DAT-203

Reflexive Design

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Week 6 - Augmented Reality...

So, getting a bit futuristic now, Augmented reality!

For the next few weeks we will be focusing on AG and to do this, we will be taking a look at the layar app! Layar is an app available on most smartphone platforms that allows you to see a digital imagine ontop of a physical one out in the real world. This is done my sensing the physical thing that the  devices camera is pointed at, and layering a digital graphic over the top of it.

We were asked to think of ideas that we could layer over the top of things around the city. One of my ideas for this was allowing the user to see an insight into life during world war 2. This could be done by allowing the user to point the device over certain areas of town and seeing what they were like during that time. A few examples of where this could be done would be the barbican, buildings that were knocked down and rebuilt and the hoe. These places have changed significantly since the second world war. On the layar ap it could show buildings much like the ruined cathedral further down town, just digitally overlayed on top of actual buildings that are there now.

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Week 5 - Google Maps API

This week we were introduced into the Google Maps API. This can be used to highlight key places within Google maps. This could be used when a larger area is needed to be put across, sometimes a postcode is just too small. Highlighting a large area would be useful for larger scale projects where a larger area needs to be examined. 

We used this API to place a square around Lichfield, and then write some javascript to place every CCTV camera around the city on the map.

https://developers.google.com/maps/

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Week 4 - Sensors!

So this week it got a bit more technical, we played with Arduinos and sensors! 

The sensors we used were standard house motion sensors. These send either a 1 or 0 depending on if it detects motion or not, the motion is detected via it's infra-red sensor. We used a bit of code on the Arduino to detect this 1 or 0, if motion was detected, then it would turn an LED on, if no motion was detected, the LED would remain off. Even though this is simple, it is a great starting place for a much bigger motion detection project.

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Week 3 - Psychogeography

So, onto week 3, almost into the swing of uni life again!

This week in 203, we are learning about psychogeography. This is the psychological effect that the things around have on you. How different places effect your mood and how you feel.

For this weeks task, we had to get a map of plymouth, put a glass on it and draw around it lightly. We then had to draw in darker routes around this circle, following man-made paths and geographical ones that had to be built around.

Unfortunately, I missed this task due to being ill. I imagine this task could cause you to feel annoyed if you had to take a route with a massive detour just because there was an impassable object in the way, such as the sea in Plymouth's case? Other times, it may make you feel happy if it makes you pass down a road/path you rarely ever walk down and you discover a funky new shop (often found in smaller roads because rent is cheaper). You might also observe new bits of art and other pieces of intervention work put in place by others (such as walking round the back streets of Bristol, where you would often see work of the famous street artist Banksy).

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Week 2 - GPS Mapping

This week, we moved on to Using mapping and GPS (global position satellite) software and what we could create with it. The first thing I thought was GPS mapping, surely you can only highlight what is already within your surroundings? However there was so much more to it that than.

So, to start with I'll explain how GPS mapping works, and then show you some examples of it. To start off you need a device with GPS in it, a smartphone is ideal because you are able to get apps that record a journey that you take using GPS. The app we decided to use was Memory-map (http://memory-map.com/). This software tracks your route, and you can then see it on your phone once you have finished your route.

You can use this software to create pictures of things on maps using road layouts or even just working around an open field. Some examples of other peoples work doing this can be found here http://www.gpsdrawing.com/.

In our groups we were asked to go out and create an image of this type using the mapping software. Sadly, I seemed to have misplaced the image that we created! So, here is an image from the last time that we used GPS tracking to go around the uni to find certain places or items.

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Week 1 - Documentation

Just had my first lesson in 203, today we were looking at documentation, is it needed, why is it important and different ways of documenting a project, or even a space for a future project?

We were mainly concentrating on documenting an area within the city for a future project. This was good practice as a project can achieve so much more if it's in a more suitable place, for example an arts project where hardly anyone walks such as a back alley would not get much "coverage" as such as one that was in a busier location. However, there are both ends of the spectrum, somewhere too busy such as a main walking route would have less people looking at it that a "meeting point" as such. 

There are many different ways to document an area, and almost anything can be documented. A few of these documentation methods are:

Taking notes, photos, videos or sound recordings

Counting the amount of passing people

Temperature recording

WiFi/phone signal strength

Taking a note of the route people take through an area

Taking notes of if people often use this place to meet friends, or just as a route to get from A to B

Often when placing a project, you will want to extend this project to as many people as possible. This can be done by placing it in a high traffic area, however, people may just carry on walking past. I found that a far better place to put a project would be somewhere that people would be likely to hang around, such as a centralised meeting point. These places (such as well known landmarks) within a city often have people waiting around for friends. While people are waiting round, they often look around for interesting things to read/look at to make the wait more tedious.

For this above reason, me and Rob chose to monitor and document the fountain area along Armada Way within Plymouth City Centre. We decided to monitor the following and document our findings:

People count (both passing and waiting around)

Routes people took (which way they came from and were going)

We found that this area was a hotspot for both people waiting for friends and people passing, and therefore decided that it would be an ideal area to place a future project. This was because there would be a large people waiting for friends who would look at out of interest, and a large amount of people passing buy seeing it and may wish to stop and check it out, if they had time of course!