Autumn has arrived in the northern hemisphere, bringing with it wind and rain. In Amsterdam, people are once again on the move with raincoats, just in case.
But what about the wind? A map with a couple of arrows and numbers is about all the information we can access. There was a time when the wind helped our forefathers discover the world, and in the future it is sure to become an increasingly important source of energy.
Designers Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg have done something to foster awareness of the wind. Viégas is a designer whose work focuses on the social, collaborative and artistic aspects of information design, while Wattenberg specializes in visual quests to discover culturally important data.
The pair head up Google’s Big Picture visualization research group in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They also work together under the name Hint.fm, where they made wonderful visualizations to show current wind patterns across the US. Those fascinatingly beautiful images represent the wind in a radically different way to those familiar weather maps that follow the news or appear on weather websites.
Although initially an artistic study, the project turns out to attract people for all sorts of purposes. Birdwatchers tune in to follow the migration patterns of birds, cyclists log on to plan trips, and there are even people who use the information to search for mysterious chemicals in the air.
It is wonderful to see how Viégas and Wattenberg have succeeded in representing that intangible energy that always surrounds us in intriguing maps. Watching how the patterns swirl and change course is addictive and meditative, and keeps you informed about how the wind’s blowing.
Find out here how the wind is blowing across the US right now.
You can even order a print if you want to hang a little wind on the wall.