With the new designs, i wanted to be a little symbolistic with more 3D realistic looking images.

Instead of just pasting everything together in photoshop, i thought to actually make a physical collage and then photograph it. The new design also incorporates other 3D Image such as lego blocks, wooden blocks, sketch pads… anything that i though were influences to take me towards becoming a designer.

Outside dual CD/DVD foldout

Inside dual CD foldout

CD DESIGNS

Although i didn’t really like the Blue print idea anymore past my 2nd mock up, and the yellow card outer was really just a fill in as i had no idea what i was going to put on the outside.

The new design still continues along the same lines of drafting, but with the use of Graph paper, which is scribbled on, and written all over.

Old Cover Design

New Cover design

The next mock up was an attempt to re-design it slightly to have more of designer feel.

Its box with the use of a die cut could show fractions of the design itself underneath, to then be revealed completely when the inner Dual CD / DVD case is pulled out.

http://cre8shaun.wordpress.com/category/sem-2-hdg404-studio/

Based from the previous research, my new group are now beginning to hone into a more specific topic, of public space and how wireless technologies can be used within it, as well as how they affect social behavior.

Here are some examples from some recent articles that explain wireless technologies, and how people are beginning to us them.

 

Like a street or a building, WAG zone access points actually inhabit part of the physical infrastructure, orienting the Cloud user to specific resources within the community. “A huge part of this is connecting up the information with the location and making it place-and-time relevant,” Shamp said. “To experience it, you actually have to be in downtown Athens.” Another site-specific application — customized for the social life of a student — is Friend Finder, a Cloud service designed by University of Georgia art, business and music students. “I can come into downtown Athens with a PDA, send a text message that I’m going to be in Blue Sky Coffee for two hours, then turn it off and put it in my pocket,” explains Shamp. “Then when one of my buddies comes into downtown, he can use the WAG zone to find out where his friends are.”

 

Linda Baker, Salon Media Group, 2008- Urban renewal, the wireless way

http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/11/29/digital_metropolis/print.html

Viewed on the 27th of August 2008

 

 

 

Global positioning systems embedded in mobile devices add yet another spatial dimension to virtual technologies. As Townsend points out, in cellphone-packing Tokyo, GPS chips are already embedded in most mobile devices, creating hordes of “smart mobs” who navigate the densely built — and inhabited — city through use of custom maps and buddy-finder applications. More recently, researchers at Intel’s Seattle lab have developed a Wi-Fi positioning system called Place Lab that doesn’t require extra hardware to install in mobile devices.

Linda Baker, Salon Media Group, 2008- Urban renewal, the wireless way

http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/11/29/digital_metropolis/print.html

Viewed on the 27th of August 2008

 

With the use of GPS and wireless technologies, they are beginning to provide a wide range of opportunities where both navigation information and regular social information are merging.

I am particularly interested in this next part of information which is explaining how both real environments, and virtual information with the use of Wi-fi and GPS networks could allow people to annotate their environments digitally where others can actually stumble upon an area and get messages from other people.

Hewlett-Packard’s Urban Tapestries project in Bristol, U.K., takes finder and navigator functions to yet another level: leveraging Wi-Fi-enabled networks to allow users to digitally tag real locations with text and images. Thus you can wave your mobile phone at a tagged restaurant to pick up reviews left by previous clients, or download digital audio tours as you wend your way through a museum. Other labs are developing “smart place” services based on detection of embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.  

 

The idea combining  technologies such as Mobile and internet technologies and Geographic information systems. Its a system that has also been designed to accommodate many different uses through a range of interfaces such as: Flash, AJEX based web interfaces, mobile phones, environmental sensors, google earth and RSS feeds.

URBAN TAPESTRIES, Public Authoring, Place and Mobility, PROBOSCIS, http://urbantapestries.net/

Introduction

Technology is something that has managed to creep into most of our lives, wether we are heavy uses of it or not. It effects what we interact with, who we interactive with and how. We adapted to using technology in our daily lives so much they are almost extensions of ourselves in communication and intereaction.

Since Technology is now so readily available, more and more people depend on using it, where the older generation are even adapting to new things. 

