Thank you Katherine for once more giving us a concise focus on the nature of
user experience in the hybrid city. I think the issues raised point to an
inherent contradiction in the nature of the technology and its use. The
mobile phone is usually part of the protective 'bubble' we wear in the city
and often promotes an atomised interaction which is basically individualist
and further withdraws us from social interaction in public spaces. This is
not surprising given the provenance of GPS from spy and military technology
and the ability of the mobile phone to project the needs of global business
into our leisure time.
The question is how to use the technology to do the reverse-to get people to
re-engage in social interaction, using the other affordances of the
technology: that is the ability to locate and identify rich histories and
narratives with human and social meanings, to collaboratively explore,
collaboratively game and to identify kindred spirits in locations etc. I
don't just mean flashmobs which to me represent a rather desperate wish to
reclaim group interaction in public space and compensate for the
deficiencies of our normal (withdrawn) behaviours. The god-like view of GPS
is not the only possible mode of mobile interaction. The ability to interact
with and control our environment is usually empowering- if we add to the mix
crowd-sourcing and other group activities then the technology's downsides
can be mitigated. We are developing a number of projects at the Institute of
Creative Technologies <http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk> (IOCT) in Leicester, which
use the wisdom of crowds to develop better routes for
cyclists<http://www.pervasive.org.uk/projects/songlines>,
to monitor city-wide energy use <http://duall.dmu.ac.uk/>patterns, and to
expand museums using layers of reconstructed histories from Roman
times<http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/research/heritageandmapping/virtualromans.html>
.
I think once again we are looking at the infancy of these uses and the
picture will bebe much clearer in just a few years as to how our lives and
perceptions are being subtly but fundamentaly altered by mobile and
pervasive technologies.
Martin
On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 10:50 AM, Katharine S. Willis <
willis@locatingmedia.uni-siegen.de> wrote:
> Dear all,
> Andrew- much to my disappointment google can't translate scottish gaelic so
> I shall have to pass on your contribution...
>
> I wanted to follow up on the idea of interface. Veroniki raises this
> indirectly with her reference to spectator and spectacle, in that she talks
> about urban space operates as an interface in which I participate
> (spectator) or i passively observe (spectacle). Tobias also refers to this
> indirectly with the concept of control which for me is the extent to which I
> can cause change in or interact with my environment (i.e. can I control it
> or again am I merely a passive observer). This brings me back to Daphne's
> comment:
>
> *When we are interacting we may move around in physical space in order to
> trigger events or read/write information onto space. In this sense, physical
> space is a part of the context within which we interact and which is
> supporting navigation and interacting with geo-located information. So in my
> mind it may also be considered as an aspect of the interface that we
> experience. *
> If events are triggered by my movement in the space, this suggests to me
> that the media is enabling the interaction (i.e. my movement is detected and
> the technology causes an effect to occur). This raises questions as to what
> extent I am truly participating in the interaction and how the interface
> mediates this degree of participation- have I chosen to interact or have I
> simply 'triggered' a change.......
>
> In my original post I tried to highlight what I feel is a cause of tension
> in the hybrid city. This is the nature of the interface(s).
> What provides my interface with the city?; is it the mobile screen (the
> technology), my interaction with people (social interface) or the physical
> structure of the city (material interface)?
> Of course we can say all of these are the interface and we interact with
> them on many different levels, but what is important is the fact that we now
> experience the hybrid city through these various interface more
> simultaneously. The physical and material space of the city is augmented
> with these layers of technology/media and social behaviours which changes
> how I interact. This goes back to the work of Meyrowitz in 'No Sense of
> Space' who highlighted the effect on the way we use spatial frameworks to
> ground our everyday interactions and when these are mediated with technology
> our underlying relationship to space is changed.
>
> So the question for me is - do these layered interfaces work together or do
> they function on different paradigms affecting my chances to participate in
> the various spaces?
> In my own research I have found that the non-visual and highly socialised
> nature of mobile, locative and wireless media means that it operates on an
> entirely different framework to the way we are used to understanding and
> experiencing urban space - that is it has a material, physical structure
> which we inhabit and move through in an embodied sense . GPS (the basis of
> many urban media interfaces) as a technology is a good example- it is based
> on the movement of remote satellites, has a completely non-linear
> temporality and is omni-present (we just need a receiver to capture the
> signal). Therefore GPS interface present us with a view of the world which
> might try to copy the way I perceive urban space but is actually
> fundamentally different.
