The concept of 3D TVs is beginning to take off, with many vendors pushing 3D-ready sets. While glasses-less 3D is a way off, I wonder how this will affect 'standard' data visualizations - I'm not sure that a bar chart with data on a Z-axis that you can actually look around by moving your head, will be much better than the fake 3D ones today that you can rotate around with your mouse.
Perhaps we will start to see 'Sparksurfaces™' instead of 'Sparklines' - move your head to see the data plotted against another variable. I have a suspicion that there won't be any great advances in data visualization, rather we will see even slicker, eye-popping dashboards and charts that may, or may not, be easier to read. Your thoughts?
This is a fascinating topic. On the one hand, we are trying to get the most out of our 200-year old charts, making them smaller (sparklines) and dynamic, for example. On the other hand, we have a third unexplored dimension that we could use to add more data to our displays. That means creating abstract virtual landscapes (because we deal with abstract data), but that goes much beyond our imagination.
ReplyDeleteColin Ware tells us that we are not that good at processing the third dimension (2.5D would be a more exact term), so using it may be a waste of time.
Corollary: make better 2D charts and invest on data management skills. Forget 3D (at least for now).
Hans Rosling showed some fascinating 3D charts (X, Y, and t), but without him there to guide us and interpret for us, they would have been merely fancy cartoons. As Jorge says, perhaps we'd benefit more with better charts and better data skills.
ReplyDeleteI fear that the 3D visuals we'll be graced with will be newer and shinier versions of the same Dundas/Xcelsius junk, with no more data content and no better information exchange. Or maybe Toy Story 3D?
I work with data for a living and struggle with the best way to represent data for a client....the answer is usually, "the simplest".
ReplyDeleteThey don't get as excited as I do about a great chart that displays lots of interesting information.
They like the chart to tell them one thing, and tell it well.
As alluded to, there is a learning curve to reading data-rich charts (like 3d). A good chart's purpose is self-apparent (unlike 3d).
Therefore I don't think there is much use for 3d charts....but people thought there wasn't much use for personal computers or bottled water either. We'll see.