Periscopic Now

We recieved this today in an email from the WebVisions conference:

We have selected your submission as a finalist for the Webvisionary Awards. If the robot overlords were here, they would grant you permission to feel pride. Soon, all finalists’ submissions will be listed on the Websionary Awards site at http://webvisionaryawards.com.

Come to the Fez Ballroom (316 SW 11th Ave, Portland) on May 26th at 7:00pm to stare down the other finalists as the awards are announced. If you win and can’t make it to the show, your robot trophy will be held for you in the robots’ version .... read on ›

We’re very excited that our recent data visualization project VoteEasy.org was selected to be included as an award winner in this year’s Communication Arts Interactive Annual.

Here’s a look at what two of the judges said:

“The ultimate tool for preelection research; this site does a great job of connecting you to political candidates that share your views in a fun, dynamic way.”  —Jill Nussbaum

“Demystifies the voting process and makes it accessible and informative.” —Jared Benson

Here’s an excerpt from their overview:

Utilizing thousands of hours of research and a vast collection of data assembled by the nonpartisan group, Project Vote Smart, this .... read on ›

Recently the nice folks at Seed Media Group and Visualizing.org asked us if they could spotlight our two salmon data visualizations their very cool data site. We were honored that they asked, and were very excited to help write an overview about each.  Here’s a bit from their site:

As wild salmon become increasingly threatened, two new powerful tools take the pulse of salmon populations and salmon fisheries in the North Pacific.

Wild salmon inhabit a vast ecosystem that encompasses the rivers within and the ocean between coastal countries of the Pacific Rim — from glacial river systems in Alaska to permafrosted .... read on ›

The VAST Challenge is a data visualization contest that occurs every year as part of the IEEE VisWeek Conference. This year’s challenge dealt with three datasets: illegal arms trading, hospitalization records, and gene mutation. We chose to address hospitalization records and visualizing the spread of a pandemic.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of the work was cleaning up and organizing the data. Records from disparate entities tend to have little resemblance to one another. Unfortunately, this means that analysis of data across these entities is time consuming, if feasible at all.

We looked at ways to enable early detection of epidemics and .... read on ›

Our own Kim Rees will be speaking at the Strata Conference in Santa Clara on February 2nd, 2011.

Kim’s presentation, Small is the New Big: Lessons in Visual Economy will cover many aspects of data visualization, including:

• Telling smaller stories with the data
• Encapsulating the design by choosing related data
• Designing for multiple encodings
• Abstracting visual context for brevity
• Working within constraints
• Goal-based visualization
• Small multiples

Read more about her presentation and register for the conference on the Strata web site.

Bonus fact: Portland’s own Amber Case will also be speaking.  Go team!

Thanks to Flowing Data for Spotlighting VoteEasy.org:

Do you know who you’ll be voting for this year? It can be tough deciding with all of the different issues and candidates. The commercials on TV don’t exactly help all that much either. VoteEasy, brought to you by Project Vote Smart and developed by Portland-based design firm Periscopic, helps you make an educated decision. Input the issues that matter to you, like abortion, public healthcare, or capital punishment, and VoteEasy will show you the candidates who best match your ideals in your area.

The best part about VoteEasy is that it actually does .... read on ›

We’re very happy to say that VoteEasy.org was selected by Communication Arts as their Webpick of the Week (W.O.W.)!

From their site:

This voter education tool allows the general public to easily see how closely political candidates align with their views on twelve key issues. Fun, animated and helpful, it utilizes thousands of hours of research and a vast collection of data assembled by the nonpartisan group, Project Vote Smart. It’s the most up-to-date resource for candidate political information and includes voting records, interest group ratings, campaign finances and personal biographies.

The cornerstone of Project Vote Smart’s voter-education campaign for the 2010 .... read on ›

Thanks to Information Aesthetics for spotlighting VoteEasy:

VoteEasy [votesmart.org] is a visually engaging interactive tool funded by Project Vote Smart and designed by Periscopic that allows the general public to quickly and easily see how closely political candidates align with their views on 12 different key issues. It forms an online resource for all sorts of political information surrounding candidates, including their voting records, interest group ratings, campaign finances, and personal biographies.

Next to its obvious usefulness, the website seems especially unique in its consistent visual flow and cool animated graphics. The fluid navigation structure reacts to the specific interests .... read on ›

A really nice documentary produced by Geoff McGhee at Stanford University.  The “video report” details many aspects of how data visualization is being used as a storytelling medium, and includes excellent interviews with many of the people who have pioneered work in this field.

Our own Kim Rees’ articles are mentioned in a few of the video chapters, and our company is included in Chapter 8.

Check it out on the Stanford Site

A little while ago we were contacted by Tracy Boyer from the Innovative Interactivity blog, who said they wanted to do a spotlight on us. We had a nice discussion, and as a result, we’re featured on their site. Thanks Tracy, it was very nice meeting you!

Here’s an excerpt:

Periscopic is a “socially-conscious information visualization firm.” Located in Portland, Oregon, Periscopic has launched numerous innovative projects, including Flash-based tools for Xerox and interactive data visualizations for Chipotle, among others. What I appreciate most about this company are the behind-the-scenes videos that they have .... read on ›