Category Archives: data visualization

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Collaboration in Action

  December 7, 2014 , ,

Earlier this semester , Georgia State Anthropology hosted a visit from Dr. Dominique Rissolo. Dr. Rissolo is an accomplished researcher and is currently a program director at the Waitt Institute and is also involved with the Center for Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA 3). Dr. Rissolo was catching up with long time friend and GSU Faculty Dr. Jeffrey Glover, as well as presenting talks on Grant Writing as well as a National Geographic Institute research program at a Cenote in Quintana Roo known as Hoyo Negro or the Black Hole. He was also checking in as committee member on my thesis research as well as a GSU colleague of mine. Dr. Rissolo conducted his Dissertation research in the region of Quintana Roo where I am doing research for my thesis. We decided to catch up on thesis research at CURVE, as the venue proved ideal for looking at the kinds of data archaeologists deal with. Andrew

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Collaboration

  November 23, 2014 ,

http://blogs.esri.com/esri/esri-insider/2013/02/01/the-role-of-gis-in-sustainable-economies/ ESRI, Environmental Systems Research Institute, provides software and geographic data to understand and hopefully help solve problems through spatial analysis.  In the blog I have included above, ESRI discusses the role of GIS in creating sustainable systems- how the multifaceted issues facing the world globally and locally are best conceptualized through the use of GIS. “GIS gives us a lens to understand different objectives and create an environment for collaboration.” I think this quote explains why I was so interested in the SIF program. I have a background in GIS, and have seen first hand the ability of it to create collaborative projects and engage varying disciplines. Like GIS, CURVE and the SIF program brings together various interests and backgrounds to tackle innovative projects and help reimagine ones already conceived.  Although the research and visualization part of CURVE is important, without the collaboration part I don’t think much innovation would be possible . Nicole

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Why I’m Obsessed with Google Earth

  November 9, 2014 ,

I have a confession to make. I am addicted to Google Earth. Google Earth is a virtual globe, that also serves as a map and geographical information program, which has been around since 2004. By mapping the Earth through collections of satellite imagery, aerial photography, and a 3D Globe and by offering additional capabilities such as viewing 3D buildings and landscapes, it makes for a fun and engaging user experience. Pin points can be added, symbology can be changed, information pop-ups can hold explanatory text or be embedded with videos. And the program is free and just requires a quick download to your desktop. GE can create a special visualization experience in the classroom-especial through the creation of personalized tours. GE allows you to record tours as you zoom in and out between points, change perspectives, or even enter into street view (how-to video here). These tours could easily be incorporated into a lecture or group project.  You also have the ability to see historical imagery in some areas. There are additional fun tools such as flight simulator and Ocean View. Did you know that you can see a 3D rendering of the Titanic using GE? But that’s not all! GE now lets you adventure to places you aspired to visit when you were a child with aspirations to be an astronaut: through the GE sky feature you can tour the galaxy. Visit the constellation of Orion, the  Moon and Mars. There are a lot of possibilities when it comes … Continue reading

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Formatting Data for Tableau, data visualization software

  November 3, 2014

Tableau seems to be gaining traction as the go-to platform for data visualization. It’s common enough around CURVE and online to warrant learning or at least becoming familiar with. It’s an easy to use data visualization software with features far above the visualization tools Excel has to offer, and it’s free to students. Some of the more interesting aspects of Tableau are it’s geographic component, useful for mapping, and its ability to host online dashboards, effectively creating interactive data visualizations for your website or blog. In any case, at at some point your task will be taking existing data and formatting it into something pretty, or at least easy to understand. And if someone’s sending you data, it will most likely be from Excel; so it’s good to know how to Tableau reads Excel data. Believe me it’s not always cut and paste. Some general rules, to think about: Don’t summarize your data in Excel, e.g. grand totals, let Tableau do that. Take a redundant row-based approach to the data. Don’t let the whole picture be summarized across one row. Instead, use multiple rows each listing only one piece of data each (I’ll explain below) We were given a number of charts to recreate in Tableau and the essential problem was that the summarization needs to be left up to Tableau itself. Original Data Not Formatted for Tableau The problem with the above is Tableau does not understand it. Tableau doesn’t know 22 is linked to 12-17 years old, that … Continue reading

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Integration and Finalization

  October 30, 2014 , , ,

This week has been truly and completely hectic. However this hectic schedule was not because of our work at SIF but due to our midterm examinations. Almost all our examinations and assignment submissions were due this week. Luckily, everything went well and we were able to do a good job. Coming to the work part, we have discussed about the possibilities of integrating online deliberation mapping tool with the Desire 2 Learn system. However, after having a discussion with Chad, we have realized that the integration is not a possible option. D2L is a closed system where additional features cannot be added by third parties. There can only be external communication between the tools and the desire 2 learn system. So, the possibility of Online Deliberation mapping tool getting integrated with Georgia State University’s D2L system is ruled out. Now moving on to the design part of the Online Deliberation mapping tool, we are following a process for taking a product or feature from design through prototyping, which we call as product design sprint. This design sprint follows a simple process of 1)Choosing and understanding the problem 2) Mind mapping 3)Writing Story boards and 4) Critique and Super Vote. The major goal of the Online deliberation mapping tool is to provide asynchronus conversations between professors and students. Since the problem which includes a platform for sharing ideas, developing and promoting ideas has alreay been clearly defined, we could well proceed to the mind mapping. The mind maps is a kind … Continue reading