Ping Pong Trajectory
Ink-dipped ping-pong balls and frame-by-frame tracking, turned into one timeline of speed, impact and possession.
Problem
How do you turn the fast, 3D physics of a table tennis rally into a flat 2D graphic without it becoming an unreadable mess?
Solution
A wide side-view visualization of a rally. With the spatial clutter removed, line weight and color show speed, impact and trajectory on one clean timeline.
My involvement
I ran physical motion-tracking experiments, recorded match data, extracted the ball's coordinates and designed the final visualization.
- Deliverables
- Data VisualizationGraphic Design
- Type
- University project (Commde, Chulalongkorn)
Research & Rationale
Before using any digital tools, I collected data by hand. I dipped a ping-pong ball in Indian ink and launched it across bent paper to map how it moves.
These ink tests showed that a physical trace gave the clearest record of continuous motion.
Cutting It Down
Going digital meant cutting a lot. After extracting frame-by-frame match coordinates, my early outputs like top-down heat maps and 3D grids were technically accurate but hard to read.
So I removed the table, the players and every illustrative detail to leave only the trajectory, impact force and angle.
Design & Deliverables
The final piece shows only the rally data as a left-to-right timeline. Red and blue show which player has the ball. Speed shapes the line: gradients and stroke weight change as the ball moves, and faster shots stretch into thinner strokes. Each impact has a timestamp so viewers can follow the rally.
