History Unwired

Abstract

History Unwired (HU, see http://web.mit.edu/frontiers) is a multi-year investigation of the narrative uses of mobile technology in historic cities. In 2004-2005 a team of researchers from MIT and University of Venice IUAV worked with local artists, citizens, and academics to develop a walking tour through one of Venice's more hidden neighborhoods, delivered over location-aware, multimedia phones and PDAs. The tour was presented at the 2005 Biennale of Contemporary Art and takes visitors around one of the lesser-traveled neighborhoods of Venice: Castello. The tour was tested on over 200 users, over half of whom filled out extensive surveys. In this paper we present the results of these surveys focusing on the how different types of physical and sociological spaces complemented the audio, video, interactive media and positioning capabilities of the handhelds. First we provide some background information on tourism and local culture in Venice. We then describe the narrative and technical structure of the History Unwired walking tour. We then go into the use of mobile media in closed, semi-open, and commercial spaces in Castello.

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