locative media

Locative MediaLalya GayeUbiquitous Computing courseIT-University in Gteborg31 November 2007

Aims and scopeOverview of the fieldTechnology overview Discussion of design and prototyping approachesDesign issues: focus on sustainability in locative mediaIntroductionLocative Media Lecture

Introduction Lecture ContentUbiquitous computing: recapUbicomp technologies

Locative Media: definition and originsThemes, projects and related design issuesCharacteristics, challenges and design opportunitiesTechnologies available to the general public

Sustainable Design?

Ubiquitous ComputingRecap

Mark Weisers vision (1991)disappearing computereveryday world literally used as interface

The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.


The computer: calculator -> information system -> interactive -> pc -> mobile, integrated, networkedLevels of interaction: electrical -> symbolic -> textual -> visual -> social, tangibleEvolution of the user interface: from immersing the user in the computers world to computing increasingly adapting to the users world and skills.Ubicomp = opposite of virtual reality: embedded reality.Ubiquitous ComputingRecap

Evolution of computer-human interaction:more of the humans everyday world and everyday skills in computingcomputers an increased part of our everyday liferequiring less specialised knowledge to operate them relying increasingly on users everyday skills smaller computersfrom one computer for many user, to many computers


Designing ubicomp systems: Focus on the interaction between user & technology (as opposed to form and function), on what experience the user gets from it, on what added-value ubicomp brings to his/her life. Follow needs and requirements but also entice new behaviours?


Enhance peoples activities by making computing available at hand, when and where needed (including when the users are mobile) Computing naturally blending into everyday settings, vanishes into the backgroundThe physical and social world around us as digitally augmented and distributed interface Manipulating digital data = manipulating entities in the physical worldLiterally build on peoples everyday use of the physical and social world, in situation and in real time. Peripheral awarenessGreenfield: information processing dissolving into behaviourIT + everyday life as design material (f. ex. I/O Brush)Ubiquitous ComputingRecap

Implementing the ubicomp vision:Many interconnected computers per personMobile devices combined with computers embedded in the environment (e.g. post-hoc augmentation of everyday objects with sensors and networked communication)With awareness of physical & social context + each other

-> Mapping the digital world to the physical one-> User interface: tangible and embedded in the real worldUbiquitous ComputingRecap

Implementing the ubicomp vision:Distributed interface: networking mobile devices and embedded computers (sensors, processors, etc) -> flexible and seamless integrated whole -> e.g. any display or input device can become ones own (user mobility)Interaction in context and in real time (f.ex. tracking things and people -> relevant information and interaction opportunity to the right person at the right time)Ubiquitous ComputingRecap

Types of systems:walk-up-pop-upwearablesambient displaysintelligent work environmentsaugmented, interconnected everyday objectsetc

Ubiquitous ComputingRecapMedia cup, TecO

Ubiquitous ComputingTechnologies

Ubiquitous Computing (Weiser): computing interweaved in everyday life, where the action is (Dourish)context awarenessembedded sensor networks global positioningwearable computingaugmented & mixed-realityad hoc and p2p user networks


* Embedded sensor networks

Sensors:- in everyday environments- on people - on artefactsSensor fusion: combining different data and placements to gather context


* Context-aware computing

computer-based devices [that] reach out into the real world through sensors [Gellerson]. A system is context-aware if it uses context to provide relevant information and/or services to the user, where relevancy depends on the users task. [Dey & Abowd, 1999].



Enables computing to run into the background and adapt to changes of context in order to present appropriate behaviour to specific situations. presentation of information and services to a userautomatic execution of a service depending on context appropriatenessor tagging of context to information for later retrieval [Dey].Ubiquitous ComputingTechnologies


Gellersen et al.Ubiquitous ComputingTechnologies

* Tangible computing Input, data, output and networking contained and accessed within the same tangible artefact Paper, cups, pens, umbrellas or specially designed artefactsTangible objects as active entities that respond to the environment, to user manipulation and peoples activities in generalBuilding on the users cognitive abilitiesUbiquitous ComputingTechnologies

* Social computing Incorporating understandings of the social world into interactive systemsSocial traces left by people on objects or placesMobile social networks between co-located acquaintances enhancing user awareness by providing them information about others and their activityUbiquitous ComputingTechnologies

* Augmented reality

Superimposing a digital world upon the real one User experiences both as co-existing parts of the same realityUser is able to interact with their combination in real timeInterfaces:3D computer graphics seen through transparent head-mounted displays or augmented glasses Spatialised audio cues heard through headphones Ubiquitous ComputingTechnologies

* Augmented reality

Mixed-reality: digital world not directly overlaid on the physical one but still presented as part of the same reality, f.ex. with both realities displayed on the screen of hand-held device)Ubiquitous ComputingTechnologies

