For PICNIC 2012, Laurens Schuurkamp and Bert Spaan (Waag Society) developed an Open Data visualization installation. Subsequently, Laurens gave a seminar on Open Data Visualization on the Avans Hogeschool in Den Bosch.
Data Visualisation Installation (Image by Appsterdam)
Laurens: “Our goal was to draw the city from scratch with the available Open Data, to see if there is enough data available to get Amsterdam on the map in detail. The installation consisted of two big HD TV screens and an iPad. On the iPad users could (de-)select 33 open data layers, from elm trees to public urinoirs. The selected layers became visible on the first screen, whilst on the second screen information about the dataset was projected. The iPad was also used for navigating on the maps. The installation was exhibited in the Appsterdam tent at Picnic for three days.”
Presenting the Data Visualisation Installation (Image by Appsterdam)
Seminar Data Visualisation
At one of the presentations Laurens met Brenda Renssen, a graphical art teacher at the Avans Hogeschool (Communication and Media Design) in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Together with colleague Mikel Hanekamp, she is teaching a minor in data visualization (check out their Facebook page). Laurens explains: “She was impressed by the installation and asked me to give a seminar about data visualization and Open Data. In this seminar, I showed 20 graduation students the general story about data visualization and the various projects I have been working on. I explained how we designed and build it our visualization installation. The students were especially interested in the part about Open Data. How we mined the data, how we structured it and how we presented the information. This ended in a discussion about the need and importance of Open Data. In the discussion, I explained the importance of platforms like Smart CitySDK, which make it possible for students, and other creatives, to play, develop and design applications with Open Data.