Points of View Abstract

Project Abstract
Points of View is an archive of stories about New York told through their eyes. The project will consist of two parts. The first is an interactive mobile walking tour that allows participants to explore New York City in an intimate way.

Users will be able to access the tour through a mobile web application. With the application open, the user will walk through the city. As they walk, the app will play different audio stories that take place in the locations they are walking through. Users will also be able to record their own personal story about the city through the app as well.

The second part of the project will consist of a New York City Payphone that will be installed in various places around the city. Users will be able to use the payphone to record their own experiences in the city and add them to the map. Their stories will be immediately added to the database and incorporated into the application. I hope to encourage users to participate in the telling of history and it’s important that I use the exhibition to encourage more users to add their own unique perspective of the city.

The web is amazing and grants us access to vast amounts of data and information. One might expect that this would result in us being more open and willing to learn about other perspectives. However, we don’t often use the internet to learn about new points of view. Instead, we tend to use it to confirm our preconceived ideas about the world around us. I want users to see the city of New York through someone else’s eyes and feel a connection to the other people that share this environment.

Project Details

• Goal: I want users to see the city of New York through someone else’s eyes and, through many user stories, feel a connection to the other people that share this environment.
• Audience: New Yorkers (and, perhaps, tourists).

Design Questions

1. What is the project, and specifically what is the form (performance, app, game, etc)
   1. I see this project as an archive taking the form of a mobile application and an installation:
2. Mobile App
   1. The first is an interactive mobile walking tour that allows participants to explore New York City in an intimate way. Users will listen to stories that New Yorkers have left throughout the city’s landscape and will also be able to leave their own personal perspectives throughout the city’s landscape.
3. Installation
   1. I also want NYC Stories to act as an archive of the many, varied perceptions of this great city.
   2. I plan to install a small New York City Payphone in various places around the city, as well as in the thesis exhibition. Users will be able to use the payphone to record their own experiences in the city and add them to the map. Their stories will be immediately added to the database and incorporated into the application.
   3. One of my main goals is to encourage users to participate in the telling of history and it’s important that I use the exhibition to encourage more users to add their own unique perspective of the city. I feel that this installation in the exhibition is integral to the success of my thesis project.
   4. FYI: I do not plan to display a smart phone with the actual NYC Stories web application running on it in the exhibition. I plan to simply advertise the URL of the application and will encourage users to view the application on their own
4. Why are you doing it (the idea or question?)
   1. The web is amazing and grants us access to vast amounts of data and information.
   2. One might expect that this would result in us being more open and willing to learn about other perspectives.
   3. However, we don’t often use the internet to learn about new points of view.
   4. Instead, we tend to use it to confirm our preconceived ideas about the world around us.
   5. Obviously, this is about trust – because there is so much out there, it’s hard to know what information is trustworthy and what information isn’t.
   6. I’d like to challenge the way we learn about our history.
5. What precedents are you drawing on?
   1. One important precedent is Humans of New York.
   2. This American Life is another precedent – The famous radio show tells the stories of average americans
6. How (very specifically) will it work?
   1. Users will be able to access the tour through a mobile web application. With the application open, the user will walk through the city. As they walk, the app will play different audio stories that take place in the locations they are walking through. Users will also be able to record their own personal story about the city through the app as well.
7. What specifically will you need in order to show or present it (practical needs, like screens, platforms, lighting, outlets, speakers, audience, tripods, live animals, source of water, etc)
   1. Mobile App
      1. The user needs a smartphone.
      2. I will need to put all of the following pieces together:
         1. Access the device’s geolocation through the web and refresh the reading every minute or so.
         2. Add the Google Map API (although, I might not use the map in the end on the mobile portion).
         3. Create a MongoDB Database that the user can submit audio files and the latitude and longitude for each location
      3. Installation
         1. Acquire an old payphone
         2. Build a wooden stand for it
         3. Power (Outlets or perhaps a large battery pack…?)
         4. Computer
         5. People to interact with it…