Swain Library News

Many Eyes: Democratizing Visualization

Data visualization has historically been accessible only to the elite in academia, business, and government. But in recent years web-based visualizations — ranging from political art projects to news stories — have reached audiences of millions. Unfortunately, while lay users can view many sophisticated visualizations, they have few ways to create them.

In order to “democratize” visualization, IBM’s Visual Communication Lab has built Many Eyes, a web site where people may upload their own data, create interactive visualizations, and carry on conversations. The goal is to foster a social style of data analysis in which visualizations serve not only as a discovery tool for individuals but also as a means to spur discussion and collaboration.

Posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 10:25 am

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