Visible Information India

2009-03-18T12:33:00.000+05:30

Next generation gaming

As there is natural evolution of gaming towards simpler and more ergonomically viable solutions I think the eventual shift of gaming would be towards mind controlled games.

As “Alice in wonderland “as it sounds the existing development in technology and the fact that user experience and ergonomics are an essential in any game design process now only helps build this theory.

Gaming is like a system (totally speaking my head out) and system is a product of interaction between macro and micro elements in it. In Gaming the micro elements are:

Gameplay, game story, game concept etc which may remain the same through generations but it’s the macro elements which will affect the next gen gaming. And the elements which form the macro elements are:

User controls, interaction patterns and perception/ visual design.

The success of consoles like Nintendo Wii, Wii fit, Ds is a natural evolution process for species called “casual gamers”. These games juxtapose to natural physical behavior of humans. Features like less complexity in handling controls, combining human body mechanics with game mechanics (wii fit); mapping eye movements with camera angles are such examples.

As these consoles form a part of present generation gaming I think that by extrapolating the technologies today we can imagine what next generation gaming will be like.

As I said earlier gaming is a system and the micro elements form the core of it. But it’s the macro elements which will be affected from the technology adaptation.

Features like augmented reality, Brain mapping, movement recognition, multi touch, speech recognition and eye tracking should form an inevitable form of future game designing.

In fact if game producers can realize this by researching and exploring more into the casual game genre, designers would be able to make accommodations for future. In an adapted version of the Harry Potter video game, players lift boulders and throw lightning bolts using only their minds. Just as physical movement changed the interface of gaming with Nintendo’s Wii, the power of the mind may be the next big thing in video games.

The sensory features are the design elements for next generation gaming.

Vision (already exploited enough and well exploited in fact in games so far)

Voice and Sound (Voice response systems employed in games like End war)

Touch (not just touch screen… more)

Smell (what if I could feel the fragrance while playing flowers)

Coming to the practical accepts of above suggestions the following is the status report of these technologies:

Mind Controls:

Emotiv, a company based in San Francisco, says its mind-control headsets will be on shelves later this year, along with a host of novel “biofeedback” games developed by its partners.

Several other companies – including EmSense in Monterey, California; NeuroSky in San Jose, California; and Hitachi in Tokyo – are also developing technology to detect players´ brainwaves and use them in next-gen video games.

The technology is based on medical technology that has been around for decades. Using a combination of EEGs (which reveal alpha waves that signify calmness), EMGs (which measure muscle movement), and ECGs and GSR (which measure heart rate and sweating), developers hope to create a picture of a player´s mental and physical state. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which monitors changes in blood oxygenation, could also be incorporated since it overcomes some of the interference problems with EEGs.

In order for mind gaming to attract consumers, developers know they need to offer more than just interesting technology. Earlier biofeedback games – such as Atari´s MinkLink in 1984 and AmTex´s Bio Tetris in 1998 – never took off, possibly because they used old games. This time, developers plan to design novel games that can only be played with mind control complementing a traditional handset – similar to the novel sports games custom-designed for the Wii.

Motion Detection:

User gets to wave his hands and see stuff happening and it's a lot more engaging then hitting keys on keyboard.
The tapping of a whole new public which means we can play with for instance my mom, who would otherwise stay miles away from the complex x box controls.

Multi touch:

Since the introduction of Microsoft surface a lot of development has come in the field of multi touch based interaction Its been used in restaurants for billing, in music shows by DJs and of course in gaming . One such example is Warcraft developed by Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL). This interactive multi-input panel allows users to control such games as Warcraft III with "an array of antennas embedded in the touch surface".

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O1bTNbbWk4&eurl=http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/warcraft-iii-multi-touch-panel

Smell:

As geeky as it sounds this is for real. It would be so much fun for the kids who are playing animal crossing to be asked to pick flowers based on their fragrance. The technology that supports this feature is called Smell- O – Vision. Of course there is long way to go for this to be called working, but definitely gaming provides a suitable platform for this to be adopted.

The history of Smell – o – vision is that this system released odors during the projection of a film in Japan so that the viewer could "smell" what was happening in the movie.

The technique was created by Hans Laube and made its only appearance in the 1960 film Scent of Mystery. The process injected 30 different smells into a movie theater's seats when triggered by the film's soundtrack. (Source: Wikipedia)

Wouldn’t Prince of Persia love it if he could use the strength of his mind to look through Ariman’s evil black magic? And yell out to Elika for help (user screaming his lungs out)

Would taking over an upsurge in COD be a lot more realistic if I could really walk into these jungles and pick weapons from dead soldiers (and I mean PICK!!). Whatever the next generation gaming beholds is yet to be seen, but it’s definitely a good move if we designers could approach a design process which involves Humans as primary audience than just gamers. It means that the playing field is leveled for everyone be it young, old, man, woman, George Bush, etc. because everyone can make natural movements to do stuff.

Kindly provide feedbacks on my view points.

References:

Billycuts on March 17, 2008 in

Consciousness/Psych/Brain, Futurism/Transhumanism, Games and Technology

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/warcraft-iii-multi-touch-panel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell-o-vision

From Reel to Real - By Vaijayanthi Iyengar

2008-03-08T20:36:00.007+05:30

In 1980s all housewives who had the luxury of possessing a television set got together to watch India’s first soap Hum Log. Two decades later the small screen is no longer small. It has metamorphosed into a national obsession. So a media that is cutting across demographic, geographic and social barriers is bound to have its impact on its biggest audience

The women of India

“What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish. “ W. H. Auden Small screen TV in India is covering about 60 million viewers around the country. This particular study looks at the impact of small screen television on women. How does the media manipulate and manufacture consent of women. In this presentation we look at women and men from various strata of society, different age groups , and educational back grounds. What comes as an inference from this study is the impact TV has on women of today. This presentation attempts to highlight on the responsibility of media on this aspiring and ambitious population. Television can’t just show and tell. It has to show, tell and patronize.

Objective of this study

To find out about the impact of small screen television in daily lives of women.
Women were interviewed to form a perspective on the following issues
•Changes/ impact in physique and grooming due to TV viewing
•Change in socio cultural acceptance / behavior
•Views on equality
•Monitory impact on budgets due to television
Men were interviewed to form a perspective on the following issues
•Acceptance of opposite sex based on changes in physique and grooming
•socio cultural acceptance / behavior
•Views on equality
•Counter effects of equality.

