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Data visualization is applicable across many sectors of life, health, business, politics and environmental. I learned there is a Data Visualization Society. There is an art and science to presenting information to the human brain to get and maintain the interest and engagement of your audience. It is important to be a discerning presenter of data and ensure that visualizations you create are unbiased and truthful. The podcast is not only focused on the preparers of data visualization charts but also leans into educating the consumers of the data to encourage them to apply skepticism and develop a deeper understanding of the material they read.

The first visualization illustrates through the movement of bouncing balls that depict a person or persons infected with Covid encountering uninfected individuals and essentially spreading the virus through contact. The Corona virus was spreading invisibly and having a dramatized visual of how the virus moves and can be prevented from spreading when an infected person encounters a vaccinated individual helped the public understand how the disease spreads and how vaccination or lock downs could prevent the spread. This was a successful visualization at taking a very complex topic and making it easy to understand all in one chart.

The podcast highlighted the importance of using data to relate to human movement. Utilizing a map, identifying the starting point of the virus and using small dots to depict the movement of people from the city into surrounding areas was another example of making data relatable to human movement. The use of animation in data visualization is a powerful tool in generating a visual of how a problem can start small but if left to grow with no human intervention to stop the growth can get out of control. As the animated balls grow bigger and bigger it creates a sense of foreboding in the reader which is like a call to action.