Thanks to RAILBlog I have been introduced to the world of the kind of computer animations which now form a regular part of accident investigation reports in the USA.
In just a few minutes these convey the kind of information that it would take hours to absorb from a detailed written report full of technical terms; they show yet again how our world of information is being changed by computers & computing.
I watched the one where Chelsey Sullenberger landed in the Hudson River. I had my heart in my mouth watching the altimeter spinning down, even though I knew it would end happily – I do not think that even a ‘sexed up’ written account could have produced such empathy. Calm voices of the pilots & the air traffic controllers, going round in my head like an earworm, especially that repeated warning of ‘terrain’ to warn the pilot that the plane was in danger of coming down on the bank of the Hudson instead of being perfectly lined up with the current in its centre.
We moan about all the effort young men put in to working out how to make & play computer games; we have grown used to hearing worries about the effects that watching computer screens may have on the brains & neurological development of children – short attention spans, inability to concentrate etc etc. I would argue that these effects are mostly for the good – we do not have to waste time struggling to make sense of words if images can convey the same information in a fraction of the time.
But by the same token we are all going to have to learn new ways to evaluate information, to understand how an animation is compiled, what it can & cannot tell us, & to challenge the view being presented to us, not least (in the case of accidents) during legal proceedings.
The eye takes in at a glance what tongue cannot tell or hand write in an hour - William Russell
