Apps and Maps
The Subspotting project captures, maps and visualizes the available cell phone reception in the entire New York City Subway
We’ve all been in this situation, you’re on the subway and urgently need a connection, but it comes and goes, not lasting long enough to send out that important email. Thanks to Goddemeyer, a New York Native, that problem can be solved. One busy day he was riding the subway and needed to send out urgent emails, thanks to a few scattered pockets of connectivity, he was able to do so. This experience pushed Goddemeyer to investigate the state of available underground cell phone service and Wi-Fi. Later he and his partner, Baur created a custom app, Subspotting, that could log the reception of the four main carriers in two-second intervals.
Over the course of two weeks, Goddemeyer and his team of data logger travelled the entire subway to create a unique data set that has not been logged in its entirety before. The data visualization project maps the available cell phone reception for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon across all 21 of New York City’s subway lines. The maps chart, with blue, yellow, pink, and red lines, the electromagnetic peaks and valleys found along the city’s subway tracks.
Now subway users won’t always have cell service, but at least they will know where they do and for how long.
