Last update to this project 23. 3. 2009.
Live working examples made in the cities below
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Sensity Brixton London
This artwork visualizes the dynamic data around my environment as an audio visual artwork. I set up a wireless sensor network around my house in London. I live nearby a railway line, a factory, some trees and a mobile phone mast. (This is using real data).
The city is made up of bits of data that change. This artwork captures this change to try to understand the underlying fabric of city space. The artwork monitors the environment for change and relays these changes via the sensors.
(loci) 1 law an exact place or location, especially one where some incident has taken place.
Click on image for visualisation |
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Sensity Global London
Sensity involves collecting data across the city of London which visualized to make art. The whole world is a dynamic real time artwork. The city data space becomes mirrored online and the environment becomes an emergent series generative artworks. This is what it will look like when it is rolled out across the city wide environment. (This is a test using the same data collected around the river thames).
Also listen to online database of sounds from London
Click on image for visualisation |
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Sensity, Sao Paulo
I took a sensor kit with me to Sao Paulo and made a new version of Sensity from the area around the exhibition space. This road network is nearby as you can see from the map. The exhibition is at Largo Senador Raul Cardoso, 207 , Sau Paulo Brazil. Motomix, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (27-11 / 04-12) 2007. Specially made Sao Paulo version. Two versions were made. This online local version and a real time version. I went to Sao Paulo to collect the data. Sensors data and sound recordings were taken while I was in Brazil. The stream sounds version takes sounds from Sao Paulo that are on my www.soundcities.com database. You can add you own sounds and contribute to the project. The sounds change as the live sensor data changes .Thanks for the the team who helped collect the data and record some sounds with me in Sao Paulo. Curated in Brazil by Fernando Velazquez. Documentation of this exhibition below. Listen to online database of sounds from Sao Paulo
Another version using real time sounds. (NB. takes a while to download data stream) |
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Sensity, Copenhagen déjeuner sur l'herbe"
Inspired by the famous Manet painting of 1863. I set up a wireless sensor network around a park in Copenhagen, Denmark. The sounds and experiences and changes of the atmosphere and environment are represented in this work.
A representation of the data space as experience.
Click on image for visualisation |
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Sensity, Paris.
I have been invited to present and exhibit at Smart City Paris. The event will take place in the 'Salon Honnorat', Cité internationale universitaire de Paris 17, bd. Jourdan. 75014 Paris.
I took a six mote sensors with me and made this version of Paris. The sounds are streaming from the soundcities database and are triggered my sensor activity.
Click on image for visualisation |
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Sensity, V and A London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
On 26 Oct 2008, I visited the area around the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
I hid my sensors and made this work of the environment over a few hours in the afternoon. This visualization is made for Cybersonica late at V @ A on 31 st October 2008 and open evening. "Sensity V and A", was installed in the main foyer entrance. Sensity leverages the real time data city and represents it online, showing the properties of the system and the emerging changing behaviors of space.
Images below of how it looked in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Click on image for visualisation |
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Sensity Broadway Nottingham
I am in Nottingham making Sensity Nottingham around the Broadway cinema for the Radiator Festival "Exploits in the Wireless City". quoted: "We believe that artists have something different to say about the use of networked urban space. So. we have opened up a space in the busy city to place them side by side with experts whose judgments are sought in changing the cityscape".
For Radiator, Stanza will make a data visualization of Nottingham city using wireless sensor technologies.This is the first version using local data. A real time archived version will appear later.
I am also showing some new images from "Stars Of CCTV" series at The Surface Gallery.
I am also giving a talk on Friday 16thJan 2009 at 3.30 in the Broadway cinema Nottingham.
Click on image for visualisation |
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Sensity Plutopia Texas
I am in texas. Plutopia 2009.
Thanks to Derek Woodgate
The 9th Annual EFF-Austin SXSW After Party“Plutopia! – Best SXSW Interactive party to date” – Monday, March 16, 2009
6pm - midnight. Palmer Events Center 900 Barton Springs Road, Austin, Texas 78704
http://plutopia.org/collaborators/#stanza
Stanza will showcase over the evening selected works including:
Sensity – Diversity – Nanocities - Biocities.
Four pieces of generative artworks will be shown over the evening as installations in the space and the artists will be present.
Click on image for visualisation |
TECHNICAL NOTE.
I now have another sensor kit with twenty nodes that can be placed up to 300 meters apart with GPS.
