We all know that IoT aka Internet of Things is one of the most talked about topics today. You’ll be amazed to know that approximately 23 million vehicles around the world have internet access and big data such as engine controls, driving behavior and automatic crash notifications are going and getting uploaded on the cloud. It is predicted that by 2020; 152 million vehicles will be connected via internet.
Let’s look at this visualization and see if it has succeeded in what it is trying to convey.
Visualization link: Connected Cars
While 3D visualizations can provide rich information, many people have trouble comprehending them. This visualization presents an amalgamation of graphs which are beautifully represented in vibrant colors and each one utilizes different forms. However, the fundamental issue with this visualization is that this uses unjustified 3D graphs. In this, 3D is offering no increase in viewer comprehension. The first four dashboards are still easy to decipher, however, the major problem lies with the last two.
For instance, the fifth graph represents two features merged into one i.e the most innovative car maker for communication and the most innovative car maker for drivers assistance based on an index score. Firstly, the graph shows no mathematical correlation between these two indexes.Secondly, the graph is presented in overlapping 3D triangles with the values labeled with long lines placed close to each other making it difficult for the audience to compare two companies on this index (eye beats memory!!). This representation actually confuses the audience in terms of judging the depth, size and position of objects and could be presented in relatively simple bar graph comparative.
Finally a pie chart is used to represent driver’s willingness to share the connected car data with OEMs, that too in 3D (double mistake). The colors used also overlap and interfere with the interpretation. If observed closely, the 34% drivers who anonymously want to share the data and 31% who wish to share data in lieu of an incentive has only a percentage point difference of 3; however, on the graph it seems that the difference is more because of the unnecessary 3D effects poured in the pie chart.
This visualization can be improved by rotating the axes to make its cross section perpendicular to the planes of presentation. Any suggestions from the readers are also welcomed on how to improve this visualization.
References:
https://www.tableau.com/sites/default/files/whitepapers/dashboards-for-financial-services.pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/meet.2011.14504801345/pdf