designplaygrounds.com » data visualization

Montblanc Generative Artworks by Onformative

Rodrigo — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:54:43 +0000

Berlin based Onformative studio were invited to develop an interpretation of an artwork for Montblanc´s category of watches , the project consists of two elements – delicate linear structures and amorphous bodies – which visualize the characteristics of the brand watches: the highest precision of the movement and the high quality of the materials.
A network of fine lines, rich in detail and connected systematically following logical rules, reflects the fine mechanism and precision of the movement. The unique structure of the network results from the product data of the specific watch. Its appearance changes in a set rhythm thereby continually evoking the Montblanc logo in an abstract manner.
In addition to the movement, other distinguishing characteristics that define a watch are its materials and casing. Amorphous bodies that recall liquid silver and gold emerge from the watch, pick up on the high quality materials and complement the lines, thereby forming a total work of art with its unique DNA that every watch embodies.

For this project an interactive tool was created using processing and all animations are exported without the need of post production. A wide range of t processing libraries were used like toxiclibs for the fluid and GLGraphics to make shading possible, as well as Lee Byrons meshLib and the Ani Tweaning Library by Benedikt Groß for the mesh and its animation and ControlP5 and ProScene for camera and control.

Immaterials: light painting WiFi

Rodrigo — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 05:06:14 +0000

Immaterials is a interactive piece created by Timo Arnall, Jørn Knutsen and Einar Sneve Martinussen.

This project explores the invisible terrain of WiFi networks in urban spaces by light painting signal strength in long-exposure photographs. A four-metre tall measuring rod with 80 points of light reveals cross-sections through WiFi networks using a photographic technique called light-painting.

I Want You To Want Me Interactive Installation

Rodrigo — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:13:54 +0000

I Want You To Want Me is an interactive installation that explores the search for love and self in the world of online dating , it was conceived and created by Jonathan Harris & Sep Kamvar(the guys behind the famous wefeelfine project) , and was commissioned by New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

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I Want You To Want Me displays the data from online dating sites and presents it as an interactive installation, displayed on a 56” high-resolution touch screen, hung vertically on a wall in a dark room. On screen is an interactive sky, whose weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, etc.) can be controlled by the viewer. Through the sky float hundreds of blue (male) and pink (female) balloons, each representing a single dating profile. The brighter balloons are younger people; the darker balloons older. Trapped inside each balloon is one of over 500 video silhouettes, showing a solitary person, engaged in any number of activities (yoga, jumping jacks, nose-picking, air guitar, etc.). The viewer can touch any balloon to select it, causing its photo to dangle from a string and its sentence to appear in a thought bubble overhead. Touching any balloon a second time pops it. The balloons move through the sky along different paths and at different speeds, bumping up against each other, sometimes traveling together for a time, but only ever getting so close, as each silhouette is ultimately confined to its own balloon.

I Want You To Want Me aims to be a mirror, in which people see reflections of themselves as they glimpse the lives of others.

Seed of Truce by TanglibleInteraction

Rodrigo — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:27:56 +0000

Seed of Truce is an interactive installation created by Tangible overseas online pharmacy Interaction commissioned by Canada’s Governor General Michaëlle Jean.The objective of the project was to create an installation in which people could participate and reflect about peace.

To make this they asked participants to write down on a piece of paper how they make peace on their everyday life, the the paper was folded into an origami with a smart blinking led. Next the person had to take his message to a special air shoot ant send it up into the air all the way to the top of the Vancouver Public Library. Once the folded paper came out of the shoot it flew down like a maple seed and landed on a large net.

Over the course of the days the net got more and more populated with blinking seeds creating a large beautiful installation that would not have been possible without people’s participation.

Seed of Truce from Alex Beim on Vimeo.

Beyond

Rodrigo — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:56:51 +0000

What would it be like to reach into a screen and manipulate virtual objects as in real world, that is something that Jinha Lee an interaction designer and computer scientist working at MIT Media Lab has been working on.

Beyond, a novel collapsible input device for direct 3D manipulation. When pressed against a screen, Beyond collapses in the physical world and extends into the digital space of the screen, such that users can have an illusion that they are inserting the tool into the virtual space. Beyond allows users to directly interact with 3D media, avoiding inconsistencies of input and output without having to wear special glasses. Users can select, draw, and sculpt in 3D virtual space and seam- lessly transition between 2D and 3D manipulation. We de- scribe detailed interaction techniques, implementation and application scenarios focused on geometric design and pro- totyping.

Beyond – Collapsible Input Device for Direct 3D Manipulation beyond the Screen from Jinha Lee on Vimeo.

