All the setup is done and the trial of the Urban Tapestries prototype starts today and we have seven sessions booked in. When people return their devices we ask them to tell us what their experience was like.
This is part of our particpatory evaluation process which is designed to be open and transparent – allowing people who are interested in the project to get an immediate sense of how people are responding to the aims of the trial.
Posted by kat at December 6, 2003 02:27 PMI've just spent an hour out in the cold, scraping on an iPaq. It was fun !
During the last hour I've discovered a cute statue that I never knew existed, commented - for the public good - on the lack of availablity of snack food in Bloomsbury, and swore at the iPaq several times :-)
As it is the technology is a little, err, shaky. I found it was rather difficult to author threads, as the network coverage is patchy and the process can be rather slow. And curse the battery and it's short lifespan which cut short my magnum opus. Nothing more than the usual teething problems though.
I think maybe more significant, though, is the way the techno-foibles served to highlight some of the issues with authoring on the street. I felt like a techno-burglar a lot of the time; hanging around in doorways, as I felt a little vulnerable tapping away in the middle of the street. And the time it took to author a pocket was just a little too long for me to feel comfortable. One would imagine this will change - I don't feel uncomfortable texting in public after all.
I could imagine if the software were running on something more discreet (like a phone) and it was just a bit easier to author then really interesting things could happen. For one I could finish my photo I-Spy game that was killed in infancy by the batteries ...
Posted by: Jony Hudson at December 6, 2003 03:41 PMHi - we have just come in after spending an hour out in the cold of outdoor London in December. Phew ! Just getting our gloves off to type for the first time in an hour. Brrrr.
So - what was our experience like ? Well most of if was down to useability of the appliance and the application. We lost the connection to the network round a corner. When we got a good connection again we needed to login again, and at that stage we did not know how to bring up the keypad, to enter the login name.
When we did have the application working it appeared to be challenged to keep up with all of the materials, so perhaps it is a bottle neck.
We LOVE the concept, and perhaps if you could do something with the weather, and the useability of the application then we could try again and give a more indepth review of the deeper functions of this fascinating trial.
Posted by: Richard and Lib at December 6, 2003 03:58 PMWe tried out authoring on the first day of the trial - notwithstanding technical hitches, the concept was extremely exciting - ideas for threads flew faster than being able to enter them. The concept of pockets and threads was clear - it would be good to have thread labelling on the map to allow the selection of a particular story, and to decide the direction to go in.
Clustering and filtering of threads and pockets would be essential as the amount of data builds up - some threads might be too personal for casual browsing.
The map needed to zoom in and out - we ended up authoring in the wrong place, as the tracking was too slow...
Using the technology on the street was fine - however it accentuated the instinctive 360 degree scanning for possible thieves on bikes! We used the devices more statically - e.g. wander - sit - lookup pockets - author new data - plan - wander off again. Like texting on a mobile, you can't walk and type while avoiding cabs/pedestrians/kerbs/dog mess...
The best bit was using the PDAs as an excuse to talk to the security guard at Victoria House - who kindly showed us around the refurbished hall that was used in the recent Ferrero Rocher advert - if the technology worked indoors/off net, it would have been exactly the sort of thread that we would have recorded - both in words and pictures.
Like the 'little square grey guides' (can't remember the series) that talk about the architecture of a city or building types, the sense of excitement comes from being able to flick through large amounts of varying threads - both threads that will interest you, and threads found at random.
Our list of the threads that we wanted to make:
Re-landscaped squares around bloomsbury.
Photos of bad architectural details.
Looking through the windows - shapes and features.
"It's above you!" Looking up in the city...
Favourite shops (Cornelisons art suppliers, and the original PC bookshop on Sicilian avenue)
We ended up looking more at the physical environment around us, than authoring potentially useful information for other people.
Adding dates - we ended up discussing "I remember when..." or wanting to anchor our authored photos and pockets in a temporal dimension, as well as spatial. Within a pocket, we wanted to chart time as well - e.g. the PC bookshops on Sicilian avenue have changed from 2 shops, to 1 shop, to half a shop, over the space of 4 years... We'd like to browse data by date period - e.g. the joy of using an out-of-date guide book to see contrast between then/now.
Having been to the Bill Mitchell lecture at the Tate recently ('Me++: The Cyborg Self and the Networked City' see lecture notes at blackbeltjones on the 19th November, it was as if his thoughts on tech overlay on urban space were becoming concrete through the Urban Tapestries project - it's fun to play in the city...
Posted by: Rob and Elanor at December 6, 2003 05:13 PMOnce I had lost my bearings on the ipak, although I knew my actual location, I found it difficult to navigate the dedvise to match where I was. This happened after I rebooted a second time and the ipak did not return me to Bloomsbury squ.
I began by following a thread, but the ipak crashed very early on. I think, however, it would have been very enjoyable to continue.
When the map matched my physical location, it was easy to find my way around.
Using the technology was fine, when it worked. When it didn't work, my natural response was to think that I had done something wrong and this confirmed my low confidence uising unfamiliar technology.
I didn't create any threads, but I would have done had I been more proficient or confident using the ipak.
I found the experience very enjoyable; I became particularly aware that I normally treat this area as a thoroughfare and therefore miss the fascinating architecture. Also, it is a part of the city that deserves more interest. Perhaps the point also that modern life does not encourage us to be present to the environment one travels through, whereas using the ipak encourages one to absorb more from the surroundings and appreciate details that you can then inform others about or share in their delights and discoveries.
Posted by: Stewart Lane at December 6, 2003 05:19 PMFriday lunchtime & a new network appeared in my Airport menu. I Googled & found techno-happenings here on my very doorstep.
So I signed up & got my iPaq, but the little beast was not happy & we struggled with the technology which wasn't happy when straying away from it's home.
I've lived around here for over 20 years & the area is full of memories that only I can access, I love the idea of other peoples memories hanging in the ether that I can access too. I hope the technology can catch up soon!
ian (& Bertie & Stephen)
Have no friends not equal to yourself.
Posted by: Randall Suzanna at January 21, 2004 01:18 AM