Feral and Feminist Data Vis: Road Trip Case Study
For Perspectives in Design class. Project by Cathryn Ploehn.
01 Situate
I embark on this journey of exploring Feral and Feminine Data Vis from the perspective of a 19 y.o. Marketing student who, only recently, was exposed to design thinking. I am also a second-generation Chinese American whose hats include: “trained dancer”, “freelance photographer”, “Eastern Asian culture enthusiast”, and “fantasy novel lover”. I am also an Atlanta native and a current DFW and Austin, TX resident.
Here in Austin, lies the Texas Blackland Prairie ecoregion. Above my head, stand looming giants like southern live oaks and cedar elms. Below my waist, live colorful flora like turk’s cap, star moss, and many beautiful mushrooms. When I take walks, my favorite organisms to discover and document are the local fungi.
02 Purpose
For the objective of this journey, I am visualizing road trip data from Cat Ploehn’s Illinois to Texas drive on August 3, 2020. This data covers 12 hours of driving and includes the following parameters:
☞ Location coordinates
☞ Trip start data/time and end data/time
☞ Rest stop data/time
☞ Distance (m)
☞ Average speed
The first four parameters were recorded by Google Maps and can be accessed via KML file and viewed on Google Earth. Average speed will be calculated via distance and time data provided. This long and arduous trip occurred when the US was in a state of agitation and anxiety. Political candidates were fiercely hitting the campaign trail, Blacks Lives Matter were protesting hard against systematic racism, and around 33,000 to 61,000 new Coronavirus cases were being reported daily without an end in sight.
03 Attunement
With Google Earth, I am provided insight beyond these parameters such as satellite imagery, names of roads used and sites passed, and even rest stop offerings and reviews. Lengthy road trips are already stressful experiences. One during a time of public agitation and anxiety might be even more so. I hope that with this data I can visualize road trips in a way that empathizes with the experience beyond the above parameters.
Since the data can be mapped out (as its main content is location coordinates), my design should involve at least a 2D plane that showcases location. From there I could visualize other elements via a 3D plane:
04 Relationship
This data is not from a road trip I personally took, so the emotional and experiential elements are qualitative data I do not have. Therefore, it can be tough to “thoroughly” empathize with the road trip as a whole and visualize the experience beyond simply mapping it. In a way there is a distance between Cat’s data and me as wielder. However, even though this data is specific to her 12 hour trip, it can still be relatable to me despite being personal to Cat. I have also gone on stressful road trips during this pandemic, especially back and forth between Austin and DFW. Seeing and relating through the lens of my own driving experiences can help me better visualize the data even if the data is not my own.
Therefore, through data visualization, I want the audience to also relate and thus “experience” the road trip without actually having to go on it.
05 Manifest
“Hidden under your feet is an information superhighway that allows plants to communicate and help each other out. It’s made of fungi.” — bbc.com
Mushrooms like the Amanita and Milkcap are the small reproductive bodies of a much larger fungal organism. This organism is right beneath your feet and consists of a network of webbing mycelium and hyphae that can stretch many kilometers wide. One fungi colony, the Armillaria Oystayae, is estimated to be the largest terrestrial organism on the planet and is located in Oregon.
Map Variables as Visuals:
mushrooms = rest stops, start/end destination
mycelium network= location coordinates, distance
- mushrooms vary in color based on rest stop type, whether location is start or end
- mycelium network color and density varies along route based on route experience & (if multiple road trip data) route popularity
Building ideas:
consider l-system through js
kml -> binary recursion?
