A radial chart that maps innovations, technologies, or trends onto concentric rings representing time horizons and angular sectors representing thematic categories. Inner rings represent near-term items (e.g., "Now", "Next 6 months") while outer rings represent longer-term or emerging trends (e.g., "2-5 years", "Future"). Each item is placed as a labeled point within its sector and ring, with distinct markers or colors encoding categories. Inspired by ThoughtWorks Technology Radar and similar strategic planning visualizations.
#' anyplot.ai
#' radar-innovation-timeline: Innovation Radar with Time-Horizon Rings
#' Library: ggplot2 3.5.1 | R 4.4.1
#' Quality: 80/100 | Created: 2026-05-29
library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)
library(ragg)
set.seed(42)
# Theme tokens — Imprint palette
THEME <- Sys.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG <- if (THEME == "light") "#FAF8F1" else "#1A1A17"
ELEVATED_BG <- if (THEME == "light") "#FFFDF6" else "#242420"
INK <- if (THEME == "light") "#1A1A17" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_SOFT <- if (THEME == "light") "#4A4A44" else "#B8B7B0"
INK_MUTED <- if (THEME == "light") "#6B6A63" else "#A8A79F"
IMPRINT_PALETTE <- c(
"#009E73", # 1 — brand green → AI & ML
"#C475FD", # 2 — lavender → Cloud & Infra
"#4467A3", # 3 — blue → Security
"#BD8233" # 4 — ochre → Dev Tools
)
sector_names <- c("AI & ML", "Cloud & Infra", "Security", "Dev Tools")
ring_labels_v <- c("Now", "Near-term", "Mid-term", "Future")
color_map <- setNames(IMPRINT_PALETTE, sector_names)
sector_starts <- setNames(c(0, 90, 180, 270), sector_names)
# 16 technology items: one per (sector × ring) cell
items <- tibble::tibble(
name = c(
"LLM Deployment", "Agentic AI", "Foundation Models", "Neuromorphic Chips",
"Kubernetes Automation", "FinOps Tooling", "Edge ML Platforms", "Quantum Cloud",
"Zero-Trust Network", "AI-Powered SIEM", "Homomorphic Encryption", "Post-Quantum Crypto",
"AI Code Assistance", "Platform Engineering", "WebAssembly", "Autonomous Testing"
),
sector = rep(sector_names, each = 4),
ring_r = rep(1:4, times = 4),
# Spread angles evenly within each 90-degree sector (15/40/62/78 → 25°+ gaps)
angle_offset = rep(c(15, 40, 62, 78), times = 4)
)
items$angle <- sector_starts[items$sector] + items$angle_offset
items$color <- color_map[items$sector]
# Larger points for more-immediate rings to convey urgency/immediacy
items$point_size <- c(6.5, 5.5, 4.5, 3.5)[items$ring_r]
# Helper: annular polygon for filled ring bands
make_ring_poly <- function(r_inner, r_outer, grp, n = 300) {
theta <- seq(0, 360, length.out = n + 1)
data.frame(
angle = c(theta, rev(theta)),
r = c(rep(r_outer, n + 1), rep(r_inner, n + 1)),
grp = grp,
stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)
}
# Rings 1 and 3 get a subtle tinted fill (alternating)
RING_FILL <- if (THEME == "light") "#E6E3DB" else "#232320"
ring_band_df <- rbind(
make_ring_poly(0.5, 1.5, grp = "r1"),
make_ring_poly(2.5, 3.5, grp = "r3")
)
# Ring boundary circles
n_circ <- 301
angles_seq <- seq(0, 360, length.out = n_circ)
circle_df <- do.call(rbind, lapply(c(0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5), function(r) {
data.frame(angle = angles_seq, r = r, grp = as.character(r))
}))
# Sector divider spokes (radial lines at 0, 90, 180, 270 degrees)
spoke_df <- do.call(rbind, lapply(c(0, 90, 180, 270), function(a) {
data.frame(angle = c(a, a), r = c(0.5, 4.5), grp = as.character(a))
}))
# Ring annotation labels — placed just inside each ring at a small angle
ring_ann_df <- tibble::tibble(
angle = 5,
r = 1:4,
label = ring_labels_v