Question:
Which is your favorite serial? What is its cultural and social impact?

Inference:
Geeta has a fairly good idea of the story line. She also says how whole of her village enjoys watching the serial as well as is emotionally attached to it.
Her family is concerned about the dresses worn by women in certain serials.

Question:
Who is your favorite character in the serials and why?

Inference:
Bhavani is impressed by the bold concept of living in being introduced in India
But is not comfortable with the thought of practicing it personally.
The serial as well treads safely on the lines of “ethics” by avoiding any instance of
Physical intimacy between the couple, under one roof.

Question:
Are women an equivalent in professional places today, and has their grooming after watching the serials made any difference?

Inference:
Mr.Catakam Kumar, Vice Chairman says Women seem to be a better choice for Marketing jobs where in interaction with varied people is required. He also seemed to have noticed growing confidence and leadership skills among women in factories and workshop work spaces.

Question:
How is the equality Mantra effecting you. Comment

Inference:
When it comes to gender justice , its not only women who are complaining. Sometimes the equality mantra is propagated too much in media, then the society, that it fails to strike a balance. Hari gives statistical data on how he feels its not a one way struggle.

Question:
Impact on adolescent age group of girls. Comment

Mrs. Priya Kumar, 45, a faculty in Vana Vani School , Guidy admitted that young girls are definitely more conscious about their looks and figure compared to students five years ago. She said the Hindi serials focuses more on make up and costumes which seem to have a unique USP over her choice for Tamil serials.
Also, Miss. Swathi the head beautician of Naturals Abhiramapuram agrees that more and more younger girls walk in with mentioning name of serials to groom themselves. Over 20 per cent of client turnover in cosmetic surgery and beauty clinics is the age group between 12 and 16 years.

Question:
What do you think the serials portray about relationships?

Inference:
Bhavani is not too pleased about the fact that the serials dwell on topics like an hiding the existence of an illegitimate child . The justifications offered in serial are circumstantial which does not convince this particular viewer.

Conclusion

The desire to look and feel good is stronger now. Einstein could have needed an image makeover to prove his theory to the world today. Both men and women have disassociated with the cliché idea of unkempt look equals hyper intelligence.
As much as it has made them aware of the importance of personal grooming other social systems like marriage , education are eminently negotiable.
A long time spent on watching serials is effecting their cognition. This also in turn effects merchandising , social tolerance and economical trends.

I express my thanks to employees of E- Mantras, Abhiramapuram for their moral and material support.
I also extend my thanks to Mr. Aditya Kelkar and Mr. Johannes Mirreci for their invaluable help.

the inferences and conclusions drawn in this study are entirely my own opinion.No offense to people witj contarary views intended.

thanks

i conclude with my painting of bold indian woman as i perceive her.

Mapping the Urban transition through cartography

2007-11-13T00:08:00.000+05:30

A map is a graphic representation or scale model of spatial concepts. The art and science of Map making is called cartography. In the Information and Digital Design Project "Mapping the Old City of Ahmedabad through Cartography", maps dating from 1411 th century AD to Present day Sabarmati River Front Project have been analyzed and interpreted.

The Process followed is explained in the following diagram

Research with help of inputs from Ar. Yatin Pandiya (Sangath) , Debashish Naik ( Sanskar Kendra ) and the Mahajans in old City. An interactive system was found to exist between elements like Events , administration, religion, culture, trade and urban development. This was mapped on a timeline as follows.

The media used for information visualization, is a 10 minute animated film. This Film is a narrative on City Growth mapped on a timeline. Also further explorations are being done, to develop this information in an interactive interface, like a website or a kiosk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKzWSTwk34c

2 Assignments: Google Analytics and U.N.E.S.C.O. Stats.

2007-10-29T20:36:00.000+05:30

Due to some trouble I faced in submitting my assignments, I've ended up making a webpage and have uploaded it at:

http://geocities.com/namanthakar

The homepage contains 5 subpages. I am sorry for the inconvinience, if this causes any.

Thank you,
Naman Thakar
iDD NiD

proposed information visualization of Google Analytics

2007-10-29T19:16:00.000+05:30

One of the assignments that we had during Prof. M. P. Ranjan course was to do a study Google Analytics and then re-design the data visualization of the information.

During my study of this site, I found several shortcomings that if integrated with Google Analytics, would not only improve the user’s understanding but would also enhance analytics performance.

The following are some of the short comings of Google Analytics:
• There is a lack of integration with one’s website. Thus, it seems like Google Analytics is a standalone analytics engine where, the user will be forced to log onto Google Analytics each time he wants to check statistics etc.
• A regular user of Google Analytics gets no insight of the place from where the website or the ‘hit’ is registered. This feature if included will help the user customize his target area study and analysis, thereby improving his products and services.
• Google Analytics currently provides a single colored monotonous map which lacks topographical detail
• Finally, Google Analytics provide no statistical data about the place from which a ‘hit’ is registered. The problem with this is that one cannot make a proper comparison. For e.g. 500 hits from Delhi cannot be compared to 500 hits from Bhopal because statistics of both places are different in terms of population, age, actual internet users, etc.

I have tried to make some changes to the visualization of the maps. First of all, I overlaid the population map of India with the India map on Google Analytics. Thus, while the hit areas or dots remain the same, it is easier to get a more accurate overview of the data. The purpose of this overlay also will help the user understand the percentage of people in a place who are interested in the website.

Google Analytics integrated with population map of India

Google Analytics integrated with per capita income map of India

I, also, did a similar overlay with the per capita income map of India. Doing this overlay will help the user understand the strata of society that he is catering to.
To end with, I have done an overlay with the climatic map of India. While at first sight, it may not seem a necessity, climate determines the way a lot of things work, such as agriculture, clothing etc. With such overlays, Google Analytics ‘ analysis and comparison of registered hits will be more accurate and efficient, thereby benefiting not only Google Analytics, but also the users of Google Analytics.