I have made two versions of the Sensity interface software.
One works with recorded data (ie, a sampled junk of time) and one that works with the real time data (ie ever present always changing), which means the sensors are switched on always and working through a router. This uses custom written java based mote proxy software now in version 1.6.
NOTE: The changing data is what affects what you see and experience. The flash interfaces reflecting these real time changes in the interactive city space.
Live XML feeds form real time sensors when switched on. This is open sourced so other academics, urban designers, researchers as well as artists can make use of the data.
The sensors can monitor temperature, sounds, noise, light, vibration, humidity, and gps.
The sensor network takes a constant stream of data which is published onto an online environment where each different interface makes representations of the XML
From this lots of artistic interpretations can be imagined and made these above example are some in this series.
motes/mts310/
motes/mts420/motestatusxml |
READ ME:
Sensity is part of "The Emergent City" series of works by Stanza.
Artworks monitoring the real time interactive city using wireless sensors.
If you are interested in exhibiting this artwork get in touch. I am available to visit your city to take data readings, and make a piece of artwork.
Please note that the artwork is developing and changing all the time.
Sensity can be shown in various ways and stages and outputs.
1. You can also invite me to make a Sensity version in your city in which case I can bring the sensors with me, and make a visualization of your environment.
2. Sensity can then be shown / exhibited as an installation and projected ie, making a display based on the net based interfaces using the data collected.
3. Sensity can be shown / exhibited as an installation on the sphere below, depending on your budget.
4. Sensity can also installed permanently or for a longer period in rural or urban space, depending on your budget.
5. I am available to give talks on this work.
6. You can fund the next development of my research and artworks which includes:-
a) a physical environment a city, CAlle The Emergent City.
b) a music system based on changing data all over the city now called Sonification, its s different project.
c) performative system using real time gps for 12 players and also robots. Called Robotica 6.
Contact: Stanza@sublime.net
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EXHIBITIONS OF SENSITY.
Sensity @Plutopia SXSW Texas. 2009
Radiator Festival and Exhibition Nottingham 2009. "Exploits in the Wireless City".
Biennale of Sydney Revolutions – Forms That Turn 2008
Smart City Paris. The event will take place in the 'Salon Honnorat', Cité internationale universitaire de Paris 17, bd. Jourdan. 75014 Paris. 31 october 2008.
Motomix, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 2007. Specially made Sao Paulo version.
NIME New York City. USA. 2007.
Sensity project at Share IT in Italy 2007.
Dislocate. Koiwa Art Space Tokyo Japan. 2007.
Also presented at Force of Metadata Conference at Goldsmiths college.2008
Stanza is a UK based artist and was supported by The AHRC Creative Fellowship.
Stanza is currently based at Goldmsiths College London where he has a studio in the digital studios.
Read a review on Futherfield. |
Sensity.
A series of artworks based on sensing the environment.
Sensity artworks are made from the data that is collected across the urban and environment infrastructure. I have two networks of sensors which collect data, all this is then published online. The sensors interpret the micro-data of the interactive city. The output from the sensors display the "emotional" state of the city online in real time and the information is also used to create offline installations and sculptural artworks.
Several artworks have been made, and several new physical cities are in development for 2009.
These artworks represent the movement of people, pollution in the air, the vibrations and sounds of buildings. They are in effect emergent social sculptures visualizing the emotional state of the city.
The sensor networks can be moved from urban to rural setting, ( ie they are mobile) and different types of visualization can be made depending on the environment. Sensity is an open social sculpture that informs the world and creates new meaningful experiences.
Sensity is also a highly technical project that gives vast amounts of information about the fabric of our cities. By embedding the sensors like this we can re-engage with the urban fabric and enable new artistic metaphors within city space. The sensors are positioned across the city. Custom made software now enables these sensors to communicate will one another in a network over a proxy server in real time. Control to the hardware is opened up.
The data is also used to create visualizations in an open source environment. Other online users can also re- interpret the data and interrogate the various sensors in the network as this is open sourced as well (see xml streams). Representations of these data sets will allow unique understanding of the urban environment and environment in real time.
Motes are used to collect the data. The 'motes' are tiny wireless sensor boards that gather data and communicate to the central server. The real world is monitored and the data stored in my archive retrieval system. Motes and sensor boards sense the micro incidents of change in the weather, the noise traffic flows and people flows. The interactions of all this data, controlled via interfaces that can re-form and re-contextualise experiences in real time.
