GPS Film is new media artwork from filmmaker Scott Hessels that invents a new way of watching movies based on the viewer's location and movement. Using a GPS-enabled PDA or mobile phone, the audience creates a new type of film experience that reveals the story through their journey. Released as a free, open-source application, the project will premiere on 4 September 2008 along with the first film made specifically for the system, Singaporean filmmaker Kenny Tan's chase comedy "Nine Lives".

The GPS Film application, source code, and "Nine Lives" are available for free download on the project website www.gpsfilm.com. The application allows for a developer to create story spaces of any size. The movies are also interchangeable and easily matched to any place. The software default is currently "Nine Lives"—a prototype film comedy that can unfold in nine directions depending on the viewer's journey around downtown Singapore.

Scott Hessels is an internationally recognised media artist and filmmaker who merges cinema with new technologies to create innovative media experiences. For GPS Film, he collaborated with film and engineering students at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

The project uses emerging technologies to bring story into real space; neighborhoods, architecture, and landscapes become part of the cinema experience. Movies can be personalized and localized. Storytelling becomes a physical, viewer-controlled experience; a journey of fiction ties directly to a journey of fact.

A press conference will be held Thursday, 4 September at Kay Ngee Tan Architects Gallery with the artist, filmmakers, and programmers present as well as handheld devices for demonstration. The presentation starts at 2pm, but the device will be available for trial and demonstration till 4pm.

read more for details

Digital Fringe seeks participants to join a collaborative new media work that involves mapping Melbourne through walking, mobile phones and new media. You will contribute to a 'map' of the Melbourne CBD that reflects participants take on the city. Interested parties will attend an introductory talk and then participate on the walk. read more or visit http://horsebazaar.com.au for more details

01/05/2006

30/04/2006 - 2

Humayan's Tomb, Delhi

30/04/2006

Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK

16/04/2006

Sydney to Blue Mountains to Bathurst

06/04/2006

Sydney to Woolongong and Stanwell Park drive

01/04/2006

Parramatta to Woy Woy

gps data - saved 31 March 2006

gps data - sound walk @ Other Film Festival

http://otherfilm.org

24 March 2006

Brisbane, Australia

more photos @ http://flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/otherfilmfestival/

drive from Sydney to Brisbane

gps data saved 24/03/2006

Auckland drive to Bethells Beach

gps data - saved 22 March 2006

Auckland, New Zealand 04/12/2005 - needs adjustment!

drive from Sydney to Brisbane, March 2006

gps data - drive from home to work, UK exported 24/02/2005
Shirley, Southampton to Chandlers Ford

gps data - world view

May 15 2006

gps data

Delhi to Agra / Taj Mahal

16 July 2006

more photos @ http://flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/tajmahal/

gps data - Delhi to Shimla

gps data : NZ, Australia, UK, India

click here or on the image to play the quicktime movie

I went along to the Sound Walk workshop and walk at Other Film Festival in Brisbane earlier this year. here's a slideshow video of some photos taken along the walk. it brought back such memories! the walk was from South Bank to the city along the river. we went through the Botannical Gardens near QUT Gardens Point which is where I went to Uni. everything was so familiar though I hadn't been there in a few years.

the music is "Don't you worry" by The Beloved

In an era of globalization, activities of the creative economy such as fashion, film, television, theater, music, dance, visual arts, design, architecture, advertising, publishing, multimedia and information technology, have contributed significantly to local economy, community life and the creation of places in cities. Such cities have taken advantage of the trend in natural agglomeration of creative industries, not only as a result of economic efficiency but of innovative synergies unleashed in industrial clusters, given that information, imagination, opinions and cultural sensibilities are transmitted through them. This agglomeration of design and knowledge-intensive industries attain place-specific competitive advantages by utilizing local symbolic culture, which becomes embedded in products that are value-added and unique in character. Together with this trend, carefully designed places in cities that offer life-style choices and amenities emerge as an important strategy for attracting talented people. These cultural places become hubs for creative communities, given that groups of creative professionals tend to cluster in places that provide not only the kind of jobs they seek but also the quality of life amenities they prefer. However, there remains a gap between global and local settings, in which a framework is needed to situate the cities of developing countries within this global phenomenon. Equally important is an understanding of how local knowledge and creativity in different cultural and economic contexts, particularly of cities in developing countries with their informal economy, contribute to this continuing discourse at both theoretical and practical levels. Read more or visit http://www.ar.itb.ac.id/artepolis for more details

earlier this year I did a max/msp course at goldsmiths college. the class was taken by the very clever and talented sebastian lexer who puts on the interlace events in london and performs at various events and festivals. if you're looking for a max/msp course, I highly recommend this one - whether you've used max/msp before or not. the projects by the other class members were really cool also!

apart from the class notes I took we had to do a little project for the last day (4th day). I'd recently gone on the gps for artists workshop on Isle of Wight and bought myself a handheld gps device to record data on the driving trips I was doing. so, for my project, I made, with a lot of help from Sebastian! a patch which read gps data from a file, then parsed it into smaller sections to break it down into the different fields such as longitude & latitude, speed, direction, time, altitude etc. then I connected these values to the inputs of a vst filter/plugin called ambience, and played an audio recording and had the gps data adjust the filter parameters by stepping through the gps co-ordinates. also, the longitude & latitude are mapped to an x & y co-ordinate of a graph, so when the gps points are moved, you can see the x/y co-ords move too. for this version of the patch, I selected co-ords which would move around the screen according to the scale I chose. obviously if the area travelled is quite close, then the scale needs to be adjusted or you won't see much movement.

one day I'd like to expand the project so the gps data generates a music soundscape using samples I've recorded along the way. also it'll display geotagged photos taken on the journey as the gps points are processed.

attached is a screen shot of the patch and the actual patch, and some sample gps data. if you want to try it then you'd need your own audio file to open (any will do) and have the ambience vst plugin.

Sound Mapping: an assertion of place *
* Proceedings of Interface '97
This paper proposes an argument for the role of sound installation in addressing the physical relationship between music and the general public. The focus of the discussion is on an outdoor interactive music event titled Sound Mapping, which explores the issues raised. Sound Mapping is a site specific algorithmic composition to be staged in the Sullivan's Cove district of Hobart. Sound Mapping uses four mobile sound-sources each carried by a member of the public. These sound sources are played with respect to geographical location and participant interactions using a system of satellite and motion sensing equipment in combination with sound generating equipment and computer control. The project aims to assert a sense of place, physicality and engagement to reaffirm the relationship between art and the everyday activities of life.

The internet has been ablaze recently with talk of map products from Google and similar plans from Microsoft. These additions are really cool to look at but do not seem to offer real value or things to do in the worlds. As an avid gamer, I was questioning, haven't we seen similar things from games in the past. Last year we saw the release of True Crimes: Streets of L.A. and The Getaway (based in London).

The Radiator Festival for New Technology Art is offering a diverse programme of new artists' commissions, exhibition, performances, installations, screenings, Trampoline platform events as well as workshops, artists' talks, music events and much more. Visit http://www.radiator-festival.org for details