Google Analytics integrated with climatic map of India

UNESCO statistical report on annual attendance

2007-10-27T21:27:00.000+05:30

DATA ANALYSIS

UNESCO has provided data under different catagories on film and cinema for various countries. From this catagorization I narrowed my focus to five major countries, India included, and the annual attendance to cinemas in these countries.
Below is the table of data for the year 1995 which I have chosen to do my data visualization on.
the above data is calculated on the basis
of ticket sold per year for a cinema hall. this constitues of all the movable and un-movable settlement.

Annual attendence Year 1995

China 0.13 billion
U.S.A 1.26 billion
India 3.38 billion
U.K 0.11 billion
France 0.13 billion

CONCEPT DEVELOPEMENT
I wanted to represent the data in a visual manner that would allow easy understanding and quick viewing of the data.
So, I came up with the concept of a ticket marquee. In this concept, I put up different counters for the various countries chosen. At this time, I also wanted to represent visually the annual attendance of the countries in question.
Hence each counter had a queue of the people, representing the country and the annual attendance.
I wanted to make this interactive and offered the option of zoom tool that would help the user to get a closer view of the data.

Data Visualisation of Information as published by UNESCO

2007-10-27T02:42:00.000+05:30

As part of our second assignment, we were asked to do a data visualisation of information collected and published by the UNESCO. On visiting the website, I found that all the information was represented in a very dry and boring manner. Compiling all this information and presenting it in a new way seemed like a good challenge. There were several categories under which information was collected such as Culture and Communication, Science and Technology etc. I chose to do my visualisation on Culture and Communication > Public Libraries. The reason for this was that while it is not very often one hears of people visiting public libraries, the data collected seemed to suggest otherwise. This brought about a change in my perspective of libraries and was very refreshing.

Having studied the data collected from around the world over several years, I decided to categorize the data according to countries in a continent (for example : Europe consisting of France, germany, Estonia etc.) This categorisation helped me eliminate the coutries with insufficient data, thereby narrowing my area of study. After this, I decided to put the countries on a yearline. This allowed for the possibility of comparing the highs and lows of different countries within a continent along the same year. Similarly, one can make a comparision of the same with countries of other continents (colour coded differently). The image on the left shows information from Asia (Orange histogram) and Europe (green Histogram) in 1996. When looked at closely, one finds circles marked along the histogram, depicting the countries within these continents. I have tried to make this visual interactive and easy to compare. The following is a simulation of the same.

Having come this far into the assignment, I figured that I could do a little more exploration on the subject. In this second iteration, I assembled the data on Audio Visual Documents and Book Volumes for one country - Estonia. I made simple and obvious visual representations of the above. However, at this point, I realised that Estonia had had a steady and uniform increase in its collection of audio visual material and book volumes. Furthermore, data for book volumes was in the range of 10 million. Hence on the bookshelf illustration, I added the "10,000,000 books" label and at the top of the shelf, I simply stacked a book to represent each year's growth. Booksmarks were added to show the year of data's study. Beside the shelf, I placed a CD to represent the audio-visual documents. Here again, the increase in the library accquistion of such documents was moreorless uniform. So I depicted this growth by the use of equal concentric circles, one for each year and in the same colour as the books. I even added a legend on the side to reinforce this idea. The following video is a simulation of the above explained idea.

Visualisation of Information from Google Analytics with a map of India overlay

2007-10-26T22:27:00.001+05:30

During the course on Data Visualizations with Prof. M. P. Ranjan, we were asked to study and re-design information representation of data obtained from Google Analytics. Goggle Analytics, in a nut shell, records the number of visits to a website from a particular place. While studying Google Analytics, I found in many places that I was unable to understand exactly what I was looking at. For example, the site makes use of two visual cues - colour gradation and an change in the size the dot (marker) to indicate an increase/decrease in the number of hits a site receives. However, the colour coding is not precise and therefore both tens and thousands which encompass completely different range of statistics have the same colour. Also due to the increase in size, small dots beside bigger ones get overlapped and lost in the process . This unfortunately adds to the commotion and leaves the user disgruntled.

In my effort to make the use of the site easier, the two alternatives that I came up with have been discussed below.

In the concept on the left, I have made an abstraction of a bar graph on a flagstaff or signpost. Thus, the visitor to the site sees the various states of India. They can simply do a mouse-over the state of their choice, which gets highlighted in a light chalk yellow. A pop-up box appears beside the desired state. A pole rises with the various statistics growing out of it. The black pole acts as the median point, while the purple bar on the right side of the pole acts as a representation of the higher statistics and the green bar on the left side represents the lower range of statistics. Needless to say, the statistical number will also be written at the end of each bar, thereby accounting for all the visits from a state without too much of a clutter visually.

In my second option for the re-design of Google Analytics, I took up the three basic shapes - triangle, circle and square to represent the statistical divisions of 0-100, <100->10000 and <10000-1 million respectively in the three primary colours . I also decided to retain the idea of color-coding for this. Thus, if a place (for example Delhi) has visits from two different ranges, the shapes overlap each other. Here, there's no danger of confusion because the different ranges are represented by the differnt shapes and the colour-coding within each shape gives a more accurate understanding of the statistics. The image on the right will help understand this concept better.

UNESCO statistical data representation

2007-10-26T18:52:00.000+05:30

Following is the representation of the UNESCO data of daily newspaper in India.

The data is about the 'number of titles' and 'total average circulation' of the Indian newspapers from the year 2000 to 2004.Both the apartment building above represents 'number of titles' and 'total average circulation'. Each floor's balcony represents the years (2k ,2K1, 2K2, 2K3, 2K4) each bar in the balcony is a newspaper which represents the data in that particular year.

When you mouse-over any of the apartments,it gets highlighted and on taking the cursor on any of the balconies, you get the data in number thus telling you the exact figure in that particular year.Eg.

Information visualization in Google analytics map overlay of India

2007-10-26T17:53:00.001+05:30

In the map of India in Google analytics, according to me, the following flaws exist:

As the state border haven’t been shown, so it leads to confusion as to which part of the city or state does the circle belong to.
There is a big problem of circles overlapping each other and the problem will only increase as and when the number of users increases.
The colour change isn’t that drastic that the user will notice the change instantly.

The changes suggested by me:

India’s map will be shown as it is and it is divided into 3 different layers based on the colour coding given on the right hand side.

