Besides all the conceptual research, first technical approaches are made on how to work with massive data sets. To get started, an XML file from worldbank.org was imported and briefly visualized in a Unity project.
Famous medical doctor Hans Rossling always advertises the public availability for the massively collected data around the world by different public organizations. Moving interactive data maps showing and explaining global health issues are Rossling's typical way to present data and his knowledge, giving incredible insights in global developments and how different global factors, such as the average health or the welfare in certain countries are extremely related to each other.
He co-founded the project Gapminder.org/ targeting to increase the availability of collected data around the world to the general public.
Gapminder is a non-profit foundation based in Stockholm. Our goal is to replace devastating myths with a fact-based worldview. Our method is to make data easy to understand. We are dedicated to innovate and spread new methods to make global development understandable, free of charge, without advertising. We want to let teachers, journalists and everyone else continue to freely use our tools, videos and presentations.
- Gapminder Website
HIV Chart created with Gapminder
From Gapminder came up the software Tendalyzer, that can create interactive visualizations from this data free to download. Check it out here.
The documentary movie 'The Joy of Stats' from 2010 is another project by Rossling, showing how exciting the massive data can be and how it is handled today.
When it comes to work with data, Hans Rossling is the absolute expert in presenting complicated data perfectly understandable, pointing out stunning connections and getting the most from all the available global data. His life and work is highly important for this research.
"Rosling believes that making information more accessible has the potential to change the quality of the information itself."
Business Week Online
References
Gapminder.org (2012) Gapminder: Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact based world view. - Gapminder.org. [online] Available at: http://www.gapminder.org/ [Accessed: 28 Nov 2012].
Ted.com (2007) Hans Rosling | Profile on TED.com. [online] Available at: http://www.ted.com/speakers/hans_rosling.html [Accessed: 28 Nov 2012]. IMDb (2011) The Joy of Stats (TV 2010). [online] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1801548/ [Accessed: 3 Dec 2012].
This project visualizes the mentions from Twitter, Facebooke and Google+ for the presidental election (duration from 22 Oct - 5 Nov 2012). The data is pretty straight forward, the visualization style is really interesting though. Tōhoku Japanese Earthquake Sculpture
This sculture created by Luke Jerram represents a 9 minute data stream recorded from a seismogram from the earthquake of the Tsunami catastrophe in Japan. This is a beautiful example on how to combine data and art and how to make data physical.
"To create the sculpture a seismogram of the earthquake, was rotated using computer aided design and then printed in 3 dimensions using rapid prototyping technology."
This particular very interesting project uses data sonification and traffic data from London. Sounds are created by all cars driving or waiting together at traffic lights. Through that, a constantly changing soundscape is created, representing the London traffic.
References
Lukejerram.com (2011) Tōhoku Japanese Earthquake Sculpture | Luke Jerram. [online] Available at: http://www.lukejerram.com/projects/t%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake [Accessed: 28 Nov 2012].
Markmckeague.com (n.d.) City Symphonies - Mark McKeague. [online] Available at: http://markmckeague.com/work/city-symphonies/ [Accessed: 28 Nov 2012].
S3.amazonaws.com (2012) 2012 U.S. Presidential Election - Social Media. [online] Available at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/SocialHarvest/aggregate.html [Accessed: 28 Nov 2012].