)
# Sector headers outside the outermost ring boundary
sector_hdr_df <- tibble::tibble(
angle = c(45, 135, 225, 315),
r = 5.05,
label = sector_names
)
title_str <- "radar-innovation-timeline · r · ggplot2 · anyplot.ai"
title_sz <- max(8L, round(12 * 67 / nchar(title_str)))
p <- ggplot() +
# Alternating ring fills (rings 1 and 3)
geom_polygon(
data = ring_band_df,
aes(x = angle, y = r, group = grp),
fill = RING_FILL, color = NA, alpha = 0.75
) +
# Ring boundary circles
geom_path(
data = circle_df,
aes(x = angle, y = r, group = grp),
color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.25, alpha = 0.5
) +
# Sector divider spokes
geom_path(
data = spoke_df,
aes(x = angle, y = r, group = grp),
color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.45, alpha = 0.6
) +
# Sector header labels
geom_text(
data = sector_hdr_df,
aes(x = angle, y = r, label = label),
size = 3.0, fontface = "bold", color = INK, hjust = 0.5
) +
# Ring annotation labels (ring names near the 0-degree spoke)
geom_text(
data = ring_ann_df,
aes(x = angle, y = r, label = label),
size = 2.3, color = INK_MUTED, fontface = "bold", hjust = 0
) +
# Technology item points — larger for more-immediate rings
geom_point(
data = items,
aes(x = angle, y = ring_r, color = sector, size = point_size),
alpha = 0.95
) +
scale_size_identity(guide = "none") +
# Technology item labels (offset outward; angles are spread 25°+ so no overlap)
geom_text(
data = items,
aes(x = angle, y = ring_r + 0.42, label = name, color = sector),
size = 2.5, hjust = 0.5, vjust = 0
) +
coord_polar(theta = "x", start = 0) +
scale_x_continuous(limits = c(0, 360), breaks = NULL, expand = c(0, 0)) +
scale_y_continuous(limits = c(0, 5.8), breaks = NULL) +
scale_color_manual(values = color_map) +
labs(title = title_str, color = "Sector") +
theme_void(base_size = 8) +
theme(
plot.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = PAGE_BG),
panel.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = NA),
plot.title = element_text(
color = INK, size = title_sz, hjust = 0.5,
margin = margin(b = 14)
),
legend.position = "bottom",
legend.direction = "horizontal",
legend.background = element_rect(
fill = ELEVATED_BG, color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.3
),
legend.text = element_text(color = INK_SOFT, size = 8),
legend.title = element_text(color = INK, size = 10),
legend.key.size = unit(0.45, "cm"),
plot.margin = margin(15, 30, 30, 30)
)
ggsave(
filename = sprintf("plot-%s.png", THEME),
plot = p,
device = ragg::agg_png,
width = 6,
height = 6,
units = "in",
dpi = 400
)
Runnable source as JSON, for any HTTP client: https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/radar-innovation-timeline/ggplot2/code. Any spec id and library id listed in llms-full.txt fit the same URL shape; every URL below is complete and callable.
{
"spec_id": "radar-innovation-timeline",
"language": "r",
"library": "ggplot2",
"page": "https://anyplot.ai/radar-innovation-timeline/r/ggplot2",
"hub": "https://anyplot.ai/radar-innovation-timeline",
"code_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/radar-innovation-timeline/ggplot2/code",
"spec_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/radar-innovation-timeline",
"render_light_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/radar-innovation-timeline/r/ggplot2/plot-light.png",
"render_dark_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/radar-innovation-timeline/r/ggplot2/plot-dark.png",
"quality_score": 80.0,
"license": "MIT",
"guide": "https://anyplot.ai/llms.txt"
}Part of Innovation Radar with Time-Horizon Rings on anyplot.ai.