The 1^st colour scale is from white to dark gray which shows the low intensity of users, from 0 to 10,000.
The 2^nd colour scale is from light green to dark green which shows the medium intensity of users, from 10,001 to 10,00000.
The 3^rd colour scale is from light orange to darkest of shade which shows the highest intensity of users, from 10,00001 and above.

Clicking on each colour bar, the user can view that intensity level of users with the help of flags of the same colour shade. Eg.

If the user has to visit his state in the map, the users has to take the cursor over the state, the state is highlighted.
On click on the highlighted state, takes the user to that particular state and the user can view the information easily.

On moving the cursor to the flag posts, the number of users and the name of the city is highlighted.

Google Analytics Assignment

2007-10-22T13:13:00.000+05:30

Assignment given: Each student is required to prepare their own version of the interface based on a selected persona of a potential user and a business situation that they should describe briefly as a base reference for the design assignment.

The current page of google is as shown below
In this image two visual tools like colour gradation and increase in size are used to indicate increase in the no. of hits the site has received.But the colour code is not precise and so tens and thousands show the same colour code. Also due to the increase in size the smaller dots just next to the bigger one overlap each other and create confusion.

Following is a proposed concept to overcome this drawback .

Here the scenario is for a businessman who wants to see the no. of hits for his product promotion website. At a glance he wants to know the places where there is fast viewing of his product so that he can plan his future advertising campaign in that are accordingly.

Instead of using circles of increasing size rotating rings are used along with colour gradation. The total no. of hits will be calculated and divided into five categories. each category will have a dedicated shade of colour. Here the rotation of the rings will be with different speeds. More the no. of hits , more is the speed. This will help the person to see the highest no. of hits at a glance. displaying of exact value on mouse over will still remain the same.
Note that in this image the demarcation of states also has been shown.

Trial Post for Podcast on YouTube: Bamboo Architecture

2007-09-15T20:45:00.000+05:30

Bamboo Architecture: A Trial Podcast by Prof. M P Ranjan: Duration 9.45 minutes

This is a small podcast that I created using iMovie and GarageBand on a Mac in my office. The voice over was recorded using the onboard microphone and with all the office noise which has to be corrected. The timing is a bit off but the whole thing works and now I am testing it for show on a blog via YouTube.

I propopse to make my lectures in this manner and test the use in my classes at NID for which I have to get myself a more powerful Mac and some new software that can handle the size and quality which I propose to make.

DATA VISUALIZATION

2007-08-22T22:17:00.001+05:30

Data visualization for the books published in India.

Initial explorations:

The given figure shows data visualization of the books published in India between 1995 to 1998.

Here i have tried to represent various categories of books published in India in the context of a library where different bookshelves represents various categories of books and racks are divided according to years.Flooring pattern represents important particulars related to book publishing industry which indicates phases Indian publishing industry has gone through.Understanding the available data,different sectors influenced by it are being projected ,which in turn are contributing to the Indian economy.Illustration of an explicit,meaningful information drawing some inference out of the given data is intended.

Data visualisation

2007-08-16T00:48:00.000+05:30

The Visualisation here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4xswWgsnzE) indicates the comparative analysis between the various distributors of R&D in the two emerging economies of South West Asia, India and China. The data source for this is UNESCO's Institute of Statistics data center (http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=143&IF_Language=eng) Furthermore, we map these findings with the growth rate of both countries, to see if we can establish a symbiosis. The primary distributors of both the countries were compared with the percentage of the contribution they make each year to R&D funding. Such data has been compared over a period of five years. The major distributors according to UNESCO have been identified as Government Business Higher Education Abroad Non Distributed
Private Non Profit

The inference we can make from the overall growth rate of China and India is that, the Business sector is the primary contributor in china and the government in case of India. After the intervention of USA in Chinese markets ( 2003 ) we see an steady ascend in growth rate .
whereas in case of India 2003 saw a big rise in growth rate but decreased in the sub sequent year. we could relate this to change in the ruling government (BJP to Congress) in the same year.
also growth rate of India does not show steady increase with time unlike china. The lack of contribution from the business sector to R&D may be possible for this.

Business Infographics.

2007-08-14T20:09:00.000+05:30

Three design firms - IDEO, thehappycorp and Ziba Design attempt to give the Bloomberg terminals on financial and stock related news, a complete makeover. The three of them have used altogether different approaches in presenting financial data. IDEO's approach appears to be the safest, in terms of it website like interface with a clean grid based layout on a white background. The other two in comparison have used dark background for presenting the information in an altogether different fashion. The case in point is the background color.

For a financial institution that has its employees looking at screens and monitoring stock prices all through the day, having a white background with dark text can be quite taxing on the eyes. On the contrary, having a light text on a dark background generally works the other way when it comes to computer displays. This is and has been a highly debated issue with interface designers for quite some time now. However, it would be a good idea to give that choice to the user.

thehappycorp version

Of the three, I find thehappycorp's approach the most interesting. It uses a good mix of currently available tools like RSS feeds, newsmap-ish display of stock news and technologies like Nintendo Wii, etc. Take a look.

Google analytics- Different Approach

2007-08-14T13:52:00.000+05:30

It was wonderful to get introduced to Google analytics by Prof. M P Ranjan.Google as expected has done fantastic application for marketing research considering all possible parameters into account.

A single platform to share all the information related to our website in statistical analysis is truly amazing.A user friendly and rich interaction handling information is indeed a unique experience.

Here the information presented by the map can be showed by different data visualization technique for clear and better understanding.

Few points where the intended information conveyance is not clear are:

-opaque circles representing different cities are visually loud and imbalanced.

-ambiguity in selecting the hit point because of crowded opaque circles.

-First level information is incomplete because of the few hidden circles restricting its information to be added up in overall map.

Considering massive data to be represented on the map in the future,opaque circle representation fall short.

Here introducing fine rings representing cities instead of opaque circle can be worked out.

- It can handle greater data compare to opaque circles.

-It has transparency in terms of different opaque circles.

-First level information about overall representation of all the cities is clear.

-Different interactions can be explored with this concept assuming strong technical support.

The Road to Clarity: New York Times story on road sign

2007-08-13T13:32:00.000+05:30

Here is the story about typographic change that makes a difference in the clarity of communiction.
On the road a matter of life and death.

See The Road to Clarity: New York Times

An example of data visualization from the data provided by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics cont...

