“Urban Tapestries”, part of the ongoing research programme “Social Tapestries”, is a software platform for knowledge mapping and sharing – public authoring. People can associate information, pictures, sound scapes, videos, stories with places and share with each other. It is calles an authoring system because it wants to enable people to become authors of their environment and to develop new social and creative practices based around place, identity and community.

This software could be well used for urban bitLife’s visualisation part. The first interface screenshots let us assume, that the our little urban bitLife avatars can well be placed on the virtual maps of “Urban Tapestries”, easily available and viewable for other users. Also a network link to google Earth is already taken into account.

It only remains to be seen when the software is made accessible for public use. On the website it is promised, however, that a new public interface is coming soon: “In early 2006 Proboscis hopes to release a series of interfaces to the new Urban Tapestries system (v2.0) beginning with a web client, followed by a WAP text-only interface for older mobile phones and a downloadable Java mobile client for more recent and advanced devices.” [1]

For further information check
[1] Urban/Social Tapestries
Urban/Social Tapestries Weblog

Tying in with Jeremijenkos robotics project Feral Robotic Dogs, “Robotic Feral Public Authoring” combines the two aspects hobbyist robotics and public authoring (mapping and sharing of knowledge), which “both enable people to use emerging technologies in dynamic and exciting new ways. Brought together they open up whole vistas of possibilities for exploring our local environments with electronic sensors to detect all kinds of phenomena and map them using online tools.” [1]

Sensors are used to measure environmental influences (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, solvent vapours, electro-magnetic emissions (mobile phone masts, electricity generators etc), light and noise pollution) and are combined with a robotic vehicle, in this case a remote-controlled toy-car. The data gained by the sensors are visualised online by the “Urban Tapestries” tool and thus enables people to perceive their environment and shows them that they can interfere with it.

“Our aim is to design and create practical applications of such ‘creative misuse’ of commercially available technologies for social and cultural public benefit.” [2]

For more information check
[1],[2] Robotic Feral Public Authoring at Urban Tapestries
Documentation booklet (Pdf, 821kb)
Public Authoring and Feral Robotics (Detailed Project Description, Pdf, 454kb)
Project Film (3min Qt Movie 8.1mb March 2006)

“Feral Robotic Dogs” or “Feral Robotics ” is an experimental robotics project by Natalie Jeremijenko in which low cost robots are hacked and turned into driving vehicles to inspect their surroundings. Released in a pack, they take notice of each other and together explore visible and invisble parts of their surroundings: Webcams on their behinds document visual information about the environment, sensors measure chemical pollution and radiation. “Participants can watch and try to make sense of this data without the technical or scientific training required to be comfortable interpreting a EPA document on the same material” (comment: EPA is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).

Feral Robotic Dogs

In the following, the factors measured in Vienna to determine the air quality and displayed on an official website of the “department for environment protection in Vienna”, shall be described.

Ozone - O3
In summer, ozone is the main threat to people’s health. It is a gas which, when it is formed near the ground, results from a reaction of nitrogen oxides and oxygen under the influence of sunrays. This means that it starts to take an effect in some distance from regions that are rich in traffic, even in green areas in a city. The hotter it is and the less wind there is, the higher the concentration gets.

Especially children, old or sick people should avoid exhausting activities outside during high concentration of ozone. In Vienna, the threshold where the population is informed by media is 180 microgram as average value per hour. At 240 microgram the “alarm threshold” is reached. The population is informed, sensitive people are adivsed to stay inside and healthy people should avoid to work or do sports outside.

Particulate Matter - PM10 (PM2.5, PM1)
“Particulates are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended gas. They range in size from less than 10 nanometres to more than 100 micrometres in diameter. This range of sizes represent scales from a gathering of a few molecules to the size where the particles no longer can be carried by the gas.”[1]

Interesting is that only 10% of all particulate matter is created by human activities, while the other 90% origniate from volcanoes, dust storms, forests,… In a city, however, the proportion changes and particulate matter created by humans is much more dangerous for people’s health than other particulates.
The biggest human sources of particles are automobiles -esp. those using diesel-, combustion in industry, private heating of rooms and construction sites.

