What is the future of data visualization?
Explore emerging markets, opportunities, ventures, and risks
Emerging Markets Overview
Where is data visualization heading?
Big Data
"Big data" refers to massive, multi-source data sets (Oracle). These massive pools of data require significant processing power, not only to maintain and store the information but also to analyze and produce deliverables or outputs. As we shift towards becoming a more data-centric society, data sets have become so voluminous and large that our traditional processing methods and hardware simply can't sustain the load. These processing methods used advanced technologies like machine learning to allow systems to identify patterns, make predictions, and improve their performance over time (Brown, 2021).
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that makes computers 'intelligent' and capable of tasks like learning and problem-solving. AI algorithms use machine learning to recreate human thinking, decision-making, and abilities, effectively allowing machines to process information like a human would (IBM). More recently, the AI industry has boomed because of the development made in complex natural language processing (NLP), which allows the technology to produce language and fluently engage in conversation (Lutkevich, 2023).
Augmented & Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated, immersive environment, that allows users to experience a different world or reality (OISE, 2022). Users can interact with this virtual environment using specialized headsets or other devices. On the other hand, augmented reality (AR), layers computer-generated images onto the real world, enhancing or altering the user's perception of reality. AR allows users to see and interact with both the physical world and digital elements at the same time (this can be with smartphones, smart glasses, headsets, or other wearable devices) (OISE, 2022).
Data as Art
Data art is a form of artistic expression that uses data as a material or medium for construction. It involves transforming data sets into visual illustrations, sculptures, installations, or exhibits. Further, data art applies visualization techniques to data to create meaningful and thought-provoking displays of information (Benzi, 2023). Throughout this section, we will be exploring several forms of data art in relation to some of the other trends mentioned above!
Big Data = Big Data Visualization
Cambridge Intelligence "Data visualization tools that make the world safe"
The image above is a large visualization of aircrafts flying between international airports.
Big data visualization is exactly like it sounds, it's visualizations of big data sets that require significant amounts of processing power to produce visual outputs (Heavy AI, 2022). Big data has a big breadth, and it's challenging to even comprehend the amount of information that these large data sets contain. Data visualization is needed to compartmentalize and communicate such vast amounts of information in a way that is digestible and actionable for the human mind. Data visualization allows people to identify big-picture insights and trends, and use those complex data sets to make data-driven decisions.
Understandably, one of the challenges of big data visualization is “visual noise” which refers to the lack of preciseness when looking at such a large quality of data. Limitations of big data visualization include oversimplifying the content, which can lead to misinterpretation.
Heavy AI - US Flights Dashboard
Heavy AI is a company that specializes in big data visualization. This Heavy AI dashboard allows users to see historical flight data, such as delays and departure times from the last few decades.
This dashboard uses massive amounts of data to create visual data sets that make the information appraochable and easier to understand.
Please click on the image to be re-directed to the dashboard
The Infinite Drum Machine
The Infinite Drum Machine is an AI experimental project hosted through Google, that uses machine learning to organize and build relationships between everyday sounds. Evidently, there are a lot of sounds, meaning these programmers are harnessing extremely large datasets and using machine learning to gather and analyze the data. However, they choose to present the data through this fun, interesting, and interactive data visualization.
Please click "START PLAYING" to interact with this exhibit
Data visualization and Artificial Intelligence
As we have just seen in the examples above, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has had a huge impact on how we can approach data visualization. In many respects, "datavis" and AI has revolutionized how data is analyzed, interpreted, and presented. Nicolas Kruchten, a data visualization specialist, highlights that AI-powered data visualization tools use extremely complex algorithms to automatically analyze large datasets and produce these visualizations, most with limited human moderation and/or intervention. This allows these tools to produce data outputs at lightning speeds, which allows humans to make more immediate, data-driven decisions.
AI’s predictive analytic capabilities allow these tools to create informed and precise predictions about the future, which in combination with AI-generated natural language processing and AI-generated art, offers some really interesting opportunities for data visualization in the shape of narration and storytelling. Using a combination of AI mediums, its possible data visualization can be elevated to a level where it weaves intricate and impactful data-driven narratives, making complex information more accessible and engaging for audiences.
Let's play with some AI-produced visualization tools!
Let's see how AI can use your prompts to create interesting visualizations! All thes tools below are free to use!
Stretch
Stretch is an awesome introductory research tool that can be integrated into your classrooms and used with young students. Using AI, the tool uses a prompt inserted by users and creates an interactive diagram that allows users to click through topics and sub-topics.
While the data visualization may not be as complex as some of our previous examples, it's a very user-friendly platform and acessible educational tool, that can introduce students to the concept of AI, machine learning, and data visualization.
Please enter your research prompt in the search bar
ChartAI
Chart AI functions simiarily, where the user needs to add a prompt using the formula research topic + type of visualization. Instead of producing written language, the platform will produce an image.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Please enter your research prompt in the search bar
Census GPT
Census GPT is an interesting AI visualization platform because the data sets for this come exclusively from the US Census collection and other government-established institutions. This platform is also still in its beta phase and might be a bit buggy, but definitely worth trying out.
Please enter your research prompt in the search bar
Bento
Bento is a different AI data visualization tool from the others we have explored above. This tool is a free AI research engine for educators that provides data visualizations on education-related data sets using teacher and principal survey data, as well as Demographics and Education Outcomes Data.
"Bento is a free-to-use data visualization tool that lets education leaders easily view, explore, and understand national and state-level survey data from teachers and principals and compare essential state and district education data to inform policy decisions" (Bento, 2022).