2007-08-12T20:43:00.001+05:30

Another way of representing the same data in the previous post could also be as shown in the figures below.
Here on mouse over the particular year would be highlighted and the GERD amount of all the countries would be listed for that particular year.And also if a country is highlighted then the GERD values of that country for all the years would be listed.This could be executed in flash.

An example of data visualization from the data provided by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics

2007-08-11T15:44:00.000+05:30

As a part of assignment 2, we had to examine and analyze the data about a particular field from the Institute of Statistics data center, owned by UNESCO.
Here the selected data table gives us the information regarding the Expenditure spent on Research And Development in the decade 1990-2000.

This table gives the data from all the continents and the also the upcoming developing countries within which have grown considerably over the past decade.It is very interesting to examine and represent this data so that new tools of analysis could be created in near future for the analysis of Science and technology activities worldwide.
This comparison can also give us the overall global view and emerging trends of the developed countries which are able to contribute a decent amount of their total economic share to R&D and the developing countries who are struggling to reach that mark.UNESCO can take into account these countries and provide them with assistance to develop sustainable systems for the production of Science and technology statistics.

The image below shows the first step of representation of the above data.
The scale above gives us the comparison of the countries on how much was their gross expenditure on R&D (GERD). And the scale below shows the R&D intensity by taking the GERD/GDP ratio. GDP is the gross domestic product of the country.
On mouse over the exact values will be shown with the specific country highlighted.

The Sania Mirza data visualization and web mapping project: Making statistics and information interesting for India

2007-08-09T11:52:00.000+05:30

Sania Mirza has made India proud by beating former world number one, Martina Hingis yesterday in Los Angeles. Sania stunned five-times grand slam winner Martina Hingis 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Los Angeles Classic on Tuesday, 8 August 2007. She has a world tennis ranking of 30, the highest ever achieved by any Indian. This kind of news energizes a Nation and many newspapers, magazines and TV channels as well as websites will follow these exploits at great cost and high degree of commitment. The question for us is, how do we represent this and other such events and historical statistics and what are our goals and strategies in doing so. Making facts and information interesting to the audience is one such strategy used by successful media companies and this aspect we hope to explore in the current assignment – the Sania Mirza project – which is described below.

Sania Mirza at the 2007 Australian Open: Source Wikipedia

Before describing the current assignment let us look back at the earlier assignments and spell out our insights from these explorations. During the data visualization course at NID Gandhinagar we have explored several dimensions of information representation and interpretation and hopefully arrived at some interesting insights, both about information as well as about visualization, which will influence what and how we choose to design in the days ahead.

The first assignment looked at Google Analytics in an learning and analytical mode to discover the numerous attributes of data visualization as well as look for design opportunities to improve what is already considered by many – the state-of-the-art in data representation – given the leadership position that Google occupies with their technology and design standards, very high indeed. By matching our skills and trying to learn from the best we were hoping to evolve and instill a learning from the field attitude that we believe is critical for design thinking and action particularly since design is about shaping the future and very few past practices can truly inform future directions and success. Here the NID website was made available for data flows in real time as a resource that could be used to both interpret performance attributes of the design and editorial decisions as well as look at the way Google was providing the data and see if that too could be improved as a hypothetical design assignment.

The second assignment looked at UNESCO Institute of Statistics and the data that they have now provided free to all comers in keeping with the emerging trend across the globe when all progressive forces, institutes, companies and nations, are adopting standards of open source and transparency of information and this represents a huge design opportunity for Information and Digital Design students at NID. The presentation by Hans Rosling at the TED conference in Monterey in 2006 showed us dramatic facts about the development of nations. These statistics and trends are measured by a number of patterns that became visible only when their software, the Trendalizer now owned by the not-for–profit Gapminder Foundation as part of a Google initiative has helped show these trends as understandable insights in a visible model and you can imaging what such understanding can mean to a population that is living in the hope of finding a better future, very stimulating and invigorating as well. This assignment required the students to understand various dimensions of information as well as the need for other kinds of domain knowledge and general knowledge in the interpretation of such data in the contexts in which they would be used. Information interpretation is political and we will need to recognize our own biases while dealing with any information if they are to be true to the task and mission that is being taken on.

In this assignment we are looking at another dimension of information which is motivation, interest and stimulation of new insights in an audience. Yesterday in class we looked at some case material provided by Prof Krzysztof Lenk to Rupesh Vyasduring their recent meeting in Austria and we discussed the work of Richard Saul Wurmanat the Access Press and in the Understanding USA projects as well as the work and analysis shown in the book Mapping Websites (Paperback) by Paul Kahn and Krzysztof Lenk, copy of which is available in the NID Library. Using these as a source of inspiration and based on the research that the students will collect in real time we will look at the creation of a representation that is visually interesting and provide facts in a dynamic manner about the rise of the tennis player, Sania Mirza, and the trajectory that she has taken so far. This image map, if we can call it that, will be placed on the Visible Information India blog with one key focus informing the content and that would excite and hold the interest of the audience as well as be a live link that can be bookmarked by someone so as to induce return visits just because the experience is satisfying and rewarding. What are the criteria and what are the strategies will be left to the student designer.

The research about Sania Mirza would be done by all students as a group in a sharing mode and so will the analysis of the data to discover the interesting facts and approaches that can be used. Working in teams of two or three the students will then develop a number of alternatives and the final representation will be collaboratively developed by each team and be placed on the blog as an image whish is part of their final submission. We look forward to an INTERESTING design offering from our students to the Sania Mirza challenge. How do we define interesting? That is the big question in design, not statistics alone.

Some Sania Mirza and Tennis links are appended below as a starting point for this data visualization project.

Sania stuns Hingis…… thestar online
Sania MirzaSania fan club (unofficial)
Sania Mirza on Wikipedia….
Tennis on Wikipedia
BBC Sports: Tennis
United States Tennis Association
Tennis.com: Official site of Tennis Magazine
and about confidence in sport: by Joel Drucker in ESPN.com

Information Architecture for “Handmade in India”: Making data accessible to a wider audience

2007-08-07T14:24:00.000+05:30

Handmade in India, which is due to be released by the publisher in October 2007 is an interesting example of an attempt to record a complex set of data about the crafts of India in an accessible manner by the use of an information architecture that was specifically designed and innovated to facilitate use in conjunction with web based resources which are a growing resource as more research is shared online each day.