In some cases, technology has become so apart of peoples lives, we almost live through them as more and more people spend most of their spare time on using technology. The Australian Bureau of statistic quotes

“In 2006-07, 64% of Australian households had home Internet access and 73% had access to a home computer”(Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2006-07)1 showing that the use of technology is prominent in the average Australian household.

 

These technologies have made parts of our lives easier, such as staying in contact with relative via email, and being able to do banking and shopping online to have goods delivered straight to your door via Amazon, Ebay or any other purchasing online infrastructure. We can even view images based from the other side of world and create social networks with people from those places, using Facebook, Myspace, and even new applications on our phones. In the American Psychologist, a report suggests that greater use of the Internet leads to shrinking social support and happiness.

 

”They found a direct correlation between participants level of Internet use and their reports of social activity and happiness. As their use of the Internet increased, the participants reported a decrease in the amount of social support they felt and in the number of social activities they were involved in. They also reported being more depressed and lonely.” (Isolation increases with Internet use, Scott Sleek, 1998)²

Through these technologies that we feel we are living, they could also be replacing vital day-to-day human interactions.

The devices that we use in our daily lives are all becoming so self sufficient, containing almost everything in the one piece of equipment, we need to look no further and don’t even have to leave our rooms, or physically interact with anyone. They are also becoming very single user based, which also encourages similar behavior as we become immersed into our music players and Ipods. 

”Teenagers spend increasing amounts of time immersed in television, video games, and music from their iPods-activities where they listen rather than speak. As a result, they don’t get much practice at communicating clearly with others, and they aren’t exposed to a wide vocabulary” Р (Chad Nilep, 2006)³

On the other side of the coin to this mediation is the use of technology to enhance communication between people within physical proximity. “Systems enabling large audiences to interact offer numerous possibilities for entertainment, education, and team building^.4” We would like to extend on team building by rewording to community building, so as to include the affect they may have on people in a broader context. “Social involvement is more important than technological involvement.⁴”

Wireless Networks

Amongst these Existing and developing technologies that are becoming usable by multiple users, either by close proximity or via distant networks, comes the use of wireless technologies which has enabled so many possibilities for social connection through both personal and public spaces.

Wi-fi (Wireless Fidelity) is a technology that was initially developed in the 1980’s. In the U.S, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), that had access to wireless technologies, decided to make several bands of the wireless spectrum available without a government license. One of these bands known as “the garbage band 2.4ghz” which was previously assigned to some household devices such as microwave ovens that omitted noisy radio frequency’s, was then later to be used in multiple industries such as Industrial, Scientific and Medical area’s (ISM).

This band however was extremely sensitive and picked up mass amounts of other radio signals and only specific technologies at the time could operate in such conditions. Improving the use of communication through “the garbage band” frequency, the devices had to “spread” the radio frequencies over a larger area, which is also known as “spread spectrum”. This spread spectrum technology was widely used by the military such as sending out wide signals to guide torpedos, and used for general communication.

Once this technology took off in the early 1990’s, it was only used in small areas indoors, only covering a short range with low power, which over time advanced into various formats that enabled it to spread signals throughout large outdoor areas. These formats can be known as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and metropolitan area networks (MAN) in rural areas. (Alberto Escudero-Pascual 20 05 ¹⁷, A brief history of wi-fi¹⁸, the economist 2004, Wikipedia 2008)¹⁹.

The potential for a widespread technology, not only being used in small, indoor personal environments, but having the ability to be used through large outdoor social areas could very well change what we do and what we interact with in public space. Its multi-use is significant to both our private and public social lives, and could have a huge benefit for all its users world wide, thus connecting us with close urban spaces and faraway locations.

A case study where a Wireless network has been applied to an entire city for use to all its residents and workers is used for multiple purposes. The technology however was not originally intended for the purpose of creating a city-wide wireless network, it began as automated meter reading for municipal gas and water services throughout the Corpus Christi, Texis in 2002.

“Meter readers often have difficulty accessing a property because of fences or dogs²⁰ ”.

The metro-wide Wi- Fi mesh network utilised the already existing fixed fiber optic network as part of an automatic meter reading (AMR) system. 

