The Future of Data Visualisation

Earlier this week my agency hosted a small gathering of geeks, techs, nerds and strategists to hear from data visualisation pioneer Manuel Lima. Manuel is the curator of the site visualcomplexity.com that brings together stunning examples of data visualisation from around the globe. His talk was a re-run of his slot at the recent TED global event in Oxford.

He began by discussing the reasons behind the growing fashion for ‘data vis’, the key ones being:

- the never-ending growth of computing power

- the increasing availability of large data sets from all areas of life in a digital world

- the mainstream exposure of data vis given by the likes of the New York Times

- the availability of tools to create visualisations, such as Processing

He then talked us through some beautiful examples, all of which you can find on his site. The emphasis was more on the types of visualisation that he is finding rather than the meaning of the analysis that was being conducted. Data was as diverse as tourist routes in Barcelona, email traffic within Enron and friendship groups within a classroom of school children.

And this is where the debate really takes off. Are these visualisations useful? They can undoubtedly be beautiful - it can’t be long before a gallery exhibits a collection of them (they will be jaw-dropping on a bigger canvas). And I suppose any analysis is only going to be relevant to those that commissioned or undertook it. But if the discipline remains primarily an artistic one then I think it will remain marginal.

Thankfully Lima is aiming higher. His stated aim is to nurture what is currently a pastime for a few tech geeks and digital artists into a fully fledged academic discipline. A discipline that can be truly useful to business and government and one that brings clarity and insight from the tangled mass of data that is being accumulated in every area of modern life.

I also wonder if any research agencies (the experts in bringing clarity from data?) are tapping into people like Lima? If they’re not, they should.