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Oftentimes visuals generated through code can seem cold and mechanical when you’re after something more warm that breathes life. Introducing organized noise into the mix is one path. Varun Vachhar describes how you might use noise in the context creative coding.
Using a combination of estimates based on cell phone movements and outbreak size, The New York Times shows how the coronavirus started with a few cases and then spread around the world.
The particle flows to represent travel volume from city to city is something else. NYT used a scrollytelling format that starts on a geographic map. You see a few points at first, the virus spreads, and then there’s a transition to an abstract view that looks like a subway map. You end up in the United States with a view of the current estimates.
Tags: coronavirus, New York Times, particles
Posted by in coronavirus, maps, New York Times, particles
High air pollution can lead to serious health risks, but you can’t usually see particulate matter floating in the air around you. So we have no base for comparison and only an abstract sense of what’s bad and okay. The New York Times tries to make the pollution more visible.
They lead with moving particles across your screen at a density that matches approximately to what the Environmental Protection Agency defines as “good” air quality. Then the number of particles increases to peak air pollution in your area this year. Then the density increases again for the really bad areas around the world.
So you get a baseline, a relatable point with geography, and then a point of perspective.
Be sure to check out the piece on your phone (only on updated iPhones?) to get the augmented reality view. Whoa.
Tags: New York Times, particles, pollution
Posted by in Infographics, New York Times, particles, pollution