Wi-Fi Colour in Real World and Cyberspace Cyborg Identity in Urban Wi-Fi Networks

Jung-Hua LiuUniversity of Leeds

29/05/2013

My Background Majored in anthropology and archaeology in

Taiwan

PhD in Fine Art

Software Developer

Data Visualization

Before 100 Years – The Starry Night

Data in The Starry Night Space: The distribution of stars and their

styles Time: When stars appears Scale: The view from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

Now – Wikipedia Edits

Data in Wikipedia Edits Space: The pages in Wikipedia Time: After one page was created Scale: Petabyte data in this image

Aim Visualizing landscapes of urban Wi-Fi

(wireless connection) networks as a hybrid of art, statistics and anthropology

Pushes the boundaries of art via bridging different disciplines.

The Motivation Taipei City began its urban Wi-Fi plan since

2005 As an anthropologist: how Wi-Fi networks

shape citizen’s life. As an archaeologist: how Wi-Fi networks

create material culture. As a web developer: how web programming

can visualize Wi-Fi networks. As an artist: how I can combine the above

concerns to create a creative artwork to explore the boundary of art.

Why fieldwork? Limited access to commercial/open-map Wi-

Fi data only, e.g. Skyhook, WiGLE. and they focus on hardware information

Observing the interaction between Wi-Fi facilities and social/cultural aspects

I went to London, New York, Chicago, Taipei, and Hong Kong to collect data from 2007-2010.

But…… My works did not cover all access points beca

use Wi-Fi devices are still growing and abandoning in cities. 

I can only present the complete features of contemporary societies via their incomplete and heterogeneous composition.

When you see these, there’s Wi-Fi

Taipei Hong Kong

Machine Box

Notice Board

When you see these, there’s Wi-Fi

Chicago

New York

NoticePublic Library

When you see these, there’s Wi-Fi

Chicago

New York

London

Notice

Venice

And… in Venice

Notice

Because My Background…… I took Wi-Fi users as native cyborgs as natives

in anthropology field. House societies theory was applied to study

and visualize Wi-Fi networks.

Three Metaphors Metaphor can bridge different objects even

they belong to different categories. Wi-Fi Users as Cyborgs Wi-Fi APs as Houses Unique Wi-Fi Identifier Codes to Colours

Wi-Fi Users as Cyborgs

Wi-Fi users as cyborgsCYBernetic ORGanism

Combination of human beings and machines

Two dimensions of cyborg in this project:

Cyborg Identity

Cyberspace is a ‘real’ world, not a ‘virtual’ world.

Wi-Fi devices build the connections that allow users to exist in an invisible sphere.

Cyborg Identity (Cont.) Wi-Fi devices as Wi-Fi users’ myths in that

they provided structures consisting of cyberspace and the real world where Wi-Fi users lived.

These structures identified Wi-Fi users as a hybrid of human beings and machines. Therefore, Wi-Fi devices ‘tell’ users who they are in much the same way myths explained ‘what a human being is’ to native people, differentiating themselves from others.

Wi-Fi APs as Houses

House Societies

Claude Lévi-Strauss pointed out that houses are the elementary social unit in some societies, as opposed to blood-related organizations, such as lineages and clans.

House Societies (Cont.) Houses have material and immaterial

wealth ‘which perpetuates itself through the transmission of its name down a real or imaginary line, considered legitimate as long as this continuity can express itself in the language of kinship or of affinity, and most often, of both.’

House Societies (Cont.) People claimed membership via tangible

and intangible wealth in the houses in which they lived. Houses in this kind of society constructed relationships via their positions in real and imaginary lines.

House Societies (Cont.) The house becomes a reference that helps

humans locate their position and relationship in society. Unlike family bonds, the house provides a vehicle for changing identities, such as an outsider becoming a house member via marriage.

Wi-Fi Access Points as Houses Wi-Fi APs are similar to houses in house

societies because APs represent material (the machine itself) and immaterial (users’ names, internet connection) wealth to mark users’ identities.

Example For example, a school’s Wi-Fi APs allow its

students to access the internet because they are members of the school, and this represents ‘the real line.’

Wi-Fi devices are ‘the imaginary line’ because students as cyborgs access wealth-like APs by applying and claiming that their machine parts (personal Wi-Fi devices) are also members of the Wi-Fi APs.

Unique Wi-Fi Identifier Codes to Colours

Unique Wi-Fi Identifier Codes to Colours Challenge:

The work should present both individual AP and Wi-Fi networks to display Wi-Fi networks in a holistic view.

The visualisation should break the boundaries between statistics and art to create a new view to push art to unexpected fields.

Solution: The distribution of Wi-Fi APs are landscape portraits.