Sensity incorporates the holistic city system. The sense city is a city full of accumulated incidents; of love, abuse and death, fundamentally of change. The micro incidents of change in the weather, the noise traffic flows and people flows are all potential sources for inquiry. The archives of this data can be controlled via mixed up interfaces that can re-form and re-contextualise experiences in real time. A new city experience is resulting based on the mash up meta data from these multiple cities streams.
Sensity leverages these real time data city and represents it online, showing the life of the system, opening up the system, and the publishing emerging changing bahaviours of the space.
As all things becomes connected and networked, this concept will be rolled out to incorporate a system that senses not just the city but the whole world. Eventually sensors will be linked to give a real time global visualization.
~ Public domain data resource for art and environmental monitoring.
~ The data is the medium.
~ Artworks using data from the real time environment.
Related Research Blog. The Emergent City .
Urban re-mediated experience - audiovisual, mobile and network media in the production, consumption, surveillance, and experience of places.
Version (02) screen shots of online interface.
The Interactive City. New metaphors relevant to the experience of the city.
Various types of data can be re-imagined within the context of city space and the environment. This includes pollution data recorded via sensors in the street, to create audio acoustic files expressing the pain and suffering of the air as it pollutes. Weather and forecast data, acquired via weather station equipment; this can be used and can create ambient soundscapes and morphing visualizations as the wind shifts direction or the rain increases. Noise monitor levels, and noise maps , create a symphony of true urban sounds that can be used to make sound reactive sculptures. The patterns we make, the forces we weave, are all being networked into retrievable data structures that can be re-imagined and sourced for information. These patterns all disclose new ways of seeing the world.
The value of information will be a new currency as power change. The central issue that will develop will be the privilege and access to these data sources. By allowing access to the system I am opening up the control and trying to enable a system of trust.
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Datacities: The Emergent City. The Mother of Big Brother
Imagine walking out the door, and knowing every single action, movement, sound, micro movement, pulse, and thread of information is being tracked, monitored, stored, analyzed, interpreted, and logged. The world we will live in seems to be a much bigger brother than the Orwellian vision, its the mother of big brother.
Can we use new technologies to imagine a world where we are liberated and empowered, where finally all of the technology becomes more than gimmick and starts to actually work for us or are these technologies going to control up, separate us, divide us, create more borders. With the securitzation of city space create digital borders that monitor our movement and charge us for our own micro movements inside the system
My wireless sensor network is set up to visualize cities as 'worlds' full of data, a city of bits. These new data-spaces can help us understand the fundamentals of our outside environment.
I now have several version of this artwork, please contact me for full details on how this can be exhibited and experienced.
I also have two networks of wireless sensors. One network is for a building, and one for the space around the building, ie the environment or city space.
For an example of the network used around a building see my two artworks, "HOUSE" and "VISITORS TO A GALLERY" on my www.stanza.co.uk site.
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Concepts
These new networks represent open social sculptures that can inform the world and create new meaningful experiences. By this I mean the social space is opened up into a real time flow space. A new virtualizes data space emerges.
The micro incidents of change in the weather, the noise traffic flows and people flows. The technology can also be used for logging the movement of people, pollution in the air, the vibrations and sounds of buildings to make emergent social sculptures. The interactions of all this data is controlled via the visual interfaces and re-forms and reconstitutes experiences of the city in real time.
Environmental monitoring and controlled surveyed city space.
The increase of technology infrastructure in the daily existence of a city means that technology will, more than ever be everywhere in our environment. Data mining will be part of the fabric of the landscape. Everything is or will be tracked. CCTV, car sensors, tracking inside our phones and id card movement tracking in the guise of anti- terror activity. The patterns we make, the forces we weave, are all being networked into retrievable data structures that can be re-imagined and source for information. These patterns all disclose new ways of seeing the world. The value of information will be a new currency as power change.
The central issue that is developing is the privilege and access to these data sources. Will these systems be open or closed?
Peoples "homes" under a road in Sao Paulo. Image stanza 2007
Gathering assets and making narrative for creating understanding. Translating what we gather into something we understand or at least into something we can experience.
