Locative media or location-based media (LBM) are
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
of communication functionally bound to a location. The physical implementation of locative media, however, is not bound to the same location to which the content refers.
Location-based media delivers
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...
and other
content
Content or contents may refer to:
Media
* Content (media), information or experience provided to audience or end-users by publishers or media producers
** Content industry, an umbrella term that encompasses companies owning and providing mas ...
directly to the user of a
mobile device
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physica ...
dependent upon their location. Location information determined by means such as
mobile phone tracking
Mobile phone tracking is a process for identifying the location of a mobile phone, whether stationary or moving. Localization may be effected by a number of technologies, such as the multilateration of radio signals between (several) cell towers ...
and other emerging
real-time locating system technologies like
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...
or
RFID can be used to customize media content presented on the device.
Locative media are
digital media applied to real places and thus triggering real social interactions. While mobile technologies such as the
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
(GPS),
laptop computer
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
s and
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
s enable locative media, they are not the goal for the development of projects in this field.
Description
Media content is managed and organized externally of the device on a standard desktop, laptop, server, or cloud computing system. The device then downloads this formatted content with
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
or other
RTLS coordinate-based triggers applied to each media sequence. As the
location-aware device enters the selected area, centralized services trigger the assigned media, designed to be of optimal relevance to the user and their surroundings.
Use of locative technologies "includes a range of experimental uses of geo-technologies including location-based games, artistic critique of surveillance technologies, experiential mapping, and spatial annotation."
Location based media allows for the enhancement of any given environment offering explanation, analysis and detailed commentary on what the user is looking at through a combination of
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
,
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
* Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
* Digital audio, representation of sou ...
,
images and
text
Text may refer to:
Written word
* Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including:
**Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred
**Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...
. The location-aware device can deliver interpretation of cities, parklands, heritage sites, sporting events or any other environment where location based media is required.
The content production and pre-production are integral to the overall experience that is created and must have been performed with ultimate consideration of the location and the users position within that location. The media offers a depth to the environment beyond that which is immediately apparent, allowing revelations about background, history and current topical feeds.
Locative, ubiquitous and pervasive computing
The term 'locative media' was coined by Karlis Kalnins. Locative media is closely related to
augmented reality (reality overlaid with virtual reality) and
pervasive computing
Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using ...
(computers everywhere, as in
ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using ...
). Whereas augmented reality strives for technical solutions, and pervasive computing is interested in embedded computers, locative media concentrates on social interaction with a place and with technology. Many locative media projects have a social, critical or personal (memory) background.
While strictly spoken, any kind of link to additional information set up in space (together with the information that a specific place supplies) would make up location-dependent media, the term locative media is strictly bound to technical projects. Locative media works on locations and yet many of its applications are still location-independent in a technical sense. As in the case of
digital media, where the medium itself is not
digital but the content is digital, in locative media the medium itself might not be location-oriented, whereas the content is location-oriented.
Japanese mobile phone culture
In Japan, mobile phones became ubiquitous years before the phenomenon spread worldwide. In Japanese, mobile phones are called , literally "portable telephones," and are often known simply as ''keitai'' (携帯).
A majority of the Japanese po ...
embraces location-dependent information and context-awareness. It is projected that in the near future locative media will develop to a significant factor in everyday life.
Enabling technologies
Locative media projects use technology such as Global Positioning System (GPS),
laptop computers
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a Flip (form), clam shell Form factor (design), form factor with the computer scr ...
, the
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
,
Geographic Information System (GIS), and web map services such as Mapbox,
OpenStreetMap, and
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
among others. Whereas GPS allows for the accurate detection of a specific location, mobile computers allow
interactive media
Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user's actions by presenting content such as text, moving image, animation, video and audio. Since its early conception, various f ...
to be linked to this place. The GIS supplies arbitrary information about the geological, strategic or economic situation of a location. Web maps like Google Maps give a visual representation of a specific place. Another important new technology that links digital data to a specific place is
radio-frequency identification (RFID), a successor to
barcode
A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...
s like
Semacode
Semacode is a software company based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is also this company's trade name for their machine-readable ISO/IEC 16022 Data Matrix barcodes, which are used to encode Internet URLs.
Semacodes are primarily aimed at being ...
.
Research that contributes to the field of locative media happens in fields such as
pervasive computing
Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using ...
,
context awareness
Context awareness refers, in information and communication technologies, to a capability to take into account the ''situation'' of ''entities'', which may be users or devices, but are not limited to those. ''Location'' is only the most obvious el ...
and
mobile technology
Mobile technology is the technology used for cellular communication. Mobile technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years. Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple two-way pag ...
. The technological background of locative media is sometimes referred to as "location-aware computing".
Creative representation
Place is often seen as central to
creativity
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed Literature ...
; in fact, "for some—regional artists, citizen journalists and environmental organizations for example—a sense of place is a particularly important aspect of representation, and the starting point of conversations."
Locative media can propel such conversations in its function as a "poetic form of data visualization," as its output often traces how people move in, and by proxy, make sense of, urban environments.
Given the dynamism and hybridity of cities and the networks which comprise them, locative media extends the internet landscape to physical environments where people forge social relations and actions which can be "mobile, plural, differentiated, adventurous, innovative, but also estranged, alienated, impersonalized." Moreover, in using locative technologies, users can expand how they communicate and assert themselves in their environment and, in doing so, explore this continuum of urban interactions. Furthermore, users can assume a more active role in constructing the environments they are situated in accordingly.
In turn, artists have been intrigued with locative media as a means of "user-led mapping, social networking and artistic interventions in which the fabric of the urban environment and the contours of the earth become a 'canvas.'" Such projects demystify how resident behaviors in a given city contribute to the culture and sense of personality that cities are often perceived to take on.
