Project Statement

Ubiquitous Street Bureau: A design research project to study the thresholds of walking in a driving culture.

Developed and explored by Daniel Lara, Ana Ramos, and Alex Braidwood

Final Presentation

(Click on the images to view them full size)

Sole Scans

Every sole tells a story. By collecting images of the bottom of people’s shoes along with some additional information collected form the provided survey, this inquiry looks to investigate the roll that footwear plays in our determining when and where to walk.

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Using an Arduino, a proximity sensor, and an infared LED, I created this remote trigger to fire off my camera whenever the sensor determined that an object was within a few feet of the box.

Version 1: Maxbotix Ultrasonic Rangefinder

This one worked well indoors and gave a good long range however once outside, there seemed to be a lot of environment interference. The first on location test that we did for threshold investigation, the sensor was firing at not only proximity detection but also loud noises and vibrations.

Version 2: Sharp Infrared Proximity Sensor

Although the range of this sensor was much shorter, the results outdoors where much more accurate providing a greater amount of flexibility for the location in which we could use it. I was also able to get it to fire off both of my Nikon camera’s with the same burst using a small tripod and a mirror to deflect the IR LED’s signal.

Testing outside The Wind Tunnel

On location use during a reaerch outing.

This is the initial field test of our design probe that we will develop to investigate walking as a threshold. We are interested in developing an understanding of people’s motivations and limitations when to comes to walking as a means of transportation. We are not interested in walking as a method of fitness and this has informed the development of our various probes. For this investigation, we are specifically interested in information that can be extracted from the collection of scans of the bottom of various types and styles of footwear. For our initial field test we went to a nearby coffee shop to gather a variety of soles, including one barista who was gracious enough to take a short break to participate. Below is a collection of images form this location, people in our studio, and variety of other people from South Campus.

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Our base threshold for exploration and research is walking. For this study, we were interested in exploring the act of walking as a way to generate marks. To test the feasibility of our initial idea, we performed this test ourselves by talking a stroll around the block with a sheet of paper a soft piece of charcoal hung from a string in order to compare our different movements.

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Real Space Sampling
While driving around the city of Los Angeles, I stumbled upon an area in the back corner of a parking lot where a hole had been in a chain link fense so that homeless people and transients could gain access to the protective area underneath a bridge over the LA river near a train yard. The most interesting aspect of this space of the city was the hidden and overlooked nature of both the location itself and the people who used it. In order to develop an audio and visual profile of the city, chose to documented some unseen elements within the space, more specifically, invisible typography with the location. While on-site, I used a radio scanner to record communications from the airwaves at the specific location. I then edited the sound down to only mentions of letters and numbers, including the ways in which police officers communicate letters by stating words. Visually I was attracted to the discarded memorabilia that was littered about. Much of it had been there for many years and was well ground into the dirt. I focused my collections on those items that contained small typography and interesting forms. I then explored these items back in the studio using macro photography.

The Location

Audio results of radio scanning the area for the typographic audio form

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Macro photography explorations of other-worldly textures and typographic forms

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For the second visit to the space, I decided to further my intrigue with the discarded typography of the first study. I actively sought out objects form the space around the transient fence opening that contained letter forms in some fashion. Some of these were printed, some where embossed and some where molded directly into the plastic. The typography specific to these objects begins to give them a context in which history can be known. Information such as time period, function and even levels of use can be extracted from the typographic forms.

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The Place

The Discovery

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For the fourth implementation of our experiment, we set out to explore the outcomes of providing the participant with a reflective statement that draws attention to the stage of destroying the balloon. Based on the 3rd exploration, we also returned to the concentric circle forms on the balloons and reduced the display of the giant “push-pin” intended to pop the balloon.

Experiement 4 set up

Balloon contents

For this final iteration, we decided to blur the line between the viewer and the viewed. This version includes the ability for the observer to press the button and here language common to the observed but in this version, we’ve also added a series of messages projected within the space that question the voyeurism at play. The projected animations are intended to sneak around the space and be the subtle movement noticed within the observed environment when the onlooker takes the time and care to be aware.

For our 3rd on-location test, we wanted to build on the actions of the participant who begin using the stamp on our signs during our 2nd location test. By replacing the target on the balloons with the word “play,” we had hoped to remiind the participants that what would come after they pop the balloon is an opportunity to create. The box with the paper on the top was to be the canvas. Each balloon contained either a stamp or a crayon. What we discovered is that since we gave no real direction and posed nothing to respond to, the participants did in fact make marks but they weren’t meaningful. The marks were doodles, smiley faces, illustrated characters and the like. Not giving a framework for what to draw or make was a good learning outcome for us with this iteration.

Reconsidered object

Initial attempt with no instruction / hint sign

Once the first few were popped and the hint sign was added, people actively engaged with the objects.

Location trial 2: the aftermath (aka "sold out")

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Rolled and packaged process related inspirational quotes

Hae Jin tests the ability to insert a take-away

Our first experiement in place

Our initial experiment taught us a lot in its failure. In an attempt to make a quick and inexpensive test, we created an undesirable object that did not entice people to interact or even consider what it could be.