Back to the Future: Learning Like Cavemen by linda misiura

back TO THE FUTURE learning

cavemen

Visual Language in the Past, Present, Future Linda Misiura Masters Candidate, Interactive Media 2009 Elon University, Elon, NC

where are we now?

introduction

The people who are trying to communicate a message with others realize that. In a seminar on information graphics in 2005, A. Rajamanickam wrote, “in the attention-scarce world of today, designers, educators, journalists, and communicators in general have embraced infographics to help audiences understand their intent in a swifter and smarter way” (p. 7)

a world without pictures Imagine living your life inside of your calculus textbook: numbers and words arranged neatly in columns on page after page. Black serif based type, size 12 or smaller on thin white pages. Morning after morning, night after night, all information in your life is presented to you in this harsh, black and white world.

One place were there exists a direct need to combat information overload is the Internet. As computer screens still do not afford the optimal display for reading and comprehending large amounts of text, images and visuals are becoming even more important for comprehension and also for workplace productivity.

Or imagine this: living inside a permanent Power Point presentation, filled with gradients, dark backgrounds and bright text and clipart, clipart everywhere… How much of the content do you think you would absorb? Do you think you would be able to understand and retain the concepts? Would you feel inspired to learn about the world around you? Would you feel compelled to explore the data further?

In an article on the visualization in business, Brath and Peters expressed the that “visual information can significantly improve productivity. Users can explore large amounts of data, rapidly assimilate information from many sources, reason with it, understand it, and create new knowledge based on it. With the right visual picture, people can make better decisions, faster, backed with more information.” (2005, p. 1)

Welcome to a world where the potential of visual information has not yet been realized. This is, of course, an extreme example. The world in which we live in today is not merely text based and far from black and white. We are just beginning to delve into all of the possibilities that visualizing information has to offer. Because there is so much information accessible by not only the Web but also through the vast array of print materials and the bombardment of advertising, it is, quite simply, too overwhelming to try and absorb it all in text-based manner.

The key here is the need to embrace the visual revolution and accept that it can improve workflow and expand comprehension. “Your brain is hardwired to process visually first and then verbally,” said Nancy Duarte of Duarte Design, the firm that developed the visuals used in Al Gore’s awardwinning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Artists, data analysts, communicators, others are now making attempts to solve

the problem of information overload by presenting information in a graphic way, as opposed to mere sequences of letters and numbers. In this way, humans are able to absorb more information because the combination of text and images helps aide in comprehension.

Word clouds (shown below is one for this paper) are another example of how text can be visualized. Though this visualization example uses no images, the variation of size, color, and placement helps to add meaning with just a glance, where it is difficult to discern much of anything about the entirety of this paper by just glancing over it. Thus, by displaying the text of this paper in a more visual way, it may be easier to draw relationships and see trends quickly, as Brath and Peters assert.

The ultimate goal of visualizing information is to reveal the intricacy of the world in uncomplicated terms that are simple to comprehend. On top of that, information design seeks to add knowledge to the information it displays through spatial, quantitative, and chronological relationships. As Brath and Peters point out, “one of the most obvious benefits of visualization is helping people see trends and anomalies in data, which can be particularly valuable in realtime environments” (Brath, Peters, 2005, p. 1).

http://wordle.net

As hinted at above, the idea of using graphics to convey information is not contained within any specific field. While this competition is healthy in terms of productivity, complications in terms of definitions and goals have been presented. One of the main divides, and the issue that will be addressed in this paper, is the distinction between information visualization and infographics. I will work to define the differences between the two so that the goals and futures of each may be further examined.

http://thisisindexed.com/category/communication/

I’ve included the venn diagram above because it is one of the simplest visual information techniques. A combination of images and text, no matter the complexity, helps others to absorb information both quickly and accurately. The visualizations can be as simple as this diagram or as complex as a multilayer illustration encompassing maps, numbers, text, and other images.

where are we heading? This paper will briefly examine the history of visual information, then delve into the definitions and current uses of both information visualization and infographics

contact spirits(Visocky-O’Grady, 2008, p. 27). Yet one thing is certain: pictures came before words and whatever the reason for their original creation, the images played an important role at that time.

before theorizing about the future of both fields through conversations with several experts. As cultures merge and languages continue to disappear, there exists the extreme possibility that all communication will be graphically based in the future.

