This thing is an Arduino board. It’s used to take sensory readings from its environment such as sound or air quality. A group of us with Arduino boards balanced in our palms were lead by David Hunter through central London recording data from our walk as part of the TCCE Inside Out Festival. We also had the chance to share animated walking and walking art conversations with each other on the way.
The route took us from Somerset House through crowds of tourists gathered along
the south bank and heavily armed police and journalists outside New Scotland Yard on the day after the attack on pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. Perhaps we should have been conspicuous but we passed unnoticed.
We recorded air quality, sound levels and chose something to count. One person counted instances of the colour red and another interactions between people. In this way we participated in David‘s mapping project and explored and discussed mapping and the environment and walks and GPS. It is a technique for understanding a route and for drawing digital pictures. An intersection of geekiness, physical presence, technology and art – a fascinating combination with many possibilities.
Find out more about data mapping at http://datawalking.com/
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