Prepare to be mesmerized.
An animated, three-dimensional map of Downtown New York, created by the graphic engineer Patricio Gonzalez Vivo, captures the essence of the city that never sleeps: skyscraper lights which scroll like news tickers, and roads that channel rectangular cars like arteries transporting white blood cells.
Map courtesy of Open Street Map and MapZen.
Vivo, who works for the open source mapping lab Mapzen and whose Twitter account says he's based in Brooklyn, took his inspiration from the work of the Japanese electronic composer and artist Ryoji Ikeda.
"He uses real data, big data, and remixes it and blends it in this beautifully minimalistic way that speaks so much about our digital era," Vivo said of Ikeda's work. The engineer's map applies mathematical functions to street data, bringing New York City to life in black and white.
Watch it for long as you like — or at least until the spinning makes you dizzy.
