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Sean Snyder

MIT’s WikiCity Rome Project: Mapping Movement

MIT has developed a WikiCity project which will be unveiled to coincide with Notte Bianca, the all night festival in Rome on September 8^th. Titled Wiki City Rome, the project uses cell phones and GPS devices on Busses trains and taxies to build a real time visualization of the flows and movement through the city, and overlay it on existing geographical data and maps.

The project is done under the SENSEable City Laboratory umbrella at MIT, and is an initiative directed by Carlo Ratti.

One of the questions the project intends to explore is “How does having access to real-time data in the context of possible action alter the process of decision-making in how to go about different activities?" In other words, how will this information effect the actions of people who have access to it?

It is a very interesting project and a very interesting use of the word map. Traditionally we have seen the use of map to represent land mass in a very linear context, but in this context it is truly a guide to navigating place while identifying a much more temporal path in front of the user. What works one day or at one time may not work as well at another time.

I wonder, once implemented, if the subsidiary movements in relation to these maps will become static and predictable based on the ability to visualize spatial navigation and migration on a macro level. Will it make foot-traffic and dynamic movement as predictable as rush hour?

Partners of this project include SEAT Pagine Gialle, Telecom Italia, Telespazio, the Rome public transportation authority ATAC, La Repubblica, and Trenitalia.

(According to a release regarding the project, the data is collected anonymously from the beginning so there is no risk related to privacy.)