The health effects of particulate have been widely studied but still cannot be fully determined. What can be said with certainty is, however, that a particle is the more dangerous the smaller it is. Whereas PM10 (about 10 micrometers in diameter) settles in the lungs and bronchies, PM2.5 penetrates directly into the lung and PM1 penetrates into the alveloar region of the lung. This may lead to asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular issues and premature death.

Particulate Matter is more dangerous in winter, on cold, clear and sunny days. Its concentration is the highest when there’s little wind and commutation of air, which makes its prevention easier and more important than its reduction. Additionally, it can be transported over long distances, which is why its concentration has to be examined in areas with little traffic and industry as well.

Nitrogen Dioxide - NO2
“Nitriogen dioxide is toxic by inhalation and long-term exposure to NO2 at concentrations above 40–100 µg/m³ causes adverse health effects. The most important source of NO2 are internal combustion engines, which emit nitrogen oxides near people.” [2]
The following map illustrates nitrogen dioxide concentration in Europe.

Sulfur Dioxide - SO2
Sulfur Dioxide is primarily formed by burning fossile fuels like coal or petroleum. Combined with water it changes to sulphuric acid and is therefore the cause for acid rain.

Higher concentration of SO2 can lead to harms of bronchial tubes and lungs as well as to headaches and sickness. The allowed daily average value of SO2 in the air is 120 microgram/m3, the average value of 30 minutes is 350 microgram/m3.

Carbon Monoxide - CO
“Carbon monoxide from automobile and industrial emissions is a dangerous pollutant that may contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming. In urban areas carbon monoxide, along with aldehydes, reacts photochemically to produce peroxy radicals. Peroxy radicals react with nitrogen oxide to increase the ratio of NO2 to NO, which reduces the quantity of NO that is available to react with ozone.” [3]

For all explanations check detailed information on
Ozone at Wikipedia
[1] Particulate Matter at Wikipedia
[2] Nitrogen Dioxide at Wikipedia
Sulfur Dioxide report made by Vienna and Lower Austria
[3] Carbon Monoxide at Wikipedia

A possibility to provide an artefact beside the documentation of the project could be the use of designer toys. They come in many variations but always in simple forms. Easy to adapt and also possible to paint them yourself.

Website “myplasticheart”

With the CX70 Emoty feelings, emotions and moods can be expressed in a quite new way. Laura, Joey and Wobble are chracters who “live” on your mobile phone and who can express ten different kinds of feelings. By pressing keys on your mobile or through special sensors on the phones case you can control their feelings and let your friends know in which mood you currently are.
This project also reminds me a little bit of Tamagotchi in respect of a little creature “living” in a portable device and expressing feelings. However, the crucial difference is that the Siemens Emoty can’t develop feelings of its own, but only reflects what the user tells him to feel. Laura, Joey and Wobble won’t change their mood an their own, won’t get sad because of not being cared for, won’t die.

Siemens Emoty

Spore is a real life simulation reaching from early history up to the present and into the future. By using procedural generation, content and thus life can be “produced on the fly” which offers a tremendous variety in possible developments and scenarios.

Official Spore Website
Spore at Wikipedia
GDC presentation at googleVideo

Plazes is a free webapplication and the “first global location-aware interaction and geo-information system, connecting you with the people and Plazes in your area and all over the world” [quote:We-make-money-not-art]. It detects your location and makes you see people in your area, discover other Plazes nearby and keep an eye on the whereabouts of your friends.

Plazes

The “Umweltbundesamt” posts daily reports about the air quality in citys and areas all over Austria. Concentration of particular matter (=Feinstaub), sulfur dioxide (=Schwefeldioxid), nitrogen dioxide (=Stickstoff Dioxid) and carbon monoxide (=Kohlenmonoxid) is measured and displayed.
Air Quality Reports of the “Umweltbundesamt”

A commercial organization providing free, real-time weather information via the Internet. The weather information is continously supplemented by measured data of personal weather stations of individual users.
Wunderground
Wunderground at Wikipedia