{"id":263142,"date":"2019-08-13T05:20:20","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T12:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&#038;p=263142"},"modified":"2025-06-13T06:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T13:52:50","slug":"flow-maps-human-movement","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement","title":{"rendered":"NextTech: Visualizing Consumer Traffic"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[331,369812,411722],"tags":[378592,151,20762,483792,378602],"department":[476822],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-263142","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d","category-market-development","category-nexttech-features","tag-human-movement","tag-iot","tag-marketing","tag-nexttech","tag-ooh-advertising","department-data-and-ai"],"acf":{"short_description":"Using a modern version of a centuries-old technique, planners can study anonymized IoT data to see patterns of human movement.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A type of infographic used to depict Napoleon\u2019s disastrous invasion of Russia is today helping corporate executives understand how and where people move.\r\n\r\nIn an unusual juxtaposition of old and new, the 150-year-old flow map is enjoying a business awakening in the age of digital transformation and smarter, faster decisions."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"<strong>Article snapshot:<\/strong> A form of infographic invented two centuries ago becomes a cutting-edge tool for understanding how people move through cities and regions.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Unlike many of today\u2019s business tools, the flow map originated in the 19th century, invented by a French civil engineer named Charles Minard who created what has become an iconic map of Napoleon\u2019s 1812 incursion into Russia. In stark shapes and lines, it depicts where the French troops traveled and how many of them succumbed to battle, weather, and illness during the army\u2019s advance and retreat.\r\n\r\nLike most useful information tools, <a href=\"https:\/\/bigthink.com\/strange-maps\/229-vital-statistics-of-a-deadly-campaign-the-minard-map\">Minard\u2019s map<\/a> offers a wealth of insight at a glance. Now, busy executives are repurposing the medium of flow maps to explore decidedly lighter topics\u2014including consumer habits and how to connect with customers."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":263182,"text":"The process of analyzing human movement has undergone a digital transformation, and modern location intelligence technology is now making that insight ever more precise.","author_name":"","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3><strong>A New Use for a New Age <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe implications for this form of visualization can be significant, and they stretch across sectors\u2014from retailers to corporate office planners to out-of-home advertisers.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s a look at what a modern-day flow map looks like, in a 14-second animation:"},{"acf_fc_layout":"youtube","youtube_video_url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ahgHXkefJ50"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"&nbsp;\r\n\r\nWhat it shows is the human equivalent of tracking rainfall through a river system. As more people use a given road, the height of the spine on the map grows. Feeder streams connect to tributaries, which empty into arteries, which lead to a destination\u2014in this case, a mall."},{"acf_fc_layout":"form","form_type":"aside","form_position":"Right","form_title":"THE ESRI BRIEF","form_desc":"A biweekly email connecting senior executives and business leaders with thought-provoking articles on location intelligence and critical technology trends.","form_button_label":"Sign up now","form_content":"https:\/\/go.pardot.com\/l\/82202\/2017-10-12\/jw1bmb","form_tag":"low-commitment-form\/sign-up-form"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The destination could be any place. For example, a clicks-to-bricks retailer might examine several empty storefronts to see how much traffic each attracts at certain times of the day. Likewise, a corporate real estate planner might examine a new office park to see how traffic flows during rush hour, and where professionals go for lunch.\r\n\r\nThis brand of location intelligence drives capital investments and strategic decisions across the business world today. [For a look at how leading companies like Apple use location intelligence, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/location-intelligence\">read this e-Book<\/a>.]\r\n<h3><strong>Drawing Data from the IoT <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe data comes from the Internet of Things (IoT)\u2014connected devices like cars, phones, and fitness trackers. Instead of identifying individuals, IoT data is anonymized to create a broad picture of where people move.\r\n\r\nPowering this NextTech is a geographic information system (GIS), the software that understands where people are moving within geographic areas and connects that movement to points on a map.\r\n\r\nEsri\u2019s Jim Young calls this movement human weather. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/new-forecast-human-weather\/\">a recent <em>WhereNext<\/em> article<\/a>, he wrote:"},{"acf_fc_layout":"blockquote","content":"Just as businesses benefit from traditional weather information\u2014by routing supplies around natural disasters, positioning field crews to mend damaged infrastructure, and even predicting how a heat wave might affect sales\u2014a broad range of business activities can benefit from data on human weather."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p class=\"ai-optimize-6\">The marketing industry, particularly out-of-home (OOH) advertising, already benefits greatly from human weather data. But as Charles Minard proved more than a century ago, some pictures tell a story more readily than others. Placing human weather data on a modern-day flow map like the one in the animation reveals at a glance how people move through the built environment, and could spur a major advance for the OOH advertising industry.