According to Lisa Woods and the rest of the ‘Doing It in Public’ panelists, beacons, or Bluetooth Low Energy devices, will be the next big trend in the Internet of Things. BLE technology has primarily been used in retail and advertising, but with the Asunder project, this group suggests beacons be used for storytelling purposes.
The Asunder project was created to help tell fictional stories of public places; a concept that is slowly being implemented in to locations such as museums and city parks.
Woods explained that “museums are definitely already taking advantage of this technology, and doing a great job of adding layers of information and context to their artwork,” but she, and her colleagues, believe that this technology has much more potential.
The Asunder application will be available for download in the iPhone App Store in March 2015, and will allow users to experience “site-specific and immersive stories…at the user’s pace as they explore the city…[and] for writers and artists, Asunder provides a unique platform to create interesting, interactive and hyper-local content.”
The application will provide users with a map, notifying users whenever a beacon is within range; for the fictional stories there are specific markers, and for the soundscape there is a zone of several blocks.
Woods and fellow panelist Sam Patteson “dreamed up this idea while listening to Susurrus at Laguna Gloria last summer. [They] loved it, but thought it could be more bespoke and seamless and [a more] media rich experience,” which ultimately led to their proposal to SXSW, where they hope to spring board their efforts and grow this story telling platform.
When speaking with Woods, I was curious of their outreach efforts to educate the public on the Asunder project, and their innovative ideas for the implementation of this technology. She explained that “since it’s a new technology, we’ve done our best to explain not only the interaction (via the app), but our thinking behind it (via the website, blog, twitter)…the beacon manufacturers (such as Estimote) are also doing a lot to promote beacon usage.”
Here is a link to the Asunder blog regarding places that have a story to tell.
Klasien van de Zandschulp is another member of the ‘Doing It in Public’ panel. She has created several projects using BLE technology, including stories for a neighborhood in Amsterdam, a large park (comparable to NYC’s Central Park) and other historically significant locations.
Panel Date: Monday, March 16
Location: Austin Convention Center Austin Suite
Time: 2:00 pm.-3:00 p.m.