Architecture of Radio Screenshots

Description

The infosphere, Visualized.

Every time we use our phones, tablets or laptops we are entering an invisible world of wireless digital signals. It is a world that we cannot see but that is literally all around us.
The Architecture of Radio is a 360 degree data visualization of what this world might look like. It shows the cell towers, GPS satellites and Wi-Fi routers around you that allow us to live our digital lives.

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NOTE: If the app takes longer than a few seconds to load please check if location services (GPS) is enabled and the device is connected to the internet.

Why should I use this app?

Out of curiosity! We are increasingly dependent on a global ecosystem of digital signals. We use them for so many things, yet we cannot see them. We can see the roads we use to travel, the buildings we live in, but not the infrastructure that is changing the world. How can we understand this world without understanding how it works?
The purpose of this app is to make the invisible visible so we can look at it, think about it and discuss it.

Why Should I not use this app?

This app is not a measurement tool. Its purpose is to inspire, to see the world through a different lens. The app is based on real world data and gives you a pretty good idea of the density of digital signals around you, but it wont tell you where to move the couch to get a better WIFI signal.

So how does it work?

The Architecture of Radio is a data visualization, based on global open datasets of cell tower, Wi-Fi and satellite locations. Based on your GPS location the app shows a 360 degree visualization of signals around you. The dataset includes almost 7 million cell towers, 19 million Wi-Fi routers and hundreds of satellites.

Is this really what radio signals look like?

We cant see radio with our eyes. The waves that we use for our cell phones and Wi-Fi are way outside the spectrum of visible light. In order to see radio, it has to be interpreted or translated into an image that we can see. There are many ways to do that but it will always be an interpretation.

The Architecture of Radio is an impression of the infosphere, a way of seeing it.

Customer Reviews

Beautiful (5 stars)
The developer has created a beautiful app that shows (not real time) your electronic signal environment in an intriguing panoramic view. No, its not real time, which is clearly disclosed in the apps description. But the representations of our electromagnetic environment, and the data (cell phone tower carriers, information about satellites) is remarkable and awe-inspiring. This app is art for the digital age.

Nice but still needs work (3 stars)
Definitely a cool concept with a relatively intuitive interface. The main problem is in all the unidentified cell towers, many of which I'm sure are Verizon's, which has a lot better coverage in this area than does AT&T. Since the app works off a database rather than real-time signals, this should be fixable, which I'm sure it will be, at which point I'll increase the number of stars. But in the meantime, it's certainly a fun app.

Absolutely Brilliant... (5 stars)
Hands down this is quite possibly one of the (if not the) most genius and useful apps that has ever been developed... I would without a doubt paid far more for this than I did... thank you for giving me a useful tool to show people how much our "Brave New World" is effected by electronic transmissions...

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