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"ai-optimize-7\">The industry is already resurgent. Innovative firms like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/out-of-home-advertising-and-location-intelligence\/\">JC Decaux<\/a> are employing digital tools to better connect advertisers with target audiences. Adding flow maps to that analysis could lead to more precision in terms of where to place advertising and what rates to charge for each location.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"ai-optimize-8\">For advertisers, retailers, and real estate planners, it\u2019s a modern twist on a medium that first proved its value two centuries ago.<\/p>"}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Understanding Human Movement through IoT Data, Flow Maps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With IoT data on human movement, business executives can plan where to place stores and offices, and how to advertise to target audiences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NextTech: Visualizing Consumer Traffic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With IoT data on human movement, business executives can plan where to place stores and offices, and how to advertise to target audiences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-13T13:52:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/wherenext-nexttech-human-movement-Card-826-x-465.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/wherenext-nexttech-human-movement-Card-826-x-465.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Understanding Human Movement through IoT Data, Flow Maps\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-08-13T12:20:20+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2025-06-13T13:52:50+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"With IoT data on human movement, business executives can plan where to place stores and offices, and how to advertise to target audiences.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"NextTech: Visualizing Consumer Traffic\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b890389919572d29641d24fc67eaf376\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Chris Chiappinelli\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Chris Chiappinelli\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"description\": \"Chris Chiappinelli is the editor of Esri\u2019s WhereNext magazine. Through his writing, he explores the intersection of business strategy and location intelligence\u2014and strategic challenges like sustainability, growth, and risk. Prior to joining Esri, Chris managed internal content for PTC, a pioneer in IoT technology, smart products, and augmented reality. Earlier in his career, Chris spent a decade as a journalist covering business and technology news.\",\n\t            \"sameAs\": [\n\t                \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chris-chiappinelli-ba56814\",\n\t                \"https:\/\/x.com\/chrischip\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/cchiappinelli\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Understanding Human Movement through IoT Data, Flow Maps","description":"With IoT data on human movement, business executives can plan where to place stores and offices, and how to advertise to target audiences.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NextTech: Visualizing Consumer Traffic","og_description":"With IoT data on human movement, business executives can plan where to place stores and offices, and how to advertise to target audiences.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","article_modified_time":"2025-06-13T13:52:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/wherenext-nexttech-human-movement-Card-826-x-465.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""},{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/wherenext-nexttech-human-movement-Card-826-x-465.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Esri","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement","name":"Understanding Human Movement through IoT Data, Flow Maps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-08-13T12:20:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-13T13:52:50+00:00","description":"With IoT data on human movement, business executives can plan where to place stores and offices, and how to advertise to target audiences.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/flow-maps-human-movement#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NextTech: Visualizing Consumer Traffic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b890389919572d29641d24fc67eaf376","name":"Chris Chiappinelli","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg","caption":"Chris Chiappinelli"},"description":"Chris Chiappinelli is the editor of Esri\u2019s WhereNext magazine. Through his writing, he explores the intersection of business strategy and location intelligence\u2014and strategic challenges like sustainability, growth, and risk. Prior to joining Esri, Chris managed internal content for PTC, a pioneer in IoT technology, smart products, and augmented reality. Earlier in his career, Chris spent a decade as a journalist covering business and technology news.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chris-chiappinelli-ba56814","https:\/\/x.com\/chrischip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/cchiappinelli"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext\/263142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wherenext"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext\/263142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263142"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=263142"},{"taxonomy":"wherenext-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext-category?post=263142"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=263142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}