About Me

My photo
R.K.Laxman's Common man!

Data calisthenics with Motion Chart

Have you seen Hans Rosling’s presentation on TED? This was my earlier post!
If you missed it… watch it…
You may consider watching a 5 Minute video 

 

After recovering from the awe-inspiring presentation, the immediate question that strikes the mind of a data geek is ....can I use my own data for similar data calisthenics? 

The answer is Yes! 
Hans Rosling uses software called Gapminder conceptualized by him. This was bought by Google. It is available as free desktop download that can be used even without Internet connection.
http://www.gapminder.org/desktop/

 This original Gap Minder has fixed data sets and these cannot be edited.

So what’s the alternative ?
Google showed the alternative…called Motion Chart!
In addition ,there is another free Option…
So, now we have two free Options
  • Motion Chart by Google (it’s a Google Gadget for Google Docs)
  • Trend Compass by Epic Systems.
  • now a day you can use Tableau Public also
Other Options include the use of crystal Xcelsius or even Excel. However, both these options need skills of high order!
For the time being let’s limit ourselves with free and easy options.
Before trying to use the software, it’s worth while to read the one page basics and play around with the outcome.
One page basics and Guide
http://www.gapminder.org/GapminderMedia/wp-uploads/tutorial/Gapminder_World_Guide.pdf

Here is a video to watch
Here is the Motion chart I have created with GDP and Population of BRIC-TM countries.

 Play with the data to understand the use of motion Chart.
If the motion Chart does not open on the website,Click the link Motion Chart Link to go to the Google doc and open "Gadget1"on the left bottom of your screen.
Now that you know basics of Gap Minder, use the alternative free option from Google.
Follow the steps given below
  • Go to Google docs and open a spreadsheet (You need to log in with a Google account)
  • The most vital part of Motion chart is preparation of spreadsheet
  • Create the spreadsheet with your data
  • The data you want to show as a bubble should be in the first column (e.g.: Countries, States, Territories Etc.)
  • The year should be in the second column
  • The data to compare should be in next columns
  • Once the data is in place, go to insert and add gadget
  • Select Motion chart Gadget
  • Bang! your Motion chart is ready!
  • Play!
  • You can publish your work by copying the HTML code for your blog or company site…or else have an Internet connection while presenting the data
Here below is a sample Sheet and Link

For more details click and visit the link
http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=91610
The other Option is Epic System’s Trend Compass
Here is the link.
http://epicsyst.com/trendcompass/TrendCompass.aspx?home=1
All the best… Happy exploration…