InformationWeek's Nicolas Mokhoff takes a look at Real Time Rome, a project of MIT's SENSEable City Laboratory now at the Venice Biennale.

The project uses data culled anonymously from cell phones and GPS devices on buses and taxis, which is then run through algorithms developed by project sponsor Telecom Italia.

"The goal of real time Rome is to use this connectivity to map the city in real time, which may ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of how modern cities function," says project director Carlo Ratti. "Imagine being able to avoid traffic congestion, or knowing where people are congregating on a Saturday afternoon. In a worst-case scenario, such real time systems could also make it easier to evacuate a city in case of emergency."

"Ratti describes Real Time Rome as a new kind of mapmaking," Mokhoff writes. "Along with other powerful interactive maps, such as Google Earth, Real Time Rome is backed up by huge databases that will ultimately make it possible to conduct highly customized searches and view displays in real time."