For any group of users defined variables and fields of data need to be interrogated. Before this can happen cells or spaces where these assets reside need to be created. Once this happens one can in principal mediate the information to create artistic metaphors. To start, decisions about interface interaction can be mediated dependant only variable data. This will vary from data that the user can control to passively die, generative data that runs and interprets various functions The objective is to create new ways of seeing in order to navigate and not just reinterpret other product concepts. It would also be worth bearing in mind that while these projects might well have fixed realizable outcomes such as data visualizations of live city space; they are all focused far into my future works which I envision as articulated responsive spaces triggered by the changing data of space.
Data feed of Sao Paulo. from Motto Sensity exhibition. Image stanza 2007
Instead of adopting narrative threads from other media, I am interested in the currency that exists already in the city space. These works are focused on the wider picture of city experiences which are being played out in real time. This sort of experience of multi nodes and multi threaded spaces, demands a refined gathering of data, a sensitive accumulation which can then lead to some kind of modeling and visualization. [audible and visual (mils)-representation] of the social network as it exists and is impacted upon.
There is a argument to opening up the level of control and responsibility given allows freedom within the system. Its a good argument until something changes, the passwords change, the building goes private, and every single piece of data is used for something that it wasn't intended for. Some things change for the better but sometimes they don't; one thing is for sure; things change.
Therefore I am focusing on the things that change, the flow, the data that describes our experience of the city as space.
Data from all sides in systems that can be mediated by all, with varying visualizations communicated over the internet and represented onto different display systems.
DISPLAY OUTPUTS
 
Data projections by Stanza
Other ways the Sensity project can be displayed. Here on a round globe display made by Puffer fish. tested at County Hall London.(above).Thanks to PufferfIsh for allowing these tests. This is a real globe, die a round display system.
A world full of data. Above image shows Sensity Loci on Pufferfish Display at County Hall 2006 .
This imposing 2m wide Puffer Sphere is highly mobile (easy to transport, set up and operate), extremely durable and provides a 360-degree viewing window ideal for engaging large, non-captive audiences. Density can be exhibited in a number of ways, on this display is one example. If you want to exhibit it on the Pufferfish display; the equipment will have to be hired. (Thanks to pufferfish for use of the equipment, for testing.)
 
  Photos from Sensity projected at Share IT in Italy 2007.
Images from Sensity Sao Paulo, exhibited. Largo Senador Raul Cardoso, 207, Sau Paulo Brazil. Motomix, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 2007.
 
Images from Sensity Sao Paulo, exhibited. Largo Senador Raul Cardoso, 207, Sau Paulo Brazil. Motomix, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 2007.
 
Images from Sensity n Nottingham around the Broadway cinema for the Radiator Festival 2009 .
 
Stanza images from Cybersonica late at Victoria and Albert Museum, London as a digital city on 31 st October 2008
This visualization screen and online work is made for Cybersonica late at Victoria and Albert Museum, London. on 31 st October 2008 and open evening and "Sensity V and A", was installation in the main foyer. Sensors placed around an environment transmit information about the surrounding space that is used to create this installation. London becomes visualised as a digital interactive city. (See above for archived version).
"As I was walking out of the V&A, I saw the
big screen and could hear the ambient noise. The effect was really
really cool -- half wondering if the sound was from the museum, half
wondering where in hell the sound was coming from in the first place:
which is why the map on the screen definitely added to the intrigue." Sarah Northmore
Stanza sensity...Plutopoia at SXSW Austin Texas 2009
Picture of a mote in a glass contained (housing) before deployment .
This mote is a MTS420 CC from Xbo without the GPS attached.and running in low power mode.
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Overview.
Thousands of motes can be deployed across the city for gathering data in wireless sensor networks ( I now have two separate kits of twenty sensors). Used in large numbers they communicate with one another via radio signals across the network. They reconfigure themselves or self heal, so that the network stays stable. The data is funneled through a system to a point where it can then be interpreted. The motes themselves can be deployed every thirty metres depending on the frequency, and 500m with the new ones, and any number can be place in a network. A new mote in just developed allows nine hundred metres without line of sight, suitable for my city wide proposal.
Each mote can sense its own position, wakes up and find its neighbour in the network. They have low energy use, (but this is a major issue in using them and depends on how you program them) the life expectancy is determined by the battery. In the future it is imagined they will run on solar power, but again these solar panels are very big three book large to power on mote).
My concept is to embed the city with thousands of motes to gather data for the creation of artistic artifacts and to allow other access to the data for city based studies and analysis.
