Computed·Blg

Via geek.com

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Back in April, the news of Apple’s somewhat-secret iPhone location-data-tracking broke to much disapproval. The Internet was abuzz with outraged iPhone users concerned about their privacy. With a few months’ time, the dust has settled a bit, and a few people have even figured out ways to put this technology to good use.

Take Crowdflow’s Michael Kreil for example. Kreil took location data from 880 iPhones all across Europe over one month’s time, he aggregated the data from April 2011, and then visualized it by creating an amazing time-lapse video. We’re able to see how iPhone customers move across the different countries in Europe. The video definitely has a psychedelic feel to it with its bright undulating lights flying around the eye-catching-colored maps of Europe.

The map style resembles a bunch of fireflies buzzing about Europe. The lights fade on and off to represent when data is turned off, presumably at night when we tend to turn off our phones when going to sleep. Kreil said that most iPhones don’t collect data at night since the owner is, typically, not moving. Because of this, the image becomes blurry at night, and the lights dissolve.

Kreil said that he couldn’t decide on a color scheme, so he made three videos of the same data, but in different colors. We chose our favorite below, but make sure to watch the others if you have a different color preference. We also recommend watching the videos in full HD and in full-screen mode.

He also noted that he’d like to see the same project applied to the entire globe, which makes our little time-lapse-loving geek hearts flutter with excitement.