See The World Cup As 3D-Printed Statistics

Interaction designer Brendan Oliver wrote an algorithm that visualizes the highs and lows of soccer matches as mountainous 3D data maps.

by Beckett Mufson

August 8, 2014, 2:15pm

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It's a well-known fact that for years, Americans have argued over the merits of soccer. But with record American viewership for this year's World Cup, coupled with some intensely viral World Cup phenomena, it seems that the jury's out: soccer is an exciting and engaging sport. From UK interaction designer Brendan Oliver's point-of-view, the proof is as obvious as data:

Sporting Formsis a digital artwork that gathers data from soccer matches and visualizes it on a 3D plane. A self-described 'performance' art piece, each bump and dip on the graphic plane represents a player's movement, an interaction between two players, or a noteworthy event— making it easy to visually ascertain just what separates snoozer games from matches of the century. Larger, and more frequent spikes, in this case, define more interesting games.

At the "Pride and Passion" exhibit at Quad in Derby, UK, Oliver released several screenshots of the 3D maps his algorithm produced, and exhibited a series of 3D printed models of the data maps. This week, he began releasing videos that illustrate the process of visualizing a live game as 3D data:

The maps compress 90-minute matches down into 15 minute visualization experiences, rendering the entire game as data. So far, Oliver has released animated versions of the Costa Rica-England match, and the devastating Brazil-Germany semi-final. Can you guess how many spikes that graph had? And with Major League Soccer still providing a steady stream of numbers, we'll be anxiously awaiting the curviest data maps possible.