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Natures by Quayola

Rodrigo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:43:47 +0000

Quayola is a visual artist based in London. His work simultaneously focuses on multiple forms exploring the space between video, audio, photography, installation, live performance and print.

Description (from site)
The Natures project consist in a series of multi-screen installation pieces and a live audio-visual performance in collaboration with musicianMira Calix and cellist Oliver Coates. Natures explores the dialogue between “the natural” and “the artificial”, creating a world where these cheap drugs two elements coexist harmoniously. Interpreting plants’ organic behaviours, computer-generated elements become part of the natural world and vice versa.

Natures #3B from Quayola on Vimeo.

Natures #2A from Quayola on Vimeo.

#AuRec renaming Augmented Reality technologies

Rodrigo — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:55:00 +0000

Here is a very interesting lecture from @gabrielshalom about Augmented Reality technologies and his proposal to change this name to something called Aura Recognition or AuRec , he gives some some examples of why indeed Augmented Reality is a bad term for this new technologies (interenet of things apps ), because if we look back a story of technology we find out there have been other technologies that have already given us an enhance state of reality , like for example the innovation of written language which is a concrete visualization of reality augmented meta data.
Apart from this proposal of renaming the term Augmented Reality , the thing found more interesting is the use of sound as the more appropriate channel for developing this applications instead of the visual platforms being developed today which may be annoying or obtrusive like screens goggles projectors etc.. he states that a good design challenge for developers or start ups companies in this field would be to develop voice control operative systems with a sonified user interface that can blend with existing technologies. Take a look ate the lecture an please let me know your thoughts.

AR Aura Recognition from KS12 on Vimeo.

The Power of Six Degrees – Understanding Networks

Rodrigo — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:45:50 +0000

I have just finished reading a book called The tipping point , that talks about how ideas become viral and massively spread , this book talks about the six degrees of separation idea that in a world of billions of people everyone is connected to each other by only few steps.

This phenomena has enormous implications in our everyday life and yet we almost never notice it,but if we are clever enough to find these patterns or conections in our lifes we could take enourmous advantages from it , in my case as a creative person I´m very interested in understanding this subjects because of the possibilites of spreading my work an ideas to the more posible people, this obiously traduces in more bussines opportunities and also as a great way to learn from others. I totally recommend you to watch this documentary and try to find the way this information may be valuable for you.

The power of data Visualization

Rodrigo — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:33:42 +0000

So you may be asking yourself, what does data charts and bar graphics can have of interesting ?
Actually a lot, some people like me grow up making boring statistical charts at school for useless projects, that’s why they may be not so popular as they could be, what I have discovered and really impress me is that data visualizations are becoming a very powerful vehicle for delivering messages besides of the aesthetics improvements.
As designers we grow up hearing stuff like “one must transmit our messages and thoughts trough design” however I don´t see how when I´m designing a fork I can transmit mi concern for the fact that my country (Mexico) has the more expensive Internet service and the lowest quality available , what I see more adequate for this kind of messages would be to make an interactive tool that shows the different fees and Internet quality of different countries,translating all the numbers and data into a coherent and graphical display could show the overwhelming comparison between what we are paying and the kind of service we receive , then I could show it to my friends , tweet it or digg it for people to see it , And luckily the data visualization tool will get distributed enough to start a social movement and why not start making governmental pressure to regulate the price and quality of Internet , that would be awesome right??

Why now data visualizations are more powerful than ever?? As shown in the video above we can guess some of the reasons , technology, social media (blogs,twitter,facebook etc..) , the creation of softwares like flash or processing to create very cool and compelling visualizations however I agree the most important thing is data , the data which people has access today its thousands of times more useful than the one available in the past , many governments are making APIS to open their data to people, The New York Times for example has opened their archives to public domain , all this information and numbers can now be organized and displayed on interactive tools to talk about an specific subject and make it relevant and understandable to people.
Some examples could be the cost of getting sick which is a tool to gain a deeper understanding of health care costs, they have combined the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey with 500K records from GE’s proprietary database. By combining MEPS with GE’s data, you can see a more complete picture of the costs associated with chronic conditions.
Another cool visualization could be The Crisis of Credit Visualized that shows how credit practices of last years end up collapsing the economy of US and the rest of the world, perhaps if someone had show us this info before things could be much better.

As you can see in all the examples above data visualisation is no longer only about simple graphs and charts , now there are lots of mediums like videos or interactive tools to transmit the data and make it attractive to audiences and really make a difference.

So now you know the next time you meet up with a person that makes data visualizations and think is lame , think it twice , he is perhaps one of the most powerful communicators these days.

Some places to look up for interesting projects of data visualization.

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