David Troy: "Twittervision," "Flickrvision" 2007

Dave Troy is a programmer and webdesigner based in Baltimore.
He creates screen-based applications such as Twittervision (2007) and Flickrvision (2007) which both augment live data in its geographical context upon a map of the world.

Twittervision

makes use of the service Twitter, a web-based message-board to which people send short text messages from mobile devices and to which their friends subscribe. This creates many individual streams of messages from remote friends letting people feel connected to their social network, the main purpose being giving notice of each others whereabouts, moods and plans.
Twittervision employs the data of Twitter and augments it upon its geographical context upon a 3D model of the world.
This creates an incredibly intriguing live view, into the pulse and hum of the world, and especially on the human condition. Some people just get up, others go to bed. Some are lonely and miss family and friends. etc.. The banality of these everyday utterances placed into the global context makes it so unique and appealing.

Flickrvision

Areas: telematics, dialogical, global consciousness, ambient awareness?

Links:

Twittervision classic http://twittervision.com/
Twittervision 3D http://twittervision.com/maps/show_3d
NYT, September 7, 2008, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy by Clive Thompson.
Here is a mesmerising report and analysis of the effects of the Newfeed embedded in Facebook and Twitter. Here it is a stream of mundane news from friends that create a hum of information. But not creating an inpersonal geographical hum of what is going on in the world - but instead a personalised hum of what friends are experiencing. /09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html Now what if both were connected? We could embed friends Twits into Twittervision?