Handmade in India
Edited by Aditi Ranjan and M.P. Ranjan
576 pages, 3500 colour photographs and 140 maps, 9.5 x 13.5” (240 x 340 mm), hc, October 2007, ISBN: 978-81-88204-57-1 (Mapin), Series ISBN: 978-81-88204-49-6 (Mapin), Copublished in association with COHANDS
Rs.3,950.00 / US$95.00

Handmade in India: Volume I, is structured so as to enable the geographic organization of the various crafts clusters of India. The vast ocean of crafts practices, traditions, skills, products and locations and the great variety of cultural and regional styles and production systems that we encountered is impossible to capture within the bounds of one book. Having recognized this limitation every effort was made to make this volume as comprehensive as possible. Many crafts could not be included here and this would need to be filled in by future researchers. The sources that were tapped included the large number of Craft Documentation studies that were executed over the years by NID faculty and students available as in the NID library as Archival Documents. These were categorized and organized by region, cluster and craft for the frequent reference by the various research and field teams who revisited the contents numerous times to piece together a larger fabric that is the Handcrafts of India. Research teams at NID referred the numerous published sources that are included in the Bibliography for supplementary references and to authenticate field data. In addition the client provided lists of locations and crafts clusters from their central offices in New Delhi and from their field offices for marketing and research that are located all over India. Over fifty field teams went out to different locations and in some cases students and faculty going home on their vacations during the past three years that this project has been in progress were requested to fill in questions that needed to be verified in the field or to bring back pictures of specific known crafts of which no suitable picture was available in our expanding database. The sources on the Internet too were accessed by individual research teams to collect and cross check data about specific crafts and locations. We developed a methodology to deal with the vast quantity of textual and pictorial data and explored tools that could be used to manage this enormous data.

The structure of the book follows the categorization used by the Office of the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts [DC(H)] to organize that various regions of India into administrative zones. The map of India is therefore divided into six major zones and in the order listed herewith: North Zone, Centre Zone, East Zone, South Zone, West Zone and the Northeast Zone respectively.

Table of Zones and States
North Zone: Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Harayana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Delhi
Centre Zone: Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal
East Zone: Bihar, Jharkhand, Orrisa, Sikkim & West Bengal
South Zone: Andhra Pardesh, Tamilnadu, Pondichery, Kerala and Karnataka
West Zone: Goa, Damman & Diu, Dadara & Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh
Northeast Zone: Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya

The organization of the texts, image and navigational key words used for the State pages, Meta-Cluster pages and the Production Cluster pages and Craft pages are described below. Each of these have data access features based on the intention that any user may use these features and the associated key-words to find a live and growing data base by searching the world wide web using the terms and information structure provided by the book.

Sample page of a typical state page with images, text and key-words

The “State page” follows a common system across the book, Each state is identified by a main heading which is the state name located at the top of an evocative image that is a typical view of the terrain as seen in the state. Also located on this page is a map of the State showing the names of the Meta clusters included in the book and names of the major cities and towns on the particular state. The main body of text gives an overview on the state with a brief, cultural & social profile as significant to the crafts of the state in question. The margins also include a list of key words contained under the following major headings, which are consistently followed through the various parts of the book in order to enable the reader to search other published sources as hyper-links that emanate from this book in a contextual manner. These key-words are listed under the following headings: Crafts at a glance, Landmarks, Physical Features, Major Rivers & Geographic identifiers, Bio-diversity, Languages, Attire, Festivals and Cuisine. The location page number of each state page can be found in the Table of Contents at the front of the book.

Sample page of a typical meta-cluster page with images, text and key-words

Each “Meta cluster page” has the symbol of a capital M held within a circle, which is located next to the section title, which is the name of that particular Meta cluster. The sequence of Meta cluster pages is each followed by crafts descriptions of the selected crafts from that particular Meta cluster. This page also carries lists of key-words in the margins or in tables which include the following: List of sub-clusters covered in the study, and list of crafts that appear in the pages that immediately follow the particular meta cluster page in question. Further a table of resources lists Crafts, Raw materials and significant resources in an easy to review matrix. Another list includes access information to facilitate travel to that meta cluster by providing access information by naming the key towns in the region and the connection by road, rail or air to the nearest major city or metro.

Sample page of a typical craft page with images, text and key-words

The “Craft Pages” too follow a structure with the title being the name of that particular craft which is followed by a description of the crafts with definitions, context of making and using and a summary of unique features that help identify the particular craft expression with reference to its context in the particular meta cluster where it is found. The same craft practiced elsewhere would have some different features. The pictures show the selected objects that are typical of the craft and here many products had to be excluded from the images due to shortage of space but these are listed in the captions and key words that are associated to this page. This list of key-words are under the following headings: Names of production clusters within this meta cluster, Names of typical products made in this craft and Names of tools and devices used in this craft.

The end of the book has the usual back matter found in most other books such as a Technical Glossary, Annotated Archival Bibliography (a list of unpublished Craft Documentations in the NID Library done over the past 40 years), Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Credits and an Index of Places. All these are intended to make the craft resource accessible in a two way manner to help build the creative economy that is inclusive of the crafts community in India.

Aditi Ranjan & M P Ranjan
Editors: Handmade in India
7 August 2007 from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India

....more about the book and its design intensions here at the Design for India link.

Dynamic Data Visualisation: UNESCO Table assignment with reference to India.

2007-08-06T20:36:00.000+05:30

Assignment Two: Dynamic Data Visualisation: UNESCO Table assignment with reference to India.

Students are requested to use the UNESCO data that is available from their Institute of Statistics data centre at their website link and examine and analyse the data from one selected predefined table for a hypothetical decision or design action. The data collected from the centre can be interpreted using their own understanding and a set of developed metrics that is stated clearly but the data itself should not be modified in the process of visualization. Within the selected field and the particular data table that is selected, each student may consult the faculty guides and define the boundaries that they wish to set for this assignment and the particular aspect that this visualization effort must try and reveal.