* Wearable computing

Computing incorporated into clothingMake use of body-related information or interaction forms to control processes : - body movements - biometricsEmbedded displays (e.g. glasses)


* Platforms:Smart-ItsSmart DustPin & PlayTiny OSetcUbiquitous ComputingTechnologies

Smart-Its:sensors: sound, light, acceleration (2d), pressurecore board: context-recognition, communication interface (RF)Ubiquitous ComputingTechnologies

Locative Media:Background

Typical contexts of use for ubicomp: home, office work, cafeterias, grad-students research labs, etcLocative media = media with sense of placeNew media + urban aesthetic practices + community uses of public space + contextual art + mobile, ubiquitous and geographical technologiesCity, public spacesUbiquitous computing in public space:Minority Report dystopia (video: 44:20) vs. current creative uses and appropriations of public space?Locative MediaBackground

Urban aesthetic practicesMobility as creative actCreative use of public space

Walking:aboriginal walkaboutssituationist drive, psycho-geographyLocatived MediaBackground

Urban aesthetic practicesMobility as creative actCreative use of public space

GraffitiReclaim the StreetsUrban sports:skateboardingparkour (video)-> urban space as resource for aesthetic movementsLocative MediaBackground

Themes and Projects

Pervasive Gaming: the world as a game-boardSpace annotation: media with a specific position in spaceLocation awareness & GPS-enabled locative mediaMobile music & locative audioRadio piratesSocial spacesetc

Locative Media ProjectsThemes

The world as game-board

Botfighters and Pirates! Backseat Gaming (video)Can You See Me Now? (video)iPerG...

Locative Media ProjectsPervasive GamingLocative Media ProjectsPervasive GamingCan You See Me Know? Blast Theory + Equator

Media with a specific position in spaceUser-authored social cues

Virtual: Geonotes (video) Urban Tapestries (animations)

Physical: Yellow Arrow (video) Grafedia

Locative Media ProjectsSpace AnnotationGrafedia, grafedia.netYellow Arrow, Count Media

GPS-drawingNon-linear narratives:Hundekopf (video)

Locative Media ProjectsGPS & PositioningHundekopf, knifeandfork

Tracking and mapping pathsBiomapping (video), Drift, Net_Derive (video)...

Locative Media ProjectsGPS & PositioningBiomapping, Christian NoldDrift, Teri Rueb

Audio space annotation Mobile music sharing/listening: distributed ad hoc sound walks Mobile music making: situated collaborative Wearable audio Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio

Audio space annotation

Hear&There(Rozier, MIT Medialab, 1999)

Tacticle Sound Garden [TSG] (video)(Mark Shepard, Buffalo Univ. 2004-06)

Tejp / Audio tags(PLAY & FAL, 2003-04)

Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio


Audio Bombing (video)(Fleming et al., 2007)

Sonic Graffiti (video)(C-Y Lee, 2007)



[Murmur] (murmur.ca)


Sound walks

Electric walks (Christina Kubisch) Drift (Rueb) 34n118w (Knowlton, Spellman, 2005) Craving (Garnicnig, Haider, 2007) Seven Mile Boots (Beloff et al., 2003-04) The Case at Kulturhuset (Knifeandfork, 2004) Riot! (Mobile Bristol, Hewlett Packard)Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio

Distributed and located music

Location 33 (Carter & Liu, USC, 2005)


Mobile music sharingSoundPryer (Mattias stergren, Interactive Institute, 2001)

TunA (Arianna Bassoli et al., Medialab Europe, 2002)


Mobile music sharing

Bass Station (Mark Argo & Ahmi Wolf, 2003)

Push!Music (Hkansson et al., 2005)


Situated music making

Sonic City (video)(Gaye et al., FAL & PLAY, 2002-04)

Sound Lens (Toshio Iwai, Tokyo Univ.)

Solarcoustics: CONNECT (Barnard, ITP/NYU, 2005)Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio

Situated music making

Sound Mapping (video)(Mott et al., Reverberant, 1997)

Sonic Interface (Akitsugu Maebayashi, 1999)

Warbike(McCallum, 2005-06)

Skatesonic (video) (van Toder, 2006)Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio

Collaborative mobile music making ImprovE (video)(Wideberg & Hasan, 2006)

CosTune (Nishimoto et al., ATR, 2001)

Malleable Mobile Music (Atau Tanaka, Sony CSL, 2004)


Collaborative mobile music making

China Gates (Clay, Majoe, 2006)

Sequencer404 (Hatcher, Jimison et al., 2006)

Cellphonia (Bull et al, 2006)Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio

Wearable audio

Nomadic Radio (Shawney, MIT Medialab, 1998)

Sonic Fabric (Alice Santaro, 2002)


