Exhibit Design Inspiration: Real Time Data Sites

I love real time data visualization websites!  In addition to being a perfect blend of science, art, and technology, the web-sights provide a soothing thrum of information that I find mesmerizing and relaxing.  I also think these sites are great inspiration for museum/exhibit/design ideas.

Some of my favorite real time data sites are listed below:


Wind Map  gives a real time visualization of wind speeds in the U.S. It's like a giant video info graphic!   A more three-dimensional view of wind around the entire globe is available at the earth website (pictured at the top of this post.)

Line of Sight provides a way for you to track satellites and other human-created space materials flying over your current location.


While you are up in the air, check out planefinder.net  a sight that lets you pick out the location of commercial aircraft during their flights.

Coming back to Earth, you can track tectonic activity by seeing the geographic locations of active earthquakes and volcanoes at this site, or view National Weather Service satellite data, including infrared, visible light, and water vapor views.

Finishing up on the terrestrial side, EarthCam is a website that lets you easily choose and view real time webcam feeds from interesting places around the world.

I'll finish out this post with two digital "eye candy" sites.  Tweetping gives you real time data mapping of tweets around the world, while Google Trends Hot Searches gives you a constantly scrolling feed of current trending searches on the popular site.

I hope clicking to these sites gives you some inspiration and enjoyment!  Did we miss any of your favorite real time data sites? Let us know about them in the "Comments" section below!


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