Objects as Devices for Memory Storage

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Duncan

Can smarty objects transfer the agency of memory storage away from the person and instead, in an automated process of continual information capture and storage, provide a new memory repository that supports, relieves and occasionally replaces natural memory?

Draaisma (2000) provides us with a metaphor of memory as objects, referring to memories as a‘store of precious items’. Like objects they too have a lifetime, part of a persons own cradle to grave cycle, where death erases memory in but a moment. The advancement of technology has assisted us in ‘arming ourselves against the transience implicit in the mortality of memory by developing artificial memories’ (Daaisma 2000). The development of writing surfaces, from clay or wax tablets, to parchment and vellum, and later on paper, provided the oldest of memory aids, not only accommodating natural language but also drawings of all kinds. Photography allowed for images to be directly recorded and the invention of cinematography meant moving images could also be captured. The preservation of sound became a reality through Edison’s phonograph, and now a days numerous ‘artificial’ memories from MP3, DVD and computer memories are available to record what the eye and ear take in. ‘Image and sound are transportable in space and time, they are repeatable, reproducible, on a scale that seem inconceivable a century ago… our views of the operation of memory are fuelled by the procedures and techniques we have invented for the preservation and reproduction of information (Draaisma 2000).

However the Internet of Things not only has the capacity to serve as an interface for human memory storage, it can store the memory of the object itself. Sterling (2005) terms these objects Spimes, made possible through the convergence of emerging technologies, related to both the manufacturing process for consumer goods, and through identification and location technologies. Technologies that allow us track the entire existence of an object, from before it was made (its virtual representation), through its manufacture, its ownership history, its physical location, until its eventual obsolescence and breaking-down back into raw material to be used for new instantiations of objects. These objects when recorded can be archived and searched for, as databases of specific item/location/relationship information which track the lifetime of an object through space and time are generated.

Draaisma, Douwe (2000) Metaphors of Memory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Sterling, Bruce (2005) Shaping Things, Cambridge: MIT Press

ECA Studentship Research Proposal

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Duncan

Research proposals are invited from applicants who have an interest in undertaking a practice-based PhD to examine to focus upon the implications of memory objects on architectural design. The research programme will establish theoretical and practical methodologies for the consideration of new spaces in the context of TOTeM.

I have submitted an application for the PhD studentship at the Edinburgh College of Art. The research context directly relates to my undergraduate studies, and means I would be working alongside my former final year project supervisor Chris Speed.

Based upon the experiences gained over the course of my degree I’d like to extend my enquiry into architectural, social and environmental questions, and research the emerging space where objects move beyond inert items, into artefacts that have the genuine ability to be unique not only in their own right, but also to the people who own and cohabit with them.

RFID and the ‘Internet of Things’: You are part of the Global Network.

Posted on November 19, 2007 by Duncan

Extracts from a lecture: by Duncan Shingleton.

Objects tagged with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip have a unique digital identity and play a pivotal role in joining the physical world with the digital. A resulting ‘Internet of Things’ emerges, consisting of networked objects that are capable of communicating what they are, and what is going on in the space around them. This is the moment where the real world and the Internet become inseparably linked, occupying the same space, becoming the same reality: a merging of 1st and 2nd Life.

Current theory surrounding the ‘Internet of Things’ maintains the viewpoint we are outside the network and in control of the agency we have over our objects. The tagged object’s role in the Internet is to streamline economic practice and make our lives more convenient.

However I propose and alternative hypothesis for addressing the theory that RFID now means we are included within the ‘Internet of Things’, and not spectators of this new digital age. There is a resulting transfer of agency as objects become active members of society, contributing to social debate, as we see what can only be defined as a truly ubiquitous network environment emerging, where the real is intrinsically bound with the digital.

Over the course of this “paper” I aim to introduce to RFID and the Internet of Things, and muse how this is set to change the way we view and interact the Internet. Continue reading →

Ludic Society Magazine Issue #3

Posted on February 13, 2007 by Duncan

ludicmagazine

We are at the brink of entering into an age of everything you own being numbered, identified, catalogued, and tracked. Radio frequency technology, or RFID, is a technology that is now rapidly being developed by corporations and governments who see the possibilities and advantages of managing large bodies of objects. Tagged with an RFID chip, an object will have a unique digital identity and play a pivotal role in joining the physical world with the digital. As this technology moves into products, sensitive documents and even the human body, an Internet of Things will emerge consisting of blogjects, spimes, cybrids, wearables and smartifacts; networked objects that are capable of communicating what they are, and what is going on in the space around them. Forever part of the object, RFID transponders are designed to respond whenever they receive a signal, continuously transmitting information to whomever chooses to read it. Does RFID become the ultimate marketing exercise? The means of complete control? Finally removing all anonymity and privacy in a continuous stream of invisible communication. Is this the moment where the real world and the Internet become inseparably linked, occupying the same space, becoming the same reality? A merging of 1st and 2nd Life, where your car knows what you eat, your fridge knows who you talk to, and your phone knows where you go.

