Live Data Visualizations As Hypnotic Signage

May 28, 2015 by Dave Haynes

On the way to San Francisco’s airport after a day with a client 2-3 weeks ago I stopped in at Google for a quick update meeting on what the tech giant is up to with Chrome and Chromeboxes for digital signage.

In the lobby of the building I was in – one of the main ones on the complex in Mountain View – there was a digital sign display with a somewhat hypnotic display. The content was constantly shifting and changing, and I realized it was a live visualization of what people, globally, were entering as searches.

I’m a big believer in live data and HTML5 as tools to constantly refresh interesting content, and this is a great, albeit minimalist example of the possible.

There is a live version online that you could use as a screensaver, though I’m not sure why anyone would do that.