X10 Camera
A wireless camera records your movements through urban space.

The X10 camera is a wireless wearable camera able to transmit up to a distance of 100 feet, the maximum distance allowed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The receivers for the X10 camera can be easily attached to the average television through its video or RF input. It transmits on the 2.4 GHz frequency band.

These 2.4GHz devices which are sold as D.I.Y. surveillance for the amateur pornographer or paranoid do have the benefit of being highly affordable and effectively unregulated at that part of the frequency spectrum.

X10 cameras and Video Senders can send on four different frequencies with the 2.4 GHz range.

Multiple receivers set at the same frequency (channel) can receive the same video (if the sender is within the range of the receiver)

Multiple cameras sending on the shared frequency interfere with each other.

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2.4 GHz
The majority of the public airwaves is under corporate control.

Most of the Radio Frequency Spectrum is carved up for private use, leaving only small pockets for licence exempt public use (although still regulated with regard to power levels that may be used).

The 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM)Band is one of them.

There is currently a strong push towards mobile lifestyles, and the acquisition of the wireless and wearable technologies by the consumer.

The purchase of wireless devices operating on the 2.4-GHz band is growing exponentially.

Bluetooth, cordless phones, HomeRF, 802.11b compliant WLAN systems (indoor, and outdoor systems for point to point data transfer/LAN bridges), wireless CCTV and microwave ovens all fight for space within this extremely narrow band.

It is presently uncontrollable to predict when interference occurs between these devices. Significant bottlenecks within this shared space are predicted by numerous studies in the near future.

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Televisions
Televisions broadcast the video/audio signal from the moving cameras.

The ubiquitous television monitor is found in local businesses throughout the city. In a multicultural city, businesses reflect the cultural/economic demographics and flow of the area. These businesses where you temporarily share space with others, can also have personal and emotional associations and be either culturally segregated or mixed.

The television becomes a unifying part of this socioeconomic landscape, mostly broadcasting mainstream programming (Cable Plus 24 News, MuchMoreMusic, CNN, etc) to a semi-attentive audience. The large screen tv, the television propped above the bar, in the corner is a kind of reassuring social "glue" and receives occasional attention by those who inhabit the space.

Televisions become the medium for broadcasting the outside flow captured by an x10 camera as it travels through the city area on a bicycle.

Live video from the moving cameras is distributed over several monitors throughout the city zone. The viewer moves through the area in order to get the full picture.

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Bicycles
Bicycles carry the camera and provide locomotion through the urban space.

Bicycles used for the action were provided by BikeShare, a non-profit organization that refurbishes bicycles, paints them yellow and then makes them available to members at an extremely low yearly fee. Bicycles are available for pick-up and drop off throughout the city of Toronto.

"In the mid 60s, the Dutch Provos initiated the White Bike Plan, envisioned as the ultimate solution to the "traffic terrorism of a motorized minority." The White Bike Plan proposed the banning of environmentally noxious cars from the inner city, to be replaced by bicycles. Of course, the bikes were to be provided free by the city. They would be painted white and permanently unlocked, to secure their public availability. The first 50 bicycles put out by Provos throughout Amsterdam were immediately confiscated by the police, claiming they created an invitation to theft. Provo retaliated by stealing a few police bikes. "

Almost 40 years later, there are dozens of free-bike programs in Europe and North America, in communities as diverse as Denver, Portland, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Seattle, Olympia, and Toronto. Each program has similar intentions, to provide a cheap or free alternative to environmentally unfriendly cars, making our shared public space a little less noxious. Each program has its own spin, somewhat reflected in the names: white bike, pink bike, yellow bike, green bike and checked bike.

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Uniform
A uniform is worn by players in the game, making it easy for one to spot another.

In Toronto, a yellow hoodie was used to match the color of the bicycles provided by BikeShare. The hoodies were supplied by Headquarters*, a clothing operation run from the home of Toronto artist Sandy Plotnikoff.
A shop, studio and installation of his own and other artists clothing-related projects.

When the hoodie was put on, it was noted that similar colours in the urban landscape started to pop up. Queen and Spadina seemed to transform into a sea of yellow. At Queen and Gladstone, some visitors to the performance received yellow tickets for illegal parking. A yellow solid waste truck went by.

This heightened awareness of the colour-coded city influenced how each participant navigated through and shared the space with others.

*Visit Headquarters by appointment through sandyplot@yahoo.com or website http://laundry-line.net.

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Algorithm
Steering algorithms are used by the players to move through the area.

The algorithms are sourced from Craig W. Reynolds work with steering behaviours for autonomous characters. These steering behaviours are derived from real-world examples of flow and movement in urban and natural environments and then applied to virtual/interactive gaming environments and robotics.

Some steering behaviors include, seek, flee, pursue, evade, wander, explore, forage, arrival, wall following, flocking, obstacle avoidance, etc.

In "2.4_interference_
interaction", these behaviours are remapped back into urban and public spaces.

When a participant enters into the play space, he/she is given a written instruction.

For a performer on a bike, he/she might be given an instruction like:

"Unaligned Collision Avoidance: Avoid Collisions. Alter your direction and speed to prevent them."

For a person that wanders through the area finding the monitors, the instruction might go like this:

"Forage: Combine wandering with forage seeking".

The instruction at first might seem oversimplified. However, by stating the apparent (that one should avoid collisions), and also stringing several of these instructions together, attention is directed to the social dynamics, interactions, interruptions, potential collisions that one might have to deal with when moving through and sharing an urban space.

Therefore, as with the use of color, one is navigating through a familiar space, but with different intent.

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Range
A wireless play space is set up by saturating an area with receivers and cameras. The size of the play space is determined by the amount of cameras and receivers in the area.

The number of cameras, their proximity to the receiver, movement and interfering agents generates the video. The overall image alternates between a clear picture, to signal noise, to complete blackness.

The images are fleeting, ambient, distorted and volatile, reflecting the various encounters, collisions, obstacle avoidance, maneuvering that you do on a daily basis.

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