RFID and the Internet of Things Day Three

Posted on November 16, 2006 by Duncan

The workshop participants were teamed up in four teams, all with a different imperative, some had a prior interest and some were formed ad-hoc. The teams have spent parts of day 1 and 2 working on their ideas and projects. Day 3 was fully reserved for working on the projects. Resulting in the final presentations at 17:00.Duncan Shingleton and Kostya Leonenko developed a very interesting project in which online data can only be accessed at specific physical locations.A small and relatively secret international network of users, uploads useful information for no-budget travellers, (e.g. ‘free diners there-and there 20.00 hrs on saturdays’) and makes the information accesible only through RFID tags at specific places that work as decryption keys. Users rate the value of available information and can only access information if they have contributed useful information themselves.Vincent Teeuwen and Juriaan Moolhuysen from the HKU worked on their project Yo! Opera. Ultimately they came up with a way to use RFID to turn a exhibition space into a dynamic musical instrument that can be played by multiple tagged players simulteneously.Dominiek ter Heide, Peter de Ridder and Richard Bosch from Fresh Deuce – HvA presented a digital/realworld object hunt that is happening across the whole world. All players can also contribute objects and clues about its current location. The more interesting the location the object is found at the higher the score for the one finding it. The objects all carry unique RFID tags, so that when they are found the database automatically updates the world wide highscore.Alexander Zeh, Bart Groen, Kasper Oostendorp and Ronald Lenz wanted to find out how RFID could be used to create an alternative value for objects. By tagging everyday objects with read/write RFID tags and proposing the connectivity of present mobile phones to make network connections, the possibility would arise to gain insight into the social environment of the objects, the amount of attention they recieved, and to script all kinds of behaviours in relation to occurence or absence of certain objects.Marinus de Vries was working solitary over the course of the workshop, with assistance of Klaas, Slava and Julian in order to determine what RFID might mean for his Tschumipaviljoen where he exhibits interactive art. The workshop came up with every useful way of using RFID tagged objects that can be sold all over Groningen, to trigger events in the Tschumipaviljoen.Originally posted http://www.mediamatic.net by Bart Groen

RFID and the Internet of Things Day Two

Posted on November 15, 2006 by Duncan

Arie Altena kicks off day two with his presentation on “How the web became social (although it already was)” on the way his blog/publishing research relates to the topic of design for RFID. Arie notes that the technology is still in a state of infancy, therefore it might turn out to be something people will start using in the same way in which they are using computers right now. He relates this to how blogging as a way of using technology is not scaring, its easy, as opposed to the creating of technology, which still is scary or at least difficult. “What used to be distributed has now become packaged” in blogging technology, user and software come together, it connects to what people want to do. But what exactly is blogging, and how do users “use” personal publishing? The activity of blogging (or reading blogs) has and will become more and more externalized, as an example of this Arie mentions technorati where people can set their preferences (search for meta- tags) so they can get the information they want without ever having to have visited a blog (the search is aggregated in an RSS feed and as such delivered in their feed reader). Another example is the way in which users can send content to their blogs through their browser (via Flock or Flickr) or even from their mobile phone.Last, but not least, is Julian Bleecker coiner of the term ‘Blogject’. Julian’s presentation has as its title “Internet of things, when 1st and 2nd life meet up”. This he sees as a joining together of 1st life (the human or physical world) and 2nd (the online or digital world). He questions what it means to create 2nd life experiences through 1st life actions. And this goes beyond the idea of the network, since it is “not about the network, its what you do with it”. Followed by “What would the social web look like when more and more network connected things start to participate?”. What is an internet (as a social web) when things start to participate and what do people do with these possibilities? With these questions posed Julian dives into a load of examples and clarifications. The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) has published a report on RFID, which they titled: The Internet of Things, which is paradigmatic for the amount of interest there is for new technologiesOriginally posted http://www.mediamatic.net by Bart Groen

RFID and the Internet of Things Day One

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Duncan

The first day of the workshop started with a presentation by Melanie Rieback one of the VU scientists that shook up the RFID world by presenting the world’s first RFID virus. Her presentation entitled ‘ RFID + Security’ focused on security issues surrounding the use of RFID and the reasons why artists and designers should care about these issues.Being the technical expert on the topic (compared to the other lecturers) Melanie starts out by giving a basic introduction of RFID technology, its uses and its history. Doing so she introduces the working of the tag, the working of the reader and how it found its way to popularity.Rob van Kranenburg then continued by discussing the most important RFID related issues. He starts this out by stating that: “RFID is a strange space”. Since it’s use will lead to three results: there will be no more public space; there will be no more memory loss and there will be no more people, just dataclouds. Because everything will be tracked, traced and saved, which will be the case when readers and tags are everywhere. If this is so, people will become mere descriptions of the things they’re carrying with them, dataclouds.Our society is headed this way since “people want security, they want camera’s”. Rob then goes into some of the more technical aspects of RFID, here he mentions the ONS (as based on DNS) the Object Name Service. By which the connection to the internet of things can be made, for when all objects have a unique ONS number they are uniquely traceable throughout the world (e.g. with the data submitted to a central database you will be able to find every object everywhere). That’s why he states that: “RFID should be conceptualized from the reader or database” and not from the tag.Because RFID might turn out to be the glue that binds the digital to the physical world.After lunch its time for the final talk of the day: that of Chris O’Shea, not so much an RFID expert but rather “an interactive media artist and researcher. His focus is on creating works that encourage new methods of play and collaboration, challenging our perception of space and physical objects”. And from this perspective asks the question how RFID can be used for exploration and play, outside of social, economic and privacy issues; the artistic perspective. He begins by showing us several of examples he encountered during his research where hybrids of physical and electronic space exist. For this he refers to Peter Anders’ Cybrids, a term that signifies this merging of physical and digital space.Originally posted http://www.mediamatic.net by Bart Groen

Thoughts on RFID

Posted on October 27, 2006 by Duncan

Does technology serve and/or change society and human interaction? Or is it simply a method of economic and/or political control implemented by the state, driven by technological determinacy?

Radio frequency identification technology, or RFID, is a technology that is now rapidly developing. It allows the physical world to be joined to the digital. Tag an object with an RFID chip and it now has a unique digital identity. Any kind of online data can be associated to these unique ID’s; the Internet can be linked to the real world, occupying the same space, becoming the same reality. Continue reading →

shingleton.org

Research into the Internet of Things

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