Sousveillance: Inventing and Using Wearable Computing Devices for Data Collection in Surveillance Environments

Our installation does not speak directly about surveillance. We are using Microsoft’s Kinect to detect presence to trigger sounds. Our project is more focused on the ability to have fun, learn, and create something collaboratively. I believe that the interface empowers the user’s ability to learn and create. Personally, I think our project needs to be outside of a classroom because it is important to continue learning in everything we do. The public space becomes a learning environment. We are constantly growing as a human and I think it is important to bring enjoyment to learning.

If we were to create our piece into a portable device I think the meaning and interface would change a bit. It would no longer become a collaborative piece unless you were to transfer multiple users’ input into one piece. We could record how active someone is by recording how many steps they take in a day. They would create daily songs of the patterns from the speed and paths they take. The participants would be aware of the interface and this might lead to them being more conscious of the amount of daily activities they partake in. Another way of implementing this could be a portable art. We could bring learning and fun into places that need it the most such as a hospital. I think this would be a really neat thing to do because people do not realize how important being part of something is. Each person that has been part of this art piece has altered it in some way.