dataMorphose | documentation
September 22nd, 2009dataMorphose from Christiane Keller on Vimeo.
dataMorphose is an interactive installation which projects data into real space and visualizes it three-dimensionally. Information is represented by spanned and moving sails directly in the room. Thus abstract and virtual data becomes real and tangible. As the user takes new positions and perspectives, he can experience a completely novel and sensual perception of data.
Three spatial displays visualize statistical data, web activities and the current time. The coding and procurement of data is visualized by the tension of the canvas, the pace of movement, the position of the canvas and the change of their shape.
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The focus of dataMorphose are the spatially tightened sails. Constituting a triangle, each canvas represents a data object. This way formless and virtual data takes on a visible shape. Under the impact of energetic forces the sails change their shape, thereby assigning the data values. There are various coding options such as size, movement of the canvas and its position in space. This way data is transformed into a new language. The user first has to learn this language to understand the visualization. However, it’s both easy to understand and intuitive.
The two-dimensional sails generate by means of their three-dimensional arrangement a new spatial structure. A cube represents the reference system of the sails. Its open structure always allows sight of the canvas from different viewpoints. The cube with its equal areas gives no direction, therefore depending on where the viewer stands there is only a temporary front and rear or left and right. One vertex of each canvas is attached to the ground area of the cube. Thus, each canvas occupies its specific position in space and gets its meaning through the projection of words and numbers onto the ground. The projection and the sails form a whole. In this interface the projected, digital data become analog and tangible objects. This unity is also visually apparent, since the radiating light from the projection is absorbed by the white sails.
With regards to the interaction of the user, he or she may freely move around the spatial displays to sensually experience the entire dimension of the data. Any new position the viewer takes results in a different viewpoint making new aspects of the data visible. No additional devices are necessary as the user intuitively moves around the display as if regarding a sculpture.
The viewer is able to read the data on the basis of the tension and motion of the sails. However, it is not of importance to convey exact values but rather trends and relations between the data. Due to the spatial arrangement the sails can easily be compared. Similarities and differences are pointed out. Different factual aspects can be simultaneously visualized and captured at a glance. It is important that the viewer gets a feel for the data and their relation to each other. Digital, abstract data turns into analog and concrete information visualization.
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time
In this display the current time is visualized (CET). The hour, minute and second are assigned respectively to one sail each. To represent the hours, the central canvas changes its position in space. The other two sails, which represent the minutes and seconds, are arranged sideways. They visualize the values from 0 – 59 by changing their shape: one vertex moves along the vertical edge of the cube: the downward movement shows the values from 0 – 29, the upward movement the values from 30 – 59.
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webtraffic
Another display presents real-time data from the web. Hereby, the traffic of websites and the frequency of search requests for certain keywords on Google are visualized. This information is transmitted to the motion of the four sails: the faster a canvas moves the higher the activity of the website or the search term.
data sources: Google Trends, Google Insights for Search
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statistics
This display visualizes statistical information. Each of the five sails represents a data object of a statistic. Quantitative information such as values and parameters are conveyed to the tension of the canvas: the larger the value the higher is the tension of the canvas. The five sails are arranged in succession to allow a direct comparison of the individual data objects. Various statistical issues are exemplarily visualized in this way and change at a set rate.
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exhibition
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construction | technics
Nylon threads are attached on the vertices of the canvas, which lead down into the stele. There they are moved by servos according to the displayed data.
software
