Data Visceralization: Enabling Deeper Understanding of Data Using Virtual Reality

Abstract

Fig. 1. Prototypes of data visceralizations in VR based on popular representations of physical measurements. (a) Scorecard of results in seconds from Olympic Men's 100 m. (b) Data visceralization equivalent to experience one-to-one scale of Olympic sprint speeds. (c) Comparison diagram of tall skyscrapers (© Saggittarius A, CC BY-SA 4.0). (d) Data visceralization equivalent to experience and compare true one-to-one scale of select skyscrapers.

Cinematic Techniques in Narrative Visualization

“…A broad body of research documents potential pitfalls, including that volume is not a perceptually effective encoding channel [16], and that 3D projections introduce distortion and occlusion [67]. We find that designers of cinematic visualizations may intentionally use suboptimal encodings in support of more visceral [41] and emotionally resonant [28] graphics.…”

“…Immersive data stories [35] have been discussed within the emerging field of immersive analytics [44] and have been shown to allow viewers to examine data at multiple scales, support immersive exploration, and create affective personal experiences with data [36]. Lee et al [41] introduced data visceralizations, where physical quantities are visualized in 3D virtual reality scenes. This paper helps to bridge the gap between data visceralization and narrative visualization by showing how cinematic techniques can be used to create author-guided narrative visualizations using data visceralizations.…”

“…In CV1 the data being displayed (plastic bottle usage) is not directly related to the locations being used as concrete scale referents, and an overview shot is used, letting the viewer absorb the scale of the data rather than the details and textures of the city itself. In contrast, CV26 begins with a shot from a camera placed at eye-level, looking at several of the city's ubiquitous yellow taxis, transporting viewers to the city at street level, and forcing them to reckon with the data being displayed (New York City's annual green house gas emissions) in a much more visceral way [41].…”

“…Cinematic visualizations can convey a quantity of scale in a concrete and affecting way by using cinematography to establish the viewer's point of view from the ground, a position which often serves as the implicit zero point of a y-axis. We observed that several visualization techniques are naturally expressed in cinematic visualizations, including data visceralizations [41], unit visualization [51] and concrete scales [14]. For example, in CV27 the viewer sees a city park, including trees, people standing in a grassy field, and a ten meter tall blue sphere representing the actual size of one metric ton of CO 2 (data visceralization).…”

“…Cinematic visualizations are more maximal: non-data marks are not compressed or reduced, instead entire digital worlds are built up around data points and included in the visible frame. This technique allows viewers to feel present in locations augmented with data-bound objects, known as data visceralizations [41]. Narrative documentary visualizations [10] can be produced through the careful editorial direction of the cinematography, editing, mise-en-scène, and sound [5].…”