Back in the streets of the CBD

Since presenting our concept last week and establishing our fundamental concept and logistical possibilities, this proved to be a good base on which to plan our visual aesthetic. At this point we have chosen to focus on the electronics store as our location and have begun seeking permission from such locations.

The screens in these locations display identical content on all the screens visual concepts have been prepared for this sort of set up but also in the case where we are able to display different aspects of our content on different screens, as shown in the image below.

It also shows two different potential treatments of the content. The image to the left reflects the traditional form of media formerly used to inform the public sphere of important societal issues and concerns. With the technological expansion, many if not most newspapers have had to reinvent themselves in a digital medium to stay in business. The scrunched nature of the newspaper reflects that for many newpaper business, the printed word has become uneconomical to maintain and is slowly becoming obsolete. This reflects one of the impacts of the digital age.

The layout, which reflects the newpaper style, displays content from news headlines and / or Twitter feeds, periodically updated and refreshed.

The second possible treatment came by realization that the multiple screens in a space was reminiscent of security systems where multiple areas could be surveyed at once. This idea prompted the idea of using several webcam feeds of the surrounding area in and outside the store to tap into the idea that this virtual space is still interlinked with the awareness of the physical space we occupy, both in immediate and wider surrounding area.

This design more successfully reflects the technological aspect of our concept and if we are restricted to the same content on all the screens, it can be adapted to suit this layout also by repetition of the layout shown below.

This combines the same elements of content with the same visual aesthetic, possibly also more successful as it shows a clear link to the idea that technologies have allowed us to be globally interactive. We have already begun to try composing this in Processing and bringing in feeds. We have enquired not just at potential locations but have also contacted Flickr, NZ Herald and Twitter to ensure we follow all requirements to avoid breaching any copyright restrictions on displaying content accessed through feeds.

With time starting to run short, we need to have this up and running on site next week but the wheels have been put into motion.