Archive for September, 2007
16 awesome data visualization tools
From Mashable.com
From navigating the Web in entirely new ways to seeing where in the world twitters are coming from, data visualization tools are changing the way we view content. We found the following 16 apps both visually stunning and delightfully useful.
Visualize Your Network with Fidg??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???t
Fidg??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???t is a desktop application that aims to let you visualize your network and its predisposition for different types of things like music and photos. Currently, the service has integrated with Flickr and last.fm, so for example, Fidg??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???t might show you if your network is attracted or repelled by Coldplay, or if it has a predisposition to taking photos of their weekend partying. As the service expands to support other networks (they suggest integrations with Facebook, digg, del.icio.us, and several others are in the works), this one could become very interesting.
See Where Flickr Photos are Coming From
Flickrvision combines Google Maps and Flickr to provide a real-time view of where in the world Flickr photos are being uploaded from. You can then enlarge the photo or go directly to the user’s Flickr page.
See Where Twitters are Coming From
From the maker of Flickrvision (David Troy) comes Twittervision, which, you guessed it, shows where in the world the most recent Twitters are coming from. Troy has taken things one step further with Twitter vision and has given each user a page where you can see all of their location updates.
New Ways to Visualize Real-Time Activity on Digg
Digg Labs offers three different ways to visualize activity in real-time on the site, building on the original Digg Spy feature. BigSpy places stories at the top of the screen as they are dugg. Stories with more diggs show up in a bigger font, and next to each one you can see the number of diggs in red:
Swarm visualizes stories with circles that grow and become brighter in color as they receive more diggs:
Stack shows Digg users ??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???stacking??Æ?????Æ?????Æ??? up on top of stories, so as more diggs come in, the higher the respective stack grows.
Visualize Words and their Synonyms
As the name implies, Visual Thesaurus allows you to navigate the dictionary visually. By typing in a word, you can see its synonyms, and then navigate to
one of them to see its synonymous and so on and so forth.
Visualize Flickr Tags Over Time
Taglines from Yahoo! Research allows you to visualize Flickr tags over time. For each day, dating back to June 4, 2004, the eight most popular tags are shown with a photo selected for each. You can view Taglines in waterfall mode, which displays eight tags and respective photos in eight rows, or in river mode, where tags and their photos ??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???flow??Æ?????Æ?????Æ??? from right to left.
Search the Web Visually
Quintura allows you to enter in a search topic and then presents a split screen with a tag cloud on one half and search results in the other. In this example, a search for ??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???The Sopranos??Æ?????Æ?????Æ??? brings up a cloud with links like ??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???hbo??Æ?????Æ?????Æ??? and ??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???television??Æ?????Æ?????Æ??? on the left, with direct links to web sites on the right.
KartOO is a visual search engine that employs several different visualization methods. In the following search for ??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???The Sopranos,??Æ?????Æ?????Æ??? the left side reveals folders with additional related topics, while the right presents a cloud of potential links to follow. Upon mousing over one of these links, the left side is replaced with a Snap.com-style preview, while the right side shows how the link relates to other topics.
walk2web lets you start by entering a URL, and then allows you visually browse web sites that are linked from it. On the right, a large screen capture of the selected web site is shown to give you a preview of site content.
Visualize Click Data with CrazyEgg
For webmasters looking for a visual output of where users click on their site, CrazyEgg??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???s heat maps are an option. The recent upgrade of Google Analytics includes a Site Overlay with click data, so it may be just a matter of time until it also adds a heat map feature.
Search Real Estate Visually
Trulia and Zillow allow you to search real estate listing with satellite imagery and maps. In the following example from Trulia, you are allowed to switch between street maps and satellite view. Once you have found a property in a desirable location, you can click on the push pin icon to see a thumbnail image and details about the home. Using the search tools on the left, you can refine your search to only show properties meeting certain criteria. 
Visualize Digg Data like a Nuclear Submarine Commander
Two applications from Brian Shaler allow you to use a radar map to visualize Digg data. The radar map is organized by placing users with the oldest Digg accounts in the center. Digg RADAR shows you where on the map diggs are coming from:
The Map of Digg Friendship displays a user??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???s location on the map along with the number of friends and fans they have:
Vator.tv - a new pitch web channel
Pitching the next great idea to prospective business partners, investors, service providers and fellow entrepreneurs just got easier with Vator.tv a new venture that combines online video and networking.
Based on the proverbial elevator pitch??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???the notion that you should be able to sum up a new business venture in the few minutes it takes to ride an elevator??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???Vator.tv is an online marketplace for new ideas. ??Æ?????Æ?????Æ???Anyone, across all industries, at any stage, can share ideas, products, services and businesses with the rest of the world, mainly through video.
Here’s how it works: users sign up for a free account. They then create pitches for their ideas, projects or businesses in a rich media environment by uploading video, images, PPT or PDF files. They can choose to share their pitches with a personal network or with the entire Vator.tv community. Users build their networks by inviting friends to join or browsing through other ideas and connecting with like-minded people on the site. The website includes tips on creating compelling pitches, such as how to pack the most punch into a three-minute video clip.
For complete story, go to: http://www.springwise.com/weekly/2007-07-25.htm#vatortv
Street Anatomy
Medical visualization is an umbrella term that encompasses everything from medical illustration to 3D medical animation. Medical Illustrators don’t just draw detailed anatomical illustrations anymore, they use their artistic skills combined with technology to produce dynamic visualizations.
Medical Illustrators translate, visualize, and convey complex scientific information in order to educate anyone from doctors to the general public. If you have ever opened a science textbook, watched a pharmaceutical ad, heard of Gray’s Anatomy (not the show), or stepped foot in a doctor’s office, then you’ve probably witnessed some form of medical illustration. When photographs are too detailed, and words not descriptive enough, medical illustrators are there to create illustrations, graphics, animations, or 3D models to get any scientific idea across. We are researchers, designers, consultants, teachers, artists, and much more. Most important of all, we persuade people to learn by engaging them with visual media that will educate them to take care of and maintain their bodies.
