DATAPLAY: Mapping Game Mechanics to Traditional Data Visualization

Transcription

1 DATAPLAY Mappn Gam Mchancs to Tadtonal Data Vsalzaton Colln Mackln Pasons Th Nw School fo Dsn 2 W. 13 th St., Nw Yok, NY [email protected] Jla Waask Pasons Th Nw School fo Dsn 2 W. 13 th St., Nw Yok, NY [email protected] ABSTRACT In Wllam Playfa's 1786 book, Th Commcal and Poltcal Atlas, h stats that nfomaton, mpfctly acqd, s nally as mpfctly tand. [6] Playfa s commntn on th fal of tabls to psnt compaatv data n way that was sfl to th ad. Snc Playfa, many dffnt foms of mda hav asn byond nk and pap. Yt pntd chats (o th dtal psntatons) man, by fa, th most commonly sd tools of data vsalzaton. Th volton ov many cnts has allowd thm to achv a d of sophstcaton that tm-basd and ntactv psntatons hav yt to achv. Is th spmacy of pntd (o pnt-lk) data vsalzaton to man nchallnd? Wold t vn nd to b? Th athos contnd that nw appoachs may b possbl, and vn ncssay, bt wold q tappn nto a dffnt way of lann that was not stctly abot manan th shot tm vsal and adtoy mmoy of th ads [3]. Ths lann wold nvolv lss th xpnc of adn and mo that of dct xpnc thoh play and ams. Jsp Jl contnds that all ams a lann systms [2]. That s, to play a am and bcom ood at t, th play mst lan th ncssay sklls and stats to ovcom th opposton. If th oal of data vsalzaton s dcatonal, t may b possbl to s spcfc typs of ams as ways of psntn spcfc typs of data. It may b possbl fo a play to lan th systm of th am and th systm of th nfomaton toth. Th athos hav blt th am pototyps that llstat th ways n whch dffnt foms of data can b psntd n th fom of dtal ams. Th fst pototyp, Kmono Colos, s basd on data fom a coss-fncd tabl that dscbs th typs of ndnts sd to cat tadtonal Japans dys n th podcton of kmonos. Th co mchanc [4] of th am has th play fshn Mchal Edwads Pasons Th Nw School fo Dsn 2 W. 13 th St., Nw Yok, NY [email protected] Kan Yan L Pasons Th Nw School fo Dsn 2 W. 13 th St., Nw Yok, NY [email protected] fo colos sn on of sval dys th play has collctd. By fshn fo ths colos, plays lan th latonshps btwn matals and th manfact of dy. Th scond pototyp, Mannahatta Th Gam, asks plays ltally to walk aond Manhattan and connct th lvn and non-lvn lmnts of a dctd aph psntn th coloy of th sland 400 yas ao. Playd ov an Phon, ss plac thmslvs n th mddl of th datast thy a pcn back toth. Th thd pototyp, Ts of Tad, ss data fom two dctd aphs of latonshps, colocal and commcal, n a Bazlan Atlantc an-fost cosystm. Th am nvolvs th plays -stablshn th tophc lvls of th fost by navatn thoh th latonshps and nstn th mssn spcs on an dalzd map. Thoh play, th s wll btt ndstand th lmnts of a systm that s typcally llstatd n a statc, two dmnsonal dctd aph llstaton. Two qstons stm fom ths pototyps can data cat play and can play nlhtn data? To answ th fst qston affmatvly, w nd to fnd vdnc that a systm catd by data has th ablty to podc choc molcls [4]. That s, n th fom of a am, dos th stct of data allow th play to mak ntstn chocs abot how to pocd as h o sh navats and laboats th data? If so, thn th data n qston can cat play, whch n tn can dv th dvlopmnt of a fll-fldd am. As fo th scond qston, f th fst answ holds, thn th play s, n th cos of a am, playn wth th data. If th chocs mad avalabl to a play a stablshd n sch a way that th play lvls p thoh th nfomaton, thn th achvmnt of th ams oals wll b concdnt wth th ndstandn of th data tslf. By actvly manplatn and sn th data to wn th am, th play wll nd to ndstand th facts and Bakn Nw Gond Innovaton n Gams, Play, Pactc and Thoy. Pocdns of DGRA Athos & Dtal Gams Rsach Assocaton (DGRA). Psonal and dcatonal classoom s of ths pap s allowd, commcal s qs spcfc pmsson fom th atho.