Based on this agreed definition of the boundary conditions (which may be speculative) each student team (of two or three members each) are requested to explore a number of alternate visual approaches to map the same data in different creative ways and show at least three alternatives from which one will be offered in a final form, a digital artwork. While the presentation may be static, each student is also required to explore dynamic representations that are meaningful using simple animation or progressive stepped diagrams to show transformations over time if such representations are found relevant. Here the presentation could be a story board or a script.

The discussion of results would be first done face to face in class and then summaries and visuals will be posted online at the “Visual Information India” blog space for a wider discussion with peers and colleagues at NID and in the other disciplines. We are proposing to invite guest faculty from a distance to interact with our presentations particularly when subject domain expertise is to be sought for specific data tables and interpretations.

Students may select the subject categories that they wish to pursue for this assignment and then download the data in a format that they require for their visualization and dynamic diagram construction exercises. The downloaded file will be submitted along with the visualisation presentation in a common folder on the Gandhinagar server. The focus will be on creative expression and clarity of structure and form. Students will try and relate the global data to find relevance to Indian situations so that facts can be verified from local sources easily when required.

Animation makes Dynamic Data Visible: Gapminder Foundation and the Lessons for India

2007-08-06T10:26:00.000+05:30

From the TED presentation the the links and information leads will take one to the deal between Hans Rosling's and Google who have aquired the Swedish demographers Trendalizer Software to make it available free to a wider audience who can then use it for multi-varient visual analysis of data, far beyond the pie charts and bar graphs, what is offered by the typical x and y data structures offered by many spreadsheet softwares.

There are a wealth of examples of data visualisation for development related questions such as poverty, health, gaps, incomes etc. at the Gapminder Foundation website that can be viewed as dynamic presentations as well as downloadable maps. According top Hans Rosling in his TED presentation, UNESCO has now made their entire data base open source in keeping with the global trend of sharing critical data for the larger benefit of humanity. In 2005 the Trendalyzer was used to visualise data into dynamic diagrams along the numerous development parameters and these can be viewed online as dynamic diagrams that make a whole lot of sense, and in a mind changing manner since they are all the more convincing being dynamic and interactive in a user-friendly format. The Human Development Trends 2005 can give policy makers, politicians and public some insights into these trends and hopefully lead to better decisions that can benefit the larger society.

We propose to use the UNESCO data base as a platform for exploration and data visualisation learning opportunity for our students that are connected to real data and issues and we hope that the outcomes of these short students assignments will be a stepping stone for more systematic and sustained use of design visualisation for critical data representation in India.

Links to the Gapminder Foundation: Partners show the huge areas of need for such expertise and concern where these skills can be applied in the future and there are lessons in this example for India which has already spent a huge ammount for collecting data but this is not available to its citizens in a coherent presentation that can support critical decisions based on facts already known to the files within government offices. Can we change this by making data available online in a user friendly and dynamically visible manner?

Data Visualisation and removal of poverty from India and the world

2007-08-05T17:45:00.000+05:30

The goals must be set otherwise we will never reach it. We must understand the underlying parameters if we are to achieve our goals and this is where we need visible traces of animation and imagination to see how to achieve these goals, however impossible they may seem to be at first, but we must believe that the impossible is possible, and we can get there, sooner than later.

This is the message from TED, in a talk show by Hans Rosling that you can all see at this video presentation that is available for streaming down the net or for download, something that I would recommend strongly if you want to see how the impossible can be made possible, in Hans Rosling's own words and his dramatic prersentation.

TED: Ideas worth spreading. Talks Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty and life around the world Video of 19.09 minutes duration. titled "Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty and life around the world"

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. See more at this link here.TED was founded by the visionary designer and data visualisation guru Richard Saul Wurman of the Information Anxiety fame. Today it is owned by a not-for-profit foundation in the USA and you can see more at this link below.
The Sapling Foundation

More about TED and Wurman later. Enjoy and be dazzled by Hans Roslings' ideas and visual presentation in the video for which you have to find the time, a fast internet connection and a good audio output, settle down and be DAZZLED.Talks Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty and life around the world Video of 19.09 minutes duration. titled "Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty and life around the world"

Visual Maps used for Health systems in the UK: The DOTT07 Experience

2007-08-03T16:19:00.000+05:30

DOTT07 is an initiative of the Design Council UK and the Regional Authority in the Northeast of England. They have been using design in numerous ways to bring effective products, infrastructure and services to the communities of the region. Working in a participatory mode they have been using visual maps and information visualisation to deal with very sensitive subjects such as health issues and particularly in the area of sexual health. One of their ongoing experiments is nearing completion and the "Design and Sexual Health" (DaSH) projects has generated several very interesting visualisations to map the concepts and reach these to the community in an effective manner.

You can download pdf files of their visual maps and project documents from this link below:
Methodology Map for DaSH : PDF file 446 kb download

Other downloads and information about the project can be seen at this link below:
DaSH Project downloads and conclusion: DaSH conclusion

Sharing some work

2007-08-03T15:21:00.000+05:30

Recording of information or at least a very good understanding of it is perhaps an essential element in the whole process of information design. I believe there is no alternative to field work and in the value of tacit knowledge. For a truthful visualization, authenticity of information and validation by the generators are extremely important.

There are many techniques that are followed for field recording. In continuation to my post yesterday, a wetpaint site is available now to look at the PLA techniques in little more details. The site is not complete as yet but will be so in another day or two. You still can visit and I am sure some of you would find it interesting. The link is:

http://migis-2004.wetpaint.com/

Suggestions for information visualisation in google analytics Map overlay of India

2007-08-03T00:48:00.000+05:30

The assignment given by Prof M.P.Ranjan and Rupesh Vyas for Data visualization ,was to understand the various features and attributes of Google Analytics .
On analyzing the site, I felt few of the features could be altered for the user to navigate and understand the information architecture of the site.
Below the pictures show the layout and my understanding of the features offered on the Map Overlay Page of the site.

