Well, it’s been a long time coming, but the ART Mobile Lab is finally getting its new research web site into gear. So…here it is!

The Lab is devoted to a wide diversity of activities related to mobile and location-based digital media. We conduct major research projects, and engage in multidisciplinary activities including: content creation, experience design, user testing and ethnography, media theory, writing and dissemination, technology development and rapid prototyping, training, artist workshops and residencies, conference presentations, community outreach, building new partnerships, and so on. Meanwhile, our unique location at the Banff New Media Institute not only situates us smack dab in the middle of a physical geography and cultural context that’s ideal for exploring mobile media aimed at outdoor spaces - it also allows us to interact with all of the artists, programs, activities, resources, and networks that flow through The Banff Centre, and therefore places us in the middle of a thriving international community of artists and cultural producers where the flow and exchange of knowledge and inspiration are paramount and constant. Being in Banff also opens the door to working with special partners like Banff National Park and other local community institutions and groups - an important??? part of our mandate - as well as members of the wider new media community in western Canada.

All of these factors pretty much guarantee that we’re going to have a lot of information and news to share in the near future, and plenty of reasons to reach out to our various local, national, and international communities. Hence this new ART Mobile Lab research web site, which will be devoted to sharing regular updates on our mobile media activities (past, present and future), and opening a two-way dialogue with constituent communities. Initially, this site will focus mainly on archiving the rich body of work and insight that have been generated here at the Lab during 2006/07 when, as part of the Mobile Digital Commons Network (MDCN), we developed not only a fully functional trail-based locative media prototype (Tracklines), but also a major new software platform for mobile devices (the Mobile Experience Engine or MEE). During this time, we also developed important research methodologies in a number of key areas (eg, iterative design, technical field testing, user ethnography and audience evaluation), and a significant body of practical and theoretical experience in areas like locative media design, artist training, and collaborative practice. So there’s lot’s to say about what’s already happened - and we’ll be sure to share information about what our MDCN partners (Concordia, York, Hexagram, and OCAD) have been up to as well. Meanwhile, even though the MDCN network, which was funded by Canadian Culture Online (www.Culture.ca) from 2005 until March 2007, has now officially run its course, we at the ART Mobile Lab have been percolating plenty of new ideas for future mobile projects and activities - and we’re always looking for new ways to work with interested community groups, cultural producers, and industry partners - so very soon there will no doubt be many new wonders to post about as well.

For the present, we encourage you to look around this site, learn more about the Mobile Lab and our projects, and leave your comments. The amount of material posted here will grow with time, so we hope these humble beginnings will keep you coming back to check out new additions every now and again. We’ll soon have an RSS feed up and running for people interested in our blog, and a dedicated email address where people can send us feedback and news - so if you hear about something happening in mobile media or other spheres that you think the Lab should know about, then please do let us know.
Incidentally, this web site is intended as a dynamic space for discussing our ongoing research activities and interacting with our community, but the ART Mobile Lab also has a permanent space on The Banff Centre’s web site at www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi. That site provides a doorway to all of the rich activities happening at the BNMI, so please check there for information and updates on artist residencies, co-productions, conferences and summits, BNMI Accelerator activities, etc.