Urban Probes and the Augmented Trashcan

After doing research on the subject of ‘probes’ I thought that it would be fitting to blog this week about a project that I find encapsulates my opinion of how I should develop the methodology. ‘Urban Probes: Encountering Our Emerging Urban Atmospheres’ (ii) creates a conversation with the Urban fabric of San Francisco on the topic of narrative told through trash (rubbish).

At the beginning of the paper, Paulos and Jenkins set out to define what an ‘Urban Probe’ is:
“Urban Probes must directly intervene to alter and/or disrupt the usage, actions, or flow within the urban focus of attention” (i p.343)

Through the creation of an artefact, Paulos and Jankins wanted to ‘unambiguosly answer urban questions’ and this was realised through the following methodology.

Observation

Procedure: A trash can was located in downtown San Francisco and the researchers undertook three separate observations (stalking’s) where the trash can’s users behavioural patterns and route of travel in relation to the trash can was documented.

Results: The information gathered was analysed to conclude that a quarter of the people who used the trash can did so for matters other than depositing waste.

Observation (stalking) Results

Intervention

110 hand written, stamped addressed postcards were dropped around the city of San Francisco for numerous aims yet the one that interested me the most was their aim to investigate ‘to what degree are people interested in traces left behind by others? Will the items create narratives?

Each post card had its own unique fictional storey with three evenly distributed subject matter covering a scale between personal to private.

Interviews

Interviews were conducted with professional such as architects and city planners. In addition, street interviews with the general public were conducted across a sample of 20 people, covering a broad range of age categories.

Artefact Production: Augmented Trashcan

As trash is placed into the bin, the weight and images of the trash is recorded and an image of this is projected onto the walkway. Over time, the collage of trash images gradually fades away.

My Thoughts

I personally find the end artefact a little disappointing however, the conversation that the research team had between themselves and the general public of San Francisco through the use of probes is very inspiring. In his paper (i) Gaver states that the probe should be about generating the conversation that Paulos and Jenkins achieved and the methodology is something that I may be able to follow for my linked research project.

(i) Gaver, B., Dunne, T., and Pancenti, E. Cultural Probes. Interactions 11, 5 (Sep. 2004), 53-56

(ii) Paulos, E. And Jenkins, T. 2005. Urban Probes. In Proc. CHI’05. NY:ACM Press, 341-350