Several versions (networks and visualizations) have now been deployed as part of my research into the emergent city and intelligent buildings.
The city experience.
The city experience is a web of connected networks and multi layered threaded paths that conditions us to the emotional state of the city space. In essence, the city fabric is a giant multi user multi data sphere. To take part you really have to put something back in, that's like life. In this case, to take part you have to input data so others 'may' see the output of the data response.
The city has a history of stories relative to time and place, stories from the street. Love stories personal and extreme, crime stories, stories that are small or that can affect global parameters. All of these spheres can be represented by media and therefore by data within the digital realm and becomes a data source so powerful so interwoven that its scale can only be imagined as metaphor. The size and scope of such an archive, of such rich mediated data experience would support many projects. As such it can be interpreted as history via one sort of interface or as a game via another sort of interface. A possible objective is to 'mediate' data into a conceptual artifact. With this perspective there are many unimagined threads of data and connections that describe our world that can be explored within which we can create artistic interpretations.
As we move about the city we art in fact interactive agents, by default we are actors doing our bit and affecting the system.
Noise and Sound Monitoring.
After walking around my local environment and making recordings it has become obvious that noise in the city is everywhere. I thought I lived in a fairly quite area. However, after making a series of walks and sounds recordings this has changed my perspective of where I live. The constant aero planes, and cars, the hum of trains and shouts of people. Even in the park, the trains, and garages making constant noises. The city space is an evolving composition of sounds that bombard us. So much so that we are hardly aware. The sounds of the city presents itself as noise but it is actually the language of the city space. The sounds of the city are the sounds of "urban music".
Noise affects and makes more noise.
The sounds of the urban experience.
There are now hundreds of "found" sounds collected for 'sensity' in the soundcities.com database. Soundcities is an online resource with hundreds of urban sounds from all over the world recorded by the artist. The sounds are relayed as the sensor data changes in real time and trigger these outputs. Another development in the flash based engines is to use synthesis to make a real time generative music based of the noise values of the city space.
Data as sound. Perform with space.
Using the XML live feeds the data can be turned in music. A custom made MAX/MSP motereader and sound synthesis engine has now been written. This allows one to hear the sounds of space, ie an aual experience of the surrounding space. Additonal mixers in the softare allow all the sensors to be mixed and cross mashed. Basically this allows you to perform with space.
Environment.
Light, Temperature, Sound, Noise, Pollution, GPS, Pressure, etc
See sample data set and recorded or archived data sets.
VIEW XML example. London (2004)
Live XMLfeeds form real time sensors when switched on. 2007
The sensors can monitor temperature, sounds, noise, light, acceleration, vibration, ,pressure, humidity, and gps. The sensors take a constant stream of data which is published onto an online environment where different interface can make representations of the XML and from this lots of artistic interpretations can be imagined.
Also now available live polling from the sensor networks via XML format online. (when switched on lastest version 2008)
motes/mts310/
http://igor.gold.ac.uk/motes/mts420/motestatus.php
http://igor.gold.ac.uk/motes/mts310/motestatusxml.php
http://igor.gold.ac.uk/motes/mts310/motestatusxml_html.php
motes/mts420/motestatusxml
http://igor.gold.ac.uk/motes/mts420/motestatus.php
http://igor.gold.ac.uk/motes/mts420/motestatusxml.php
http://igor.gold.ac.uk/motes/mts420/motestatusxml_html.php
Example xml format for real time data and URL. (remember the data only changes when they are switched on)
What the 310 sensor network as XML looks like:
What the 420 sensor network as XML looks like:
Housing for motes 420s
Specific environments and urban networks can be monitored for changes in the micro climate and habitat of spaces and locations. This data can also be used for farming, crops, weather, etc. as well as art.
 
Screen shot of Visual Basic Mote reader which is testing system for the new project ELECTRICITY. Which is in development. This new installation is a responsive city of electronics, a city made real from the virtual data captured from the real city....coming soon as an installation.
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Technology
The technology presently consists of Xbow's MICA2 motes and MICA2DOT motes. It uses an Atmel Atemega 128L processor running at 4 megahertz. It also has some flash memory to store the program. It consumes only 8 milliamps when it is running, in lower power mode it will run for more than a year. The trick is to write the program so the mote is asleep for most of the time therefore saving power. The mote can wake up for a few micro seconds and then sleep again for period of time. They have an a/d converter so the sensor data can be digitized. The software is written to control the mote is built on an OS called Tiny OS. The chips contain all the components found in a mote: a CPU, memory, and A/D converter for reading data and radio transmitter. Tiny OS is written is Nes C, a special programming language for motes developed at Berkeley.
