We’ve discussed previously the new generation of visual thinkers and the visual learning generation. While you the computer user, may not know it, are more of a visual thinker than you might understand. You have stepped into that demographic the second you taught yourself how to execute some sort of action.

I have been starting to see multitudes of studios or blogs that represent the visualization of analysis. Lets think about a map, but lets imagine about the very first map ever made. It doesn’t matter if you know what it really may be or not. Just imagine something very simple, possibly written on a cave wall. Because we can all agree that our ancestors are probably the best examples of learning visually, or better yet, logically.

But why make a map? The first thing any historian would say, is that a map is a way to remember to go. A map is a visual representation of where a person or being might have been, and how to get there again. But what is the first step for our cave man to make this map? Analyzing the visual representations of a current place.

Which leads us into this recent form. Scientists and labs are producing visual maps representing culture, nature, economics, and most recently internet use (social media). The whole idea behind it might seem very simple, but it is much more complicated than you might think. Aside from Perl data collecting scripts that have been built piece by piece, these laboratories are some times making a sort of artificial intelligence with the software and code.

While the visual part of the puzzle is the most appealing, due to the fact that they use very design friendly styles and theories. The interesting part about these laboratories is that they would be the first ones to have a break through with any new form of technology related intelligence. Like we have examined previously about design, the only way to move forward is to understand the past, the present, and the future. +