Personal Public Computing

Solomon Bisker...Master of Tangible Interaction Design...Carnegie Mellon University

What happens when light poles are covered with cheap, reusable computers instead of flyers?
What if individual city blocks could design and produce their own infrastructure to match their own personalities?
What if cities could crowd-source questions like “how clean is my water” and “why does my street feel unsafe”?

Soon, local governments will support citizen-run computing in public spaces the way they currently support
Oktoberfests, recycling bins and soup kitchens. Our technically literate youth will grow up to serve the public
interest, enabled by an open, DIY spirit, open government and online local coordination.

A future of community
+ + = exploration of computing
in public places
Access to government DIY hardware and software Local coordination
resources among citizens

Personal public computing is deployed by individuals into public spaces for their own purposes.
Citizen-led efforts will ultimately drive how computing improves the places we all share.

For Fun...
Classwork for Making Things Interactive

The Floating Throwie is a small,
glowing circuit that can be tossed up
onto a magnetic surface - and then, via
a timer, detach and float back down at a
chosen time. It explores asynchronous
benefits of leaving a “light-show” in a
public space for others to enjoy later.
(Prototype in development.)
The Motown Throwie is a small
circuit hacked from a music greeting
card that is attached or tossed onto a
magnetic surface - and after a set time,
start playing “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by
the Temptations. It is designed to ques-
tion our acceptance and desire for direct
versus indirect public performance.
The Ventriloquist Throwie is a simi-
lar circuit to the Motown Throwie, except
that instead of playing music it will play
back a phrase recorded by the owner
(such as “Hey, you!” or “Look at this!”).
It is designed to explore the usefulness
of indirect audio communication with
passerby in public space.

For Society (Citizen Volunteerism)...

Classwork for Tangible Interaction Design Studio

With Prof. Don Carter (Remaking Cities Institute) With Stacey Kuznetsov and Prof. Eric Paulos (HCII)

The Stop-motion Keychain Camera experiments with
how people can leave cheap cameras in public spaces. Hacked
keychain cameras can be deployed quickly and affordably (~$20
each) into public spaces for any reason a community chooses,
from distributed observation of public plazas to verifying bus
schedules.
The Wallbot Keychain Camera attaches the stop-motion
keychain camera to an easily constructed robot which climbs
up and down public magnetic surfaces such as street lamps.
It is an exercise in DIY robotics and autonomous agents that
aims to explore personal technologies with increased mobility
in public environments. (Prototype still in development.)