2 latonshps nhnt n th data tslf, ths podcn th dsd dcatonal otcom and a at snstvty to th systms that data psnts. Atho Kywods data, vsalzaton, ams, am mchancs, coloy, hstoy, dcaton DOMAIN W, as ads, mmdatly ndstand how to ad a scatt plot, a tm ss, a p chat, and ntwok aph. Moov, a snl, two-dmnsonal ma has th bnft of bn n font of th ad all at onc, not taxn th shot-tm vsal mmoy o qn th s to backtack o scb to fnd ky data ponts, as n tm-basd mda lk vdo. All hmans hav lmtd capacty, and ood nfomatonal and dcatonal dsn taks ths nto accont [2]. Gam also q xcllnc n nfomatonal and dcatonal dsn, to th xtnt that a am has to, at last, tach th play abot tslf. Bt what ls cold a am do? Can Data Cat Play? Gams a ld basd systms. Rls dscb th systm o th objcts n th systm by th bhavos and latonshps nd th noton of tm, a sns of posson. Gams a patclaly ood at valn th dynamcs of complx systms bcas plays bcom actv patcpants n thos systms. Th ways n whch ls ntact cat a wold of constants and consqnc fo plays. At th sam tm, smnly stctv ls a ncssay to nat play. Ths s th cntal paadox n ams, and t s what maks thm sch ntstn foms to dsn and stdy. Plays bn th own xpncs and chocs to th am, natn a vast aay of play styls and otcoms. What of th otcoms of a am dvd fom a st of alwold ls? o nstanc, what f th am's ls and mchancs (actons n th am dvn fom ls and am lmnts) xpssd th fdal dbt, o dfostaton ats n Soth Amca, o th colocal wbs xstnt n 1609 Manhattan? Cold w lan somthn nw abot ths actal statons, placs, and systms? Mo spcfcally, can w val ndlyn and phaps mystos phnomna at wok by not psntn ths topcs as naatv contnt n a am, bt n th ls thmslvs? And to add anoth lvl to o challn, can w s th actal data nfomaton athd and oanzd as th bass fo a am's ls and xpss ts nancs and psh at ts smnly d bondas thoh play, tachn s somthn nw? Can data b playabl? Ths a th qstons w hav bn xplon n o sach, whch w a calln DataPlay. In th sam way that data lnds tslf to ctan knds of vsalzaton, sch as a popotonal data n p chats o schdln data n ds by ho and day, data can lnd tslf to dffnt ntactv foms as wll. Gams, as an ntactv mda, a qt fomal. Thy ly on d sts of ls, thy hav a oal o wn condton, and oftntms fall nto ctan ns (acton, ol-playn, pzzl, altm staty). In th th pototyps dscbd blow w hav td to stablsh ls and mchancs that a an asthtc and ntactv match to th datasts thy psnt. Each datast statd off as typcal collctons of nmbs, dats, catozatons, and latons. Thy w thn vsalzd sn alothms o hman-caftd dsn. Statn fom thos vsalzatons, w w abl to "s" th fomal nat of th datast, ts nhnt pattns, ovall scal, and nal contos. Can Play Enlhtn Data? Instad of askn only what can data do fo play, w a also askn, What can play do fo data? Play mans, amon oth thns, xploaton. Data vsalzaton s on way to xplo data and not only xplo, bt val nw aspcts of th data. Th classc xampl of D. John Snow's 1854 dscovy of contamnatd wat pmps as th pmay soc fo th wdspad chola otbaks n tn-of-th-cnty London hav bn choncld n Tft's books on nfomaton dsn as a tmph of nfomaton dsn [6]. By mappn th otbaks and addn n a hand-dawn pcso to oaphc nfomaton systms th locatons of wat pmps, Snow was abl to ddc chola's cas, and pompt a volton n ban santaton [1]. If vsally navatn thoh a datast can lnd tslf to sch vlatons, what can th playfl navaton of datasts val? W hav attmptd to fnd ths ot thoh th th pojcts, ach of whch s a mdtaton on th data tslf, takn fom and nspaton fo th data and th way t s stctd as wll as wokn wth nfomaton dsns and scntsts to bn th data to lf fo th am's dsn. In ach xampl, al domnant vsalzatons hav famd o ndstandn of th data, allown s to lapfo th pocss of ndstandn a datast's physcal/vsal chaactstcs and nabln th consdaton of th data fom th vanta pont of bn abl to "s" t alady. Usn th xstn vsalzatons as o oad map, and th datasts as o aw matal, w ban th pocss of caftn am concpts, fom pap to dtal pototyp.