To do this for the 420CC one has to hack the two programs together for the low and high power mode and then upload via OATP as a lower power version. This was it gets a GPS fix.
In addtion.
There is a kit or suite of tools called task which consists of:-
TINY DB. Allows interaction with sensor network through declarative SQL interface.
TASK server. A server running on the gateway acts as a proxy for the sensor network on the internet via xml and interpreted by custom built software.
TASK DBMS. A relational database that stores sensor readings, sensor health, sensors locations, etc
TASK Client Tools. ie a deployment tool, configuration tool and visualization tool.
TASK Field tools. Allow pda for in the field diagnosis.
Issues
The main problems with this project are the technological ones. The have limited processing, storage and communication bandwidth. They require new software and hardware design, they also require the system to be designed so that they easy to use.
Ethics of security in oublic domain social space.
Motes and sensor based networks also raise serious issues about privacy and security that will cross the collaborative borders and merge with legislative issues. ie how does one actually displace these in the real world.
The wireless city made virtual with sensors
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The Living City
Is the city truly emergent? Can the city be called an organism?
If so what about the validity of the city experience in relation to its 'character' 'soul' of spirit'?. By collecting such data we monitor the urban landscape enabling us to see and understand the emotional city and its sensory behavior. In essence these smart networks will have data open to all, and not closed off spy surveillance oriented systems. The network will be an open social sculpture that can inform the world to create new meaningful experiences.
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Future Cities.
Future cities will be merged real time connected up data cities. Sensity connects up networks of real time information flows. The results are mashed up cities and real time performative city mashings. The shared data space can overlap and there is a new space the space in between that only two nodes share. The aetheticization of the shared city space. In the experiment below I have merged collected data from various cities. The images below show an integrated architecture the space where the cities overlap and create a new architectural space.
Above image shows xml data from London and Copenhagen mashed up together to form a mixed merged city space. Stanza 2008
Above image shows xml data from London mashed up together to form a mixed merged city space from a period of three days. June2008
There are many types of recording devices in the city from cameras to mobile phones. I envisage the city of the future will start to build a system that will integrate this data into a sort of semantic city. A visualized flow city data experience will allow us to see 'the soul of the city'. By mixing the XML outputs of the various cities one can create interfaces to mash up the city experience into common themes and poetic threads.
AUDACITY : ELECTRICITY: VELOCITY: COMPLEXITY: ATROCITY PUBLICITY: :
Future Cities. Technology
The general hope is that these motes, this technology will become so small they will become 'dust'. They are therefore being called 'smart' dust. This is still a long way off. The technology, despite the preaching is still costly, and devices are also very unstable when deployed.
This type of proactive embedded computing will be hidden inside the fabric of our lives and our environment. It will be inside the fabric of the real city creating a new emergent data city. The real world will become virtualized into an archive retrieval system using such a system. The emergent city is a sense city embedded with millions of computers to re-engage with the urban fabric and to enable new artistic metaphors within city space. It will enhance out experience of city space as well as monitor both the the environment but out condition and movement and place within the city space. This brings up data regulation as the control of these systems increasingly become part of a data marketplace.
Other technology observations.
Most of the issues to wit motes are to do with power over time, and then trusting that the sensor packet data you recieve is accurate, (and not because the power of technoolgy is failing). I have now spent four years messing, playing and testing this equoment and making a whole range of discoveries with it. This has led to the development of new sotwtare to get them to work and be delpoyed.
But overall as a practise based artist such a complicated technology I have to say it been at times a serious struggle. This is because most of the technology research has been hampered not by my ambitions for the project but by the unstable nature of the technologies, connections and networked involved. As well as the poorly supported manuels that are at best misleading and at worst just wrong. ( see the blog for tech workarounnd and solutions)
 
My Outputs.
- through online environment for monitoring of data for open access. (urban and rural).(done)
- back into urban (or rural) spaces as projections/ installations.(done)
- projected into fabric as smart sculpture or intelligent building. (done)
- data built into sensory sculpture that acts as environmental monitoring system, testing various research questions specified elsewhere (in progress 2009)
- through display systems as installations. (done)
- can now be used for tracking and monitoring for surveillance space using GPS data from 420 CC.
