Turning Newhaven Fort into a Netpark (http://www.metalculture.com/projects/netpark/) is a brilliant opportunity to develop a digital engagement with the local space. It would be fundamental to first study the territory and what it has to offer in order to subsequently create specific outdoor works. It is important to study which zones have a better access to Wi-Fi in order to let the final experience run smoothly. This can be done by testing whether “wifi reception [is] coinciding with park areas of interest”. (Figure 2. Pg. 13, Behrendt, Doughty, Poulter, Bailey and Reid, 2015) Nonetheless we can predict a test-idea for activities in the area using Action Bound.
I have personally found the example of the Netpark in Chalkwell Park, Southend-on-Sea slightly alienated. “All the works are experienced through a smart device, either iPad, iPhone or Android. All are best experienced with a set of headphones” (http://www.metalculture.com/projects/netpark/) and, hence why my Action Bound is preferably made for groups (2+ people). I believe more interactive tasks between users in the park could be a simple solution. (i.e. Possible mission for a kid: Write a story that involves two animals. If you see someone taking its dog for a walk in the park, go ask him/her the name of the dog and take a picture to upload to gain new insight in the story.)
In my ActionBound (https://en.actionbound.com/dashboard/nhf) I tried to create some missions where users need to explore the territory while interacting with other users by for example, asking for suggestions.
On the technological sphere, I have found a few problems: in ‘Scan Code’ you cannot insert a GPS position, therefore I am not sure of how to practically find a code to scan in a determined area. Like-wise, on ‘Mission’, it is very easy for users to upload images and videos while it is not for sounds. Even though sounds may be incorporated into videos, the quality of them may likely change as for storage capacity.
References
Metal, Netpark 2015 http://www.metalculture.com/projects/netpark/ [online][Accessed: 11 March 2016]
ActionBound App and project https://en.actionbound.com/dashboard/nhf
Behrendt F, Doughty K, Poulter S, Bailey C, Reid J (2015) Netpark. Research and Development Report. http://artsdigitalrnd.org.uk/project/metal