MAT 259 - 2007W
Antonio Medrano - CarsGasLife
This project visualizes a large set of gasoline receipt data that I have
been collecting since June 2000 for each vehicle that I have owned. This gas
receipt data includes items such as price per gallon, gallons filled, total fuel cost,
and miles traveled. The data is contained in a set was stored in a set
of Excel spreadsheets, and while this format worked well for basic record keeping,
the software imposed chart aesthetics made for very bland plots when trying to
represent this data in graphical form.
The final product of this visualization endeavor was a 3-dimensional model of the gasoline
data where the user could navigate around the data set and view it from all perspectives. Certain
vantage points yield a 2-dimensional cartesian graph of the data as you would normally see it in Excel.
The user can also change the sizing of the data points, from which an architectural shape emerges from
the data set.
Before embarking on the 3-dimensional implementation of this project, experimentations with the aesthetic were done in Excel. Using the guidelines from the After the Storm and Visual Explanations readings in class, the charts took on an overall look and feel that had much more visual appeal, yet still offered clear communication of the data set.
A typical chart using Excel defaults
The three dimensional interactive visualization of the data was implemented using the Processing programming language. Ensure that you have JAVA runtime software installed on your browser in order to see the visualization.
3-D Visualization in Processing