Thursday, January 12, 2012

Locative Media & Media Used to Convey Place Information

As much research continues into how we use location based services on mobile devices to access geotargetted information, I've been considering other ways we can access information about place. There is a lot of buzz over the past couple years about locative media - with a frequent assumption that it is new technology. Humans have had ways to leave information about a place at the place for millennia. I'm not convinced that new technology has created an entirely new experience, but rather has facilitate access to this information.

I've found it helpful for my research to maintain a list of various forms of media used to convey place-related information.

The table below lists each medium, its corresponding modalities, the presence of user participation functionality, and the physical portability of the medium.


Medium

Modalities
User participation
Portability

Audio tours

Sound

No

Mobile

Billboards

Visual

No

Situated

Books and e-books

Visual

No

Mobile

Directories

Visual

No

Situated (if in phone booth), mobile otherwise

Films and videos

Visual, sound

Yes (if creating)

Situated - if viewing on tv or cinema
Mobile - if viewing on mobile device

Flags

Visual

No

Situated

GPS devices (for cars or hiking)

Visual, haptic

Yes

Mobile

Graffiti

Visual

Yes

Situated

Guestbooks (physical)

Visual

Yes

Situated

Guides (human)

Visual, sound

Yes

Mobile

Help desks/info booths

Visual, sound

Yes

Situated

Interactive kiosks

Visual, sound, haptic

Yes

Situated

Maps, atlases, and charts

Visual

No

Mobile

Media facades and electronic billboards

Visual, sound

No

Situated

Mobile applications

Visual, sound, haptic

Yes

Mobile

Newspapers

Visual

No

Mobile

Pamphlets

Visual

No

Mobile

Photographs

Visual

Yes (if creating)

Mobile

Plaques

Visual

No

Situated

Posters

Visual

No

Situated

Sandwich boards

Visual, sound

Yes

Situated (somewhat mobile)

Sculptures

Visual

No

Situated

Signage (print & electronic)

Visual

No

Situated

Television shows

Visual, sound

No

Situated

Website

Visual, sound

Yes

Situated (unless viewing on mobile device)

Word of mouth

Visual, sound

Yes

Mobile

Let me know if I missed a medium or if there's another key dimension I should add to this table.

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