ChartFlight: from spreadsheets to computer-animated data flights

In business as well as science a clear and professional presentation of quantitative information is often required and helps to efficiently communicate new insights. The predominant approach is to integrate charts into slide shows created with standard presentation programs. In this paper, we introduce the chart flight metaphor for visualizing spatially distributed statistical data as a computer-generated three-dimensional camera flight over a map with animated charts. Our web application leverages the Blender 3D modeling and animation tool to allow end users to submit their data sets, and easily generate chart flight videos without profound knowledge of computer graphics methods and systems. The generated videos can be included into slide show presentations, put on web pages or shared via file hosting sites, and even displayed on low-performance hardware devices like mobile phones or netbooks.