> The 'spaces' of GPS and the 'spaces' of the material city work on entirely
> different frameworks- this means they require different interfaces. And this
> returns us to the problem of how I interact with the different spaces of the
> hybrid city- how I control, participate and observe the hybrid space.
>
> I would argue that we need a more fundamental shift in the way we design
> urban space so that it starts to respond to the social dynamics (e.g. my
> original example of flashmobs) and the non-visual, networked nature of media
> space. And media space needs to allow more ambiguity (what Omar Khan refers
> to as 'under-specification' in the Shared Encounter book), a way of
> representing space that can deal with the sociality of individual, small
> scale dynamics and most importantly puts less demand on our attention so
> that we can interact with the urban physical space at the same time as
> looking at a small screen and walking..(i.e. not get runover when we're
> trying to read an email). For example - some researchers employed a person
> dressed as a clown riding a unicycle to do tricks close to people using
> their mobile phones in urban space (see http://ind.pn/Li13s). Asked
> afterwards if they saw the clown - 75 percent said no. They were too
> focussed in on their interface....
>
> To sum up, eric gordon's piece offers an interesting perspective:
> Spectatorship is not only the result of direct interaction with technology.
> In most cases, technology has served primarily as a structuring metaphor for
> urban looking. The digital possessive will begin to alter how spectators
> interact with each other, with or without network connection. It will begin
> to alter how they interact with the built environment, with or without
> technology."
>
> regards,
> Katharine
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 20 Oct 2010, at 13:33, Veroniki Korakidou wrote:
>
> Daphne hi!
>>
>> A very interesting post and thank you for the reference. It poses the
>> question of "who is the spectator" and "what is the spectacle".
>>
>> To come back to Tobias, who first put the question of "public" authoring
>> in participatory strategies, a relevant graffiti came to my mind - I pass
>> through this writing on the wall in my neighbourhood every day: "when rape
>> becomes a spectacle, then the spectator becomes a rapist".
>>
>> Although I wish I am being mistaken, maybe the rhetoric of participatory
>> action has already been reversed, like the rhetoric of social interaction
>> back in the early 90s (through these popular media that you mentioned).
>>
>> Any opposite point of view, however, would be quite welcome :-)
>>
>> Very best,
>>
>> Veroniki
>>
>> --- Στις Τρίτ., 19/10/10, ο/η Daphne Dragona <daphne.dragona@gmail.com>
>> έγραψε:
>>
>>
>> Από: Daphne Dragona <daphne.dragona@gmail.com>
>> Θέμα: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Hybrid Space - Hybrid Cities discussion
>> Προς: "YASMIN DISCUSSIONS" <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
>> Ημερομηνία: Τρίτη, 19 Οκτώβριος 2010, 10:28
>>
>>
>> Dear yasminers,
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks to everybody that has posted new interesting directions and points
>> to
>> our discussion the last weeks. Some thoughts and questions came to my mind
>> as I was reading the emails, so here is a small contribution from my side.
>>
>>
>>
>> Regarding the discussion on what does the "hybrid city as an interface"
>> could mean and in particular Katharine's and Dimitri's posts on one hand
>>
>>
>>
>> *Katharine also suggests that "...For sure I carry a device with me
>> that augments the space. But the screen is still my interface; it
>> rarely spills out into the city."*
>>
>> *When we are interacting we may move around in physical space in order to
>> trigger events
>> or read/write information onto space. In this sense, physical space is a
>> part of the context within which we interact and which is supporting
>> navigation and interacting with geo-located information. So in my mind it
>> may also be considered as an aspect of the interface that we experience. *
>>
>> * *
>>
>> and Tobias' comment on control on the other
>>
>> * *
>>
>> *"You can achieve the most effective control, if there is an illusion of
>> no control: If you create a dispositive, where participants / citizens
>> have
>> the illusion to be authors / explorers of reality, it is much easier to
>> control the space and the people within."*
>>
>>
>>
>> unavoidably brought the Google Empire into my mind. I believe that not
>> only
>> the platforms themselves, that is Google earth, Google Maps and Google
>> Street Views , influence our notion of the city and enhance the hybrid
>> city
>> model but that the ambiguous character of control plays an important role
>> to what this hybrid city is/ will be.
