In May 2009 I blogged about an article by BI authority and writer Dan E. Linstedt in which Dan called for a visualization breakthrough in business intelligence, on a par with the graphical breakthroughs seen in such popular games as Guitar Hero. I suggested that “most of the ‘must have’ visual features of BI are already fairly well covered” and “this same end user demand for more realistic, graphical experiences [as for gamers] doesn’t really exist for BI.” I agreed with Dan that BI should be “used” and not be “merely useful,” but innovations were better focused on such breathtaking areas as…Excel integration. Okay, Mike!
My suggestions were, in fact, already soundly debunked by global health professor and data visionary Hans Rosling in his simply amazing 2006 and 2007 TED talks, which I have just gotten around to discovering for myself. Hans Rosling’s presentations prove a “Guitar Hero-style experience” with data is not only possible but also highly beneficial. Hans Rosling turned global health and poverty data into graphically engaging, focused, insightful, compelling, even exciting stories. I am certain you will be captivated by both presentations and be as convincingly informed by them as I was. Here they are…
Hans Rosling 2006 TED Talk:
Hans Rosling 2007 TED Talk:
Mike Urbonas 
I’m a big fan too. I just posted 2 articles on how to use the same tools Gapminder uses (Google purchased them). It’s here:
http://measuringtalent.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/visualizing-hr-data-part-2-using-googles-cool-motion-chart/
Jeremy, thanks for your comment. I’ll check out your blog. I’d like to look at Gapminder much more closely. Thanks again!