April 2008
recently, i've got a fancy new mobile phone together with an Internet flatrate. the phone is a nokia N95 with built in GPS and all sorts of Internet connectivity. so, it was time to start something that turns the ever nerving mobile into something more interesting than a phone...
i've installed a programming language, python for symbian, and mad a little
program that records a sound, takes an image, requests your position (latitude/longitude)
and sends it all to the radio aporee server. it's then immediately visible as a red dot
on the map, image in the info bubble, you've got the picture... vice verca will work too:
you are in a certain area, press a button on the mobile, it quickly scans your
environment for radio aporee sounds around you, and plays them... the ad people
call it location based services...
i think, assumed that in a few months or years every mobile or whatever portable device
has these capabilities, this could add an interesting layer on reality (besides the possibility
of getting spammed by location based advertising and other nasty things... i recommend the
movie minority report just for an interesting vision on this. not because of the plot...).
but there may be other scenarios, spots or areas in cities or out in the landscapes,
where something happens inbetween the physical surrounding, the info spaces, others and your
imagination. as william gibson said: there are no maps for these territories.
if you are interested in exchanging ideas and techniques about this project, mobile computing and sense of place, you could let me know or join the radio aporee ::: maps mailing list:
also, check the news section for ongoing experiments with mobile mapping.
radio aporee ::: maps
udo noll
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