3 PROJECTS Kmono Colos In Waask s Advancd Infomaton Dsn class, stdnts a vn assnmnts calld Infomaton Dsn Expmnts. Bnn scnc and dsn toth has bn an ntst of hs, as an Infomaton Dsn Pofsso, fo many yas now. Waask askd stdnts n h cos to synthsz a poton of th spcs of th plant wth concpt, spac, and tm to m many avns of knowld, navaton, naatv, baty, and concpt n to an accssbl and nttv dsn psntaton. o h sbmsson, stdnt Hom S catd Japans Kmono Colos, a matx of 217 colos fond n tadtonal Japans kmonos, coss fncd wth th nam and class of th plant, anmal, o mnal ndnt sd n ts podcton, as wll as oth nfomaton, sch as th lnth of tm a dy had bn sd hstocally by manfacts ( 1). Gn Acad-styl fshn am S s onal vsalzaton Japans Kmono Colos Dscpton Th am pototyp Kmono Colos s basd dctly on S s data vsalzaton. In th am, plays a abl to slct a l that psnts a snl ndnt sch as so (sappanwood) o bnbana (safflow). Th am scn s covd n a wd vaty of colos that mov aond th spac lk fsh ( 2). Th ls, whn placd on th scn by th play s mos, attact th colos that a catd wth thos ndnts. Indnts that a sd n a wd vaty of dys attact mo colos. Lann Goals Th pncpl oal of th am s to famlaz plays wth 1 S th combnatons of natal ndnts that consttt th vaos dys sd n tadtonal kmono manfact. On of th most wadn aspcts of fshn n th am s xplon th chnss and vaty of colo that ctan bolocal and natal socs can podc oftn, th am podcs happy accdnts wh sddn swams of colo sond th l of a smnly mndan ndnt. Challns Edwads and L xpmntd wth dffnt appoachs that plays cold s to analyz coss-fncd data that w both accat and povdd mannfl chocs to th play. Intal tsts sd th d-lk stct of th matx tabl tslf, bt ths povd to b spflos n th contxt of th am th vsal mtapho fo data dd not mmdatly sst a ldc mtapho. Whl th ams pototypd occasonally smd fn, non smd to q attnton o namnt wth th data th play of th ams dd not q th play to acknowld mannflly th data psntd. Th fshn mchanc, howv, was snfcantly dffnt, vsally, fom th onal vsalzaton, bt povdd plays wth chocs wthn th am and vald nshts nto th datast that no oth pvos mchanc had ncovd dn play. dtal pototyp of th Kmono Colos fshnam mchanc. t Goals A fll soc-manamnt am s n th woks that wll allow plays to mo flly lvl p thoh th data. Bcas som dys and colos a mo dffclt to synthsz that oths, scaffoldn plays thoh smpl combnatons of common dys p thoh vy a ndnts mxd n complx combnatons s a dsabl fat of th am. Plays wll hav btt accss to a savd nvntoy of ndnts and n al lvls of th am that wll ad th play (and fth th ndstandn) as th matx coms to complton. 2 T h

4 Byond th colo am, w want to ps th possblty of sn fshn fo oth coss-fncd data that s fqntly psntd on a matx tabl. Althoh th vsal psntatons dff atly, w fl that th sns of xploaton nndd by th fshn am cold b ffctv on oth sts of data that a smlaly stctd. Mannahatta Th Gam Th ppos of th Mannahatta Pojct, by bolost Ec Sandson and hs tam at th Wldlf Consvaton Socty, s to nvl th colocal hstoy of Manhattan n 1609 known to th Lnap sdnts at th tm as Mannahatta and to bn nto focs th coloy of Manhattan today so as to plan fo a mo sstanabl ban cosystm of th ft [6]. Th Mannahatta tam wokd to panstaknly val, cty