Navigating Through World’s Military Spending Data with Scroll-Event Driven Visualization

Abstract

Catching up with the current geopolitical event is more important than ever these days. Anti-western nations like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea constantly challenge the world order set by the United States and its close allies. As a result, the world has seen a rise in military spending consecutively for the last several years. This data visualization project aims to provide an easy-to-read summary of military spending data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for hotly conflicted regions: East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Scroll-event-driven visualization implemented using Scrollama.js and D3.js combines text, map, and data graphics to provide insight observable from the military spending data set. Also, this project explores the potential of interactive data visualization taking a new role, replacing contemporary printed media by emphasizing graphical elements rather than text in communicating complex ideas