Wearable audio

Personal instruments(Krzysztof Wodiczko, 1969)

(Chelle Hugues, RCA/CRD, 2000)Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio

Wearable audio

Robotcowboy (Wilcox, 2007)

Hearing Sirens (Cathy van Eck, 2007)


Output: Headphones vs boombox vs using everyday objectsSoundbugTM speakers & piezos Flower Speakers (LETS corporation, Japan, 2004)Locative Media ProjectsMobile Music and Locative Audio

Bit Radio(Bureau of Inverse Technology)

7/11 (video) (New Beginnings, Gteborg)

Key Chain Radio Station (Rikako Sakai, Ivrea, 2004)

Locative Media ProjectsRadio Pirates

Hummingbirds

Jabberwocky (video)

MobiTipLocative Media ProjectsSocial Spaces

Charateristics, Challenges and Design Opportunities

Interactions happening anywhere, on the move :taking advantage of the mobile setting: playing with social and geographic dynamics implied by mobility -> outdoors everyday space, location and social context becoming resources for interaction as you move through space-> spontaneous & situated collaborations with people around or distributed across the cityCharacteristics of Locative MediaInteraction Properties

Interactions happening anywhere, on the move becoming embedded in the physical and social context of everyday life -> people managing interaction in heterogeneous context-> and in simultaneity with other activities (crossing a street... waiting for the bus...)tunA, Bassoli et al, Medialab Europe, 2002Characteristics of Locative MediaInteraction Properties

Usage extended over time and spaceErgonomicsSame application, many devicesSame application, many placesAccess variabilityAd-hoc meetings, windows of opportunityShifting social roles and contextsShifting physical context Heterogeneous environmentScales of interactionMerging digital and physical realmsCharacteristics of Locative MediaTechnical Opportunities & Challenges

User-authored content spread across public space: raises questions about property of informationprivacy & surveillance (loca)spamming?

Augmenting environments and supporting activities with embedded computation: what if it changes what makes things what they are?

If ubicomp spreads into public space, according to whose will? Top-down corporations, government vs bottom-up citizens, communities? Conflicts of interests?

Characteristics of Locative MediaDesign Issues

User control (Greenfield): How do you know you are interacting with a computer if invisible? How do you protect your privacy? avoid false commands? How do you know where to look for interaction?

How to query/notify presence, access, place, manipulate media?

How is the place? Who is there? What activities are going on there? How mobile is/are the user(s)? What meaning do the place, activities, and things around have and for whom?


Pro-active and calm computing vs engaging

Ubicomp vs pervasive computing: at hand when needed vs always on everywhere

Connect physical and virtual world: technical and HCI issue but also sociological, aesthetic, even political and environmental. F.ex. Yellow Arrow vs Geonotes: physical vs virtual markersGraffiti style interaction vs screen-based


Enabling technologiesAvailable to General Public

Mobile peer-to-peerTracking, positioning and placementSensing and data-processingContent creation and manipulation

Enabling TechnologiesAvailable to the General Public

* Server-Client* Mobile peer-to-peer:BluetoothWiFiInfrared


* BluetoothStandard communication protocol for wireless personal area network (PANs) Connect and exchange information (commands, files) between devices Microwave radio frequency -> non-directionalShort range (power-class-dependent: 1 -10 - 100 m) Use: BluetunA, bluejacking, Nokias DigidressEnabling TechnologiesMobile Peer-to-Peer

* WiFiWireless local area networkRadio, non-directionalInternet and VoIP phone access, network connectivity for for consumer electronics, etcConnect to local access pointsServer-client vs ad hoc networks

Enabling TechnologiesMobile Peer-to-Peer

* Phones vs Wifi-enabled PDAsConnectivity: closed/open network vs operatorsCostRangeDistributed vs ad hoc vs server-clientCompatibilityProgrammability: SDK, OSMemory, speed


* Platform: Opentrek

http://www.develant.com/opentrek.phpPeer-to-peer networking platform specifically designed for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks Cross-platform! Ad hoc networking -> collaborate


* Tracking, positioning and placementPhone cellsWiFi hotspotsGPSVirtual mediaPhysical markers: 2D barcodes, RFID, user ID to phone


* Global Positioning System (GPS) 30 geo-stationary satellites -> location, speed, direction, pathShadows, accuracyUse: CYSMN?, GPS drawing, DriftGPS-enabled phones, PDAsPlatform: Geotracinghttp://www.geotracing.com

Enabling TechnologiesTracking, Positioning and Placement

* Geotracing http://www.geotracing.com


* Placing media: socialight.netIn-place and remote annotation with smart-phone /PDAsocial network communitysound, text, images, videogoogle maps + GPS


