> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://vikram-bajaj.gitbook.io/cs-gy-6313-information-visualization/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://vikram-bajaj.gitbook.io/cs-gy-6313-information-visualization/why-use-a-computer-to-visualize-data.md).

# Why Use a Computer to Visualize Data?

There are two main reasons for doing so:

* Using a computer allows us to apply automated algorithms to process large amounts of data and generate appropriate visualizations
* A computer also allows the user to interact with the digital graphical representations

That being said, [Dear Data](http://www.dear-data.com/theproject) is an extremely successful and popular hand-drawn data visualization project.