I have a background in 3d art and design and have worked in 3D animation, games and the VFX industry. Working in that field taught me a lot about the complexity of vision and just how much information can be processed by the human brain. Also, how easily it can be to offend that same visual process with the wrong aesthetics. So with this background, I find the visualization of data fascinating and have always been drawn to present data in as pleasing and informative way as possible.
Right now, I think we're on the verge of a second golden age in data visualization. The first golden age apparently occurred in the latter half of the 19th century. This was steamrolled by the advent of what we consider modern statistics in the 20th century. T-test, z-scores, ANOVA, look up tables. All necessary for quantification, but lacking in visual appeal. Graphs and charts have been the mainstay of this era but creativity and, dare I say, story telling have been absent.
Seems like there is a perfect storm of programming literacy, public interest in data and need in public and private sectors that is seeing the development of tools like D3.js, bokeh and of course R.
Looking at the dataisbeautiful subreddit, you would also be forgiven for thinking that there is a hunger at the moment to see stories told through data. with a healthy competitiveness to see who can reveal some new insight into what is happening in the world around us.
Right now, I think we're on the verge of a second golden age in data visualization. The first golden age apparently occurred in the latter half of the 19th century. This was steamrolled by the advent of what we consider modern statistics in the 20th century. T-test, z-scores, ANOVA, look up tables. All necessary for quantification, but lacking in visual appeal. Graphs and charts have been the mainstay of this era but creativity and, dare I say, story telling have been absent.
Seems like there is a perfect storm of programming literacy, public interest in data and need in public and private sectors that is seeing the development of tools like D3.js, bokeh and of course R.
Looking at the dataisbeautiful subreddit, you would also be forgiven for thinking that there is a hunger at the moment to see stories told through data. with a healthy competitiveness to see who can reveal some new insight into what is happening in the world around us.