EcoViz

Developed as my MFA thesis at Rochester Institute of Technology, ECOVIZ explores how environmental information can move beyond conventional charts, dashboards, and numerical interfaces. Through research, 3D visualization, motion, and interaction design, I created four connected experiences that translate environmental conditions into visual behaviors, making data more immediate, expressive, and perceptible.

Weather applications often communicate conditions through precipitation percentages, AQI values, measurements, and dense forecasts. While these formats provide useful precision, they can create an additional layer of interpretation. ECOVIZ began by questioning whether environmental information could be communicated through movement, density, and visual patterns, allowing people to perceive conditions alongside the numerical data.

The challenge was balancing scientific meaning with visual expression. Each environmental dataset required a distinct visual metaphor while remaining part of one coherent system. Motion and interaction needed to communicate meaningful changes rather than simply create visual interest. The project also explored how to connect data accuracy, human perception, and emotional engagement through a consistent design language.

I translated rainfall into fluid accumulation (DropPulse), air quality into spatial density (BreatheGrid), snowfall into atmospheric particles (FrostBloom), and solar energy into light and trajectory (SolarTrace). These experiences were organized into two visual families: Solid / Tactile and Atmospheric / Expressive. This approach maintained a coherent system while allowing each dataset to communicate through its own behavior.

ECOVIZ resulted in a connected system of four environmental visualization concepts exploring rainfall, air quality, snowfall, and solar energy. Using 3D, motion, and interaction, the project demonstrated alternative ways of representing environmental information through visual behavior. The completed thesis was presented within RIT's College of Art and Design, bringing together research, information design, and experimental interaction.

ECOVIZ taught me to approach data as a design material capable of shaping motion, form, density, space, and rhythm. I learned that simplification does not always require removing information; it can involve translating information into another perceptual form. Most importantly, the thesis expanded my understanding of interaction design from designing static interfaces toward designing meaningful systems of behavior.