Design scholars Anne Galloway and Matthew Ward state that "various online lists of pervasive computing and locative media projects draw out the breadth of current classification schema: everything from mobile games, place-based storytelling, spatial annotation and networked performances to device-specific applications."
A prominent use of locative media is in ''locative art''. A sub-category of
interactive art
Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some interactive art installations achieve this by letting the observer walk through, over or around them; others ask the artist ...
or
new media art
New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies, comprising virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D pri ...
, locative art explores the relationships between the real world and the virtual or between people, places or objects in the real world.
Examples
Notable locative media projects include Bio Mapping by Christian Nold in 2004, locative art projects such as the
SpacePlace ZKM/ZKMax bluecasting and participatory urban media access in Munich in 2005 and
Britglyph Britglyph was a collaborative locative art and geoglyph project created by Alfie Dennen for ShoZu which took place in the United Kingdom between December 2008 and March 2009. Participants were instructed to travel to specific locations across the c ...
by
Alfie Dennen
Alfie Dennen is a British creative technologist, Artist, and founder of several prominent websites dedicated to social activism.
Projects
Dennen co-founded the mobile blogging platform Moblog, formerly MoblogUK, in November 2003. Commercial use ...
in 2009, and location-based games such as AR Quake by the Wearable Computer Lab at the
University of South Australia
The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
and
Can You See Me Now?
Can You See Me Now? (CYSMN) is an urban chase game developed by Blast Theory and The Mixed Reality Lab in 2001. CYSMN is a pervasive game, where performers on the streets of a city use handheld computers, GPS and walkie talkies to chase online ...
in 2001 by
Blast Theory in collaboration with the
Mixed Reality Lab at the
University of Nottingham
, mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom
, established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
. In 2005 the Silicon Valley-based collaborators of C5 first exhibited the C5 Landscape Initiative, a suite of four GPS inspired projects that investigate perception of landscape in light of locative media.
In
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...
's 2007 novel ''
Spook Country
''Spook Country'' is a 2007 novel by speculative fiction author William Gibson. A political thriller set in contemporary North America, it followed on from the author's previous novel, ''Pattern Recognition'' (2003), and was succeeded in 2010 by ...
,'' locative art is one of the main themes and set pieces in the story. Narrative projects which engage with locative media are sometimes referred to as Location-Aware Fiction, as explored in "Data and Narrative: Location Aware Fiction" a 2003 essay by
Kate Armstrong. This Location-Aware Fiction is also known as Locative Literature, where locative stories and poems can be experienced via digital portals, apps, QR codes and e-books, as well as via analogue forms such as labelling tape, Scrabble tiles, fridge magnets or Post-It notes, and these are forms often used by the writer and artist
Matt Blackwood.
The Transborder Immigrant Tool by the
Electronic Disturbance Theater is a locative media project aimed at providing life saving directions to water for people trying to cross the US/Mexico border. The project attracted global media attention in 2009 and 2010. Articles included an LA Times cover story focusing on Ricardo Dominguez and an AP story interviewing
Micha Cárdenas
Micha Cárdenas, stylized as micha cárdenas, is an American visual and performance artist who is an assistant professor of art and design, specializing in game studies and playable media, at the University of California Santa Cruz. Cárdenas is ...
and Brett Stalbaum. The articles focused on concerns over the legality of the project and the ensuing investigations of the group, which are still underway. The Transborder Immigrant Tool has recently been included in a number of major exhibitions including ''Here, Not There'' at the
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (or MCASD), in San Diego, California, US, is an art museum focused on the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art from 1950 to the present.
Mission
The stated mission of ...
and the 2010 California Biennial at the
Orange County Museum of Art
The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. The museum's collection comprises more than 4,500 objects, with a concentration ...
.
Invisible Threads by
Stephanie Rothenberg and
Jeff Crouse
Jeff Crouse (born September 10, 1980 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American artist and hacker/creative technologist who works with live data feeds from the internet to make art works.
Background
Crouse's undergraduate study in Computer Science a ...
is a locative media project aimed at creating embodied awareness of
sweatshops
A sweatshop or sweat factory is a crowded workplace with very poor, socially unacceptable or illegal working conditions. Some illegal working conditions include poor ventilation, little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting, o ...
and just-in-time production through a virtual sweatshop in
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
. It was performed at the
Sundance Film Festival in 2008.
The application called Yesterscape was realized for iPhone by Japanese company QOOQ inc. in 2013.
This
augmented reality camera App which can show historical photo of the space as if user look into the time tunnel. QOOQ inc also offers user to add their historical photos via web interface for them to show through Yesterscape.
See also
*
Location-based service
A location-based service (LBS) is a general term denoting software services which use geographic data and information to provide services or information to users. LBS can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, indoor object search, en ...
*
Location-based game
A location-based game (or location-enabled game, or geolocation-based game) is a type of game in which the gameplay evolves and progresses via a player's location. Location-based games must provide some mechanism to allow the player to report thei ...
*
Mobile media
The notion of making media mobile can be traced back to the “first time someone thought to write on a tablet that could be lifted and hauled – rather than on a cave wall, a cliff face, a monument that usually was stuck in place, more or less ...
*
Soundmap
Sound maps are digital geographical maps that put emphasis on the sonic representation of a specific location. Sound maps are created by associating landmarks (streets in a city, train stations, stores, pathways, factories, oil pumps, etc.) and sou ...
*
Urban informatics
Urban informatics refers to the study of people creating, applying and using information and communication technology and data in the context of cities and urban environments. It sits at the conjunction of urban science, geomatics, and informatics ...
*
Virtual graffiti
*
Location-based software (category)
References
External links
Mobile technology articleson the MediaShift Idea Lab
{{DEFAULTSORT:Locative Media
Digital media
Geomarketing