Obama | One People

"Obama | One People illustrates the provenance of those who traveled from all over the U.S. and the world to Washington D.C. on January 20, 2009 to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. The image represents variations in call activity as flows of people arrive in Washington, D.C. and then leave the capital to go back to their home states and countries. The world map shows links between Washington, D.C. and countries abroad, while the timeline on the bottom reveals the overall trend of call activity during the week of the inauguration. Obama | One People was created during a collaboration with the MIT Senseable City Lab and the UIC Department of Computer Science to develop my thesis titled Exploratory Data Analysis of Digital Communications In Global Cities. Obama | One People is an example of the successful application of data analysis and information visualization of digital footprints like cell phone network activity to assess the movements and activities of dwellers and tourists during a major public event. The project is part of a larger initiative to investigate people's lifestyle and sentiment through their interaction with digital technologies, pervasive systems and the built environment."