As babies, humans rely on their vision in order to discover things about the world. This too, is how the first upright humans discovered meaning in their world. “The first images were found rather than made. People looking into the night sky saw human figures, animals, and magic symbols in the stars. They did not realize that they were creating these images from scattered points of light, but felt that they were discovered what was already there. So real and so awesome were these celestial apparitions that they were sometimes taken to be gods” (Freidhoff, 1988, p. 12). From these found images, humans began to record stories in image form.

imagery through time visual info from a historical perspective As a species, humans have been writing down histories and accounts of daily life for centuries, though the reasons for this documentation vary depending on which social anthropologist is quoted. Some assert that the drawings were driven by an inherently human need to document, while others purport that shamans created the images to use as tools to Development of mesopotamian cuneiform script

Around 3000 BCE, pictographic alphabets wherein the images that stood for words became common, though these images still very much resembled their counterparts. Developed in Sumer, Mesopotamia, part of what is known as “The Cradle of Civilization,” a written language emerged where a head looked like a head, barley looked like a stalk of grain, and water looked like waves. Over thousands of years, these images transformed into common repetitive strokes that are known as cuneiform script, which bares little resemblance to any written alphabet today but is considerably sophisticated in comparison to the original iconic markings. (VisockyO’Grady, 2008, p. 28-29) Something triggered a change in the way people were communicating, and this change drew attention to the connection between phonetic sounds and the constructed alphabets. This

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/semio2_files/cuneiform.gif

JOHN SNOW’S CHOLERA MAP

divergence allowed alphabets and languages to grow into living lexicons that provided humans with a flexible means of communication and expression, along with the ability to record and interpret. (Visocky-O’Grady, 2008, p. 29). Along the way, printing techniques also changed the way people communicated with others. Because the early printing press was built only to handle words, images and words, which had been paired for centuries, were broken apart into separate entities. As new printing methods were developed, images were incorporated into textual documents. (Rajamanickam, 2005, p. 8)

http://epi.univet.hu/portal/sn/Snowcholeramap.jpg

1932 LONDON UNDERGROUND MAP

charts and mapmaking From maps of celestial bodies, to maps of the flat world, to the maps of now, visual representations of geography of the heavens and the earth have guided humans for centuries and are considered to be the most primitive form of information design. The earliest town plans were used as references for fortifications, and many a map was made to guide soldiers along newly conquered territories. These documents were important because they included three key factors of information interpreted visually: orientation, notation, and scale. (Visocky-O’Grady, 2008, p. 32)

http://www.clarksbury.com/cdl/maps.html

One of the earliest examples of an infographic, produced by Dr. John Snow is a map that shows the number of cholera deaths and their location in London, which then enabled authorities to pinpoint the contaminated well(Rajamanickam, 2005, p. 1)

WILLIAM PLAYFAIR GRAPH

Many of the largest cities around the world now use a map that is similar to London’s Tube map, originally created in the early 1930s by Henry Beck. Beck http://www.economist.com/images/20071222/5107CR1B.jpg

redesigned the map using only vertical, horizontal, and lines at 45 degree angles, producing a version of the current map that reads cleanly and resembles an electrical circuit board, apropos of his background in engineering drafting. By simplifying the information available and emphasizing function over geography, the map of London’s Underground became easier of navigate and Londoners embraced it as the image of their city. The only above-ground topography that was included on the map was the River Thames, another symbol of the city( Rajamanickam, 2005, p. 7). In the most recent printing of the Tube map, the Thames was left off to simplify the map further, but Londoners balked at the exclusion of their beloved river (The Telegraph, September 19, 2009).

