Sunday, September 18, 2011

Force-Based Data Visualization

Using a combination of Slingshot! and Kangaroo Physics, this post demonstrates the self-organization of a complex data set. This approach is similar to the 2D tools available in graph visualizers such as Gephi.

The process uses the friend relationships on my Facebook network. This data is stored in a MySQL database and pulled into Grasshopper using Slingshot! The data set contains the names of all of my Facebook friends and their connection to my other friends. In 3D space, these connections are represented as lines.

When the data is first brought into the Grasshopper environment, the visualization is unstructured with name and connections scattered randomly in space.

Using Kangaroo Physics, the connection lines translate to force vectors which "push" and "pull" the names around. Based on relationships in the data, the 3D diagram will self-organize. Related friends cluster together using attraction forces. Friends with higher connectivity have a higher repulsion setting allowing them to be distinguished in the network.



The resulting structures are quite amazing. Navigating them shows a natural grouping of friends with some interesting granularity... For example: my relatives, work colleagues, and college friends exist in distinct clusters within the network. The source data does not inherently have these biases built in.

Interested in pulling your Facebook network information for some data viz? Check out this Gephi tutorial... Once you have it, you can store it in the format of your choosing.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Slingshot! GH+MySQL v0.7.2.1 Released

This is a minor update to the Slingshot! MySQL plugin for Grasshopper. This version ensures compatibility with Grasshopper version 0.8.0051

In addition there have been a few parameter additions and some naming corrections. Check the version history for more details.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Blender Particle Systems with Grasshopper

Blender is a fantastic open source mesh modeling software often used in game development. The tool is full of rich features and may even give Maya a run for its money. You also can't beat its price tag (did I mention it is free?). For an API, it boasts an extensive Python scripting environment.

In addition to its mesh modeling tools, Blender also features some great physical effects including particle systems for simulating fluids and wind.

This blog post demonstrates creating a workflow for exporting particle information into a text file which can be accessed by Grasshopper for different purposes.