This is an interesting project by the MIT SENSEable City Lab. MIT visualized mobile phone activity during the historic inauguration speech in celebration of Barack Obama’s 100th day as President. The result of the project are two animations of the days before and after the inauguration event.
The city
The City illustrates the emotional flow of the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. Through an analysis of the number of mobile phone calls made in Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day and the home state or country of phone origin, it is possible to see peaks of call activity as the crowd anticipates President Obama’s oath, a drop in call activity as the crowd listens to his inaugural address, and peaks again as the crowd celebrates the inauguration of the new President. Through their cell phones, those present at the historic event share their impressions with friends and family in vast numbers: on the morning of January 20th, call activity is two to three times stronger than usual, and it rises to five times the normal levels after 2 pm as President Obama takes his oath and people begin to celebrate.
The World
The World reveals the international nature of Inauguration Day. It represents the variation in call activity among US States and foreign countries as flows of people traveling to Washington, D.C. to celebrate President Obama, and then departing the capital to go back home. The event is truly international with people present from 138 countries, totaling over half of all the countries in the world. Among the foreign countries, the main international callers are from Canada, Great Britain, France, and Puerto Rico, which register a five-fold increase in call activity. In the U.S., the top calling states are also the country’s most populous: California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Notably, Georgia also figures in the list of top five callers on Inauguration Day, even though it ranks ninth in U.S. population.
via -> flowingdata
Leave a Reply