ISOTYPE

Charts and graphs are not nearly as old maps, and most historians concur that a single man was the originator: Scottish Engineer, William Playfair. Publishing books on economics in the late 1700s, Playfair believed that people could learn more readily from visual representations of material than from stacks of numbers, and felt that charts and graphs could show relationships in ways that mere numbers on a page could not. Using bar charts and line graphs, Playfair made boatloads of information accessible to those who were not trained in the field, enabling a wider dissemination of his information. (Visocky-O’Grady, 2008, p. 33 & Rajamanickam, 2005, p. 6)

http://9.media.tumblr.com/WXCapTL7F5i2pm5vI1OBnDkh_400. jpg

reminders of it exist today in the forms of transportation and mapping symbols, such as the universal signs for men and women that are found on bathrooms round the world. ISOTYPE also had ambitions to provide information that was “generally accessible independent of individual educational backgrounds. (Visocky-O’Grady, 2008, p. 34 & Rajamanickam, 2005, p. 7)

In the 1940s, a man by the name of Otto Neurath, an Austrian political anthropologist, believing that “words make divisions, pictures make connections” worked to create a visual language, termed ISOTYPE, short for International System of Typographic Picture Education. Comprised of over 1,000 separate images, ISOTYPE was used extensively through 1965. Residual

the world wide web As web use becomes part of everyday life for many people in America and other developed countries, more studies have focused on the most effective way

to display information on websites. A good portion of this research is done for marketing purposes, which really has little effect on the data itself. What is important is that the more visually pleasing a webpage is, the more likely a visitor is to stay and even more likely to return.

The experts believe that there are subtle differences, however, and by using their standards, a pattern of hierarchy and definition begins to develop.

INFORMATION +design

Prior to the application of the Web, the Internet existed in words only, and the only people who were using it were the scientists who found the use of the tool itself and information too valuable to be dismissed. It wasn’t until Marc Andreessen developed the first browser, Mosaic, that could display images, that the potential of the Web and the Internet began to come to realization. (Visocky-O’Grady, 2008, p. 50).

visualization

graphics

aesthetics

art

For the purposes of this paper then, information design will be the genus which encompasses both visualization and infographics, with info-aesthetics and info-art falling below these two broad categories that can also be used to described the higher level info visualizations and infographics.

The amount of data in the world multiplies exponentially each year. Information visualization can heed the call and create insightful visuals from which trends and meaning can be ascertained.

Ultimately, however, “both seek to display the relationship between pieces of information in a visual manner that adds knowledge to the information. The goal is to reduce complexity while losing the least amount of information.” (Fayyad, Grinstein & Wierse, 2002, p. 4)

building vi s ual s defining information design

defining infoVis

Graphics are graphics, right? Wrong. In the highly visual world that is the 21st century, disciplines are all clamoring to be a part of the design revolution and because of this there is mass confusion over definitions of information visuals.

In 1988, The Second Computer Revolution: VISUALIZATION was published with an eye on the future. It described visualization as a “new world where technology and science intermingle into a sublime art.” (4)

Below are the terms used most and often interchangeably.

There is a debate as to what constitutes “real” infoVis, and though the above definition is interesting, it is by no means wholly accurate. A sampling of definitions from high level scientists in the visualzation field demonstrates that there is no single

INFORMATION graphics design aesthetics visualization

art

while allowing the user to query the data in real time.

definition: “… a process that transforms data, information and knowledge into a form that relies on the human visual system to perceive its embedded information.” (Nashum, 2001, p. 33)

This definition still lacks the ability to help one determine whether a visual is an information visualization or another creature entirely. Manuel Lima’s Information Visualization Manifesto, as published on the blog VisualComplexity. com, provides a working list that can help provide clarity on the matter. He suggests, through 9 directives, why information visualization differs from information art or infographics. Because these are some of the best recommendations for industry standards, they have been examined below:

