Creative Possibilities in Data Visualization and Networked Art

Creative Possibilities in Data Visualization
and Networked Art

Diego Maranan
dmaranan@upou.edu.ph
Faculty of Information and Communication Studies
UP Open University

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Overview

www.slideshare.net/diegomaranan/sst-sem2-2009

Visualizing Data:
Making Sense of an Information-Rich World
THIS IS AN
ADVERTISEMENT

2
Biomodd [LBA ]
Ecology + Gaming +
Diego Maranan
Installation Art + Community
UP Open University
Interested?
www.biomodd.net
`

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I assert that any use of copyrighted images in this presentation constitutes acceptable use because they are low-resolution copies, do not limit in any way the copyright owners to sell the images or products they
represent, are identified and referenced clearly, and are used only to illustrate arguments central to this presentation.
Non-copyrighted portions of this presentation are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Philippines License.

A quick backgrounder on me
Growing up, I wanted either to compose film music or study the cosmos. In
college, I became a computer geek who studied contemporary dance.

Art, science, and positive social change have always been important to me.
www.diegomaranan.com/CV

IN TER R UP T
T HI S
TA L K
AT
ANY
T IM E
(I don't mind)

What data visualization is
Examples: 1
General Features
Examples: 2
Caveats
Examples: 3
Now what?

data visualization is
a particular way of doing
information design

“ Information design tells a story with pictures.
It can tell “how many?” “when?” or “where?”
It can show trends over time, compare elements or
reveal hidden patterns.
It brings form and structure to information.
It is not the same as graphic design, nor is it only
about making something aesthetically pleasing.
It is not about branding, style, making a glossy
product or something that looks “corporate.”

From John Emerson. (2008, January). Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design. Tactical
Technology Collective. Retrieved June 6, 2008, from http://www.tacticaltech.org/infodesign Visualizing Information for
Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design is licensed under a Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

“ Clear
It makes complex information easier to
understand.
Compelling
Visuals grab people’s attention.
Convincing
People who might not be persuaded by raw
numbers or statistics may be more likely to
understand and believe what they see in a
chart or graphic.
From John Emerson. (2008, January). Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design. Tactical
Technology Collective. Retrieved June 6, 2008, from http://www.tacticaltech.org/infodesign Visualizing Information for
Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design is licensed under a Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

The US news media dedicates a
disproportionate amount of attention
to stories about the US and Iraq.

The world map redrawn
according to the number of
seconds US network and cable
news organizations devoted to
news items for each country in
February 2007.

Alisa Miller. (2007). Why we* know less than ever about the world,
TED2008. Monterey, California. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from
www.ted.com/index.php/talks/alisa_miller_shares_the_news_abou
t_the_news.html. * “we” = “Americans”, of course.

In 2006, only the US, the UK, and Israel did not support “an
immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East.”
Belfast Telegraph (2006, July), reproduced by John Emerson in Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information
Design. (2008, January). Tactical Technology Collective.

Details of each
demonstration are
filed on Google
Maps.
Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma. Map of
demonstrations August-September 2007 - ALTSEAN
Burma. ALTSEAN-BURMA. Retrieved July 15, 2008,
from
http://www.altsean.org/Photogalleries/ProtestsMap.p
hp.

Between August and September 2007,
over 60 demonstrations were staged
across Myanmar in response to
oppressive state policies.

The US is the leading an economic
superpower.

The names of US
states have been
replaced with
countries that
have similar GDPs.

Froz Gobo. (2007, June 27). Much Better.
apostropher.

Retrieved July 14, 2008, from
http://www.apostropher.com/blog/archives/003827.
html. See also
http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/131
-us-states-renamed-for-countries-with-similar-gdps/

An interactive and
“subjective history
of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict
composed of
historical and
personal events”
as recounted by
participants of the
project.
Just Vision. Timeline. Just Vision. Retrieved July 15,
2008, from http://justvision.org/en/timeline.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is long and
complex. It is made up of countless
individuals who each have a story to tell.