>>
>>
>>
>> The image of the world today very much depends on Google's image of the
>> world, on its capturing through satellites, airplanes and google cars. It
>> is
>> an image that we can jump into, we can navigate, we can experience and
>> explore, an image we can also contribute to with our own images. It seems
>> like a world which is open and accessible , but under whose gaze it is
>> mostly being assembled?
>>
>>
>>
>> A very interesting recent book that refers to the metamorphosis of the
>> city's image through the media is
>>
>>
>>
>> Eric Gordon's, The Urban Spectator : American Concept Cities from Kodak to
>> Google
>>
>>
>> http://www.rorotoko.com/index.php/article/eric_gordon_book_interview_urban_spectator_american_concept_cities_kodak/P1/
>>
>>
>>
>> For Gordon today's city is a "database city", "a city with no content
>> other
>> than to grant access to content... built for a spectator who wants to
>> reconnect with the city, but doesn't want to be told precisely how that
>> connection is to take place. This is the same spectator stepped in the
>> language of digital networks and databases who desires a city he can
>> possess
>> and organize into a personalized urban narrative.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> We are being watched but by whom and for what reason is unclear even for
>> those watching. (taken from Kafka's Trial)"
>>
>>
>> Gordon furthermore explains that we enjoy the database cities for the
>> same
>> reason that we like Google itself and we dont mind it having access to our
>> personal's search histories. Because there is a suggested transparency:
>> even
>> if the same information is shared with marketers, we believe we are in
>> control of our data and we feel safe.
>>
>>
>> The potentialities given by the geographical oriented visual search
>> engines
>> today are surely exciting. But are we really granted access and control
>> because we think that we can modify and personalise the urban environment?
>> Can a new image of the city be shaped by all users - habitants?
>>
>>
>>
>> I think there is an interesting misunderstanding here , when believing or
>> hoping that we are mostly going from the public towards the common when
>> we
>> are still in the stage of semi-private or semi-public exercising control.
>> Something Molly also mentioned from another perspective.
>>
>> Cheers
>> daphne
>>
>> On 18 October 2010 11:07, rob van kranenburg <kranenbuster@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Nina,
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> I know of it because my good friend Matt Ratto is running Critical
>>> Making.
>>> With Bronac Ferran, jaromil, Felipe Fonseca and Matt we set up Bricolabs
>>> http://www.bricolabs.net/
>>> in 2007
>>>
>>> Greetings, Rob
>>>
>>> On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 5:15 PM, nina czegledy <czegledy@interlog.com
>>>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>
>>> Dear All,
>>>>
>>>> thanks Rob - regarding the Internet of Things
>>>> please note Designing Digital Media for the Internet of Things (DDiMIT)
>>>>
>>> our
>>>
>>>> University of Toronto initiative since 2009
>>>> http://criticalmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Timbits2009.pdf
>>>>
>>>> best
>>>> nina czegledy
>>>>
>>>> Dear all,
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> also please check out the workshops Council, a thinktank for the
>>>>>
>>>> Internet
>>>
>>>> of
>>>>> Things, launched with in december 2009
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/workshops
>>>>>
>>>>> This december 2010 in Paris:
>>>>> http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/council-france
>>>>>
>>>>> Salut! Rob
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Daphne Dragona
>> cultural [net]worker & mediator
>> m: +306974040109
>> skype name: dapdra
>> http://www.ludicpyjamas.net
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>
>
> Graduate Research School "Locating Media/Situierte Medien"
> University of Siegen
> Unteres Schloss, 57072 Siegen
> Tel: 0271-740-3065
> E-Mail: willis@locatingmedia.uni-siegen.de
> http://www.uni-siegen.de/locatingmedia/
>
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--
Martin Rieser
Professor of Digital Creativity
De Montfort University
IOCT/Art and Design
The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH
44 +116 250 6146
http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk
http://www.mobileaudience.blogspot.com
http://www.martinrieser.com
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