This type of landscape portraits are composed of residents (Wi-Fi users as cyborgs), houses (Wi-Fi access points) and societies (Wi-Fi networks)

Colour Squares/Grids Inspired by the ‘relational’ colours

experiments in Josef Albers, I converted AP codes to colour grids to express complicated ‘relations’ of house-like Wi-Fi APs. ‘[C]olor is the most relative medium in art,’ and

adopted simple shapes to reveal how, from a human’s perception, colours change their appearance when placed next to neighbouring colours’

Josef Albers Homage to the Square, Luminant (1958)

Medium and Tool Gathering Data: netsh in Windows Vista, Wi-Fi

scanner app in iPod Touch Processing File: PHP, server-site language Storing Data: MySQL Database Generating Data: PHP Layout: CSS, HTML Medium: Web Colours

From Codes to Colours Every Wi-Fi AP has unique codes as its

identifier. The code is composed of 12-digit numbers (0 to 9) and characters (a to f, case insensitive). The first six digits are the vendor’s code and the last six digits represent the serial number from the vendor’s factory. This unique code can be seen physically as the AP itself, so it is suitable as an element of the artworks.

Visualise APs as Houses The bottom part, which is the colour charts as

shown above. The top part, where the Wi-Fi AP name and

area appear in the final six-character colour background.

The border that surrounds the top and bottom parts, which is the first six-character colour.

Visualize APs as Houses (Cont. ) The bottom part of the colour charts

represents the codes from the vendor’s code to the serial number in the factory.

Most houses in cities were built by construction companies, which is why they seem so similar to one another.

To house members, however, their houses are unique. Wi-Fi APs have similar attributes, as they are constructed by manufacturers, but every Wi-Fi AP is different for users. The colour transition can be seen in Wi-Fi networks that contain both personal and public access.

Visualize APs as Houses (Cont.) The background colour of the top part was

translated from the factory number. Because the factory number for the Wi-Fi AP is ‘personal,’ I combined the colour with the Wi-Fi AP name and area to mark the personality of the Wi-Fi AP.

The border signified the Wi-Fi AP’s degree of openness.

Borders are like the walls of houses constructed by construction companies.

Visualize Space and Time Space:

Arranging Wi-Fi AP according to my routes not geographic locations,

These Wi-Fi landscapes are what I saw and passed by as a cyborg native in the real world and cyberspace.

Time: Because Wi-Fi APs will be replaced, abandoned,

added in these cities, these landscapes portraits are time-specific and irreproducible.

Hong Kong

Wi-Fi Urban Landscape House Metaphor of Hong Kong Wi-Fi

Urban Wi-Fi Landscape House Metaphor of Hong Kong Wi-Fi from a

Bird’s-eye View

Taipei

Wi-Fi Urban Landscape House Metaphor of Taipei Wi-Fi

Urban Wi-Fi Landscape House Metaphor of Taipei Wi-Fi from a Bird’s-

eye View

London

Wi-Fi Urban Landscape House Metaphor of London Wi-Fi

Urban Wi-Fi Landscape House Metaphor of London Wi-Fi from a Bird’s-

eye View

New York

Wi-Fi Urban Landscape House Metaphor of New York Wi-Fi

Urban Wi-Fi Landscape House Metaphor of New York Wi-Fi from a

Bird’s-eye View

Chicago

Wi-Fi Urban Landscape House Metaphor of Chicago Wi-Fi

Urban Wi-Fi Landscape House Metaphor of Chicago Wi-Fi from a

Bird’s-eye View

Wi-Fi Urban Landscape Cyborg in Wi-Fi London, Performance and

Exhibition

Wi-Fi in Different CitiesLondon

Chicago

New York

Hong Kong

Taipei

Similarities

1. Popular in households, schools, hotels, companies, restaurants;

2. International Wi-Fi companies: FON, Boingo

Differences

1. Transport system: Metro/Bus (Taipei, Hong Kong); Train(London)

2. Government Policy Suspended/BOT/Non-profit

3. Geographical uses: Road(Taipei)/Booth(H.K/London);Café(ALL)

4. Wi-Fi Facilities: Machine box(Taipei)/Symbol(All others)

Character

Service House House Service Infra-structure

After colour – Hong Kong Wi-Fi song

Beyond Wi-Fi Art Project Wi-Fi Orchestra

http://fireant.itaiwan.net/20120123/show_colour_p3.php

Neon Lamp http://fireant.itaiwan.net/20120123/show_colour_p

2.php London Wi-Fi Landscape

http://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Wi-Fi-Landscape/dp/B004YZGN3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369544127&sr=8-1&keywords=jung-hua+liu

Colour Textile http://fireant.itaiwan.net/dac2012/float.php