Displaying Time Series, Spatial, and Space-Time Data with R

Chapter 5

Time as a Complementary Variable

Gapminder1 is an independent foundation based in Stockholm, Sweden. Its mission is “to debunk devastating myths about the world by offering free access to a fact-based world view.” They provide free online tools, data, and videos “to better understand the changing world.” The initial development of Gapminder was the Trendalyzer software, used by Hans Rosling in several sequences of his documentary “The Joy of Stats.”

The information visualization technique used by Trendalyzer is an interactive bubble chart. By default it shows five variables: two numeric variables on the vertical and horizontal axes, bubble size and color, and a time variable that may be manipulated with a slider. The software uses brushing ...