The AMR application used only a portion of the Wi-Fi mesh network’s bandwidth, where the vast potential of the networks capabilities were seen:

“vehicle equipped laptops for police, fire and other public safety officers; mobile desktops for field supervisors and managers, creating vital online information while they are in the field. It also enhances uses for residents and visitors to city resources such as library’s, City Hall’s, museums, and in public spaces all throughout the city.” (Tropos Networks Case Study June, 2005)²⁰.

How this is done is via MetroMesh routers, placed around various parts of the city. Covering around 18.5 square miles, it creates a giant “hotspot”, where the network is accessible via set up accounts for workers, residents and visitors.

In the near future the Tropos MetroMesh architecture could allows effective delivery, of advanced voice and video that emergency services such as firemen, swat teams can relay real time information back and forth from each other that has never been able to be done before. In collaboration, with the use of “smart chips”, the network may also allow easy tracking for services in need, such as goods delivery, or police in the field. (Tropos Networks Case Study June 2005)²⁰ (B net – Dec 5, 2006)²¹

Location / Global positioning systems

This Wireless network technology is becoming so broadly used, almost any kind of information can be accessed via personal handheld mobile technologies such as phones and GPS navigation devices. Location based alert systems are emerging that utilises wireless networks that can feed you information about your surroundings whilst your in public space. To make an example of such a system, 

Awarespot: acts as a multipurpose alert system for mobile phones, where once a user has signed up to it via the website, they can be fed information that is relevant to them out in public. The free service is designed so that police, public safety and community service organizations, media, clubs, businesses, and more can quickly and easily set up community alert broadcast channels that deliver location based, relevant, timely information to their audiences. (Gizmag online- AwareSpot location based alert system for mobile phones)²²

For example, an entity such as a public safety office can create a distribution list to publish it in various ways, publishing it so anyone can subscribe to it, or making it scrictly invitation only. Having sush a system, if users subscribe to distribution lists that co-inside with there dialy life, such as travelling routes, days, times etc, they can receive message if there are traffic jams up ahead. The alerts provided can also be “sticky”, so they can be downloaded to navigation devices and used to flag areas such as construction zones. The information can also be updated so if the information changes in the real environment, the user will be informed of the changes. 

The commercial retail industry may also make use of this by creating distribution lists of their sales and specials, for when a subscribed consumer walks near, they will be alerted of the sale. (Awarespot, Tenereillo Inc, 2008)²³

These Global positioning systems embedded in mobile devices will also allow users to digitally tag real locations with text and images. Using RFID (radio frequency identification) tags and text messages, would enable the user to pick up reviews of restaurants left by other visitors. Other applications could be navigating through historic sites or museums whilst picking up audio tours from around the areas you walk. (Salon Media Group, 2008)²⁴

Conclusion

As the methods of communication are constantly changing, we find that where there are problems solved, there are also problems formed. From when telephones and internet were non existent, people had to rely on face to face interaction, or written letters that took time to be delivered. In these kinds of social environments, people were happy to be physically social. Now with all of the personal technologies we use, we find that less personal physical contact is needed in order to keep up to date with information from friends and relatives as is it all available almost at an instant.

We also find that these patterns of social activity change as technology evolves. Creating interactive involvements that were once only glimpses of imagination, are now being used in our everyday life that not only make communication and connection with others around us easier, they also advance these social experiences.

Interactive media has the potential to change how we live and socialise in these public spaces, using the latest technologies almost anything is possible. 

Being able to track where your friends are via a wireless location network, whilst picking up reviews of restaurants left by strangers, to viewing where all the social activity is using heat mapping all just in general mobile phones. Combining these technologies with interactive landscapes in public space for all to use creating advanced social networking utilities, shows that we are slowly making the loop back to where we once were, except in a new way, with technology.

Pachube

“Pachube, a service that enables people to tag and share real time environmental data from objects, devices and spaces around the world. 

The key aim is to facilitate interaction between remote environments, both physical and virtual.” 

Simulates environments and compares experience, from real space to data / digital space.

(http://www.pachube.com/)

UrbanSonar

• Urban Sonar is a personal space monitoring system that senses an individual’s experience as they move through the urban environment and records that information for review at a later time.

• The sensing system is integrated into a wearable device.

• Senses placed in all areas of the wearer, eg: front, sides and back of a jacket.