The following points indicate the observation
1.Cannot divide state wise
2.Hand shows a clickable option which a pointer can do better ( visual affordance)
3.Kashmir being shown as part of Pakistan can hurt
4.Click noise and hand symbol is misleading over the maps

Suggestions for map overlay ( India):

1. Important options classified and distributed in 4 horizontal drop down menus instead of single column Distribution
2.All page view features together on left through a drop down also a Google navigation principle adopted to suite map overlay ( through a dynamic orbit)
3.less frequently used features on map overview like help or setting can be moved to right corner where a user makes fewer clicks
4.Overview of the options on same page as map overlay to use a minimalist navigation process
5.Introducing options of viewing political maps at state and district level

Transect development and Information Visualization

2007-08-02T15:40:00.000+05:30

Its simply amazing how different disciplines could come together to create a world thats more appreciable. The village information visualization has been an important tool for mapping social wealth and natural resources for a long time. The diagrams made are primarily used for a technique commonly known as PLA or Participatory Learning Approach to verify if the field survey is in the right direction and are extremely simple. But it also makes me wonder if we synthesize such approaches with what the earlier students have developed... it could be so fascinating! This method has been recognized by the FAO as the core visual mapping and presentation technique for rural assessments and appraisal.

Here is a small example of such mapping; the following link might also be interesting to know about such processes:

http://www.fao.org/docrep/W5830E/w5830e08.htm

Kuntal

Visualisation of village resources in India: A strategy

2007-08-01T16:25:00.000+05:30

Last year in the data Visualisation course at NID, Rupesh and I, gave our students the task if selecting three small villages near the gandhinagar campus and they were to visit the village, meet the people and try and understand their needs, aspirations and resources through direct field contact. The idea was to give them an advanced assignment in data visualisation which was complex and wicked in its form as well as structure. Based on their field research the team was required to visualise the information that was generated in a collaborative mode in one image map that could be used by the local people as well as the village administration for development orienterd activities.

This is village Shahpur on the banks of the Sabarmati River near Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The village was one of three that the teachers selected by looking at Google Earth and the selection was made based on both proximity to our Gandhinagar campus as well as size that was manageable by a small group of students in a two week course. This map-model is their designed offering for this assignment and each group had their own solution that was discussed for its merits and short comings as part of the class presentation. This kind of design assignemnt gives us many insights that could be used to solve real issues of information management on a massive scale in India which has to deal with real needs of as many as 6,50,000 villages that dot our landscape and not just the cities that are taking up all our attention today. This project was done with the students and teachers using the inspiration offered by Christopher Alexander in his great thesis, "Notes on the Synthesis of Form."

IIID, Austria: note on my visit last month

2007-08-01T14:55:00.000+05:30

International Institute for Information Design in Vianna, Austria organised Vision Plus 2007 in Schwarzenberg on Information Design, Achieving Measurable Results.

I could meet very interesting people dealing with the subject and we can discuss this in the class tomorrow.

You can see more information about the IIID at the link below.
International Institute for Information Design
Rupesh Vyas at Vision Plus 12

Visible Information India_Google Assignment for data Visualisation

2007-08-01T13:59:00.000+05:30

Google Analytics is an amazing new expression of visible information that was hitherto available to web administrators as data streams and click streams which they subjected to analysis using text and command line presentations. Google has now made this technology widely available to all web masters, professional and amateur alike, using a simple to understand interface and offering alternate views on maps and charts so that the site owner can analyse the data and build a clear mental model of the various parameters that are set for analysis.

As the first assignment of this Data Visualisation class at NID we are requesting all students to participate in an analysis of this Goggle offering through a product audit using the access that has been kindly provided by the web master at NID. The data coming from the NID website as well as extrapolations from this data to a future date form the basis for this first assignment in data visualization.

I too shared my blob data from the "Design for India" blog available for discussing the salient features of Google Analytics interface.

Students are asked to analyse and understand the various features and attributes of Google Analytics as a tool for web site design and feedback management. Using the insights generated from this analysis each student is required to explore each feature and suggest strengths and perceived weaknesses in the Google offering as well as identify design opportunities that they feel exist in each interaction or feature for substantial improvement. Having identified and articulated a set of insights from their explorations each student is required to prepare their own version of the interface based on a selected persona of a potential user and a business situation that they should describe briefly as a base reference for the design assignment. This is a crash assignment to be completed in two days leading to a digital presentation document and an entry on this blog of the findings and highlights of their design offering.

Examples of work done in previous courses is available on my website at this link below:
Data Visualisation on Prof M P Ranjan's site

Information Visualisation for India's multi-lingual and multi-cultural people

2007-08-01T09:36:00.000+05:30

India is a complex milieu for any communication effort particularly in the area of information sharing that goes across regions and cultural boundaries. Health, tourism, business and education are all areas of opportunity for the creation of visually rich material that can be a great assistance to people in need of this information in an accessible and elegent format without prejudice to their educational, cultural or locational background.

The matter is compounded by the huge diversity of language and belief systems that India supports and using the opportunity for making information visible can help in numerous ways the life and work of its people. Wayfinding maps, representations of financiaL data, medical information about body processes and medical procedures, decision support graphics and how things work both at the product level as well as the service level can be a tremendous aid in helping users make the most of these products and services.

Images used in conjunction with text are becoming more and more a part of our lives, in daily newspapers to tell us exactly how things happened or in showing the voting public the shape of proposed infrastructure or a new policy initiative that would otherwise have been intangible and opaque to the very people who needed to understand it the most.

Data Visualisation and Information modelling is emerging as an important field of design action and in the age of media and computer based interaction the opportunity to make data visible is both an art as well as a science that needs to be used in all walks of life as well as in the core offerings from business and governments alike. This blog is therefore a platform that will be used by students in the Data Visualisation class at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to share and showcase their ongoing efforts with their teachers as well as with others interested in taking this new activity to a higher level of professionalism. The course was created three years ago with the first batch of students from the new digital design disciplines at NID and it has been found useful for other groups as well as by the industry representatives who had come for the placement activity at the end of these programmes. This year, the two week course is conducted by Prof. M P Ranjan and Rupesh Vyas at the Gandhinagar campus for students of the Information and Digital Design discipline. The first assignment given to the students is the analysis of modelling data flows on the Google Analytics service as they are applied to the design of institutional and personal websites and we hope to see this work documented and shared in near real time during the conduct of this course at NID.

Through this platform the faculty will also share their insights and comments on the emerging field as well as post book reviews and discussions on current developments that may be pertinent to the subject at hand, making critical and useful information visible for and in India.

Prof M P Ranjan
Faculty of Design
National Institute of Design
Paldi, Ahmedabad, India
1 August 2007 at 10.30 am IST