John Kellas, Co-director of This Equals, and Christopher Ray, have developed sets of digital tools to present information and data in visual formats. Data visualisation is a powerful tool for communicating sometimes very complex information simply.
This work led to the development of a toolkit which includes online tools – Visual Tools 0.6. It allows users to specify the details (parameter variables) of a data model and to present the data model in a visual form by using an image that has the closest representation to the thing the number is related to. It also allows for the comparison with other models.
For example, how much energy is used when you leave 10 light bulbs on for eight hours? The value of energy in joules could be represented as any model that has an energy value. For example, could be presented in how much coal you would need to burn, or how many peanuts someone would need to eat to get the calorific value.
Using the toolkit, John and Christopher have
- Delivered a 3d globe visualisation to an international Smart City company that displays, videos, and allows users to download PDFs, through an interface of a 3d globe, that can be interacted with to locate a city that has information to be downloaded. When the user clicks on the label they see the video and can download the information.
- Worked with Bristol City Council and Bristol Health Partners to support the development of a ward profile to that shows socio economic deprivation facts and figures about Bristol;
- Made radial graphs for sustainability curriculum; and,
- Explored ways that visualisations can display the accomplishments of an individual or organisation to help people see and communicate their assets and portfolios.
John has also designed and delivered multiple data visualisation and data workshops and delivered a General Information visualisation upskilling workshop at Bristol University.
The aim is to make available a polished version of the Visual Tools toolkit provided free and as open source software.
Do get in touch if you would like to discuss further.