CURRENT PROJECTS

Tracklines
Tracklines is a "mediascape" style project - an interactive prototype exploring the use of mobile media for storytelling and public education in backcountry hiking areas. Basically, it's a self-guided walking tour in which hikers use mobile phones and GPS technology to navigate a mountainous landscape seeded with stories. Think of it as a "walkumentary" - a stroll of imagination combining elements of documentary and trail-guiding with some new innovations in location-based digital media. Hundreds of people have tried it and given us their feedback - stay tuned for future public demonstrations. This project was developed in collaboration with Banff National Park, and delivered using the Mobile Experience Engine (MEE). Initially developed as part of the Mobile Digital Commons Network. Click here to find out more

Locative Learning project (LLp)
The Locative Learning project (LLp) provides junior high school students with a unique opportunity to learn about local history and explore special places of historical interest. Using new media tools including mobile phones, GPS, and multimedia creation software, the Grade 7 social studies students at Banff Community High School have researched and created their very own multimedia GPS walking tour of the Banff town site: The Banff Mobile History Tour. Take a stroll around downtown Banff with a cell phone and GPS unit, and the local history comes alive in the places it actually happened, thanks to the imagination of young minds and the magic of location-based technology. Best of all, these students have not only learned about local history in an active and creative way - they've also become media producers, and created a lasting legacy for their community. Click here to find out more.

Mobile Experience Engine (MEE)
The MEE is a software development platform for fast prototyping of context-aware applications and media-rich experiences for mobile devices. It is especially useful for location-based and context-aware experiences using GPS, Bluetooth, and other peer-to-peer platforms. Basically, the MEE is a new software that radically simplifies the process of creating and managing applications for mobile devices. Click here to find out more.

WapitiMap
This is a map-based application for mobile phones that allows users to locate their GPS position and quickly author basic locative content experiences (mediascapes) while roaming in the field. In other words, it's an in-situ multimedia authoring tool. Useful for artists, writers, and other content creators interested in exploring the potential of location-based storytelling using accessible equipment. Currently in-development by ART Mobile Lab engineers, check back for updates as this project progresses.

PROJECTS COMING SOON

The Heavy Metal Palm Reader

Heliograph

Geekosystem in Banff

The Language of Birds

And so much more!

PREVIOUS PROJECTS

Global Heart Rate Project
The Global Heart Rate Project was the Banff-based wing of the Mobile Digital Commons Network. In 2005, GHR developed a series of conceptual and working prototypes exploring the potential of networked mobile devices and sensors for creating games-based locative media experiences in Banff National Park. This first foray into exploring the intersection of nature, culture, and mobile technology included the following projects:

* Trickster: A conceptual prototype for a location-based action game in which users role-play mythical forest creatures (Raven, Wolf, and Bear) charged with exploring Banff's Hoodoo Trail and righting the crazymaking wrongs of that infamous ecological Trickster, the Coyote.
* Memetchi Forest Trail Adventure: The evolutionary precursor to Trickster, this built prototype was essentially a "tamagotchi" style locative game that required players equippped with GPS and cellphones to navigate the Hoodoo Trail and keep their interactive creature alive by exploring the real world habitats where Banff animals eat, nest, and play.
* Flower Throw: A fun conceptual game prototype incorporating bluietooth PDAs, wrist-band accellerometers, and player2player social interaction. Players throw mutant flowers back and forth from one device to another and influence their growth through simple physical gestures and networked interactions.
* Walking Man: An unique study in surreal location-based cinema, the walking man's bizarre story unfolds on the mobile device's screen as the user changes location tracked by a GPS.

Visit the Global Heart Rate Project site