Mobile Technology as Interface to Public Space

Abstract: The main idea is to make a short film about mobile technologies and the changing relationships between us and the public space under the age of these technologies. Some people might blame those mobile technologies like smart phones for separating us from each other. In my view, however, we cannot ask those technologies to take all the responsibilities, because new technologies will not be put into the market unless the society needs them. These technologies do change our perceptions on the public space in some ways, but there must be some deeper reasons behind. Based on the analogy of mobile technologies to "interfaces" to the environment like our skins, bodies and clothes, we are able to rethink the role of these technologies and our relationships with them and the public space. In big cities full of stimulations and strangers, we are always looking for different types of "filters" to help us control our experiences in order not to be too overwhelmed by the endless information. Living without these "filters" is like being naked in the wild field, which means we cannot control what we see, what we hear and what we touch. In the film, there are two story lines in parallel: one is about the overwhelming stimulations and anonymous individuals using mobiles technologies in public spaces; the other is about one person walking in the wood, stripping down clothes until being naked. By asking the question in the beginning and the end "what does it mean to be naked", I wish eachaudience could rethink the interrelationships between us, mobile technologies and public spaces.