“Modern society increasingly depends on complex networks to support our daily routines,” from power grids to the economy, to the internet, and more. “Understanding these networks is at the core of a field of study we call network science.”
Created by animation and motion design studio Beakus, this Fundamentals of Network Science animation introduces how we better understand our complex connections through network science, adjusting algorithms to reveal layers within data. Their focus: Real-life social networks within communities.
The piece was directed and designed by Tom Gran, with additional design by Madeleine Grossi. It’s based on research by Michael Schaub at Oxford University:
Complex networks are an essential ingredient of modern life, and underpin integral parts of our biological, physical, technological and socio-economic universe. Thus far, such networks have been mainly represented as graphs. However, while graphs can capture pairwise interactions between nodes, fundamental interactions in networks often take place between multiple nodes. For example, in socio-economic networks, the joint coordinated activity of several agents (e.g., buyer, seller, broker); the formation and interactions of coalitions; the emergence of peer pressure; and the existence of triadic closure are all prevalent.
To investigate such group interactions in complex networks and their dynamical implications is the main objective of this interdisciplinary project.
File under community, networks, patterns, information design, data visualization, and algorithms.
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