Locative Narrative + Actionbound (week5)

The notion of public space according to Berry et al. is associated to the dream-like experiences of a city (2013 :3). Berry also states, quoting Eckart et al. (2008) that the presence of media in public space has transformed how we understand “Public” and “Publicness (pg 5). Associating space and media lead the “space” to become medium that can be represented in a visual form such as television or photograph (Berry et al., 2013, pg 6).

The bounds that I created took me to London in Oxford Street. It had as a purpose to establish the distance between both ends of Oxford street. Some contents were added such as Mission, Scan code and Information. The bound was created on laptop, however I downloaded the “Action bounds” app on my Iphone to carry on with the search. The bounds had as a mission to find all the underground train station that are in Oxford Street. The bound also instructed the user to take a picture of Bounds Street underground station.

According to Ritchie (2014), mobile locative narrative successfully navigates two different spaces; the physical and the digital (pg 57). This principle fully applies to the Actionbound app because the users is compelled to navigate (walking in this case) in the physical world while also navigating digitally with the smartphone in order to accomplish the mission. One of the constraint I was able to elaborate during this process is the possible inaccuracy that can occur if the user has to be timed for example or is the user is asked to evaluate how long it takes to walk from one end of Oxford Street to another. This is due to the fact that Oxford street, being an extremely busy street might make it impossible for the user to walk straight to the destination. The user can encounter issues such as traffic with will compel them to stop and wait. As stated by Richie, physical environment can be ephemeral (2014, pg 65).

With the use of Actionbound app, the public space is heavily dependant on the digital space, vice versa. This is because, without a smartphone, the user will be unable to accomplish his bound.

 

 

References

 

Actionbound, (2017). Actionbound. [online] En.actionbound.com. Available at: https://en.actionbound.com/create/sn166#index [Accessed 6 Mar. 2017].

 

Berry, C., Harbord, J. & Moore, R.O., 2013. Public space, media space. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan: 1-15.

 

Ritchie, J. 2014. The Affordances and Constraints of Mobile Locative Narratives. In The Mo- bile Story. Narrative Practices with Locative Technologies, ed. J. Farman, 53–67. Oxon: Routledge. Pp. 53-55.

One thought on “Locative Narrative + Actionbound (week5)

  1. The Actionbound Safi created is an enacted narrative, which Ritchie describes as occurring “in spaces that serve as stages on which audiences perform or witness narrative events.” (Ritchie, 58-63). Mirroring Ritchie’s depiction, the user of Safi’s Actionbound must perform specific actions or tasks to move along the instructed path in the physical world while absorbed in and exploring her digital game. The Actionbound includes active narrative bridges – a scan code – and passive narrative bridges – GPS coordinates to navigate around London.
    Actionbound is a good example of how public space is under pressure from the media, quite literally, as Berry et al explain, inscribing pathways by attracting or repelling us. (Berry et al, 4).

    Bibliography:
    Berry, C., Harbord, J. and Moore, R. O. 2013. Public Space, Media Space. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp.4.

    Ritchie, J. 2014. The Affordances and Constraints of Mobile Locative Narratives. In The Mobile Story. Narrative Practices with Locative Technologies, ed. J. Farman, 53–67. Oxon: Routledge. Pp.58-63).

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