1600 BC – Water Clocks

A water clock (or clepsydra) is an instrument where time is measured by regulating a flow of liquid. The oldest water clocks simply consisted of a pierced bowl placed in a larger pot filled with water (see left image, Persian artefact from 400 BC). These existed back in the 16th century BC. The passage of time was observed by counting how many times the bowl overflowed and its content had to be poured back in the larger pot. This was used for example in Persia to ensure fair irrigation […]

A water clock (or clepsydra) is an instrument where time is measured by regulating a flow of liquid. The oldest water clocks simply consisted of a pierced bowl placed in a larger pot filled with water (see left image, Persian artefact from 400 BC). These existed back in the 16th century BC. The passage of time was observed by counting how many times the bowl overflowed and its content had to be poured back in the larger pot. This was used for example in Persia to ensure fair irrigation practices. This basic system has been improved upon many times across different continents, yielding more precise measurements and eliminating the need for manually resetting the mechanism. The second and third image show the largest water clock ever made, built by French physicist-turned-artist Bernard Gitton in 1988. It is more than 9 meters tall and shows the current hour and minute. Sources: Wikipedia article on water clocks. Holmes (2016) Object of Intrigue: Ancient Persian Water Clocks. English (2012) Inspiration: The Water Clocks of Bernard Gitton. Wikipedia article Water clock (Indianapolis). Left image from Wikimedia commons, middle image by youtube user Michael Shen, right image by youtube user Ryan Schade.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Measuring instrument Tags: archaeology, water, water clock

500 BC – Pebble Voting

The earliest participatory visualizations were probably voting systems. Voting in Greece was introduced in the 5th century BC. Adult male citizens were invited to express their opinion by dropping a pebble in an urn: a white pebble meant "yes" and a black pebble meant "no". Sometimes two urns were used. The left image is a detail of a Greek wine cup from the 5th century BC, and is one of the earliest known depictions of the act of voting. The middle image is a modern reconstruction from a TV […]

The earliest participatory visualizations were probably voting systems. Voting in Greece was introduced in the 5th century BC. Adult male citizens were invited to express their opinion by dropping a pebble in an urn: a white pebble meant "yes" and a black pebble meant "no". Sometimes two urns were used. The left image is a detail of a Greek wine cup from the 5th century BC, and is one of the earliest known depictions of the act of voting. The middle image is a modern reconstruction from a TV documentary. Secret voting was also in use, but it is unclear how (perhaps using "a contraption to obscure the urn into which a voter was placing his hand"). By the mid-4th century BC, a more elaborate method of secret voting was introduced based on bronze ballots whose difference could only be felt by touch. In the 19th century, freemasons and fraternities started to use ballot boxes to decide who should be included in the group or who should be expelled (see right image). The boxes had a small opening where each member would covertly insert a white marble to mean "yes", or a black marble (or black cube) to mean "no". After everyone voted, the box was opened so that all members could immediately see the results. Sometimes a single black marble or cube was sufficient to reject a proposition or an applicant, yielding the expression "blackballing". Sources: Annelisa Stephan (2012) Voting with the Ancient Greeks. Agath.gr (2011) The Verdict. Paul Bessel (1999) Masonic Balloting. Wikipedia article of Blackballing. First image from the iris. Second image from the youtube channel HISTORY. Right image from the Merchantville Lodge #119.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: archaeology, democracy, greeks, participatory, voting

1200 – Pop-Up and Movable Books

While gatefold mechanisms were already used in the 1100s, one of the first movable paper mechanisms was a volvelle created by Benedictine Monk Matthew Paris to calculate the dates of Christian holidays in his book Chronica Majorca (1236-1253, see left image above). Volvelles are paper discs or rings placed on top of each other that rotate around a string or rivet. Many other types of paper mechanisms have been invented since then, such as flaps, which were used in anatomy books starting from […]

While gatefold mechanisms were already used in the 1100s, one of the first movable paper mechanisms was a volvelle created by Benedictine Monk Matthew Paris to calculate the dates of Christian holidays in his book Chronica Majorca (1236-1253, see left image above). Volvelles are paper discs or rings placed on top of each other that rotate around a string or rivet. Many other types of paper mechanisms have been invented since then, such as flaps, which were used in anatomy books starting from the 16th century (see second image above, 17th century, and third image, undated). Only in the 19th century did movable books started to be used for entertainment purposes and for children. Ellen G.K. Rubin (aka the pop-up lady) has a rich website and a must-watch talk about the history of pop-up and movable books. For a modern example of a pop-up book used to convey data, see our entry 2013 - Pop-Up Infographics. Sources: Ellen G.K. Rubin, Pop-up Lady Website. Mugdha Kale, Pop-Up Design. E.D.W. Lynch (2011) Animated Anatomies, An Exhibition of Antique Medical Pop-Up Books. (with link to a video) Left and middle image from popuplady.com, right image from laughingsquid.com.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Benjamin Bach. Category: Enabling technology Tags: anatomy, book, mechanical interaction, paper, pop-up

