The volume of data available to humanity at this moment in time is incredible. Olshannikova et al. predicted in 2015 that, by 2020, there would be as many digital bits of data in existence as there are stars in the universe. Though it’s not likely any one of us would want to access every “bit,” even the portions relevant to our lives or work, such as health statistics or marketing data, can be incredibly large.
In anticipation of this problem, Olshannikova et al. wrote Visualizing Big Data with augmented and virtual reality: Challenges and Research agenda. The paper swiftly recounts the history of data visualization from early cartography and 17th-century attempts to track world population and economic data to forward-looking predictions on Web 2.0 possibilities, like AR. The history uses a combination of text and images to demonstrate data visualization’s evolution and well worth a look.
Olshannikova et al. present AR as a way to overcome the information overload by dragging human data analysis out of a rectangular – or screen – boundary.
Focusing on the combination of dynamic projection and interactive filtering visualization methods, AR devices in combination with motion recognition tools might solve a significant scaling problem … where a need to delve into a branch of information in order to obtain some specific value or knowledge takes place.”
– Olshannikova et al. (2015) p. 18
Interestingly, on March 4, 2021, the US-based VR/AR Association’s podcast, Everything VR and AR, released an episode exploring how this type of AR use is beginning to happen in the private and public sectors right now.
The show’s hosts, Tyler Gates and Sophia Moshasha, interview Brad Marsh, CEO and founder of Flow Immersive. Marsh explains how Flow Immersive uses AR representations of data to allow humans to interact with data in new ways, creating opportunities for new connections and better data-driven decisions. Some examples include:
- Creating a text sculpture of a Shakespearean play. It allows the user to ask and answer questions like, “How do the acts and scenes relate to each other in size? content? plot?”
- Mapping tweets from Donald Trump, retaining and representing a number of data points simultaneously: Time and date posted, engagement, current events, and content. What was unique about outliers? What patterns existed?
- Processing tomato export data in Zimbabwe, which led to discoveries about the impact of the 2020 pandemic on trade networks, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic.
It was interesting to see a prediction made over five years ago take shape in tangible ways. I recommend exploring both pieces of media if you’re interested in AR, big data, or data visualization.
References
Gates, T. & Moshasha, S. (Host). (2021, March 04) Everything VR and AR [Audio podcast] VR/AR Association. https://www.thevrara.com/podcast
Olshannikova, E., Ometov, A., Koucheryavy, Y., and Olsson, T. (2015). Visualizing Big Data with augmented and virtual reality: Challenges and research agenda. Journal of Big Data, 2(22), p. 1-22. DOI 10.1186/s40537-015-0031-2
Fascinating. While AR has long been a form of technological storytelling that has teased my imagination with the possibilities that it holds, I hadn’t really thought about it from the perspective of exploring data before. When I think about this, it is quite exciting in thinking about how much more tangible and interactive it makes data, and the possibilities it holds in allowing people to better visualize and process that data. Thanks for sharing this. Looking forward to further diving into the podcast.