(www.urbansonar.com/)

City Wide Wi-fi networks

Technology starting point

• In 2002, Corpus Christi “Texas” decided to automate meter reading for municipal gas and water services that supply a 147-square-mile area.    

“Meter readers often have difficulty accessing a property because of fences or dogs,” explained Leonard Scott, MIS unit manager and program manager for the Wi-Fi project. “

• With automated data collection, gas and water customers can check meter data online and view a property’s gas and water consumption history.

Technology innovation:

• Using multiple, routers to create a Mesh-network of Wi-fi, to cover an entire city

• Multi-user: anyone can connect to the network,

- businesses

- social workers

- emergency services

( Tropos Networks Case Study June, 2005

http://www.caltelassn.com/Reports06/Broadband/corpus_casestudy%5B1%5D.pdf

Viewed on the 19th of August 2008

 B net, Business Wire – Dec 5, 2006

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_Dec_5/ai_n27074472

Viewed on the 19th of August 2008)

Interactive environments play

Clint Smith,
Andrew Kupresanin, 
Sudha Marimuthu, 
Shaun Bryndzia

Examples of public interactive technology

Megaphone

A Phone call-Controlled, Real-Time, Multi-Player Collaborative Gaming Platform for Big Screens in Public Spaces

• Call the service to enable interactivity and play

• Games can be played using this public device by calling the service and using various phone features such
as the key pad, or even voice.

• Based from Older existing technologies, such as 

- mobile timetable systems

- voice or tone controlled calling systems

• Uses old technologies in new ways, creating more technology opportunities

• Could also be played with international players

 

 

Loopted / Awarespot

 

Location based awareness systems using both navigational systems and mobile network technologies.

• Users register on a website

• Loopt enables users to broadcast their status to a broad set of services and find interesting locations and reviews nearby.

• Awarespot also has a similar feature that people subscribe to online content, put in information that is relevant to them such as date, time, day, and travel paths, and information is sent to them via sms if they are in specific areas at the times they provided, eg Sales, travel traffic jams.

Eg: restaurants, clothing shops with sales

• Loopt aggregates local content to provide a map view of great places and star ratings.

• Enables groups of people to connect with one another by place setting there location so they can find 

each other.

• Can act as a platform for businesses to attract people

 

 

(Loopt.com/facebook/hotcellularphone.com/ wp-content/uploads/2008/…)

 

QIK

 

Qik is a new service that allows you to stream video content directly from your mobile phone 

• People can view it real time online. 

• In addition it has the feature of online viewers being able to send text based messages to the broadcaster. 

• This has the potential to create an interaction environment between audience and producer. 

(http://qik.com)

 

 

 

CitySence

A mobile phone application that displays a heat map 

of activity via a designated area. 

Visualization can show where the hotspots of social activity are, providing a data stream to the user in real time.

 Citysense

http://www.citysense.com/

 

Sensenetworkshttp://www.sensenetworks.com/

 

 

 

Technology Enhanced, Mass Interaction 
In Communal Space

My group research has been based on the the current use of public media, which engages the user through innovative technology via interactivity.

We had looked at a wide range of current devices and technologies that are both actually in use being developed. The research involved not only how the devices and technologies work, but also how people may use these devices and how it impacts on peoples lives, wether in public social environments or on their own.

The research had been split into sections based on how the technologies were being used,

• either in social situations where the technologies are being used in public around the same place with multiple uses simultaneously,

• or whether the technologies were being used in public with multiple uses simultaneously but in separate areas

• or whether the devices were more personal where the user is interacting with a device more personally and on their own, but still have social contact with other with the device

• or whether the devices they are using are more personal that doesn’t involve any social interaction with others.

Current technologies

Such devices we found based on the above points used technologies such as Wi-fi (wireless fidelity), GPS (global positioning system), PDA, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).

Other devices and technologies we found also used things like heat sensing, sound sensing, motion sensing devices, all of which engaged the user in some way, mainly for public entertainment purposes.

• Mobile devices: 

Mobile phones, laptops, GPS devices, PDA

• Network devices:

Wi-fi, Internet, GPS, navigation

• Detection devices: 

RFID (radio frequency identification), motion/audio sensors, heat detection, sonar, location detection

• Display devices:
Projectors, touch screens,