"A picture is worth a thousand words."
This age-old wisdom is arguably one of the most important cornerstones of data visualization. Animation, on the other hand, is generated using a series of still images in quick succession. Human eye-and-brain complex, through positive afterimage, phi phenomenon, and beta movement, is able to create an illusion of continuous imagery. As Rick Parent put it perfectly in his brilliant work Computer Animation Algorithms and Techniques:
Images can quickly convey a large amount of information because the human visual system is a sophisticated information processor. It follows, then, that moving images have the potential to convey even more information in a short time. Indeed, the human visual system has evolved to provide for survival in an ever-changing world; it is designed to notice and interpret movement.
-Parent R. 2012
This is in fact the main goal of animation used in data visualization projects. In this chapter, we will focus on the...