“… a computer-aided process that aims to reveal insights into an abstract phenomenon by transforming abstract data into visual-spatial forms.” (Chen, 2002, p.1)

“…traditionally focuses on finding meaningful and intuitive ways to represent non-spatial and non-numerical information to people.” (Chen, 2002, p.1)

1. Form Follows Function: “the purpose should always be centered on the explanation, which in turn leads to insight.” Start with a Question: Your work should always be driven by a query

“…visual representations of semantics.” (Chen, 2005, p.1)

“… an attempt to communicate complex ideas with clarity, precision, and accuracy.” (Moere, 2007, p.1)

2. Interactivity is Key: allows for investigation and learning through discovery

“… a way of letting the user query the data in real time— not by changing the data, but by digging into the data and changing its representation.” (Shirky, 2001, p. 3)

3. Cite Your Source: always disclose where your data originated

“…the use of computer supported, interactive, visual representations of abstract data to amplify cognition.” (As defined by Ben Schneiderman, Stuart K. Card and Jock D. Mackinlay)

4. The Power of Narrative: Humans love stories 5. Do Not Glorify Aesthetics: “should always be a consequence and never a goal”

By taking the dominant words from those definitions, the most comprehensive definition should be something to the manner of:

6. Look for Relevancy: why are you visualizing the information?

Information visualization is a process that transforms abstract data into visual representations of semantics that attempt to communicate complex ideas clearly,

7. Embrace Time: Time is difficult to work with but rich

informative. Infographic creator and award-winning journalist Alberto Cairo said in an interview that “infographics are difficult to define precisely because of their multiple and flexible nature. Almost any informative representation where verbal and visual elements are combined… can be considered an infographic” (2007).

and rewarding when included 8. Aspire for Knowledge: “A core ability of Information Visualization is to translate information into knowledge. It’s also to facilitate understanding and aid cognition.” 9. Avoid Gratuitous Visualizations: “should respond as a cognitive filter, an empowered lens of insight, and should never add more noise to the flow”

What is it that an infographic seeks to do that differs from that of an information visualization? Rajamanickam tells us that “information graphics reveal the hidden, explain the complex, and illuminate the obscure. Constructing visual representation of information is not mere translation of what can be read to what can be seen. It entails the filtering of information, establishing relationships, discerning patterns and representing then in a manner that enables a consumer of that information to construct meaningful knowledge. (2005, p. 2)

If we accept the fact that there is in fact two distinct fields, then we are able to use Lima’s Manifesto as a checklist to which we can compare all visuals against, thus firmly putting a visual in either the infoVis category or the infographic category.

defining infographics

This sounds suspiciously similar to information visualization, except for one detail: infographics do not seek to visualize mass quantities of data. They are much better suited for telling visual stories. In this way, infographics are much more intensely complex than information visualizations are because they seek to provide an explanation and background on information.

Words become muddled and confusing when one tries to talk about graphics and pictures using them. The old saying is there for a reason: a picture really is worth a thousand words. Humans are capable of understanding more information in less time when presented in a graphical manner. “Infographics, because they use a combination of images, words, and numbers operate in a hybrid system of both the verbal and visual. Consequently, they offer us the greatest opportunity to increase the effectiveness of our communication” (Rajamanickam, 2005, p. 4).

An infographic must address what type of information is trying to be communicated (spatial, chronological, or quantitative), develop a metaphor or organizing structure that is cohesive (through diagrams, maps, and charts) and must be presented in the appropriate medium in consideration to the audience (static, motion, or interactive) The replica of Rajamanickam’s diagram on the next page organizes this information

This is why infographics are so popular in newspapers in magazines today: people actually look at them, even when pressed for time, because they are interesting and

INFORMATION TYPE spatial

chronological

Information that describes relative positions and the spatial relationships in a physical or conceptual location

Information that describes sequential positions and the causal relationships in a physical or conceptual timeline.

