Bruce Hinds, OCAD
A Walk in the Park

Martha Ladly, OCAD
A Walk in the Park

Co-authors "A Walk in the Park"

Park Walk employs GPS co-ordinates that have been mapped on various trails in Toronto's Grange Park, High Park, and on the Hoodoos Trail, in Banff National Park. Participants use a specially programmed application on their mobile phone connected with a GPS device, to see images, hear stories, and find out more about the park and the trail they are walking. Geographically specific images of maps, graphics, photographs, and video, are mapped to the trail, and audio narratives are triggered as the visitor enters the concentric circles of GPS 'hotspot' locations that have been mapped to the site. The images and stories they see and hear on their mobile phones pertain directly to the geological, aboriginal, historical, cultural, and natural historical characteristics of that location. The Park Walk project is premised on the fact that park visitors and participants must leave no trace, and take nothing away when they are on the trail or in the park. And yet, this is what most visitors intuitively enjoy! Participants are able to capture their own experiences on the trail, for upload and review, when they return. These artifacts can be woven back into the virtual space. In this way, there is the potential that a psycho-geographical layer of place may be created, for other visitors to experience and enjoy.

Le Parc Promenade emploie les co-ordinates de GPS qui ont été cartographier sur diverses pistes, y compris Grange Park et High Park à Toronto, et la Piste de Hoodoos dans le Parc National de Banff. Les participants utilisent un applica spécialement programmé sur leur téléphone mobile connecté avec un appareil de GPS, pour voir des images, entendre des histoires, et découvrir autre choses au sujet du parc et de la piste qu'ils marchent. Des cartes specifiques à la region, des graphiques, des photographes, et des vidéos on été schématiser à la piste, et des récits audio sont déclenchés quand le visiteur entre les cercles concentriques de << point chaud >> de GPS qui ont été cartographier au parc. Les images et les histoires qu'ils voient et entendent sur leurs téléphones mobiles se rapporte directement aux caractéristiques géologiques, aborigines, historiques, culturelles et naturelles de cet emplacement. La prémisse du projet "Parc Promenade" est basée sur le fait que les visiteurs et les participants ne doivent pas lesser de trace, et ne doivent pas enlever rien de la piste ou du parc. Et pourtant, c'est ceci que la plupart des visiteurs apprécient intuitivement! Cet alors, que les participants peuvent capturer leurs propres expériences sur la piste, pour télécharger et réexaminer, quand ils retournent. Ces objets peuvent être tissés de retour dans l'espace véritable. De cette faчon, il y a le potentiel qu'une couche psycho-géographique d'endroit pourrait être créé, pour d'autres visiteurs à éprouver et apprécier.

Bruce Hinds is Assistant Professor of Design at the Ontario College of Art & Design where he teaches Design Process, Interaction Design, Design Drawing, Think Tank (co-chair) and Biomimetics (curriculum leader). As a licensed Architect, Bruce maintains an active practice addressing issues of sustainable community structures in the Third World.

Current projects include working with a multidisciplinary team of physicians and specialists in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania to construct a sustainable community for children affected and infected with HIV.

Bruce is an active member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, The Ontario Association of Architects, The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Associate of the Architectural Institute of America, member of Architects for Humanity and the Toronto Society of Architects and an associate of the Ontario College of Art. Bruce holds degrees in Psychology, Architecture and Painting.

Martha Ladly is the Mobile Nation Conference Leader, and an Associate Professor of Design at OCAD, specializing in interactive communication. Martha is a senior researcher with the Mobile Digital Commons Network, and engages in teaching and mentorship outside of the OCAD community with the Canadian Film Centre's Interactive Project Lab and Interactive Art and Entertainment Programs. In previous lives, Martha directed Horizonzero.ca at the Banff New Media Institute, worked with Peter Gabriel as the Head of Design for his Real World Group in the UK, and played keyboards with Toronto new wave band, Martha and the Muffins. She is currently pursuing graduate studies in the joint Communication and Culture Program at York University.

MDCN
Park Walk