Every week, nearly 40 people are shot across the city. That’s the equivalent of a mass shooting every seven days, yet so many Chicagoans have become numb to the violence. These numbers have become so normal that they don’t even warrant a news story.

How do you shine a new light on a problem that’s plagued Chicago year after year? By putting all the city’s gun violence on one street, making it impossible to ignore.

Lasers are used by forensic scientists to track the path of bullets at crime scenes for use in courtrooms. We borrowed from that technique to create an installation in which each laser represents a victim from a single week of gun violence – all placed on one street. The result is a striking visualization of the problem in the form a walk-through of the gun violence problem.

Most Dangerous Street is a walk-through, week-by-week visualization of Chicago’s gun violence on one street. We collected real time data of Chicago’s gun violence from police data as well as news and media reports, and transformed that into an immersive data-visualization installation.

Guided by emotional audio of victims’ families telling their stories, you are surrounded by laser beams, each representing a victim of gun violence. When you cross through beams, projections display details of the victim, bringing the data to life. People were encouraged to take action through a mobile site dedicated for the SAFE Act. An important piece of legislation needed to get funding for economic development in neighborhoods most affected by gun violence.

The outdoor location was in the heart of Chicago to maximize exposure to legislators and voters. As people were impacted by the experience, they were encouraged to take action with an onsite digital tool to pressure their representatives.

We sourced data from the Chicago Police Department and news and media outlets, and consulted with the University of Chicago Crime Lab to create a walk-through installation of the gun violence problem with the most accurate and real-time data.