Seitenhistorie

Energy data has become increasingly accessible since the widespread introduction of smart meters. In the future, we will see more and more apps displaying this energy data from private households to support sustainable saving behaviors, among other things. This data can be presented in various ways, from classic line charts (see Figure 1) to playful visualizations that illustrate energy consumption (e.g. Figure 2). Additionally, it makes sense to display other data, such as how much electricity was consumed in the past, how much is likely to be consumed in the future, the costs associated with it, or even how much energy the neighbor is using, to encourage energy savings through a form of competition. The goal of this project is to implement a selection of engaging visualizations to gather feedback on what potential users think about them.
To achieve this goal, three steps are necessary:

1. a brief research into different visualization possibilities for inspiration (e.g., by reading the paper linked below)
2. implementation of a selection of visualizations using dummy data, and
3. creating a survey with screenshots of the visualizations, which we will then send to students at the University of Vienna.

Figure 1: Very basic visualisation of some test data as a line graph

Figure 2: Playful approach to visualising energy data. Different kind of images represent different levels of energy consumption from good (left) to poor (right)

Resources

- Paper: "Visualisation in energy eco-feedback systems: A systematic review of good practice", https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032122003537