AR/VR Data Visualization
AR and VR have transformed data visualization, by allowing users to alter their present reality or be transported to an entirely different space. The combination of data visualization and AR/VR is what the industry is referring to as "immersive analytics" (Fedko, 2022). New applications and devices are creating immersive experiences that allow users to explore and interact with data in fun, new, and exciting ways. Upcoming companies like Flow Immersive, Virtualitics, and 3Data.
Users have the opportunity of looking at 3D data, which opens the space (physical and abstract) for complex data points. The expansion of space can make information more accessible to a wider audience, especially if data has several comparable variables (pr perhaps several dimensions - height, width, depth etc...). One of the primary benefits of presenting spatial data is that the storytelling component of data visualization is enhanced. Ultimately, the way we interact and consume the data is more engaging and exciting - as we will see through a viral Tiktok.
Unfortunately, AR and VR are tools that are still limited by factors like cost and accessibility to certain hardware (like headsets). However, as these technologies continue to develop and become more accessible, their impact on data visualization is likely to grow significantly.
Flow Immersive
Check out this TikTok that went viral for showing users an augmented reality data visualization of Messi's (the soccer player) sports statistics. The one minute video takes the audience through several visualizations.
What is really great about these TikTok videos, is how acessisble this advance level of data visualization is for such a wide audience. Also, demonstrating that exposure immersive visualization is possible through open-acess media platforms.
Flow Immersive: Trump Tweets
Flow Immersive is a AR/VR data visualization company that allows users to experience data through these 3D models. Below is a demo of their product, where they use Trump Tweets as the data set they are expressing. They do have other 3D examples available on their website if you want to explore this company further.
Is the Nasdaq in Another Bubble?
If you have a VR headset, go grab it! This interactive data visualization, presented by the Wall Street Journal, takes viewers on a virtual reality guided tour of 21 years of the Nasdaq.
What is interesting about this particular example is that it's done through a "guided tour" format, where the application is walking the viewer through the data visualization.
Please click the image to be taken to the external link
t-SNE Map
"With t-SNE Map, you can explore an interactive 3D landscape created by Machine Learning algorithms that organised thousands artworks by visual similarity. The more similar two artworks, the closer they are. The algorithms only “looked” at the artworks. No meta data was used, the visual similarity was calculated with a computer image algorithm used in Google Search purely based on the images. We then applied the t-SNE algorithm, usually used to debug static images, to create an interactive virtual space that you can navigate, and look at artworks from any angle and at scale." (Experiments with Google)
Please click the image to be taken to the external link
Data as Artistic Expression
"A picture is worth a thousand words"
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then perhaps a complex data visualization is worth 10, 000 words?
Using data visualization, data can be transformed into art by turning data sets into beautiful and intentional artistic pieces. Both skillful designers and scientists can transform datasets into crafted visualizations. Thoughtfully chosen colors, typography, and layout allow artists to present data in meaningful and new ways.
Data art is a great way of demonstrating the power of storytelling through data visualization, it demonstrates how artists can give an interpretation to data, as a form of self-expression, through the presentation and organization of data points.
In the future, data art holds a lot of promise, driven by new technologies and innovation, artists will continue to transform data into arts of all kinds (digital and otherwise). Predictably, visualizations will increasingly become more interactive and immersive, lending part of that to changes in AR/VR, as mentioned in the section prior. Two interesting up-and-coming areas that impact data art are the concepts of real-time data streaming and data sonification.
Ocean of Books
Ocean of Books is a really great example of how an artist can curate a visual experience, and data can be organized and presented with artistic intent.
In this exhibit description, the creators call this a "poetic experiment", which demonstrates the though and consideration that when into developing this project.
"Welcome to An Ocean of Books. What you see is the big map of a sea of literature, one where each island represents a single author, and each city represents a book. The map represents a selection of 113 008 authors and 145,162 books. This is a poetic experiment where we hope you will get lost for a while.
You might wonder why some authors are next to each other, or why sometimes an author seems to be positioned at an unexpected spot, or why some authors seem to be lost by themselves.
Each of the authors of the map are not positioned randomly, nor by hand. We calculated the distance between each of them, based on their complex relationship on the web. From these values, we generated two-dimensional positions for all the authors, thanks to a machine learning technique called Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP). Finally, an island was assigned to each author, matching the island size with the author’s presence on the web." (Google Experiments)
Please click the image to be taken to the external link
Artisit Cristina Tarquini collaborates with the World Health Organization to create "Seeing the Invisible", where users can interact with data sculptures that tackle 4 invisible environmental issues
Seeing the Invisible
Please click the image to be taken to the external link
Refik Anadol
Refik Anadol is a Turkish-American new media artist who works primarily with AI and data visualization to create immersive and data-driven art (UCLA, 2022). His works are exhibited in museums all over the world, and they are known for being dream-like, psychedelic, captivating motion images.
Can data become a pigment?
Watch this video to learn about Anadol and his inspiration. His unique perspective positions the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence as symbiotic.
Explore Anadol's Portfolio
Click through his portfolio and read about the creative process for each piece, all of which are data-driven but beautifully intertwined with artistic meaning.
Anadol views his data sculptures as a "collective memory," even going as far as to say that his art is like giving AI the opportunity to "see" or experience.
His art summarizes the trends that we have been exploring throughout this module, such as big data, machine learning, AR/VR, and artistic expression. He brings together all the cutting-edge technologies, in a way that really allows us to see these advancements as one systematic unit, with dynamic relationships.