So I think I've finalized a working process of how I will record and track each walk with my smart phone. Using My Tracks by Google I can track my distance traveled, speed of travel, elevation gain/loss, etc. It also allows me to upload my walks to Google Docs and Fusion Table which I can then use to generate maps of my walks. The other steps along the way are adding places to Foursquare so that people can "Check-in" and earn points. I am also working on creating a movable, interactive object (well many of them actually) to place throughout the city that will feature a QR code linking you to an sensory experience. This is to test the perception of place as well as question the physical boundaries of your surroundings, and also make a fun and interactive experience. Points will be earned in Foursquare by checking-in to these places that I physically mark with my object. I encourage my fellow Landscape Elucidaters to search out these objects and post your experience with each place. I have not yet placed them in the landscape yet but I will be sure and inform everyone here of when they are out there.
The walk I am showing you today is from yesterday and I continue to be fascinated with the closure of Cole Avenue and its (temporary) transformation into a pedestrian thoroughfare. Of course there are the intermittent construction vehicles going about the renovation process but for the most part it is open and un-paved. The majority of time that I have spent on both Lead & Coal Ave. has been in a vehicle and the few walks up and down these streets that I have done over the years have always been hectic due to the high volumes of traffic that speed by. The experience I had on the currently rustic road that is Coal Ave. was one of discovery and joy in the ability to stop and observe elements of the landscape that before I had only zoomed by in my car or quickly walked past in my haste to depart from the raucous traffic of the city.
I intend to conduct a series of 20 walks, give or take a few, over these next several weeks and I want them to cover ground in the four sections (NW, NE, SE, SW) of Albuquerque that the interstate has created. I want to see how pedestrian movement occurs across the interstate between the sections and how it effects way-finding. I can already assume from experience that the majority of the crossings will take place at an underpass, a place which I found out yesterday can be a very interesting mixture of sounds (something to play with perhaps).
The underlying theme to this whole experiment is to look at the relationship to the smart phone and how it performs in creating an experience of the landscape. This interaction becomes a game, an extension of the way we communicate in our online social networks. What is a locale/landmark/place and how might one alter the perception of it from one person to the next? I am in the process of filling out an IRB form (academic institution that lets me include other's impressions in my research) and I hope I can convince 5 to 10 of you to walk one of my walks as it were and provide me with feedback of your experience. Glory and points on Foursquare can be yours! Again, I welcome your thoughts and critiques on any and all of the ideas I express.
View 2011-02-21 15:35 in a larger map
Walk #1
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