Data Experiences : novel interfaces for data engagement using environmental health data

Abstract

For the past twenty years, the data visualization movement has reworked the way we engage with information. It has brought fresh excitement to researchers and reached broad audiences. But what comes next for data? I seek to create example "Data Experiences" that will contribute to developing new spaces of information engagement. Using data from Silent Spring Institute's environmental health studies as a test case, I explore Data Experiences that are immersive, interactive, and aesthetic. Environmental health datasets are ideal for this application as they are highly relevant to the general population and have appropriate complexity. Dressed in Data will focus on the experience of an individual with her/his own environmental health data while BigBarChart focuses on the experience of the community with the overall dataset. Both projects seek to present opportunities for nontraditional learning, community relevance, and social impact.