Graphic Visualization of Gasoline Trends and Prices

Year: 2006-2007

Students:  Aaron St.Clair (astclair@gatech.edu), Matthew Fong (gtg520y@mail.gatech.edu)

Mentor: Nick Diakopoulos

Research Area:  Graphics and Visualization

Proposed Research Tasks: 

Develop a map-based visualization using the Google Maps API to interactively display data related to gasoline prices and trends on the local, regional and national levels.  The research will also include developing visualizations that aid users in trip planning, locating stations closest to a given location, and quickly finding the lowest price in a given region.  To accomplish these tasks the visualizations will utilize semantic zooming and color overlays of hotspot regions.

Purpose:

Information concerning gasoline pricing, although available from a variety of sources, is widely unorganized, unreliable, and difficult to use.  The proposed research will yield a system that is more visually-oriented and provide the user with tools that allow them to quickly and efficiently find the data they need without manually browsing through hundreds of text listings. 

Timeline:

-        Research possible implementation tools and mediums.

-        Develop prototype user interface for visualization.

-        Implement user interface prototype.

-        Code backend framework for storing and retrieving data.

-        Finish development.

-        Conduct user studies and usability tests.

-        Analyze results.