[Reader-list] Heritage Signage Disappearing

[Vishal Rawlley]

Dear Kath, Partha,

I do have a website, please see www.typocity.com . It has images and text
but no audio. I don't think an audio tour is necessary and this could get
complicted for various reasons. The way the documentation has been
catergorised on the website is not always according to the location of these
signs, but sometimes according to production techique or a design genre it
falls under etc. etc. - where different signs from diferent areas have been
clubbed together.

Having said that, I am also working on an audio networking project using
telephones and voice mail boxes located on a server. This project is not
specific to the protection of heritage signs however. But one use of this
network can be to have an audio tour that people can access through their
mobile phones as they walk through a precinct. The particular neighbourhood
shall have stickers advertising the phone number to call to access the audio
tour. On dialling this number the pre-recorded voice shall guide the
tourist: "If you are facing this sticker then to your left is the clock
tower built in 1856 in the Indo-sarcenic style... Now walk ten paces to the
right and you should be under the arch...Notice the Victorian lettering
under the arch. .. etc. etc."

Another cool feature of this system is that tourists can also record their
comments/ feedback on to the server. They can also hear other such
previously recorded messages. Although I plan to get the inital tour
recorded by a historian/ heritage expert, I also plan on interviewing
residents of the area to get their testimonies about the neighbourhood they
inhabit and some of their personal histories as well, in order to shed light
on the sort of mileu that inhabits the space... So this audio tour shall be
ever growing, with people adding reccomendations of food places in the area,
quaint shops to visit etc. etc. Different sections of the tour shall be put
in different voice mailboxes that can be accessed from the main menu (press
5 to hear Mr. Tandel talk about his grandfather moving into this area in
1902, etc)

The technology for the project has already been developed and tested. I do
not have the time and the requisite funds to work on its implementation just
now. But I do hope to implement it sometime soon.

This can be described as sonic graffiti that can be accessed through a phone
number advertised on a wall. It is also a form of "locative media".
Hopefully this shall be more impactful than websites and print articles. The
disadvantage of websites is that it does not always create an awareness on
the ground. Old shop owners are unlikely to log on. There is also a language
issue. English content is not read by many locals. So the audio tour can be
in English and Hindi (dial 1 for english, 2 for Hindi, type of system).

Thank you very much for your feedback and support. This shall keep me
motivated.

Best,
Vishal

p.s. Kath I noticed that you had posted earlier on the Airjaldi network. I
am also very intersted in that kind of stuff and my telephone networking
system is an attempt to create an egalitarian networking system to bridge
the digital divide. I shall post in more length about it some other time.

You guys may also be interested in a previous project of mine:
http://www.bombay-arts.com/netart/bombaysonic.html

Also see Kabi Sherman's project: http://meterdown.wordpress.com






On 9/18/07, Kath O'Donnell <aliak77 at gmail.com > wrote:
>
> Hi Vishal, could you make your own audio tour for your site or ask the
> heritage sites to link to it also.
>
> in Jerusalem they have these - they're handy for people who like doing
> independant tours rather than with a group or who haven't had time to
> book the group tour. also you can listen at home to preview it. it
> could also be a podcast on your site - and people could look at the
> photos as well if they're not in bombay.
> eg http://www.jerusalemp3.com/ - there's a few here which are really good.
>
>
> since you seem to be the most passionate - perhaps you should be
> narrating the tour (or at least writing the script)? & maybe u could
> include snippets of the interviews you have with the artists or
> business owners etc for extra info.
>
> kath
>
>
> On 9/18/07, Vishal Rawlley < vishal.rawlley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi Partha,
> >
> > Heritage walks in Mumbai do exist, see:
> http://www.bombayheritagewalks.com/
> >
> > But often heritage only includes architectural structures and historical
> > precincts. In the particular case that prompted me to re-visit the
> Typocity
> > project, an eighty year old sign was removed from the facade of a
> heritage
> > building because the former was not considered a part of heritage and
> was
> > thought to be corrupting the heritage value of the latter.
> >
>
> --
> http://www.aliak.com
>