INTRA MUROS 2012 – DYNAMIC DIAGRAMMING / DATA VISUALISATION IN PROCESSING

Location: Fachhochschule Düsseldorf, University of Applied Sciences

Dates: November 2012

Tutors: Moritz Fleischmann, Agata Kycia

Student: Maryvonne Wellen

Description: Open source programming languages (such as Processing), in addition to the usual functionality for data processing, provide also a wide range of possibilities for visualizing data. During the course of the “Dynamic Diagramming” workshop, we taught basics of programing using Processing and implemented them into several examples. The task for the participants was to nterpret and represent graphically a chosen poem by writing a customized program. The only restriction was that the result should be printed by a machine-controlled pen on a sheet of paper (1000x700mm).

The result is a robust visualizing tool with the ability to translate any given text into graphical output. For example any letter can be translated into a visual code based on its position in the alphabet. This code is defined by a series of rings that are legible to readers with knowledge of scripting principles.

[pic. different visualization methods of the same poem]

[pic. one visualization method of various poems] 

The characters of every written text are analyzed according to their frequency and position in the alphabet. Different symbols are assigned accordingly.

A few pictures from the printing process: