10.000 Moving Cities – Same but Different, Mobile App

Mobile App as Interface for Net-Based Installations

10.000 Moving Cities – Same but Different, Mobile App is an interactive web-based app for smartphones and tablets. With this app you can see and hear what’s happening in real-time around the world. An endless flow of countless stories. You experience how our world is constantly changing and how more and more places are becoming “non-places”, as described in Marc Augé’s book and essay “Non-places”. You become an observer and at the same time you can actively participate.

You might be in Zurich, holding your smartphone or tablet in front of you. By moving the device you choose Shanghai or any other city. Projected onto virtual building fronts, you now see images, sounds or videos which users post on social media in real-time. Futuristic as it may seem, this is how your place might look like in 100 years. The animations on the display follow your moves. You walk along the street and, at the same time, you move virtually between the buildings. They rise up to different heights, forming a skyline. You hear voices and sounds and simultaneously you experience both a real and virtual tour through the city of your choice. The collages of images and sounds on the facades of the buildings change constantly as new contributions are sent, even if you choose the same city twice. From one city to another, you learn about local, cultural and linguistic differences while experiencing them as non-places. This illustrates and addresses among others how our world and our places are constantly changing and becoming increasingly similar. The result in more and more non-places/lost places in the sense of Marc Augé’s book and essay Non-Places, which could exist anywhere in the world without any real local identity (such as motorways, hotel rooms, airports or supermarkets).

Mobile App Interaction
Any city can be selected on a world map or searched by hashtag. Up-to-date and relevant social media posts are searched, processed and transferred into the virtual world. The animations follow the user’s movements: the virtual environment rotates when the device is turned. The sky appears when the device is tilted upwards. When the device is tilted downwards, the floor appears. The virtual environment is endless and can be navigated in any direction. Flight speed can also be adjusted. The sounds also respond to all these movements and flight speeds.

Mobile App Exhibition
The mobile display can be projected onto one or more walls in the exhibition space.

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