What is data visualization (or datavis)? It is the science of visual representation of “data”, defined as information which has been abstracted in some schematic form.

LET'S KNOW MORE. WHAT IS DATAVIS FOR?

Datavis deals with complexity and facilitates the understanding of numerical information. It aims to explore information or to predict some situations.

Lets use an example of the most classical history case: the cholera epidemic map, by John Snow. In 1854, this British physician decided to do a dot map to display epidemiological data in London, which helped to understand the problem's origin, leading to the discovery of the source of the epidemic.

THE COMPONENTS OF DATAVIS AND INFOVIS

Data visualization has two main spheres: statistical graphs and spatial domain. They are a narrow domain of information visualization, which is the broadest term related to the visual representation of large-scale collections of numerical and non-numerical information.

Datavis and infovis have origins from the cross-over of different disciplines as software development, visual design, information architecture, user experience and interaction design. The interoperability of these disciplines improves the whole experience of visualizing and interacting with data.

SOME DATAVIS AND INFOVIS TOOLS

Tables, graphs, maps, infographics and even text, whether static or dynamic, are infovis tools that provide some means to see what lies within, determine the answer to a question, find relations and clarify things which could not be seen so readily in other forms.

At VISup, our projects concern about the design and development of visualization tools within fields as sports statistics (VisualSport.com), geographical interactive mapping and zoomable user interfaces (ClosR.it technology).