Every community defines a
concept in its own way.

UP Open University. quot;What is Multimedia?quot;
MMS100: Introduction to Multimedia Studies (1st Semester, 2008).
Retrieved July 14, 2008, from http://sites.google.com/a/upou.edu.ph/mms100/course-outline/sfg987srtew4rtf/whatismultimediaresults.

Someone How they
blogging felt about it
about getting
dumped (Generally, not good)

`

When it
happened

whoa

There's a lot of heartache out there.
Golan Levin, Kamal Nigam, & Jonathan Feinberg. (2006, February 14). The Dumpster. Retrieved May 3,
2008, from http://www.tate.org.uk/netart/bvs/thedumpster.htm.

Users can construct
their own maps by
placing, removing, and
rearranging institutions
and individuals
associated with claims
that anthropogenic
climate change is not a
cause for concern. The
interface allows users
to explore for
themselves
relationships between
Powerful interests are connected the petroleum industry,
through complex networks of various think tanks, and
Greenpeace. Exxon Secrets. Exxonsecrets.org.
Retrieved July 14, 2008, from
the US government.
influence that significantly affect US
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/maps.php.

public policy around climate change.

The world is
increasingly connected.
“This visualization [...] using
Processing shows the
conversations of about 1500
users from the microblogging
service Twitter. The arcs [...]
link the locations of users
who talk to each other. The
geocoding was done filtering
location info from the users
profile pages and looking it
up with Geonames.”
Walter Rafelsberger. (2008). Twitter Conversations
Map. visualcomplexity.com. Retrieved July 15, 2008,
from
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/project_details.cf
m?id=600&index=600&domain=.

HOW A VISUALIZATION
FACILITATES LEARNING
Simplifies

MAKING SENSE OF KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS
CHARACTERIZED BY LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA

Uncovers complexity

CHALLENGING STEOREOTYPES AND
“SIMPLISTIC EITHER-ORS”*

Uncovers complexity, but then
identifies hidden patterns
`
CREATING MAJOR SHIFTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS

USER INTERACTIVITY
Interactive

PERMITS GRADUAL DISCLOSURE
GOOD FOR UNCOVERING COMPLEXITY
USERS ARE IN CONTROL OF THEIR LEARNING
DESIGN SHOULD IMPLY PROMISE OF NEW DISCOVERIES
GENERALLY REQUIRES MORE SOPHISTICATED
AUTHORING TOOLS
GENERALLY MORE DIFFICULT TO MAKE

Non-interactive

INSTANTANEOUS LEARNING GRATIFICATION
SUITABLE FOR SIMPLIFYING
DESIGNER CONTROLS DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
` MORE CONVENTIONAL AUTHORING TOOLS ARE USUALLY
SUFFICIENT
GENERALLY EASIER TO MAKE

WHAT THEY REVEAL
Very large or very small values

Unexpected relationships

Unusual statistical
distributions

`

DATA SOURCES
Uses (or could use) data that
changes over time

USER-GENERATED CONTENT
SYSTEMS THAT CONTINUOUSLY AND AUTOMATICALLY
GENERATE DATA

Data remains fixed

`

TOOLS USED TO AUTHOR
THEM
Desktop publishing programs
MS WORD, MS EXCEL, OPEN OFFICE

Image editing and layout
software
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP, ADOBE INDESIGN, COREL

Web 2.0 tools aimed for
“average” web user
GOOGLE MAPS, MANY EYES

Specialized design tools
FLASH, COURSELAB, SOCIAL ACTION
`
Highly specialized, highly
flexible visualization
authoring tools
PROCESSING, VVVV, VTK

Can represent data that
changes over time
Draws reader in through the
power of design: “It must
be important”
Interactivity supports user-
centered learning
Mapping Glovalization Project
http://qed.princeton.edu/main/MG

