Kernel Grid Interpreted as Elevation

This image was a failed visualization experiment to depict the wireless signals in a Chicago neighborhood. Wireless Internet signals were triangulated by calculating the mean center of multiple observations, then a kernel was fit over each center. A square grid was then fit over the kernels, and this was interpreted as a surface, where elevation can be interpreted as a grid square with high kernel values (i.e., closeness to centers). While this image fails as a visualization (mainly because the use of a grid produces strange straight-line artifacts that interact with the shading of the surface), the lab group agreed it produced a striking image and we decided to use it on our home page.

--Christian Sandvig