This is a revised edition of the original article published in my website.

In a world of increasing quantity of data, proper communication of results and information becomes an essential skill for businesses and institutions. However, more and more, the gap between the data presented and its understanding increases.

According to Scott Berinato [1], senior editor at the Harvard Business Review, the challenge starts with data teams and analysts. In the vast majority of cases, they are not used to communicate data to non-technical audiences. At the same time, the understanding of data is challenging for non-technical audiences, such as stakeholders, clients, and executives. 

“Data teams know they´re sitting on valuable insights but can´t sell them. They say decision makers misunderstand or oversimplify their analysis and expect them to do magic, provide the right answers to all their questions. Executives, meanwhile, complain about how much money they invest in data science operations that don´t provide the guidance they hoped for. They don´t see tangible results because the results aren´t communicated in their language.”

There are several solutions for this challenge, which mostly is about communication. In this article, we propose the use of AR presentations as a novel way to communicate data in compelling and engaging manners addressed to non-data specialists.

We propose the use of AR to present data in a narrative manner to non-data specialists. Data can be visually represented via data visualization. According to a group of researchers at Caltech university: “Visualizations create a bridge between the quantitative nature of data and human intuition” [2]. In addition, research has shown that data visualization is a useful support for communication and enables to share a common vision among several people to foster joint understanding [3].

A MORE “HUMAN” WAY OF PRESENTING INFORMATION

What do we mean by human? Much more experiential and accessible to a wide range of audiences that are non-data experts. The use of natural gestures enables a more “human” approach in the interaction with data. Interacting with our hands thanks to AR headsets is much more natural than using intermediary objects to act upon computer-generated information.

With AR, the visualization presented has a tendency to become experiential. Alberto Cairo uses this term to refer to visualizations that have an emotional factor [4].

Presenting information with AR enhances engagement in data-informed decisions. For example, to visualise the impact of climate change in the commune through an AR presentation [5] to engage stakeholders and policymakers.

AR PRESENTATIONS: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS

The case presented in this article is part of my research at Engineering Systems Design Group, The Technical University of Denmark. We conducted a workshop with professionals from the finance sector where we assessed qualitatively the experience of visualising data with AR (HoloLens).

Opportunities:

1. Presence and engagement. Presenting data with an AR presentation implied presence and engagement with the content presented. Prior research shows that the level of engagement increases with immersive technologies [6].

2. Accessibility of information to non-data experts. AR presentations are easier to understand for stakeholders that are not data specialists.

3. Directed focus of attention. AR presentations allow to present one number at the time, alongside the narrative of the presentation, therefore directing the focus of attention.

4. Simultaneous perception of the environment, the participants, and the data. A factor to consider with regards to attention in the presentation.

Risks:

1. Invasive hardware. Using a headset to present information during a presentation is something that should not be taken lightly, as it may alienate the relationships between the participants in the presentation. Moreover, in formal meetings, it can add a touch of “fun” that diminishes the formal setting of the meeting. 

2. Requires additional time to set-up and use the technology. An initial training is required to show users how to wear the headset. Then, extra time is needed to explain the basics to become familiar with the headset.

3. Distractions from the content presented. Presentations with AR are eye-appealing and imply that the user sometimes focuses too much on the technology versus focusing on the content. 

4. Extra cost of the hardware and software. This aspect should be weighted case by case, to assess whether it makes sense and profit to use AR presentations for your organization. 

The results from our workshop showcase opportunities with regards to a higher level of engagement, presence, and a directed focus of attention in presentations. However, using AR presentations today is still novel and it can lead to a shift of attention from the content presented towards the technology used to present the content.

As a conclusion, AR presentations should not be considered a substitute to traditional presentations. However, we can start envisioning scenarios where more traditional presentations are “boosted” with immersive content, strategically placed in the presentation to delight your clients and state that you are at the forefront of your industry.

This post is based on the conference paper “Immersive Visualisations in Design: Using Augmented Reality (AR) for Information Presentation” (Bravo & Maier, 2020).

Scientific references

[1] Berinato, S. (2018), “Data science and the art of persuasion”, Lettera Matematica, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 121–129, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40329-018-0225-5.

[2] Donalek, C., Djorgovski, S.G., Cioc, A., Wang, A., Zhang, J., Lawler, E., Yeh, S., et al. (2014), “Immersive and collaborative data visualization using virtual reality platforms”, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data), IEEE, pp. 609–614, https://doi.org/10.1109/BigData.2014.7004282.

[3] Ware, C. (2013), “Chapter 1 – Foundations for an Applied Science of Data Visualization”,Information Visualization, pp. 1–30, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-381464-7.00001-6.

[4] Cairo, A. (2019), “The functional art: an introduction to information graphics and visualization”, The Functional Art, Musings on the Modes of Visualization Design, https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.50-3652.

[5] Marriott, K., Schreiber, F., Dwyer, T., Klein, K., Riche, N.H., Itoh, T., Stuerzlinger, W., et al. (2018),Immersive Analytics, Vol. 11190, Springer International Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01388-2.

[6] Sylaiou, S., Mania, K., Karoulis, A. and White, M. (2010), “Exploring the relationship between presence and enjoyment in a virtual a virtual museum”, International Journal of Human Computer Studies, Vol. 68 No. 5, pp. 243–253, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2009.11.002.

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