| Abstract: |
This position paper proposes an experimental and interdisciplinary design approach for building hybrid social applications, bringing together knowledge and expertise from computer science,
urban planning, sociology, arts and design. Our aim is to provide novel interfaces that stimulate strangers in the city to interact—to get in contact—in a low-threshold way. That is,
without sacrificing privacy and without requiring high levels of commitment. To achieve this objective, we explore hybrid design approaches that can take advantage of special characteristics of
local wireless networks, operating outside the public Internet: inclusiveness, playfulness, anonymity, low cost, and the de facto physical proximity of participants. We argue that the development
of easily customized hybrid social applications designed to run on a local wireless network physically attached to appropriate urban interventions, what we call a CONTACT zone, can be a very
effective incentive for citizens to participate in the creation of situations where strangers may informally connect and exchange information of various types. |
