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Signals From the Noise is both a data-inspired LED artwork by artist and engineer Karyn Nakamura and the subject of a WIRED sponsored feature commissioned by T. Rowe Price. The feature uses the artwork as a metaphor for active investing: managers sift through information, decide what matters and use their judgment to shape a portfolio. That analogy explains the sponsor’s perspective; it does not establish how any fund performs.
What “Signals From the Noise” refers to
The title is not a general guide to signal processing or a study of investment results. It refers to Nakamura’s multimedia installation and a WIRED feature labeled “Branded Content by” T. Rowe Price. The feature describes how financial-market data can become visual patterns, then connects that process to the way active managers say they interpret information.
The installation was shown at the eastern end of the Shops at the Oculus inside Westfield World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan on July 22 and 23, 2026, according to the sponsored feature. It describes a mesh ring 10 feet tall and 37 feet in diameter, animated with individual LEDs. The feature credits Han Alexander for the photographs.
How the artwork turns data into patterns
Nakamura, an artist and engineer based in New York, began with financial-market data and rendered it as shifting streams that appear noisy before coalescing into colored patterns. The feature says she also drew inspiration from structural color found in insects and plants. It identifies her as having studied physics at MIT and having worked in AI and computer-vision research.
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For Nakamura, the process also has a creative dimension: “There’s also a lot of creativity that goes into these processes that people have developed to filter, process, and analyze data.” Her remark concerns the methods people build to interpret data; the artwork is not presented as a financial forecasting tool.
How T. Rowe Price connects the artwork to active ETFs
The sponsor’s analogy is that investment research, like the artwork’s transformation of data, involves separating potentially relevant information from a much larger stream. Jodi Love, a T. Rowe Price lead portfolio manager, describes that challenge this way: “Most of it is just noise. The signal is finding what matters and what’s relevant after cutting away all the extraneous information.”
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Love also emphasizes the role of human judgment: “Judgment is crucial. Vantage point is crucial. But in the end, I have to make a call.” She adds, “You never ‘solve’ the market—there’s no final answer.” These are comments from the sponsored feature, not independent findings about investing or a promise that a manager can reliably identify winning signals.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Dominic Rizzo, identified in the feature as portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price Technology ETF, describes active management as building a portfolio around a manager’s own analysis: “In the end, that’s the point of an active ETF: curating a differentiated portfolio that’s built on insights from our own frameworks and creating something that’s unique in the marketplace.” This states the sponsor’s view of active management; it does not demonstrate that a differentiated portfolio will outperform an index or another fund.
Which ETFs the feature names
The feature identifies Love as a lead portfolio manager overseeing four T. Rowe Price ETFs and Rizzo as manager of a fifth. The tickers below are those reported in the feature, not independently verified current product listings.
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| Portfolio manager named | ETF name in the feature | Ticker reported |
|---|---|---|
| Jodi Love | T. Rowe Price Growth ETF | TGRT |
| Jodi Love | T. Rowe Price International Equity ETF | TOUS |
| Jodi Love | T. Rowe Price Small-Mid Cap ETF | TMSL |
| Jodi Love | T. Rowe Price Value ETF | TVAL |
| Dominic Rizzo | T. Rowe Price Technology ETF | TTEQ |
Before relying on a ticker or considering a fund, check its current official fund materials. The sponsored feature does not supply a fund-by-fund comparison, expense ratios, current holdings, benchmarks, risk measures or performance history.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the feature can—and cannot—tell an investor
The feature broadly contrasts active ETFs, where managers have discretion to shape portfolios, with passive index funds designed to track a market or market segment. That description is not a comparison of specific funds. The artwork and managers’ comments can illustrate how the sponsor thinks about analysis, but they do not establish a fund’s objectives, costs, risks, holdings or results.
To compare actual funds, use current official disclosures and align the comparison across the details that affect an investor’s decision:
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- Investment objective and strategy
- Expense ratio and other charges
- Holdings and sector or geographic exposures
- Benchmark, where applicable
- Risks and liquidity
- Performance over matched periods, with appropriate benchmarks and context
The feature’s disclosure says investments are subject to market risk, including possible loss of principal. ETF shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value (NAV); investors generally incur the bid-ask spread, and brokerage commissions may reduce returns. It advises reviewing a fund’s prospectus and its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing.
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How to read the piece
- As an account of an artwork: it describes Nakamura’s use of market data and changing LED patterns.
- As a sponsor’s explanation of active management: it presents T. Rowe Price managers’ views on filtering data and exercising judgment.
- Not as independent investment evidence: the feature provides no independently sourced performance statistic or study establishing that the named ETFs, or active management generally, deliver superior results.
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