Chris Speed

An internet of old things as an augmented memory system

The interdisciplinary Tales of Things and electronic Memory (TOTeM) project investigates new contexts for augmenting things with stories in the emerging culture of the Internet of Things (IoT). Tales of Things is a tagging system which, based on two-dimensional barcodes (also called Quick Response or QR codes) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, enables the capturing and sharing of object stories and the physical linking to objects via read and writable tags. Within the context of our study, it has functioned as a technology probe which we employed with the aim to stimulate discussion and identify desire lines that point to novel design opportunities for the engagement with personal and social memories linked to everyday objects. In this paper, we discuss results from fieldwork with different community groups in the course of which seemingly any object could form the basis of a meaningful story and act as entry point into rich inherent ‘networks of meaning’. Such networks of meaning are often solely accessible for the owner of an object and are at risk of getting lost as time goes by. We discuss the different discourses that are inherent in these object stories and provide avenues for making these memories and meaning networks accessible and shareable. This paper critically reflects on Tales of Things as an example of an augmented memory system and discusses possible wider implications for the design of related systems.

An Internet of Old Things

This paper reflects upon the temporal characteristics of the emerging phenomenon known as the ‘Internet of Things’. As objects become individually tagged with unique identities through the addition of small electronic chips or bar codes, their history is recorded and made available to others across a network. The advent of this ever-growing catalogue of histories means that every object will be ‘in touch’ with its current and previous owner at all times and suggests that while we as owners might like to ‘forget’ about an object, we will never truly be detached from them. However the author suggests that there exists a social and cultural inertia that is tied to a teleological perception of time and that the weight of this is hampering opportunities for the Internet of Things to embrace old things. The paper uses a series of cultural coordinates to explore our relationship with personal and social histories including the use of cosmetic surgery to correct hereditary characteristics and films from the last five years that demonstrate a more creative approach to understanding the past. Ultimately the author uses a research project that he is involved in to explore the potential for digital technology to network the past and develop an ‘Internet of Old Things’.

Walking Through Time: Use of Locative Media to Explore Historical Maps

Smartphones are becoming a standard across creative and consumer communities, and their locative properties are beginning to change the way that we navigate physical and social spaces. Platforms that contain GPS (global positioning system) technology, such as the Apple iPhone and Google Android, are becoming a powerful research platform for exploring rural and urban landscapes. At present, the technology tends to provide a series of primary services: satellite navigation (satnay) to allow users to travel effectively from one place to the another, or ‘locative’ services that allow users tofind people or places of interest close by them. However, the systems sustain a technological and temporal determinism to show users in present-day maps, as though they should feel that they are navigating a simulacrum of ‘actual’ space.

Kissing and making up: time, space and locative media

This article explores the temporal phenomena associated with networked and locative media. Whilst many of the practical opportunities of locative media are biased toward space and place, the author introduces the importance of time. The article explores the loss of time from space that was compounded during the age of Enlightenment, and how many locative media platforms rely heavily upon the traditional articulation of space without time. However, as a form of recovery, the author suggests that since maps have become handheld and are able to locate us ‘upon’ them in ‘real-time’, time has once again began to feature as a characteristic of experience. The author compares our temporal consciousness with the development of representation of space to describe how time and space were once intimately linked, became separated through the Enlightenment project and modernity, but are recently showing signs of a renewed connection in locative media.