In an attempt to build narrative into data, this dynamically generated Processing sketch pulls in data on military expenditure and displays it like a timelapse military parade through a city street. Counting down from number ten, we begin to feel the volume of the figures by the time the parade reaches number one.

Background
I came to this project after watching Baraka, a time-lapse film that presents the globe as a diverse collection of landscapes and people. I noticed that some of the movement within the scenes of cities and people could be used to represent data.

Audience
Important numbers and datasets are becoming increasingly ignored due to a lack of context to the presentation. In the sphere of politics and development work, which often demands action on the part of the audience, data needs to be visualized in a more powerful way that impacts the viewer on both an emotional and analytical level.

User Scenario
The piece is displayed on a screen, with a mouse in front of it. An on-screen menu allows the user to select from a series of different datasets and comparisons which are then visualized.

Implementation
The piece is already made in Processing as a dynamic sketch that takes figures of the military budgets of ten countries in a CSV file. If the piece is selected for the show, I will build it out to include a series of other dynamic visualisations based off other datasets, and allow the user to select between them.

Conclusion
I learnt a great deal about Processing from this project. I also noticed ways that data can be more emotionally and metaphorically presented.