3D Surface Infographics

Overall

Surface charts allow you to see two dimensions of data for multiple different channels, all in one visualisation.

They quite literally add a dimension to a standard heatmap. 2D heatmaps use colour to indicate a value, where surface charts use both colour and depth.

Example

In this example, there are two sensors per bridle, that are ranked in order from Bridle #1 to Bridle #5 across the X axis. The Y axis is time, showing ten minutes of sensor readings. The Z axis is speed, showing how fast the machine was running, and the colour is driven by the amount of electrical current being drawn by the machine.

You can find this example on our paint line demo site.

Tips and Tricks

• Although you can create surface charts using traditional paper reports, they usually end up having a fixed perspective that can hide important details. These visualisations work best being interactive, allowing the user to adjust their point of view and see the surface from a variety of sides, as well as being able to hover their mouse to access exact values.

See Others