* RFIDRadio-frequency identificationStoring and remotely retrieving data Storage & processing + antennaPhysical markersTagging objectsRange: 5-20cmPassive (powered by inductivity when used) vs active RFID Enabling TechnologiesTracking, Positioning and Placement

* RFIDUses:Passportsransport paymentsProduct trackingAutomotiveAnimal identificationRFID in inventory systemsHuman implantsRFID in librariesControversy: privacy issues. Shielding?Enabling TechnologiesTracking, Positioning and Placement

* 2D barcodes

QR (Quick Response) code, Datamatrix code, etcPhysical markersCan store between one and 500 characters Tag objects, placesScan with cameraphones -> hyperlink (physical mobile interaction)How to: Kaywa reader http://reader.kaywa.com/ + generator: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/Enabling TechnologiesTracking, Positioning and Placement

* Unique ID to phone

Physical markers with unique IDsTag objects, placesSend number to server -> store & retrieve mediaArrows available, but not ID generatorEnabling TechnologiesTracking, Positioning and Placement

* Sensing:sensorsdata processing: microcontrollersEnabling TechnologiesAvailable to the General Public

* Micro-controllersBasic Stamp II, Basic X 24 http://www.basicx.comTutorial: http://www.tigoe.net/pcomp/index.shtmlArduinoopen source hardware physical computing I/O platformcheap (20 Euro)easy (Processing)assemble yourselfstand-alone or connect to computer (MAX/MSP, etc)www.arduino.ccEnabling TechnologiesSensor Data Processing

* Creating and manipulating content:Mobile ProcessingPythonJ2MEminiMIXAPdA (Pd on PDAs, linux)KeyworxEnabling TechnologiesAvailable to the General Public

* Mobile Processinghttp://mobile.processing.orgOpen source programming environment for design and prototyping software for mobile phones. Similar to Processing environment. Runs on Java powered mobile devices.Bluetooth -> communicationControl example: attach light sensor on screen so sending info from phone to laptopEnabling TechnologiesCreating and Manipulating Content

* MiniMIXACommercial DJ software for mobile phones, PDAshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6BSGy8mMsU

* KeyworxMultimedia platform (base for GeoTracing f.ex.)http://www.keyworx.org/

* PDa (Puredata anywhere): Pd for Linux on PDAshttp://gige.xdv.org/pda/Enabling TechnologiesCreating and Manipulating Content

* Python PyS60Interactive object-oriented languageNokia S60 phones and moreRecord, playback, play MIDI notes, control MAX/MSP patches...http://www.python.org/PyS60: http://www.forum.nokia.com/python and http://www.mobilenin.com/pys60/menu.htm

Tutorial (Jrgen Scheible - Mobilenin)Enabling TechnologiesCreating and Manipulating Content

3rd party software (Java, etc)Hacking hardware: use camera, microphone, speakers, audio out...

Enabling TechnologiesHacking mobile phones

Sustainable Design?

Problem in particular with Ubicomp: technology spread everywhereProduction, use, reuse, disposalUse of energy + where to get it from?Computers get smaller but not batteriesIssues with spreading technology into the wild: not as controlled environment as homes or officesLittering: what happens to the embedded technology after use or break-down? who is responsible/accountable ?Physical & virtual littering?Peak oil!

Sustainable Locative Media?Issues

Recycling?Use of existing material and sources of energy? Biodegradable material, f. ex. paper markers? The simpler the better?Wearability? When should power be on? How should the system know when it should be on/off?Sustainable Locative Media?Possible Approaches

* HackingRepurposing existing technologySustainable Locative Media?Design Inspirations

* Parasating?Re-using existing features and properties of space and sources of energy in the environment: power, airflow, conductivity, etc.paraSITEGlitch (Tejp)Sustainable Locative Media?Design Inspirations

* Body-generated energy?steps, body-heat, etcHumand-Powered Objects Workshop: Bike4Tea, DynamoMouse...Sustainable Locative Media?Design Inspirations

* Ephemeral computing (Jernstrm)?Deploying and packing up temporary and re-usable ubicomp infrastructuresSiSSy (video)Sustainable Locative Media?Design Inspirations

Resources:http://www.cs.chalmers.se/idc/ituniv/kurser/07/uc/locmedia/

User content!!!Sound as public display, Peripheral awareness, Community re-appropriation of public spaceSound as public display, Peripheral awareness, Community re-appropriation of public spaceSound as public display, Peripheral awareness, Community re-appropriation of public spacemapping audio world to physical pathsSocial aspect of mobile computing: ad hoc networks, distributed social networks, etc-> spontaneous and situated music sharing with people in public space Sensor technology + GPS -> situated music making Interacting with the environment, mobile soundscapesAd hoc & distributed networks throughout the city -> collaborative music makingAd hoc & distributed networks throughout the city -> collaborative music making

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