// Background // |
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UMBRELLA.net uses ad-hoc networking as a means to connect people who share the same physical space and who might engage in similar, yet individual activities. Since ad-hoc systems exist as networks that can spontaneously form and dissipate based on the amount of clients present, they are a perfect testing bed for examining how new relationships can form based on proximity and chance conditions. "Coincidence of need" can be defined as seemingly individual activities that are also common experiences based on factors beyond the individual's immediate control. In the case of UMBRELLA.net, this is the act of opening one's umbrella when rain begins to fall: an individual action spurned by an environmental effect that is part of a collective social network. Therefore UMBRELLA.net attempts to discover how coincidence of need provides the context for looking at co-location of individuals and how this need could lead to new types of connections amongst strangers or friends in public space.
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// Scenario // |
| In Dublin, Ireland, rainfall is frequent and unpredictable. Often individuals carry umbrellas with them in case they are caught in a downpour. It is common to witness during a sudden and unexpected flash of rain, a sea of umbrellas in the crowded streets sweeping open as raindrops first hit the ground. This collective, yet isolated act of opening an umbrella creates a network of individuals who are connected through similarity of action, and intent. The manifestation of open umbrellas on the street could be tied to a temporary network which is activated through routers and nodes attached to the umbrella, which operate only while it rains. While the coincidence of need exists, the network operates. When the necessity of action and intent ceases, it disappears. We believe these transitory networks can add surprise and beauty to our currently fixed communication channels.
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// Bibliography // |
- Canetti, Elias Crowds and Power, Trans. Carol Stewart. New York: Seabury Press, 1978.
- Hall, E. T., The Hidden Dimension. New York: Doubleday. 1966.
- Hall, E. T., The Silent Language. New York: Doubleday. 1959.
- Lefebvre, H., Writing on Cities. Trans. Eleonore Kofman and Elizabeth Lebas. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
- Lefebvre, H., The Production of Space. Trans. by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991.
- Certeau, M., The Practice of Everyday Life. Trans. by Steven Rendall. Berkeley: University of California Press,c1984.
- Doyle, L., O'Mahony, D., "Ad hoc Networks - A Welcome Disruption", IST 2002 Event, Copenhagen, Novemeber 4th - 6th, 2002 [Invited Paper]. [PDF]
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