Datasheet
any other doctor in the 1880’s for that matter, possibly gather with a stetho-
scope?) That’s a long stretch from today, where technology provides doctors
with an unprecedented amount of data with dynamic visualizations of the
human body that are interactive, real-time, and 3-D. Visualization transforms
data into a form that is comprehensible to the eye, allowing you to analyze
data through the sense of sight. This allows surgeons and medical students
to see the breathing patterns of an asthma patient or the beating human
heart in rhythm with an EKG output.
However, these advances in visualization technology aren’t limited to the
medical field. Many industries have striven to move away from static data
environments by using interactive visualization technologies. Consider some
of the other industries that have taken advantage of interactive visualization
technology:
⻬ Aviation: In the early 1900s, pilots would spend the first weeks of flight
training in a rocking fuselage with mock instruments. Pilots today train
in flight simulators that use animation and interactive visualization to
replicate a wide array of atmospheric scenarios.
⻬ Sports: Professional athletes have the benefit of computer models that
interactively capture their movements with animation, helping them
pinpoint their problem areas and maximize their kinetic potential.
⻬ Meteorology: Meteorologists use interactive visualization systems to
model the effects of wind force from storms and hurricanes.
⻬ Toy industry: Even popular board games that are inherently visual, such
as chess, Monopoly, and Risk, have been augmented with technology
that offers imaginative animations that enhance a player’s gaming
experience.
What’s the point of all this visualization talk? Well, the question that you and
I should be asking is what happened to the business world? Although tools
like Excel and PowerPoint have brought us a long way from the days of using
paper spreadsheets and overhead projectors, by no means have they come
close to the interactive visualizations that other industries have benefited
from. We still sit through hours and hours of boring meetings where we point
to static charts like one you see here in Figure 1-1.
The question is, why are we still clinging to static technologies? Why hasn’t
anyone moved us forward? This is the same question that Santiago Becerra,
Sr., and his son Santi Becerra, Jr., asked each other before they developed
Crystal Xcelsius.
8
Part I: Say Hello to Crystal Xcelsius
05_779105 ch01.qxp 3/16/06 12:56 PM Page 8