1787 – Chladni Plates

In 1787, German physicist and musician Ernst Chladni published a technique to visualize the modes of vibration of a rigid surface. Chladni's technique [...] consisted of drawing a bow over a piece of metal whose surface was lightly covered with sand. The plate was bowed until it reached resonance, when the vibration causes the sand to move and concentrate along the nodal lines where the surface is still, outlining the nodal lines. The patterns formed by these lines are what are now called […]

In 1787, German physicist and musician Ernst Chladni published a technique to visualize the modes of vibration of a rigid surface. Chladni's technique [...] consisted of drawing a bow over a piece of metal whose surface was lightly covered with sand. The plate was bowed until it reached resonance, when the vibration causes the sand to move and concentrate along the nodal lines where the surface is still, outlining the nodal lines. The patterns formed by these lines are what are now called Chladni figures. Chladni was inspired by early experiments by Robert Hooke who discovered the phenomenon in 1680, using flour instead of sand. This technique is still in use today to design acoustic instruments, with the difference that a loudspeaker is generally used instead of a bow. In the 1960s, Hans Jenny, a Swiss physician and natural scientist carried many experiments using sand, dust and fluids, and founded an mystical discipline called Cymatics based on exploring these phenomena. Sources: Wikipedia - Ernst Chladni Hans Jenny (1970) Cymatics - Bringing Matter To Life With Sound (movie) Left image by Chris Smith

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Measuring instrument Tags: acoustics, embedded, physics, science, sound

1850 – Merryweather's Leech Barometer

In 1850, British doctor and inventor George Merryweather built a barometer that uses live medicinal leeches to predict storms: The twelve leeches are kept in small bottles inside the device; when they become agitated by an approaching storm they attempt to climb out of the bottles and trigger a small hammer which strikes a bell. The likelihood of a storm is indicated by the number of times the bell is struck. The device, which Merryweather called the "tempest prognosticator", was shown at the […]

In 1850, British doctor and inventor George Merryweather built a barometer that uses live medicinal leeches to predict storms: The twelve leeches are kept in small bottles inside the device; when they become agitated by an approaching storm they attempt to climb out of the bottles and trigger a small hammer which strikes a bell. The likelihood of a storm is indicated by the number of times the bell is struck. The device, which Merryweather called the "tempest prognosticator", was shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London. Merryweather tried to convince the British government to make use of his design, but "it was thought to be impractical, since the leeches needed to be fed once a month and have their water changed every five days". The efficacy of the device is yet unproven. The original device was lost, but several replicas were made. The images above show a replica from 1951 currently exhibited at the Whitby museum. Sources: Wikipedia - Tempest prognosticator. Natasha Frost (2017) The Rise and Fall of the Leeches Who Could Predict the Weather. Left image: The Guardian; middle image: atlasobscura.com; right image: Wikipedia.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Aurélien Tabard. Category: Measuring instrument Tags: leeches, sonification, weather

1897 – Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion animation is the frame-by-frame capture of (generally) inanimate objects which are manipulated by increments in order to produce the illusion of motion. It was first used in movies to produce magical effects. The first movie to use this technique was The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1897), where a toy circus of acrobats and animals comes to life (left image). With modern 3D computer graphics, stop motion animation has become largely obsolete, but remains occasionally used. A particularly […]

Stop motion animation is the frame-by-frame capture of (generally) inanimate objects which are manipulated by increments in order to produce the illusion of motion. It was first used in movies to produce magical effects. The first movie to use this technique was The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1897), where a toy circus of acrobats and animals comes to life (left image). With modern 3D computer graphics, stop motion animation has become largely obsolete, but remains occasionally used. A particularly appealing example is the "Bears on Stairs" video made in 2014 by the creative agency DBLG (video on the right), where a computer model of a bear was 3D-printed in many different poses to create a surprisingly smooth stop motion animation. For an example of how stop motion animation can be used for telling stories about data, see our entry 1965 - Stop Motion Animation of Physical 3D Map. Sources: Wikipedia, Stop Motion. Burgett (2014) ‘Bears On Stairs’ Is a Ridiculously Smooth Stop Motion Animated Video. Left image from youtube user teamrandom21. Right image from DBLG.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Enabling technology Tags: stop motion animation

