What is Immersive Data Visualization Anyway?
Hello BadVR followers and newcomers! We hope you are doing well and staying safe. Today, we’re going to dive into the details of BadVR’s specialization: Immersive Data Visualization & Analytics.
This article aims to break down the definition, benefits, and the value that immersion brings to the visualization and analysis of data. While the idea of making data multi-dimensional may seem relatively simple and straightforward, there are many nuances to the process of adding dimensionality to data. We’ll address these, as well as touch on some broad, high-level concepts behind the value of immersive data visualization.
Read on below…
A Brief History of Data Visualization
When did humans start recording and sharing data visually? The earliest seeds of what would ultimately become the field of “data visualization” were planted prior to the 17th century. These visualizations often geometric diagrams pertaining to mapping and navigation. Planetary movements were also recorded and charted visually by early astronomers, who used these visualizations to help communicate the movement of planetary bodies.
Fast-forward to the 1800’s. The use of visualizations was more widespread. Monetary transactions were commonly expressed via bar charts. Precise geospatial maps were drawn and shared. If the 1800’s were the “golden age” of data visualization, when standards were developed and widely adopted, then the early 1900’s were the equivalent of a “modern dark age,” as few advancements in the way data was visualized were made.
With the introduction of computers in the late 1900’s, new developments in software-based visualization exploded as novel methods and techniques were brought to light. Utilizing computer science and graphics, analysts were able to store and compute much larger, more complex data sets using virtualized environments. However, these visualization were limited to flat screens — even 3D graphics expressed on 2D screens were technically “trapped” in a 2D method of expression.
So what’s the next step ? Where do we go from here? Enter immersive data visualization!
What is Immersive Data Visualization?
Let’s start with a broad definition of “data visualization”.
According to Google it is:
We can accurately say that data visualization is the visual representation of information. As discussed, the most common forms of “data viz” are 2D charts and graphs. If you’ve ever taken a spreadsheet and converted cells into a bar chart or a line graph, then you have created a visualization of data. Dashboards are commonly an example of multiple forms of data visualization displayed together to capture a large variety of operations simultaneously.
Immersive data visualization is similar, but instead of using multiple forms of 2D visualizations to communicate insights across a wide variety of datasets, AR and VR technology are utilized to create a single, holistic, multi-dimensional “data experience” that’s created from the user’s datasets. The user can literally step into their data, touch it, and manipulate it in real-time to perform complex analyses.
Occasionally, you’ll see 3D charts and graphs in VR and AR called ‘immersive data visualization’ but these are more accurately defined as 3D visualization experiences, not fully immersive data visualizations. The key differentiator is the methods used to visualize data multi-dimensionally and the user’s ability to fully immerse themselves within the datasets while interacting with the data in real-time. These attributes make the experience fully immersive vs simply being a multi-dimensional or 3D projection of a primarily 2D visualization method (for example, a pie chart).
Why Add Immersion?
While AR and VR technology is certainly cool, what value does it add?
Beyond simply providing a more engaging way to view data, the addition of immersion also makes the visualizations much more useful. Immersion — when applied properly — allows users of all technical skill levels to ingest huge amounts of complex data without increasing their cognitive load. For example, a typical situation requires a user to understand, and develop insights from, a spreadsheet containing millions of cells of individual data. This task will take them a great deal of time to complete because the way the data is presented is not optimized for ingestions and is inefficiently displayed to humans, who primarily use their visual senses.
The human brain, as incredible as it is, is just not wired to process data in this particular format (i.e. a 2D spreadsheet). Dashboards and other 2D visualizations are a step in the right direction, but still face limitations because the human brain struggles to process and synthesize multiple 2D visualizations simultaneously. At best, advanced data practitioners will synthesize multiple 2D visualizations into a complex, multi-dimensional mental models, as human brains are built for, and best attuned to, 3D environments. At worst, average users will struggle to synthesize the data into actionable insights.
The multi-dimensional display of data allows our brains to ingest the data in a way that’s easiest for us, allowing our minds to easily and intuitively identify trends and patterns in multiple, large complex datasets. By presenting a visual representation of this data in a format that ‘plays nicely’ with the way our minds are built to ingest data, we can make the task of synthesizing insights from this data much less taxing and much more accessible to everyone.
What are the quantifiable benefits of immersion?
There are many quantifiable benefits to viewing data immersively; namely the increased accessibility to difficult datasets, increased scale and complexity of data that can be ingested, faster time to insights, lowered cognitive load, and the ability to discover previously inaccessible and unseen patterns. Additionally, the presentation method is more intuitive and, combined with natural interaction and real-time interactivity, allows users to immediately put on a headset and understand very complex, technical datasets without needing special training or advanced degrees.
