Project Two Brief – Multi format Data Visualisation

This week we were given the brief outlining what we were to produce for our second project on Multi Format Data Visualisation. We have been given the three formats for which we have to design our subject matter around; this being ‘Einstein’s theory of relativity’. I’m yet to decide which age bracket to pick as my chose target audience and also what tone and manner to display it in.

To begin with I needed to research into what general relativity is, and how I would be able to adapt data into a reliable and factual infograph. I came across various websites and explanations describing Einstein’s theory of relativity, but i felt this short explanation best summed it up…

“Because space-time curved, the objects moving through space would follow the “straightest” path along the curve, which explains the motion of the planets. They follow a curved path around the sun because the sun bends space-time around it.

Again, you can think of this by analogy. If you’re flying by plane on Earth, you follow a path that curves around the Earth. In fact, if you take a flat map and draw a straight line between the start and end points of a trip, that would not be the shortest path to follow. The shortest path is actually the one formed by a “great circle” that you’d get if you cut the Earth directly in half, with both points along the outside of the cut. Traveling from New York City to northern Australia involves flying up along southern Canada and Alaska — nowhere close to a straight line on the flat maps we’re used to.”

I also came across this 12 step infographic detailing how Einstein figured out the source of gravity and that world famous equation E=Mc2.