WHICH RELATIONSHIP SHOULD YOU CONVEY?

quantitative Information that describes scale, proportion, change and organization of quantities in space, time or both.

WHAT TYPE OF DATA DO YOU HAVE?

INFOGRAPHIC DESIGN FRAMEWORK

INFOGRAPHIC DEVICE diagrams ICON: shows visually simplified reality SEQUENCE: shows succession of events, actions, and causal relationships PROCESS: Shows step-bystep interactions across both space and time TIMELINE: Shows chronological progression

maps LOCATOR: Shows location of something in relation to something else. DATA: Shows quantitative information in relation to its geographic location SCHEMATIC: shows abstracted representation of geography, process, or sequence

EXPOSITION: Shows details or points of view not normally available to the human eye, such as cutaways, axonometric views, etc.

charts FLOW: shows magnitude changes over time BAR: Shows proportionate comparison of magnitude PIE: shows distribution of parts of a whole ORGANIZATION: Shows parts in a structure and their relationships with each other

GROUP CONTENT BY

LATCH /

pyramid

Location Alphabet Time Category Hierarchy

Most important information comes at the beginning of the story, followed by supporting content. Limited time? Stick to the facts.

literacy VISUAL: the ability to appreciate, analyze, create, and utilize visuals for learning SEMIOTICS: encompass icons (literal visual representations), symbols (represent things that are not physical), indexes (create connections between objects)

familiarity LEAST EFFORT: results sought from most accessible source UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION: If uncertain, we actively seek info; certainty is enhanced by similarities & minimized by differences; that of which we are uncertain is less favorable.

THINK ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE.

ORGANIZATION PRINCIPLES

AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES grid systems

color

Provide a canvas for content, repetition increases usability

Consider visual deficiencies, aging eyes, and color blindness. Avoid eye strain.

Create movement, a sense of space, and establish relationships; grouping affects perception

70 contrast between object and background; go grayscale to check this

Think vertically & horizontally and CONSIDER focal points

Consider cultural color interpretations.

contrast

type

Hue, value, & saturation

Consider shape, style, size, spacing, kerning, alignment

Complementary colors of the same value cause eyestrain

Pair serifs with san-serifs

Orientation, position, shape, size, texture and weight can all provide contrast. Pick one!

Don’t yell! Use two-step differentiation and headers

CONSIDER

COGNITIVE PRINCIPLES learning styles VISUAL: learn best from images, think in terms of pictures, posses a strong aesthetic sense AUDITORY/VERBAL: learn best from using language, think in terms of words, possess strong written and verbal skills KINESTHETIC/TACTILE: learn best by doing, work well with their hands, possess good physical coordination

memory

process

perception

MEMORY: use contrast/ color to attract immediate notice (sensory input), create associations with familiar objects (short-term), and provide parsed chunks for easy recall (long-term)

PROXIMITY: adjacent objects are processed as a group and have like meaning

EYE TRACKING: humans scan information in a rapid series of movements. The top left corner grabs attention first.

MAGIC NUMBER: 7 +/- 2 think phone numbers and ROY G BIV, CHUNKS make content easier to recall

SIMILARITY: objects with similar attributes (size, color, shape direction) are treated as a group

GRAPHS: Pattern Reception (recognition of overall trends) & Table Lookup (focused on specific data, seeking detail)

PRAGNANZ: dominant objects are perceived as figures, recessive objects are seen as background

WAYFINDING: route-based (signage & landmarks) & survey knowledge (map reading)

COMMUNICATION METHOD static

motion

interactive

Information presented in its entirety in one glance

Information presented progressively in a linear sequence

Information presented selectively based on viewer choice

Newspaper graphics, map foldouts, product manuals, expository diagrams.

Animation or graphic overlays on live action video

Usually web-based, can be: narrative, instructive, simulative or explorative

re-designed from Venkatesh Rajamanickam’s Infographics Seminar Handout and The information design handbook by jen + ken visocky o’grady

HOW SHOULD YOU PRESENT THE GRAPHIC?

