Data Culture- Exploring Different Levels of Flight Data Visualization

Manovich references an infovis classic called Flight Patterns, which “uses numerical data about the flight schedules and trajectories of all planes that fly over the United States to create an animated map which displays the pattern formed by their movement over a 24-hour period”. The result is extremely aesthetically pleasing and simply illustrates the volume and relative pattern of air traffic in a given day, however, it lacks substance. This loss of substance to create something that creates a visual representation of data is the concept of reduction.

 

Flight Patterns

 

For those desiring to know anything more about the flights, Flight Patterns can no longer be of assistance. The principle of reduction “throws away 99 per cent of what is specific about each object to represent only 1 per cent- in the hope of revealing patterns across this 1 per cent of object’s characteristics” (Manovich 38). Reduction is a data tool used to represent the parts of the data the user finds the most useful.

A different approach made possible by modern technology is FlightAware, a website that allows real time tracking and Air Traffic Control data on a similar interface. Though it is far less aesthetically pleasing, it enables users with a more advanced understanding of the subject to dig deeper into the movement of aircraft across the world. This gives a more holistic view of the data because it does not reduce as much as Flight Patterns.

 

FlightAware

 

Despite the impressive difference between the two sites, neither one is objectively superior. These two sites create a fascinating study between a creator’s choice to display more or less data, and the graphics they use to display that data. The choices the creators make regarding these displays can be tailored to create the most effective product for their intended audience. Flight Patterns is simple yet beautiful and provides a stunning image for the casual user, whereas FlightAware provides a more functional yet less visually pleasing interface for the advanced user.

DIG245: Group 4 Review – Week 3

For this week we decided to review the website https://clickclickclick.click. This website tracks your activity on the website, occasionally writing text to the user about what they are doing. The website tracks your mouse movements, clicks, what browser you are using, the times you visit the website and for how long, the size of your browser window, hardware specifications of your device, and if you have muted your computer or not.

 

It seems the main purpose of this website is to show users how much personal information they are exposing just by visiting a website. The website’s description in the source code describes itself as a browser based, “online profiling” game. The website seems a bit creepy, asking the user if it can take a photo of them, among other requests, but we think that the website intentionally uses a creepy tone in order to make the user feel exposed – as if they need to be concerned about protecting their online footprint. This spying tone of the website makes users want to leave the website, but the achievement tracker at the same time makes the user want to stay on the website to try and unlock more achievements, creating a sort of addicting game.

 

The site does a good job of making its message clear – your online data is easily tracked and is likely being tracked by most if not all websites that you visit. As for how the user should feel, the website does not have any kind of explicit commentary of the website’s goals, but the creepy, spying tone of the website makes it clear enough that this site is meant to highlight the issue of online security and user-tracking.