(done as XML feed)
- tracking and monitoring cities using GPS data from 420 CC as live drawing using processing. (in progress 2009)
- tracking and monitoring cities using GPS data from 420 CC as a musica system. (in progress 2009)
To Do List.
- acquired and tested first versions small prototype and gathered some data (done)
- got some more sensors 25 now set up second small network and GPS. (done)
- create over the air programming, install on all motes. (done)
- collect data via xml and publish online (done)
- collect data via php and publish online and open sourced (done)
- develop semantic tag system for sensors interrogation. (needs tech support: done).
- figure a way to interpret this visually via the feeds in flash. (done)
- figure a way to interpret this visually via the feeds in processing (version 1 done)
- develop a way to interpret XML and rebroadcast wirelessly zig bee to another physical source, protype in development)
- develop visual interface for audio control of data via MAX MSP motes control and is now a project called Sonification
- create a proxy server to poll data off motes on real time from online over tcp ip over the net (done)
- create a proxy server to poll data off motes on real time from a local server; ie by-passing a router (done)
- create real time visualizations that work online from polled data, ie remake recorded versions to be global across networks (done)
- create installation and sculpture ie, display the data. First make visualizations and then make a prototype. (Done three versions.)
- research polymers and materials science as possible display. (in development, not much progress beyond research)
- research leds as possible display. (to do...or anyone to collaborate on this - version one in progress?)
- create /find partners and work towards city based dynamic artwork. (Still trying to find project partners in the UK).
- the new system has GPS. I have to incorporate the data into a newer visualisation. This will lead to real time performative city, with people wandering the streets and tracking their position ie the BODY in the data space.
- experiment with display outputs, projectors and pufferfish display. (done) could do more here.
- Bought some new nice looking housing as the housing supplied by Xbow is rubbish (done)
- make xml output display from xml to 3d stereo interface, using stereo rig (nice experiment to do)
Tech visualisation (all ongoing)
- resize to 1024 by 768-(done)
- makes sure buttons work on mac also (done)
- save this version (done)
- start new version (done)
- Put bubble effects on each sensor node reacting to values (done)
- zoom feature to zoom onto specific sensors. (done)
- move sensors and save new position.(done)
- important and save new background image. (done)
Sounds What's Can Be Done?
Simple flash engine
Director into flash sound engine
Java based sound engine...( anyone interested in helping with a java sound engine from the xml data?)
New series of java sound environments developed and MAX MSP real time sound engine for motes
Archiving
Xml saving and clearing cache (done)
How to save xml in flash or pull from database and import previous version. ie replay data along timeline.
Replay hour to hour along a timeline ( not done)
Technology Development.
I am using MIB 500 as a gateway, plus Mica 2 processor boards at 900 htz with MTS 300 ca ( light / temp /acoustic boards)
Xmesh build for MTS 300CA is the same as for 310. Broadcasting on ttys6 which is com7. Trying to achieve true mesh architecture. Using Moteview 1.4 the baud rate is at 546000.
When programming base station make sure ATAP is unchecked. Mote config is buggy and often needs to be re-started. Also check system and exit active programs ie, XOTAP.exe then restart mote config.
Milestones in the technology development of Sensity.
A motereader software has been developed. Its at version 1.6 and allows real time online gathering of the data off the sensors through a server.
The motereader has also been remade as a local server (apache is needed on the local machoine and ports needs to be changed)
An xml formatting system has been developed that allows the data to be seen in real time online in XML format.
A series of flash scripts have been developed that allows the real time integrated and visualisation of live data from the sensor network from anywhere in the world.
A series of Max patchesd for sound have been developed.
A visual basic reader has been developed for the physical comuting side.
Flash based interfaces for real time and local version have been made for both real time and archived versions of the visualisation.
An online xml interface has been developed for online real time sharing of data.
© stanza. 2004 - 2009.www.stanza.co.uk
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Funding.
Sensity research funding from 2006 - 2009 is supported by The AHRC Creative Fellowship.
Initial research was supported by Nesta and the Clarks Bursary and developed into new research.
Funding is now needed for live integration with a number of environmental and related projects that are coming out of this. If interested get in touch.
This project still needs support on all levels. For more permanent site tests.
Stanza is the Arts And Humanities Creative Research Fellow at The Goldsmiths Digital Studios, London. 2006 - 2009
I now need funding for permanent hosting or exhibition of the results.
