Interactive Data Visualization Shows Reality of NFL Fans

9/3/2015

Interactive Data Visualization Shows Reality of NFL Fans

Veltman started creating this interactive data visualization by outlining the area teams may claim if fans were decided by proximity. Using Facebook likes, the actual popularity is mapped out for viewers. By hovering over a region, the fan base becomes highlighted according to color. Clicking on the region keeps the space highlighted but can be erased by clicking once more on the interactive data visualization. Veltman admits Facebook likes are not the most accurate way of measuring fans and some counties may have had a close runner up. Yet, it has some interesting results. The NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS territory maps can be found on this site and are based on the nearest stadium.

Cowboys fans

Teams with more territory than expected include the Cowboys, Steelers, Packers, Bears, Saints, Dolphins and Giants. Those with less territory include Texans, Panthers, Jaguars, Bills, Rams, Jets, Cardinals, and Chargers.

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3D Data Visualization Finds no Limits

7/17/2015

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3D Data Visualization Finds no Limits

From music videos to the flight of a single stork to sports analysis, 3D data visualization covers it all. In 2008, English rock band Radiohead released a music video for House of Cards created using a scanning system capturing 3D images through structured light for close ups and 64 laser rotating system with a 360 degree radius, shooting 900 times per minute for wider shots such as landscapes. The result is an all 3D data visualization video.

422 South is a data visualization, computer generated imagery (CGI) and visual effects company in the United Kingdom. In March, they published a CGI 3D data visualization video entitled “ 3D Data Visualization Reel-2015 .” They describe the video as “the world as seen by data” and begin with tracking a day in the life of an urban seagull. The video composition goes on to follow seals dodging ships in the North Sea, lightning strikes vs. lottery winners, rush hour traffic in Los Angeles, international meat trade routes, the world’s busiest two runway airport and many other topics. The 3D data visualizations are powerful.

Lastly, 3D data visualization helps athletes and sports enthusiasts analyze games and improve performance. GameSetMap explains how the data is displayed and used for tennis matches. For example, one data visualization example displays serve patterns during the World Tour Finals in 2014. Further down the site, a 3D heat map shows where the ball was most frequently during a match between two right handed players over 5 sets at the US Open. The data consisted of 10s of thousands of data points which are unmanageable without some sort of analysis.

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Interactive explains YOLO flip step-by-step

7/14/2015

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Interactive explains YOLO flip step-by-step

To help fans understand gold medal winning snowboarder Iouri Padladtchikov’s YOLO flip during the 2014 Winter Olympics Games in Sochi an interactive data visualization was created in a collaborative effort between the Neue Zürcher Zeitung , a Swiss newspaper, and +Datavisualization.ch. The finished data visualization was used in the E-book You Only Fly Once published by the paper but its creation is broken down in the article, Interactively Explore the YOLO Flip .

The data visualization tool starts by helping the reader understanding the halfpipe itself using a Swiss train to present an idea of the size and length of the platform, essentially a 22 foot high, 66 foot wide and 591 foot long snow and iced covered ramp.

The reader then can see three aspects of the YOLO flip broken into tricks known as the Backside Air (style), a Frontside 900 (twist), and a Frontside Double Cork 1080 (flip).

Next, the reader sees ghosted key frame overview of the jump. By hovering the cursor over an image, the reader is shown movements taking place as well as the real-time video image. The real time data visualization gives the reader a feel for the jump as they move from image to image or by viewing the original video.

The creators started with a mix of three separately designed screens including an introduction for the visualization tool, a video and an interactive. Yet, the three did not seem right separately so they were combined into one full interactive. Using the SensorLog iPhone app to send information to their computer, they discovered the pitch, roll and yaw by collecting gyroscope data through holding their iPhones to mimic the Russian born Swiss snowboarder’s position. The data had to be adjusted slightly to provide a better visual match so it is close but not perfect.

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NBA Player Stats Visualized

7/7/2015

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NBA Player Stats Visualized

A combination of a scatterplot and a bar chart were the data visualization tools of choice for Fengbo Li at Georgia Tech who designed a viz highlighting athletic performance of NBA players. This data analytics piece is exploring the statistics from the 2012-2013 NBA season. The data viz application has four main filters. Viewers can choose an NBA team for which the dynamic scatterplot will display the stats. When filtering on any NBA team, all of its players’ pictures are populated on the right hand sight panel. By clicking each picture, individual players’ performance on various stat categories can be displayed. On the first screenshot, you can see LeBron James’ stats paired with minutes played and points scored. An accompanying bar chart shows whether games were won or lost. Hovering a mouse over a bar activates a window with more detailed data.

For sports statistics geeks there are numerous stat categories which can be explored by using X and Y axes filters. On the next data visualization example you can see how much time Lebron James played and how many points he scored. The only thing which is a bit confusing is the color filter for Plus/Minus which is a bit ambiguous on what data it represents.

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Visual Data Analytics Piece for Soccer Fans

6/2/2015

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Visual Data Analytics Piece for Soccer Fans

Have you heard of Xavi? If not, then you probably have not followed soccer much. He has been an outstanding player at a leading Spanish club Barcelona. He is set to retire from his 17 year Barcelona career in June 2015. As a tribute to his time spent in the club bringing joy of remarkable performance to fans in Spain and around the world, Spanish newspaper Marca dedicated this interactive data visualization report. This piece is developed using Tableau data analytics software and consists of four screens which highlight Xavi’s performance and achievements. The data visualization combines the player’s pictures and informative graphics. The only thing is that it is in Spanish. You might need to brush up on your Español to learn about the details of his career.

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