"Melody of Budapest"
The more we observe a city, the more apparent it becomes that it surpasses the sum of its parts. It resembles a colossal, intricate organism with its network of organs and unique internal dynamics. These dynamics are a tapestry woven from our daily interactions within the city: the bustling morning and evening rushes on the tram or subway lines, leisurely strolls along the riverbank — it all contributes to this vibrant tapestry.
Though it sounds idyllic, it stands worlds apart from the vast data streams of corporations, the omnipresent data visualization tools, the ongoing buzz about artificial intelligence across various platforms, or even the fundamental essence of artistic expression — music.
"Melody of Budapest," sponsored by Telekom Hungary, aims to bridge these divides by transforming the city's dynamic mobility patterns into a musical piece using data science and AI. Initially, Janosov and colleagues processed large-scale cell tower-based mobility data into digestible information. This unpublished data covers the temporal and spatial specifics of every mobile phone event on Telekom's network in Budapest, Hungary, from June 2022 to 2023.
Next, the aggregated mobility intensity across the entire city was converted into a time series depicting varying day and night activity levels. This series was then translated into machine-produced audio, converting each intensity data point into a musical note in C major. Thus, a day equates to two data points, resulting in roughly 730 musical notes per year.
Subsequently, Janosov collaborated with the generative AI composer Aiva, trained on a substantial library of classical music, to craft the human-AI sound combination presented in the video. Completing the "Melody of Budapest" entailed visual representation that mirrors the city's vibrant pulse.
To achieve this, a three-dimensional, audio-reactive map visualization was created, showcasing an entire year in Budapest. This visual divides the city into its 23 districts, revealing each district's relative intensity of cell activity throughout day and night for one year. These intensity levels vividly outline each district's characteristics — the lively city center, serene suburbs, daily mobility patterns, and the city's nocturnal and weekend rhythms.
Lastly, it's worth highlighting the three layers through which these visuals convey Budapest's underlying dynamics. The columns directly display normalized district-level activity. The audio line is derived from mobility time series data, augmented by AI. The animation's coloring responds to changes in music intensity, complemented by subtle random noise elements. This multi-layered audiovisual product offers an immersive experience, visualizing the "Melody of Budapest" based on a large-scale underlying database.
Milán Janosov
With a background in physics and biophysics, Janosov earned his Ph.D. in network and data science in 2020. He studied and researched at the Eötvös Loránd University and the Central European University in Budapest, at the Barabási Lab in Boston, and the Bell Labs in Cambridge. He was selected to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list of successful young Hungarians in 2020. He is an NFT sales contributor on SuperRare and Foundation, an alum at Eötvös Collegium, and a regular columnist at Qubit and the Data Visualization Society. His first book, titled "DATA," debuted with OpenBooks.
Janosov is the founder of Geospatial Data Consulting and chief data scientist at Baoba. Previously, he was the chief data scientist and co-founder of Datapolis, a research affiliate at the Central European University, a research expert at the European Commission, and a senior data scientist at Maven7.
He was awarded the Scholarship of the Republic of Hungary three times, won multiple prizes at science competitions, and presented his work in peer-reviewed journals and conferences from Nature’s Scientific Reports to MIT.
His work has been featured in Nature Social Science Research, GQ, Times Higher Education, New Scientist, The New York Times, TechXplore, The Economic Times, Fossbytes, Futurism, The Times, Towards Data Science, Phys.org, Nightingale, Gamestar, 99 Data Influencers to Follow 2023, the Miami Art Week, and more. (https://www.janosov.com)
Hayk Zakoyan, Visual Artist
Hello and welcome to my world of art and music. I am Media Artist, Visual Artist, NFT artist, Lighting Designer, and Music Composer. My hometown is Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, a small nation with a fascinating history. It gave birth to many talented artists, and I’m proud to present my country and my art on international platforms. The love for art was born with music, in the times I was writing my music and visualizing it in my mind. I started with small steps in generative art, depicting “out of this world” images and giving them motion. My art is a visualization of various simulations of natural phenomena. The dominating colors in my art are shades of gray; the transition from dark to light, the play of colors in a unique way. I give space and imagination to viewers to colorize the scene in their own way. My art work is created with visual programming and scripting algorithms; codes that are visualized in the metamorphosis of shapes and images. I use the sound analysis algorithms I have developed to create generative art. Therefore, my art is unique because it was built on a noise generator, blended with sound analysis, resulting in unique shapes. Every new art work won’t be a copy of a previous one. (https://haykzakoyan.com)
Magyar Telekom, Project Sponsor
Magyar Telekom is one of Hungary’s largest telecommunication operators, it was established in 1991. It provides a full range of telecommunications and infocommunications (ICT) services including fixed line and mobile telephony, data transmission and non-voice as well as IT and systems integration services. Magyar Telekom is the majority owner of Makedonski Telekom, the leading fixed line and mobile operator in the Republic of North Macedonia. Magyar Telekom’s majority shareholder (63,55%) is Deutsche Telekom Europe B.V., fully owned by Deutsche Telekom AG. More information on www.telekom.hu.