The Internet
on Jan 16, 2005
www.opte.org

My facebook network
generated using http://nexus.ludios.net

Social Networks (1)

Social networking

Subgroups in my network

Social Networks: Linking

nodes
connecting
subgroups

orphaned
nodes and
subgroups

Open Source Dance
http://www.slideshare.net/diegomaranan/open-source-dance-presentation/

Building dance communities through sharing Creative Commons-
licensed choreography and tracking the flow of choreographic
ideas across dance communities

Visualizing Philippine
Cinema
http://www.slideshare.net/diegomaranan/proposal-for-a-portal-to-philippine-cinema-using-data-
visualization-techniques-presentation/

Facilitating insights into independent cinemas in the Philippines
(but can be extended easily to cover global cinemas) using data
publicly available on the web and data visualization techniques

The Apology Project
http://sites.google.com/site/diegomarananprojects/todo/on-hold/The-Apology-Project

A Web 2.0 site for public apologies

ANOTHER
ADVERTISEMENT

Open Source Dance
The Apology Project
Visualizing Philippine Cinema
Web developers needed!

Visualizing data is
not an unproblematic activity.

Methods used

IN GENERATING AND COLLECTING DATA,
IN CHOOSING APPROPRIATE VISUAL ELEMENTS,
OR IN DISSEMINATING A VISUALIZATION

can be subject to debate.

Data visualization assumes the presence of
●

data
Broad strokes might miss important details
●

(which is why interactivity is important)
All the visual cleverness might eventually
●

become tiring. (“I'm skeptical of shapes.”)

But work in data visualization can be
an interdisciplinary activity, where
experts

IN DESIGN,
IN EDUCATION,
IN SOCIAL SCIENCE,
AND IN TECHNOLOGY

contribute best practices in the spirit
of free inquiry, openness, and trust.

Visualizing data is
not an unproblematic activity.

But that's OK.

(Visualizing Noli)
(Hans Rosling)
(Chris Jordan)

Thanks to Ed Maranan for helping me out with this

Tons of examples on www.visualcomplexity.com and
processing.org/exhibition

Collaboration and Productivity, Onboarding,
●

Training
Archiving
●

Basic Education
●

Raising the cool factor of your web presence
●

Maximing your investment on the web
●

presence by understanding user behavior on
your website
Grassroots advocacy, activism, information
●

campaigns
Personal use: Coping with information
●

overload
++
●

When you want to say something radically
different, or when you uncover information
that is potentially dangerous to the status
quo,

say what you want to say in the most
aesthetically stunning, quantitatively sound
way possible.

1) Join the Information Design for Social Change email list.
groups.google.com/group/disenyo
2) Try it yourself. Graph your social network on Facebook
on www.nexus.ludios.net. Or try out Many Eyes:
www.manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes
3) Read up more about it on the Web: www.delicious.com/
dmaranan/visualization
4) Read books and journal articles about data visualization:
wednesdaysmnlove.blogspot.com/2008/10/list-of-
readings.html
5) Go to a school that teaches you more about it.
Look for buzzwords like Aesthetic Technologies,
Computational Aesthetics, Computational Design,
Information Design

Visualizing Data:
Making Sense of an Information-Rich World
LAST REMINDER!

2
Biomodd [LBA ]
Ecology + Gaming +
Diego Maranan
Installation Art + Community
UP Open University
Interested?
www.biomodd.net
`

Visualization of del.icio.us tags is courtesy of kaeru on Flickr.com and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
I assert that any use of copyrighted images in this presentation constitutes acceptable use because they are low-resolution copies, do not limit in any way the copyright owners to sell the images or products they
represent, are identified and referenced clearly, and are used only to illustrate arguments central to this presentation.
Non-copyrighted portions of this presentation are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Philippines License.

“Good art renders the invisible, visible.”

Creative Possibilities in Data Visualization and Networked Art

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