Visualizing a PETABYTE or Exabyte or Higher

We are producing and consuming such massive amounts of data that it exceeds our ability to understand it through everyday human perception. Visualizing such large numbers in ways that we can immediately grasp them has been the driving force behind the rising field of information visualization. As Tom Corby has argued, “[These forms of visualization] are able to capitalize on humans’ natural ability to spot patterns and relationships in visual fields (cognition). This enables an intuitive identification of structures, which would not be available if presented in purely numeric form.”

For this assignment, you will design a visualization of what a data set of petabyte or higher is, so that an everyday public can get a strong visual sense of the scale of this amount of digital information. Begin by asking yourself some of the following questions: What kind of insight do I hope my audience will get out of this visualization? What sorts of comparisons would be impactful for an audience to truly comprehend the scale of a petabyte or even more (if you go higher than petabyte, explain what that tier is and why you went there)? In what ways can I concretize the size of a petabyte (or more) for the everyday computer user?

You may use any appropriate tool to create your visualization such as Photoshop, visualization software, or even draft your visualization by hand. (If you do your visualization by hand, be sure to scan your final product so it can be uploaded to the classroom.) Regardless of what tools you use to create your visualization, it must be accurately visualized to scale. While you may draw inspiration from existing visualizations (see THIS and THIS), you may not simply replicate them. You must come up with your own approach for this project.

In addition to your final visualization, you must turn in a short paragraph (~250 words or less) describing your rationale and justifications for your design. How did you come to this final product and how does it effectively communicate the size of a petabyte to a general audience?
Grading Rubric:
Thoughtfully designed visualization
Visualization offers insightful perspectives and comparisons

• Visualization can be immediately understood by a broad audience (i.e., it “makes sense” to everyday computer users)
• Visualization presents data accurately
• Visualization is impactful in its visual presentation
• Final product demonstrates effort
• Final product is well-edited with no mistakes
• Write-up clearly communicates process, rationale, and justifications for how it effectively communicates scale.
• Write-up is well written and edited with no mistakes.
• All aspects have been turned in correctly and on time.