With immersion, enormous datasets can be visualized in a digestible experience that can convey complex insights with ease, allowing teams to understand that two seemingly contradictory insights may be true simultaneously. For example, with 2D data visualizations, the presentation format is so limited that only one vantage point may be shown or explored at a time. With immersive displays, many vantage points are visible simultaneously. This allows users to understand that from one analytical perspective, an insight may be true, but from another analytical perspective, it may be untrue. This level of complexity is incredibly difficult to communicate in 2D visualizations and PowerPoint presentations.
Commonly, insights are presented individually, one by one, to an audience, who are then asked to stitch together a summary understanding of these insights so they can be contextualized holistically. This happens every time you or your team must sit through a 45 page Powerpoint presentation where each slide is a new scatterplot or other similar 2D graph.
From our research, over 70% of individuals will build (or attempt to build) multi-dimensional ‘mental models’ of datasets when shown data in this manner. The addition of an immersive visualization allows everyone to skip this step to jump directly into a multi-dimensional ‘mental model.’ This ensures that the team will all view the same mental model and navigate and explore it within a shared context. Long term, this leads to greater team consensus and less time spent reconciling different analytical methods used to discover operational insights.
Can immersion improve my current workflow?
Given all of these benefits — how exactly can your data visualization and analytical workflows be improved with immersive data tools?
First and foremost, expect a lowered cognitive load — less brain power needed to complete your analysis. Second, expect a greater engagement from your team when it comes to sharing your insights, and even a greater engagement with the concept of data as whole, as more people understand it, are able to see it in a way that makes sense, are more generally included in the process of analyzing their datasets.
Additionally, expect a greater consensus among teams when it comes to important data-driven decision-making, as everyone will experience a greater shared context of understanding as to what the data actually conveys. Overall, your team should see a decrease in the time spent analyzing and communicating data and an increase in the speed and accuracy of decision-making, even among distributed or remote teams.
Users can also expect to see an increase in situational awareness and concentration due to the interactivity and visual effectiveness of multi-dimensional data displays. Immersive experiences (especially the ones designed by BadVR) are designed to be intuitive for all types of users, allowing for all technical skill levels to engage. Alongside these propositions are cost-savings through a reduction in training expenses due to ease-of-use. Lastly, a key benefit of immersion is remote collaboration, which we talk was deserving of its own article entirely (check it out here)!
How will immersive data affect you? (i.e. what’s the TL;DR)
After performing extensive research into immersive data visualization and analytics — we are absolutely convinced that VR and AR are the most effective mediums for visualizing, analyzing, and communicating insights from big data. Immersive experiences are also easier to operate, cheaper, more accessible, engaging, and can even be — *gasp* — fun!
Humans are primarily visual creatures, and VR and AR experiences are great visually-driven storytelling tools. Most people think of immersive technology as a way to share stories or gaming experiences, but harnessing this communicative power to increase accessibility to, and the value of, enterprise datasets is an equally important and meaningful application!
In many instances, immersion unlocks new potential in datasets, allowing them to be seen in previously impossible ways. A great example of this is our product, SeeSignal, which allows users to don a headset and see their entire WiFi, cellular, and Bluetooth networks all in a single, holistic view, contextual to their real-world environment and detailed and accurate to every single part of the user’s environment. Prior to this, signal coverage strength data was presented as a 2D coverage map, completely ignoring the fluctuations and changes in signal strength depending on altitude, and impossible to view overlaid on the user’s real world, in real-time.
Although VR began it’s life as an entertainment tool, its ability to make datasets accessible and to convey meaning within data is unrivaled. There are many industries and workflows that can benefit from the added value of immersive data workflows — from finance to telecom, to marketing and advertising, the benefits are as broad as they are valuable. If you’re interested in exploring the addition of immersive data visualization tools, such as those offered by BadVR, please reach out today for a demo. We’d love to chat with you about your industry and how our platform can help you and your team thrive.
The future is here, and we hope you will hop on board the immersive data wave with us!
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If you want to get to know more about our awesome, immersive solutions, BadVR would be happy to chat with you.! Our team strongly believes in putting usability and accessibility first with all of our immersive data analytic solutions. We have data solutions for everyone, from every background, for every dataset! BadVR is here to make YOUR data easy.
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Curious about incorporating immersive data visualization into your remote workflow? Then reach out today for a demo of BadVR’s platform.
