DIARY IN TRACES (We wrote this quick&dirty intro page on 3 Dec 2002, the "Slashdot morning after" but left it here for archiving reasons) ...first of all, congrats on getting through to our server...we had the privilege of getting slashdotted. We've moved the Quicktime movies (under 'cumulations') to a server that will not bankrupt us so feel free ;-) Just some notes having read the comments so far on /. because most people seem to skip to the images and clips ASAP instead of reading all those, well, words : Q: Talk about Big Brother! The [enter your country here] government / MacDonalds etc. would love a tool like this! A: You bet. And telco's are working hard at it, not by using GPS but by bringing locationbased services to the GSM. Of course we were very much aware of this side to the project. It was exactly a point we were trying to raise awareness of. How does it feel to have this technology pervading in your life 24/7? Remember: all participants have *volunteered* to join this project because they were curious about 'their' map of the city. And more importantly, they had full control over the device. Also, only (a selection of) the resulting traces was put online afterwards, you could *not* follow the participants online in real time. Q: What's the fuzz about ? I don't get it. A: This site is just a supportive part of the project. The main experience could be had in front of a big high resolution projection in an Amsterdam exhibition on cartography. This is where the participants (with a minimum of background information) could be seen moving about live, in real time. Q: So why is that cool ? I can save my GPS-data using a Garmin/any GPS handset and run it through Photoshop... A: Because the mobile device we constructed sent its data to our server using a GPRS Internet connection, so all the visualisations were done live. Q: GPS on a subway ? Who are they kidding ? A: In Amsterdam we not only have "trams" but also a few subway-lines. Like everything in Holland they are a compromise: they run underground in the city center, but pop up at its edges, going on at street level, running at a speed somewhere between "trams" and trains. Q: Haha you misspelled [my find here] ! A: How's your Dutch ? Go troll yourself ;-) We'll try and put up some more background and pics on "The making of". In the meantime, enjoy.