OVERLOAD: don’t decorate, design; provide an opt-out of detail, use structure to create meaning

with consideration to the three goals of inforgraphics.

concept, strategy, metaphor and compound visualizations, describing each briefly at the top of the chart and then use the table to display examples of the methods within the tiles.

Rajamanickam offers these 9 principles to follow when creating an infographic: 1. Organize: attention to detail and correct emphasis

They then created symbols that contribute added meaning to the table, similar to the information about electrons and protons that is available on the Periodic Table of the Elements. The Table of Visualization Methods instead includes whether the visualization is structure or process based, whether it provides lots or little detail and/or overview, and also whether the thinking is convergent or divergent. Finding the tool that fits your visualization needs seems downright simple after looking at this chart, whereas without it, intensive research on each of the methods might have to be performed. This is an inforgraphic at its best, condensing information into an intensely informative graphic that is easy to interpret and readily understandable to most by the use of the common Table of Elements metaphor.

2. Make Visible: others must be able to see it/ use it! 3. Establish Context: make sure the viewer can get their bearings 4. Simplify: colors and textual elements should not be dominant 5. Add Redundancy: adds little to know information but increases clarity 6. Show Cause and Effect: show causality through relationships 7. Compare and Contrast: as compared to what?

on the future

8. Create Multiple Dimensions: this is the whole purpose of infographics

the Internet, of course

9. Integrate: tell a coherent story

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Online infographics are a very young craftâ&#x20AC;Ś most of its rules are still to be discovered. There is a huge jungle out there that keeps secrets no one has even thought about yet. There are several fields of exploration, from the use of data-based infographics to more sophisticated animations (2D or 3D), from the improvement of interactivity and user-based explanations to the real multimedia integration of audio and video

an excellent example Visual-Literacy.org takes an excellent approach to defining the different categories of visualization through an infographic called A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods. To define the visual methods of conveying information, they divide the table into data, information,

in our explanations. We need to find out how to tell visual stores better in the new media.” Cairo, 2009, p.51)

alberto cairo assistant professor, UNC-CH

Both infoVis and infographics are integral to communication information right now, and will be into the future as data storage and acquisition continues to expand at exponential rates. However, because the Internet is still relatively new, in historic terms, we are still learning how to adapt our learning and communication skills to these new technologies. Gershon puts it best when he said:

award winning journalist, elmundo.es Madrid

ON DEFINITIONS Technically, Information Visualization deals mostly with the visual display of (quantitative and qualitative) data. Infographics is a hybrid discipline that brings together communication skills (journalism, in my case), information visualization, cartography, cognitive psychology, animation, programming, usability, interaction, art, graphic design... whatever it has to do with the visual display of information in general. Also, infoVis is usually focused on specialized audiences (scientific, engineers...), while infographics is usually more oriented to the general reader. And that affects the kind of graphic forms we use.

“Many designers and users alike view these new media and genres as replicas of the paper-based media and genres we’ve grown accustomed to over the past thousand years. However, these new technologies truly allow us t do things we never could with paper, so we should expect it to take a while to gain sufficient understanding of them before we can apply them as effectively as we would like.” (Gershon, 2001, p. 33). Another problem that we are dealing with today is that the tools are available for everyone to use, regardless of what they use them for, and the result is the electronic form of what Edward Tufte refers to as “chartjunk.” As summarized by Shirky, “Tufte argues that the essence of good graphical presentation is the encoding of multiple variables into a single display of information in a way that rewards the user for spending time looking, rather than confusing or distracting him.” (Shirky, 2002, p. 5)

ON CHANGING HUMAN PERCEPTION Infographics will not change anything in the sense that we are all visual processors and thinkers (a huge portion of the brain, after all, is devoted to this). What might happen (and I would like to see it more) is that the media, the people in general, authorities at Universities and Schools, will eventually acknowledge that there’re more ways of learning than just reading. I AM a reader, and I love to read, but many times it is better to learn through a map, a chart, a diagram. You get the message through, the patterns, the trends faster. And infographics should not be a secondary language, always depending on a text which they “complement”, which is what happens in many cases.

