Y!RB Brain Jam: WayMarkr / Michael DelGaudio, Mike Bukhin December 8, 2006

Michael DelGaudio, Mike Bukhin (NYU/ITP)
WayMarkr: wearable mobile devices, memory prosthesis, and information visualization

Friday, Dec 8th, 3pm
Yahoo! Research Berkeley
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Abstract:
The WayMarkr system developed by Michael Bukhin and Michael DelGaudio turns a mobile phone into a self-documenting wearable device with virtually unlimited disk space. WayMarkr uses a mobile device's camera to take continuous photographs from the vantage point of the wearer. Photographs are immediately uploaded to a data warehouse, along with metadata and optional location information, enabling users to never have to worry about storage capacity on the phone. The ubiquity of mobile devices makes WayMarkr unobtrusive, and the first image based Memex device widely available to the general public. Because the collected photographs are continuous the sequence of images creates a personal narrative. Captured photographic narratives give users perspective, insight, and alternative access to memory recollection. WayMarkr has potential use wherever documentation and participation are both necessary. For example, as an ethnographic research tool, WayMarkr could seamlessly document a participant's behavior. For this talk, we will discuss the concept and technology behind WayMarkr. We will cover prior continuous documentation efforts and the innovation that WayMarkr brings to the field. We will explain the WayMarkr website (waymarkr.com), the current interface for viewing WayMarkr content and propose our future plans for data visualization and content interpretation.

Bio:
Mike Bukhin has a background in computer science and philosophy and has been involved with interactive technologies for over fifteen years. He was a co-founder of Vista Associates, an early adopter of online education and was a senior engineer at QuitNet.Com, the largest online smoking cessation community in the world. He is currently a masters candidate at the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU's Tisch School for the Arts. At ITP, Mike has been working with urban wayfinding, ubiquitous media and connecting people with stories. Mike has presented work at the Sony Wonder Labs and Conflux, an annual New York festival of contemporary psychogeography. He can be reached at mbukhin (at) gmail dot com or at txtst.com.

Michael DelGaudio has been involved with interactive technology for over ten years. His interest in how society coexists with, adapts to, and reinvents the technology we create is the primary fuel for his motivations. As a post-medium artist and designer, Michael's work ranges from more traditional interactive design to highly conceptual interactive installations. Recently he has taken interest in generative compositions, information visualization, kinetic sculpture, and mobile technology. Michael has a background in design and is a currently working toward a Masters degree in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University. For more information visit: michaeldelgaudio.com