Among other things

In 2006 Artist Richard Box created Field. I was reminded of this piece last night when Architect, Robert Fox showed it during a talk about sustainability and tall buildings.

Movies and a Music Video after the jump (its worth reading)!!

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This is a great image - if you haven't been to Nasa's Earth Observatory "Image of the Day" page I would highly recommend it. Just be sure to leave yourself some time to browse.

The write-ups that come with the images really great.


** Thanks to J. Riman for keeping my eyes open! **

This month, Professor Duncan Foley - Leo Model Professor of Economics at The New School for Social Research published an opinion article in Nature entitled The economy needs agent-based modeling.. The article calls for economic and business leaders to incorporate agent-models into existing approaches to simulation and modeling.

Agent-based simulation is a method that incorporates methods for automated choices to be made within the simulation. The methods by which this is accomplished is typically by using a computer program such as AgentSheets that can work on a domain-specific problem by including semi-autonomous features (such as graphic characters moving around a screen) and constraints under which these semi-autonomous features work. An agent-based simulation will therefore produce a broader set of data at a much finer level of detail (i.e. the differences between two agents within a simulation). Some simple examples of agent-based models can be seen here at the AgentSheets website.

This is an approach that works at many scales; from global supply to corporate governance to personal finance. Modeling is actually one of the foremost methods by which designers such as architects and fashion designers develop final products and in the case of the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industries different forms of agent-based modeling have long been a part of complex and critical aspects such as structural design and traffic management.

Most important for me though, I appreciate Professor Foley's call for us all to significantly change in the way we use computers and digital media to work, specifically to assess risk and opportunity and to develop strategy.

The recent article in BusinessWeek Data Visualization: Stories for the Information Age is interesting and gets me thinking about the opportunities for the next phase of great cultural innovation.
Article Slideshow

As in my prior post I think that the increasing role of Information Visualization is something to be assured of. InfoViz is a subtopic of Dataviz and really isn't new, particularly for those in fields such as genetics research, pharmaceutical development, information management, marketing, and in a more subtle way, advertising. What is new, however is that the base concepts are diffusing throughout society in the form of popular media and public advertising. Most importantly perhaps, I think that this competitive model is the future of publishing. Let the authors sell their content (or give it away) and get revenue from proceeds that publishers gain. Give them the express rights to control how people see it, add a few optional restrictions that the author can add (Creative Commons anyone?) and you've got multiple revenue streams and a stronger reporting medium. Something authors, publishers, and the public can use I think.

Above is one of my favorite examples of Information Visualization for Everyone. On the left is a recent campaign from Transportation Alternatives that you can still see in quite a few places. The idea is actually taken from a mid-'90's campaign done by the Biking Transportation Alliance in Portland, Oregon that you can see on the right. After the jump you can see how the new campaign was made in a "making-of" video on Streetfilms.org

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