Invisible Dynamics is a research project sponsored by The Exploratorium which explores the meanings and representations of place. Using new technologies for the representation and analysis of spatial information, the project investigates the complexities of the San Francisco Bay Region in the context of the Pacific Rim. The contiguities of bay waters, shores, industrial zones, the interlacing and often unseen systems that give this area its character are all a part of the project focus—extending to explorations of the entire Pacific Rim.

At cabspotting.org, as part of Invisible Dynamics, Stamen is exploring visualizations of live GPS data generated by Yellow Cab taxi cabs in San Francisco.The patterns traced by each cab create a living and always-changing map of city life. This map hints at economic, social, and cultural trends that are otherwise invisible. In these frame-by-frame maps of the locations of cabs in the Bay Area, the city ebbs and pulses like the beating of a heart.