1965 – Stop Motion Animation of Physical 3D Map

This educational movie from the 1960s uses physical bars and stop motion animation to show the evolution of population in the Paris area between 1801 and 1961. It was made between 1962 and 1967 by the Institut des Sciences Humaines Appliquées (ISHA) and the Centre de Mathématique Sociale et de Statistique (CMSS), in collaboration with the Laboratoire de Cartographie directed by Jacques Bertin. You can see the physical visualization from all sides by […]

This educational movie from the 1960s uses physical bars and stop motion animation to show the evolution of population in the Paris area between 1801 and 1961. It was made between 1962 and 1967 by the Institut des Sciences Humaines Appliquées (ISHA) and the Centre de Mathématique Sociale et de Statistique (CMSS), in collaboration with the Laboratoire de Cartographie directed by Jacques Bertin. You can see the physical visualization from all sides by jumping at 18:40 in the video. Sources: Film provided by the Archives Nationales and digitized by us. CAMS (2015) Histoire du CAMS.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: bar chart, cartographic, stop motion animation, storytelling

2012 – Stop & Frisk: Physical Data Filtering

Chilean designer Catalina Cortázar created a physical visualization showing the proportion of black, hispanic and white people searched by the New York police in 2010. Each of the three compartments stands for a race and contains an amount of powder proportional to the race's population in New York. When the object is turned upside down, the powder falls into an adjacent compartment except for coarser particles that do not make it through the holes and represent people stopped by the police. […]

Chilean designer Catalina Cortázar created a physical visualization showing the proportion of black, hispanic and white people searched by the New York police in 2010. Each of the three compartments stands for a race and contains an amount of powder proportional to the race's population in New York. When the object is turned upside down, the powder falls into an adjacent compartment except for coarser particles that do not make it through the holes and represent people stopped by the police. Sources: Catalina Cortázar (2012) Stop & Frisk – Data Visualization. Photos by Catalina Cortázar.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Alice Thudt. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: new-york, physical computation, police, powder, race

2014 – Data Sculpture in the White House

Gilles Azzaro, a French digital artist and fab lab co-founder, created a sound sculpture of Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address where Obama mentions 3D printing as the next revolution in manufacturing. Azzaro's sculpture was exhibited in the White House in 2014 during the inauguration of the first White House Maker Faire. The sculpture is interactive: a movement sensor activates the system and a laser beam scans the 3D recording to reveal the President’s speech. See this video for an […]

Gilles Azzaro, a French digital artist and fab lab co-founder, created a sound sculpture of Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address where Obama mentions 3D printing as the next revolution in manufacturing. Azzaro's sculpture was exhibited in the White House in 2014 during the inauguration of the first White House Maker Faire. The sculpture is interactive: a movement sensor activates the system and a laser beam scans the 3D recording to reveal the President’s speech. See this video for an example. Sources: Gilles Azzaro (2013). Barack Obama: Next Industrial Revolution. Image and video from Gilles Azzaro's website and youtube channel.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Christophe Hurter. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, president, sound sculpture

2017 – Are you Sure you Want to Smoke?

Giacomo Flaim, a student in Communication Design at Politecnico of Milan, made a single-datum physical visualization out of 4,234 cigarette butts to convey the average annual cigarette consumption of an Italian smoker. Labels were added to indicate the reduction in life expectancy depending on the quantity smoked, from 10 minutes for a single cigarette to more than a month for the entire year. Sources: Giacomo Flaim (2017) Are you sure you want to smoke? (behance.net). Information is Beautiful […]

Giacomo Flaim, a student in Communication Design at Politecnico of Milan, made a single-datum physical visualization out of 4,234 cigarette butts to convey the average annual cigarette consumption of an Italian smoker. Labels were added to indicate the reduction in life expectancy depending on the quantity smoked, from 10 minutes for a single cigarette to more than a month for the entire year. Sources: Giacomo Flaim (2017) Are you sure you want to smoke? (behance.net). Information is Beautiful Awards entry. Photos by Giacomo Flaim.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: cigarette, health, rearrangement, risk, single-datum, smoking