Let’s Get Physical: From Data Visualization to Data Physicalization
Marjan Eggermont · 2024
Data visualization is the practice of turning data into graphics and the usual goal is to communicate an interpretation of a dataset to a specific audience, to make an argument you have worked out from an analysis of the data or a sub-set of the data.It is an essential part of science and engineering communication [6,7].A course that has been taught for the past 5 years in the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary added one more step in the data visualization process: data physicalization.Art and engineering is a course that focuses on history, concepts, contemporary issues, and techniques of engineering in art.Topics include Arithmetic and Geometry, Proportion, Formalism, Symmetry, Computation, Geometric Abstraction, and Mathematics as they relate to engineering and art.Woven into the theoretical content are hands-on projects where students learn basic sketching skills, hand build a ceramic still-life piece, visit local galleries and museums, and, using elements or art and principles of design, turn data into data visualizations and data physicalizations: data-driven physical artefacts whose geometry or material properties encode data.Students use an adapted Jansen and Dragicevic [1] information visualization pipeline to move from raw data to data wrangling to visual and physical presentation.This paper presents examples of the process and concludes with observations and lessons learned.