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PORTAGE: THE CANADIAN MOBILE EXPERIENCE
How can users of a public urban space engage in a multi-sensory,
multimedia outdoor experience?
PORTAGE will be transform John Street, in the heart of Toronto’s entertainment shopping district, into a Broad Locative Environment (BLE) -- a space that will allow visitors to engage with outdoor multimedia installations and other mobile users.
Users will be able to navigate from Grange Park down to John Street through a GPS-enabled wayfinding system. Along the way they will interact with graffiti-like projections and installed artifacts, watch short videos, and create with interactive audio dub components.
Through this BLE installation Portage will investigate how cultural content delivery is made possible by emerging multi-capability mobile devices. These devices include cell phones, handhelds and PDAs with WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and GSM access. Portage will also examine the processes by which these technologies can be used in conjunction with each other and with environmental sensors and displays to move the mobile experience ‘beyond the phone’ and to create an interactive and immersive environment.
Funded through Canadian Heritage New Media Research and Development Initiative OCAD has formed a strategic partnership with leading media production enterprises, cultural sector organizations and network providers. The Lab will collaborate with these industries by capitalizing on the outcomes from successful past research projects and working towards creating scalable commercial products.
Principal Investigators:
Paula Gardner, PhD
Assistant Dean, Ontario College of Art & Design
Geoffrey Shea
Assistant Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design
Lead Researchers:
David McIntosh, PhD
Associate Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design
Patricio Davila
Graduate Student, Ryerson/York University
Michel Blondeau
CEO, ecentricarts, inc.
Judy Gladstone
BravoFACT! A Foundation To Assist Canadian Talent
Research Staff:
Brenda Goldstein, Coordinator
Ken Leung, Interface Designer
Sukhmeet Singh, Lead Engineer
Peter Todd, Research Assistant
Jennie Ziemianin, Research Assistant