These artworks are essentially wireless sensor network used for surveillance and environmental monitoring. If you would to deploy this artwork or have a network built get in touch.
Sensity Project Credits. Stanza
Sensity is a Stanza artwork under the Global Title of projects 'The Emergent City.' see www.stanza.co.uk for all the other projects
Art, sounds, concepts, development, research, production, web images, interface design , data viz, artistic concepts, by Stanza.
For more information visit.
Technology Credits.
Motes, programming,technology set up, research, hardware implementation, web development, etc 2004 2009. Stanza.
Additional support credits for various aspects of technology infrastructure.
JAVA moteproxy and server trouble shooting, tech support. Eamonn Martin . Many Thanks
Alpha and Beta Flash version support and coding with Adam Hoyle. Many Thanks
Hardware support troubleshooting with Nat Pryce from Imperial College.
Processing test version XML with support from Ben Gimpert. (Not used)
Hardware from Xbow in San Jose and Willow UK.
Tech support workshop with Xbow in Boston USA. Stanza 2004.
Incorporates XML and live feeds from www.soundcities.com database. Stanza
XML into flash socket support and trouble shooting for online use from Neil Jenkins
MAX MSP/ for xml input support from Mick Grierson.
Custom electronics support and new Mote reader interface from XML. Ian Steele.
Mentoring Support.
Professor Janis Jefferies Director of Digital Studios Goldsmiths college, Head of Visual Arts. Many Thanks
Offering support in the contextual development of this project in relation to the visual arts.
Professor Michael Keith: Director Urban Studies at Goldsmiths college.
Offering support in the development of this project in relation urban studies.
Related Research Blog. The Emergent City
© Copyright stanza 2004-2009 Stanza www.stanza.co.uk
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About Stanza.
Stanza is a London based British artist who specializes in net art, networked spaces, installations and performances. His award winning online projects have been invited for exhibition in digital festivals around the world, and Stanza also travels extensively to present his net art, lecturing and giving performances of his audiovisual interactions. His works explore artistic and technical opportunities to enable new aesthetic perspectives, experiences and perceptions within context of architecture, data spaces and online environments.
Stanza's work crosses borders between artistic, technological and scientific sectors. Stanza creates participatory digital artworks that invite viewers to guide data flows or to simply observe self-generating compositions. His digital paintings shift through abstract and iconic patterns, which people can explore akin to virtual environments. Interactive and visually appealing, his style also maintains the substantive power through multi-facetted content. This artist has won international praise and awards for his new media works that invite collaboration.
Stanza is currently a recipient of a AHRC creative fellowship 2006-9 for a project called The Emergent City (based at Goldsmiths Digital Studios, London), researching sensors and the impact of live data in the architectural and urban environment. This prestigious award provides incoming investment, allowing experiments using new displays, sensors, and live data to make responsive spaces and interactive installations.
Artistic Statement about current research and practice.
I am researching data within cities and how this can be represented, visualized and interpreted. Data from security tracking, traffic, and environmental monitoring can all be interpreted as a medium to make artworks. I seek to investigate new ways of comparing, conceptualizing and then visualizing complex concepts related to the relationship of emergent data and real space in the built environment. Through practice based research, a series of modular experimental artworks will be created to express the possibilities for our data-mediated future. There are three strands of my working process; these involve collecting the data, visualizing the data, and then displaying the data. The outputs from the online interfaces and online visualizations can be realized as real time dynamic artworks as diverse as installations, and real objects, made out of new display materials back in physical space.
Awards.
AHRC Creative fellowship 2006 - 2009
NESTA Dreamtime Award. 2004
Clark Digital Bursary. 2003
Future Physical Grant for Genomixer. 2002
D.T.I. Innovation Award. 1997
Prizes.
Videoformes Multimedia First prize France 2005.
Art In Motion V.First prize USA 2004.
Vidalife 6.0 first prize 2003.
Fififestival Grand Prize France 2003.
New Forms Net Art Prize Canada 2003.
Fluxus Online first prize Brasil 2002.
SeNef Online Grand Prix Korea 2002.
Links first prize Porto 2001.
Videobrasil Sao Paulo 2001 first prize.
Cynet art 2000 first prize, Dresden.
© Copyright stanza 2004-9 www.stanza.co.uk
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- other stanza related city based artworks below -
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