block by cty block, th cosystm dynamcs psnt n Manhattan's past. Ths dynamcs a psntd n a st of M Wbs, namd aft th famd natalst John M, as a way of vsalzn th ntdpndncs n local cosystms [6]. Wokn closly wth Sandson, a tam of nn Pasons stdnts, adats, and faclty dvlopd a pototyp of Mannahatta Th Gam, an amntd-alty am accssbl va Phon, that allows plays to tavs th data n al spac, makn movs on cty blocks and catn th cosystms that onc xstd th sn th M Wb as a stctn lmnt. Mannahatta Th Gam taks th da of xploaton nto th cty stts, ncoan plays to constct th cowbs of 1609 block by block, achvn th stats of "co-mast" by makn th most lnks acoss th cty. Gn Amntd alty pzzl am Dscpton Mannahatta Th Gam s a locaton-basd am that nabls lann abot complx systms n ths cas, lann abot th dynamcs of Manhattan's cosystm cca Th oal of Mannahatta Th Gam s to achv and mantan th stats of Eco-Mast acoss dffnt blocks on th sland of Manhattan by valn co nods and fomn sstanabl lnks btwn thm. Th am mploys mobl phons, a famla and socal contxt fo yon Nw Yoks, to nvt thm to connct to th sland's past and val th colocal potntals fo th cty's ft. Th contnt fo th am coms fom Sandson s wok on Th Mannahatta Pojct. Th am s tatd fo famls wth chldn ad 10-15, and s dvlopd fo th Phon. 3 A scn shot fom Mannahatta Th Gam n ts natv habtat. Lann Goals Movn fom th Mannahatta Pojct to Mannahatta Th Gam, w hav caflly md ky oaphc and nfomatc lann comptncs systms thnkn, ospatal ltacy, spatal ontaton, colocal contnt, socal collaboaton, commncaton and vsalzaton. Th am, playd on an Phon, placs plays n th actv ol of colocal wb-mak, a poston that ncoas xploaton and socal ntacton n plays' mmdat sondns whl ntodcn thm smltanosly to colocal scnc. Challns La datast, am play's nd fo smplfcaton p abstacton and th scntfc ams of th actal data a all sos concns. What s mo, data ntty sn th onal databas only and not altn t to st th am s a sos constant. Also, an "nd-am" wth sch a massv st makn potntally hndds of connctons p block ov thosands of blocks, s, at bst, npdctabl and phaps vn mpossbl. Can sch a wb b compltd by o plays on a and scal? Ths s pat of th xpmnt. t oals W ntnd to contn athn nw data, basd on play actvty, s-natd contnt, and obsvaton and potn of cnt spcs dscovd as plays xplo. To ths nd, w hop to bn wokn wth th Encyclopda of Lf to sppot th contnaton of ths wok. Ts of Tad Bodvsty and Extncton Anoth of Waask s stdnts, Kathana Sft, sd h xtnsv sach nto anfost cosystms to podc

5 Ts of Tad Effcts of Dfostaton on th Atlantc Ranfost. H pojct, whch bcam h ndadat thss wok, xamnd th latonshps btwn a st of svn ts, alon wth and oth plant and anmal spcs, and th commcal xplotaton of thos ts by hmans, as wll as ndcatn th ts lvls of ndanmnt. Alon wth th wok of fllow stdnt Pth Chthan, th dsn sach fomd th fondaton of th Ts of Tad Bodvsty and Extncton am pototyp xpmnt. Th data psnts two comptn dctd aphs, on fo th lf that dpndd on th ts and anoth fo th commodts dawn fom thm ( 5). 