easy steps. The folks at Google have created a wonderful series of tutorials as well as many samples for you to learn. Here are some Demos of mashups: Reverse Geocode, College Map Overlay, and a User Locator. Here is a link to my examples, very much a work in progress.

Additionally, if you're interested in delivering 3D data online you could use the Google Earth Plugin for internet browsers. It works similiarly to the Google Maps API but users have to download and install the plugin. There are several advantages to using the Google Earth API over the Google Maps one. For instance, you make things much more interactive and you can symbolize data over time. Here are some cool examples: Monster Milktruck, First Person Camera, and a KML sampler.

-A Note on KML & KMZ-

Google Earth and Google Maps use a file format called Keyhole Markup Language (KML) which is basically a text document that uses tags (like html) to deliver information. A KMZ files is simply a zipped file which has a KML file and any supporting files (e.g. images, sounds) all in the same file.

-The Geospatial Web-

Ultimately, these new technologies are making it easier for anyone to deliver complex information via the internet. The ability to deliver spatial content in an interactive format is referred to as the Geospatial Web and it promises to revolutionize the way we experience information, the internet, and the world around us. The creation of GeoWeb Browsers (e.g. Google Earth) has set the new direction for delivering content via the internet and the tools above are you way to participating in the creation of a whole new internet experience.

Thanks for reading!
-Ed

Most Pixels Ever

here is a multi-screen library for Processing

http://code.google.com/p/mostpixelsever/wiki/HowThisWorks

Midterm Project of Xuan and Liuyi

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/2TK0jfkfI9w

Thank you for everyone's comment :)

Shamar and Logan's Midterm: Signs of Life

The Mid-Term and Final Project [Ideas]

Greetings,

For my mid-term and final project I am exploring the Processing language. I am interested in this java-like/based programming language because so many people use it to create interactive data visualizations. I have been furiously trying to learn Processing over the past couple of weeks and its going pretty well. I am using a text called Learning Processing: A Beginner's Guide to Programming Images, Animation, and Interaction which is a great book and really walks you through the program. So, as I learn Processing I think I'll create a webpage to display my progress here. Ultimately, I hope to use Processing to create an interactive application allowing people to explore statistics about racially charged collective violence in the US. This not only feeds into my overall PhD work in anthropology, but I will also use the application as a teaching aid for future courses.

As such, I've begun entering information about lynchings in the Deep South from 1882 to 1930. There are verifiable lists of lynchings during this time and at present I am busy coding these numbers into a spatial database using ESRI's ArcGIS software. Here are a couple of sample images showing basic lynching statistics for the State of Florida:

Florida Lynchings by County (1882-1930)

Florida Lynching by Year (1882-1930)

You can click the above images for larger versions. Obviously, such data represents an ugly aspect of America's past, but I believe it is important to remember these events lest we repeat similiar race-based hate in the present.

Thanks for reading,
-Ed

First (at-home) Isadora Project

Greetings,

The video below is my first attempt at creating a digital media artifact. Its a short piece using Isadora to manipulate a short video segment in three different ways. The source film I choose was Jeff Perkins 1966 Fluxus Film Shout currently hosted at UBUWEB.

First, sorry about the quality of the video, I used my digital camera to take this video because I don't have a way to record the stage in Isadora. I took Perkin's film into Isadora and applied three groups of effects to it. The film in the upper left corner is unmodified and simply plays into a projector. I re-sized the projector to take up a small amount of the stage in Isador. Of course, at home, I only have two monitors and so only one stage. I also cropped all four videos so that the black area around the actual film did not show up on my stage in Isadora. The image below is a screen shot showing the various effects and settings I used to create the above video.



The video in the upper right corner has a simple "dots" effect on it. The video in the bottom right corner has a "colorizer" affect which I attached a wave generator to in order to get this video feed to cycle through red and green colors. Finally, the bottom left corner video is actually two instances of the same video overlayed one another. The feed behind is unmodified while the front feed has a "difference" affect applied to it.

This was a great learning experience and I had a little bit of that 'rush' one gets from creating something new. Indeed, many of the tings I've talked about with Pat over the past few weeks really began to solidify during this little digital media experiment of mine. Thanks to Pat for getting me started with Isadora.

Isadora for Windows is on sale right now because its still in Beta testing, so you can get a license that include free upgrades to v1.0 for $225US. I think this program and a modest investment in three or more projectors and screens (~$2,000US) would set anyone up with a nice, portable installation facility. Its something I'm seriously thinking about investing in myself.

Thanks for reading,
-Ed

Using New Media Techniques for Activism

Greetings,

I made this video over the weekend. I took the photographs with a digital camera, the video is made using MS Movie Maker, and the song is from freesound.org. My interest in this class and the techniques we are exploring deal with New Media's potential to 'talk back' to inequality, social (in)justice, and similar issues. Of course, this is not new and a number of groups use these techniques. However, this video represents one of my first true attempts at creating an emotive experience which explores a social issue that I care about.



This is a short video showing a series of photographs taken during a two or three hour period one weekend afternoon. The images show how our 'throw-away' lifestyle generates enormous amounts of waste in short periods of time. While some of these items were collected by re-sellers and scavengers like myself, many of them ended up in landfills and trash dumps in the surrounding countryside.

The disposal of such cheaply produced furniture hurts workers whose livelihoods have been degraded to produce such low-quality products. In addition, our environment suffers doubly as the raw materials are harvested (often in exploited/developing nations) and when the finished products are thrown away.

Participating in this practice harms individuals around the world and contributes to the overabundance of debt among college students. Many of whom replenish their dorm rooms each year with the same crap purchased from the same store the previous year.

Thanks for reading,
-Ed