A few experts in the field have weighed in on their own personal definitions and the future of information design. Their fascinating words are intact below; a summary of their predictions for the future follows.

used should clearly, accurately, and truthfully convey the desired information. Infographics frequently contain data visualizations within them. They tend to include more design elements.

ON THE FUTURE: In the technical side, I foresee more interaction and reader participation. I envision infographics professionals understanding that we are not visual presenters anymore, but more and more we should become developers who create tools that the readers can explore to uncover hidden realities. Experiences like the NYTimes visualization lab and others go in that direction. We should think more as software developers and communicators, rather than as “artists” (I hate that word applied to infographics: I have never been and never be an “artist”; as much as I respect artists, that’s not what I do).

ON THE FUTURE Graphic capabilities will increase. New techniques of displaying extremely large data sets will emerge. I think the key need is educating people to effectively consume quantitative information. Many people in the current work world do not have deep skills in this. ON THE WEB I’m not sure that infographics have a particular impact on the future of the web. If anything the opposite might be true. The visual nature of the web, provide an increased forum for infographics. I do think that well constructed infographics aid in the ability of people to extract information from data.

ON THE IMPACT OF THE EVOLUTION ON SOCIAL,POLITICAL & ECONOMIC REALMS Huge. And it will be positive in the sense that, if well used, infographics can be extremely strong communication devices. Try to understand the patterns in the electoral vote without a map. More and more, people in every realm of research, economics, politics, are embracing visual communication for this reason. I just gave a lecture on this to the City Planning Department here at UNC the other day, and they are already using visualization and graphics software in very sophisticated ways!

todd holloway search team in applied research at author of the blog, A Beautiful WWW

neal levene

A VISUALIZATION WITH BROAD APPEAL I’ll make a boring pick...Google Maps. Its really well designed, and I think its a nice place to begin the discussion with a broad audience of what info viz is and its potential. Also, sadly, not many visualizations ever make it past version 1.0, and so have flaws and open to criticism. Google maps, obviously, has been in continuous development.

ceo, Innovatech author of the blog, Simple Complexity

ON DEFINITIONS There is some blurriness in how these words are used. I’m not sure what you mean by division. I think the standard that should apply is that the techniques

ON DEFINITIONS I don’t know that boxing in a visualization as ‘art’ or ‘functional’ is necessary. InfoVis plays many roles. One might have a particular insight about data already in mind, and want to communicate it visually. Or one might be doing data mining, with visualization used for exploration. Or one might be doing some conceptual work, and create a more ‘artistic’ visualization to inspire. And so on.

in conclusion

The problem with information visualization is that the variables are always different, with the resulting issue being that there is not one method of visualization that works for all data. Visualizations are most effective when the data follows …

ON THE FUTURE Its place in both academia and industry is really ill-defined right now. And I think how it gets organized is perhaps the biggest issue over the next decade. If a company wants to produce some visualizations, whom should they hire? In the tech world, infoVis work often overlaps with HCI, which is a much more well defined field. Who should work in visualization? What should their training be like? Should the visualization community promote people who use the language of statisticians? Of artists? Or something else?

Information visualization is only as good as its imput. Get the story or the data right first, good solid information, and only then do you have the makings of a good visualization or infographic. It follows then, that we acquire more data and more accurate data, we will be able to process it more eloquently into the information visualizations and infographics of tomorrow.

all together now... According to these experts, the future should trend toward more interaction with the audience, striving to provide a more interactive experience, similar to what the New York Times is trying to do right now, but on a broader scale. It will be essential that the people who are creating information visualizations and infographics come to realize that they are no longer presenters but communicators, and purveyors of knowledge creations through experience. The audience will also need to be taught to effectively consume the mass quantities of quantitative information that will be presented with the new emerging technologies.