The Internet has proved once again what an amazing, powerful tool it can be for connecting people, finding any information, and virtually visiting the world. A new service called This is Now has emerged to show you the world through Instagram's eyes. Or, to be more precise, show your select cities around the world. You can choose between five major cities - New York, Sao Paolo, London, Tokyo, and Sydney - and you are instantly transposed in an amazing real-time visualization of Instagram photos mirroring the pulse of the city.

"This is Now" is the brainchild of Marcio Puga, Mauricio Massaia and Per Thoreson, and uses the Instagram API (application programming interface) to access Instagram's photos.

"The This is Now project is a visual composition which uses real-time updates from the ever popular Instagram application based on users' geotag locations," reads the unofficial project's description. "The tool streams photos instantly as soon as they are uploaded on Instagram and captures a city's movement, in a fluid story."

The number of photos, as well as the speed at which they go across your screen will vary depending on local time and the city you choose. You'll see less photos and less-frequent updates if the city is asleep, while if it's wide awake and full of people roaming around and taking pictures you'll see a real city art gallery in no time.

You can view how many people are viewing the city you chose at the top right of each city page. Meanwhile, the "What is this" link at the top left of each city page will give you more detailed information, such as: "So far, [number] photos have been seen and [number] photos have been clicked through [city] now, by a total of [number] people. These people normally spend an average of [time] watching the activity before they find something better to do. You've been already watching it for [time]."

Meanwhile, clicking on a photo will take you to the full version at Instagram.com, where you can also see who uploaded it and the comments people are making about the photo. If you are an Instagram user yourself, you can also log in and follow the person to see what else he/she posts. While the effect of this service could be highly invasive, the stream of images actually combine in a gorgeous gallery capturing the city pulse, allowing you to be a fly on the wall in your favorite city.