Summary
A network visualization instrument that functions simultaneously as an internet router and as a research device. Meant as a replacement for the home router, this tool connects our devices to the internet, while simultaneously mapping the servers we contact in real time. By doing so, it makes the invisible operations of the internet infrastructure both perceptible and subject to scrutiny.
Developed as a Master's Thesis at NYU Tisch School of The Arts Interactive Telecommunications Program.
Year
2026
When connected to the internet over a network cable, the navigator broadcasts its own WiFi Hotspot.
Phones, laptops, TVs and other wifi-enabled devices can connect to this network and browse the web.
As they do, these smart devices connect to different servers in places like data centers, server farms or internet exchange points. The navigator observes these connections in real time and displays the location of the computer that responded to them on a motorized globe. These locations are provided by a geoIP database, which maps IP addresses to latitudes and longitudes.
The map over which these connections are geolocalized is a visualization of the global internet infrastructure. The lines indicate cables, while the points represent major exchange facilities. Combining open maps like the Open Infrastructure Map, PeeringDB and the ITU Broadband map, this resulting graphic approximates the real infrastructure, but is still missing proprietary data.
After geolocating, connections are logged locally for later analysis.
The internet is physical. By using the Fiber Navigator, this physicality becomes apparent in our routines. It affords us to question and scrutinize the impact of this infrastructure, and the ways we encounter it.
The Fiber Navigator was inspired by the 1960's INK Globus Navigator used in the Soviet space flights. (Pictured on the left, photo by Ken Shirrif)
Used by astronauts to track their location over earth, now a similar form factor is to be used by internauts in keeping track of their location on the network.