5 M o c k p Gn Acad pzzl am of th man scn fo th Ts of Tad Bodvsty and Extncton am. Dscpton Th Ts of Tad Bodvsty and Extncton am ss a tm-tavl conct smla to a passa fom Kt Vonnt s Slahthos 5 [7] Amcan plans, fll of hols and wondd mn and copss, took off backwads fom an afld n Enland. Ov anc, a fw Gman fht plans flw at thm backwads, sckd bllts and shll famnts fom som of th plans and cwmn. Thy dd th sam fo wckd Amcan bombs on th ond, and thos plans flw p backwads to jon th fomaton. Th fomaton flw backwads ov a Gman cty that was n flams. Th bombs opnd th bomb bay doos, xtd a maclos mantsm whch shnk th fs, athd thm nto cylndcal stl contans, and lftd th contans nto th blls of th plan... Whn th bombs ot back to th bas, th stl cylnds w takn fom th acks and shppd back to th Untd Stats of Amca, wh factos w opatn nht and day, dsmantln th cylnds, spaatn th danos contnts nto mnals. Tochnly, t was manly womn who dd ths wok. Th mnals w thn shppd to spcalsts n mot aas. It was th bsnss to pt thm nto th ond, to hd thm clvly, so thy wold nv ht anybody v aan. Th am asks plays to wok n a smla way tak apat th man-mad podcts, fnd th ts fom whch thy cam and cat thm, n-kll th spcs that lvd wth that t and lav th wold wth a complt and balancd fost cosystm. Plays pll back th stands n tm, bfly allown thm a wndow n whch to plac th spcs that w lost to xplotaton. At th sam tm, plays mst mov fom th wold potntally sfl tms lk mdcn and tmb that cam fom th ts. Lann Goals Plays a askd to ndstand what s lost fom a fost and what s and by hmans whn popl havst a and ndand ts n fal cosystms. Thy mst analyz and bld th dctd aph that psnts th dpndncs not only of th bolocal latonshps, bt also th commcal ons. Challns Althoh Mannahatta Th Gam also dals wth bolocal latonshps, s dos so n th contxt of a latvly balancd and stabl cosystm po to th aval of Eopans n Nw Yok. Ts of Tad Bodvsty and Extncton, on th oth hand, has to contnd wth two fqntly mtally xclsv systms. Plays mst wok backwads n tm, dsassmbln th psnt to bld th past. Bcas w only hav data fom th past, t wold not b an ffctv o accat DataPlay to allow stdnts to wok on savn th fost n th ft. Instad, thy a askd to tavl n tm, dp nto th past s bolocal data as thy adat fom th psnt s commcal data.

6 Bcas of ths, th am psnts a nmb of ntfac challns. Th plays mst hav ady accss to accat nfomaton as thy wok qckly ( 6). And thy mst b abl to manplat tm n a way that sms nttv yt fancfl, mannfl yt playfl. Spcs nfomaton slcton ntfac fom th Ts of Tad dtal pototyp. t Goals Althoh sval pototyps hav bn catd, mch wok mans to nt th comptn systms psntd n th data. Th complx scntfc and thcal challns of th data and ts stct hav catd a snfcant challn, bt tsts of ndvdal mchancs hav povd latvly sccssfl. Bnn th dspaat pcs toth nto a complt xpnc s th nxt stp. If th am povs sccssfl byond a dsn xpmnt, w wll look fo mo oppotnts to combn complx datasts n ways that cold allow fo playfl navaton and analyss ov nfomaton that may not vn lnd tslf to statc vsal psntaton bt may, nstad, q a play-basd appoach. INDINGS Choc and Data O aly sach and th wok of oths has ndcatd to s that data can povd an ntstn spac fo play. Snc data has an nhnt stct, what dos t man to play wthn th stct? And as on lans to play wthn th stct, how mht advancd ams lan to "am th systm", o play wth th stct of data, tstn lmts, challnn pspctvs, and valn nw concpts? Cold