Technology at the Edge

Alan DixTalis, University of Birmingham

& Tiree Tech Wave

http://alandix.com/http://tireetechwave.org/

Tiree

Tiree Tech Wave23-27 Oct 2014

University ofBirmingham

Early company in Sem Web (sadly no more )

ongoing network/connectedness ethos

Reading List software over 50% of UK universities+ growing Australia, Nordic, …

Digital Content management & cross-content player

Learning analytics for institution & academic

… and …

http://hcicourse.com/ (now also on interaction-design.org)

today I am not talking about …

• intelligent internet interfaces

• visualisation and sampling

• situated displays, eCampus,small device – large display interactions

• fun and games, virtual crackers,artistic performance, slow time

• physicality and product design

• creativity and Bad Ideas

• modelling dreams and regret

… or even lots of lights

http:/www.hcibook.com/alan/projects/firefly/

… rural connections

Walking Wales

Tiree

Alan Walks Wales

1058 miles (1700km)

3 ½ months

April-July 2013

focus on IT at the margins

vision

personal

encircling, encompassing, pilgrimage, homecoming,

practical

IT for the walker & IT for local communities

philosophical

reflections on walking and space, locality and identity

research

personal agenda and living lablots of

data

at the margins

social marginality:

poor, old, rural

information marginality:

poor connectivity, old devices

IT deepens the divide

... but can IT help in the margins?

community and identity

community and cohesion

abandonment and dissolution:

Rhyl – dustbin of Liverpool

Dee estuary – even the pubs closed

internal strength

Penmaenmawr – in the face of adversity

community enterprise: shops, pubs, arts

language and culture

intimately linkedeven for the non-Welsh speaker!

changed in my lifetime

but under threat again

technological implications

not just translations ... media choice etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capel_Celyn

connectivity

I expected it to be bad ...

but it was worse

... not a recent issue ...

always connected?

mobile signalabsent or weak

broadband ...not so broad

masts point to seanot land ...yachts = money

https://explore.ee.co.uk/coverage-checker

software makes it worse ...

Twitter 140 chars ...

but unusable with poor signalheavy XML API

email slow but works – 1970s technology

Flickr uploader freezes on poor connections

... even in Paris!

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‘localisation’

not just language and culture

software embodies context:

technological and economic assumptions

About Tiree

poor mobilephonecoverage

700 residents20,000 summer visitors

communication for the dispersed

Digitally Open

Tiree Connect

An IodhlannTiree Historical Centre

founded 1992housed in old ‘reading room’

staffed by volunteers and P/T archivist

12,000 catalogued itemsmaps, land records,photos, audio tapes, ...

purpose

– taking the archiveinto the environment

– expanding reach (younger!)

technology:

– HTML5 off-line app

– data driven

celebrating locality

‘On Supply’exploring the connection between existing communities and available renewable energy

post-industrialisationcraft and artisan

http://www.hovisbakery.co.uk

http://artisanbaker.org

the new artisan ...

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:15121

IT in the margins

lessons from each other

Harris Tweedhole in the wallsimple SMS

an old dream ... the electronic village shop

what now?

www.hole-in-the-wall.com