An online community for naturalists and perceptual ecologists. Palimpsest utilizes collaborative databases and augmented reality to share, understand, and experience the natural processes in flux. Prototype Demo »
Leveraging augmented reality technologies like Microsoft’s Photosynth, Palimpsest introduces the element of time in order to place semantically composite media from diverse contributors on a cohesive timeline.
An ecological system is an intricate series of interdependencies and symbiotic relationships that have evolved between a place and the organisms that inhabit it. The same principle can be applied to decentralized networks of information
Global Community Objectives
The perceptual ecology movement extends beyond the remote scope of the initial fringe participants. The technology and sophisticated interaction between participants hold implications for the larger community, affording them the opportunity to consider the latitudinal lifespan of a given place and the subjective experiences that shape them.
Ultimately, every space can be documented in such a manner. The histories and experiences, hitherto occluded by the relentless accumulation of time, become universally meaningful.
The Palimpsest database organizes user submitted media content, as well as subjective experiences and written annotation. This collaborative framework allows for validation of experience through communal reception. Personal experiences becomes inextricably linked to a space and instantly accessible.
The Palimpsest Archival Device is optimized to record a range of media content and instantly upload it to the composite database. The Pal-AD allows the user to access the Palimpsest database in the field, affording immediate visual comparison with the present environment, and its versioned histories.
Project outline
- Research emergent technologies: Photosynth, Augmented Reality
- Audit best practice: Online Communities, Social Networking
- Identify Individual and Community needs and objectives
- Design graphical user interface
- Develop interactive prototype
- Integrate user interface with tangible artifact