Towards Dynamic Visualisation: Interactive Analysisvia the Cloud
Jason Raymond Ride, Daniel Arthur James, James Bruce Lee, D. D. Rowlands · 2013
Inertial sensor technologies are quickly becoming more affordable, unobtrusive and ubiquitous, leading to an influx of data from multi-sensor configurations. By improving existing methods of analysis, the process of identifying and extracting useful patterns from this data can be facilitated. Extracted patterns may be used as direct feedback for athletes, or as input for dynamic visualisation systems [1]. Within the Centre for Wireless Monitoring and Applications (CWMA) at Griffith University, sporting data is often analysed via MATLAB, a numerical computation engine that allows users to design algorithms in the form of scripts, and visualise their output using table-, plot-, graphand surface-based data representation templates. Depending on the nature of the data, these algorithms can require significant guesswork and estimation in the design process [2], while also demanding large amounts of storage space and processing time to execute them [3]. Through the use of modern server and web technologies, it is possible to delegate this type of data analysis to a cloud-based online system. The entire process, from data import to pattern extraction, can be performed by a centralised but internally distributed network of server computers. Ancillary client software can subsequently provide the user with a discrete, customisable interface for manipulating and refining algorithms interactively [1][4]. MATLAB-centric data analysis within the CWMA tends to follow a rather consistent pattern: (1) develop a script to produce visual output from the data (tables, plots, graphs and/or surfaces) by estimation, thresholding and regression; (2) run the script and review the generated visual representations; (3) adjust assumptions and refine the script to suit; and (4) repeat steps 2 and 3 frequently, and perform major revisions occasionally. Alternatively, in the proposed environment, the developer would avoid