on st of data podc a vaty of am otcoms? In od to povd a sns of "amnss", th nds to b a st of chocs plays can mak that ffct th otcoms of th am. 6 A s p Ths chocs can b mco (momnt to momnt chocs thohot a lvl,) as wll as maco (th tajctoy of th am, th otcom.) Mco chocs ltmatly affct th maco chocs n a am. Saln and Zmmman, n Rls of Play dscb ths mco and maco momnts of play dcson-makn as "choc molcls" [4]. On of th fst sss w confontd n th dsn of ams basd on alwold datasts was what a th "choc molcls" nhnt n th data? If w can fnd an lmnt n th data that lnds tslf to play choc, w know w hav th bnnns of a am. o Kmono Colos, choc bcam a majo hdl. Whl choosn a ow o colmn to vw n a matx tabl s stahtfowad vsally, smla chocs n a am ntally sltd n ntactons that w not spcally am-lk. On th flp sd, xpmnts that w mo dvotd to ams, sch as tnn th tabl nto a sd-scolln platfom am, yldd play bt vy lttl lann. By abandonn th vsal psntaton, bt tann ts vbant and playfl spt, th fshn mchanc ssts that coss-fncd data can b playfl, bt not n ways that a obvos basd on tadtonal psntatons of that fom of data. In th pojct Mannahatta Th Gam, w dsmantld th datast n ths cas n th fom of a M Wb akn to a ntwok map. Instad of focsn on th nods as movabl (.. playabl) lmnts, w dcdd to focs on th connctons btwn nods. Ths connctons dscb dffnt nt-dpndncs n th cosystm, sch as "food fo" o "shlt fo". Kpn th nods n plac, bt movn th lnks cats an oppotnty fo plays to constct th datast, povds a cla wn condton whn plays s th ht lnks, and povds a soc (th lnks) plays can collct, wn and tad. Dsmantln a datast, thn, bcam on of o stats fo bldn a am. Th wok of ntatn datasts n Ts of Tad Bodvsty and Extncton shows th dffclts of podcn a snl am aond a complx st of latonshps th am mst, lk th oth pojcts w hav ndtakn, b playfl and accat. o th am to b playfl, t mst b somthn that a play can appoach, manplat, and fl that sh o h has ancy ov th ntfac to command ntstn chocs. o t to b accat, th chocs sh o h maks mst b fathfl to alty, vn th sad stat of affas wth ndand spcs. Combnn th complx lays of data and psntaton n a way that s navabl, ntllbl, and mannfl s a sos challn that wll q mch mo nvstaton. Bt Ts of Tad Bodvsty and Extncton, lk th oth ams, also ponts a way fowad, sstn that

7 th a mchancs (o sts of mchancs) avalabl that, wth tm and mo wok, cold b sd and appld to th knds of data onc qd to b vwd n foms that w stctly statc and two-dmnsonal. Th poms of DataPlay s that th nxt naton s scatt plots, ba chats, and socoams may b btt ndstood, not n a nwspap, bt n a am. REERENCES 1. Johnson, S. (2006). Th host map Th stoy of London's most tfyn pdmc--and how t chand scnc, cts, and th modn wold. Nw Yok Rvhad Books 2. Jl, J. (2005). Half-Ral Vdo Gams btwn Ral Rls and ctonal Wolds. Th MIT Pss. 3. May, R. (2005). Contv thoy of mltmda lann. In R. May (Ed.), Th Cambd Handbook of Mltmda Lann. Nw Yok Cambd Unvsty Pss. 4. Saln, K. and Zmmman, E. (2003). Rls of Play Gam Dsn ndamntals. Th MIT Pss. 5. Sandson, E. W. (2009). Mannahatta A Natal Hstoy of Nw Yok Cty (1St Edton d.). Abams. 6. Tft, E. R. (2001). Th Vsal Dsplay of Qanttatv Infomaton. Gaphcs Pss. 7. Vonnt, K. (1991). Slahthos-v. Dll.