Call for Action!

Jaekyung and I(Sohin) are developing an idea. Anybody interested is welcomed for collaborations!

A public message transfer protocol(PMTP) that connects internet and physical world

Why
During the last two presidencies in Korea, it becomes clear that there are two separate spaces of public opinion in Korea that don't communicate each other: the internet and the physical world. The younger generation's political inclination toward the former president Roh was revealed through the election result and also through a movement against the impeachment by the opponent conservative party. Especially the large number of young supporters in demonstration against his impeachment was a surprise to the older generation, who wasn't as familiar with the popular voice in online world as younger generation was, partly because the opinion of younger generation were simply unknown/invisible in the physical world. Same surprise happened to younger generation when President Lee was elected in 2007 with much more electoral support than the online atmosphere expected. Online younger generation didn't know about the landscape of opinion in the physical world. Both worlds assumed the imaginary consensus of political opinion based solely on the atmosphere of the space they mainly communicate in.

This lack of awareness and communication is not limited between internet and physical world, rather common among any kind of older and newer media where media literacy matters to accessibility. It is important to make a path among opinions based on newer and older media, to raise more awareness of existing diverse opinions and to make a seamless flow of public opinion regardless of the media literacy.

What
- A public message transfer protocol(PMTP)
In order to catalyze more awareness/understanding/dialogue between online and physical world, we need to connect these public opinions separated into different media spheres. As a first step, we would like to create a bodywear that displays public opinions from mobile network. It is a public message transfer protocol(PMTP) for introducing online opinion to the physical world in a form that is readable regardless of the media literacy. By wearing this electronic skin, the body of wearer would receive messages from people through mobile communication and, as a result, speaks out for them, making their voices visible in an anonymous urban crowd and facilitating responses from physical world.

- Safety
Using own body as a space for representing ideas is a safer way that would embrace easy and everyday participation of democratic process by a larger public. It does not intrude private/public property, avoiding breaking regulations and being accused. Often, the use of public or private space for expressing personal opinions can be very limited, because of legitimated and illegitimated regulations with unclear interpretations of security and privacy. With the reflection on our own experience of being forced to take off our installation in a public passage by security agents, we decided to use the body as a peaceful visual transmitter of remote, but present, voices. Disabling the identification of senders of message would also protect the wearer from responsibility and denunciation from people who don't agree, because the message is not from the wearer nor this wearer knows who the speaker is.

- Social media
This public message transfer protocol acts as an alternative social media. Primarily, we conceived this as being used in Korea's everyday situation. For example, suppose a college student wears this bodywear and lives a mundane day. Wearing it, he would have a breakfast with parents, commute to college located in underprivileged area all the way from conservative suburban area, attend the class, have lunch with colleagues, work part time, go to see a movie in downtown financial district, have drinks, return back home. He would deliver public opinions to various part of the city, raising more awareness of a certain opinion and facilitating more discussion among public including himself. However, it can be used in various contexts where more awareness of other voice is needed. The wearer of this instrument is a social-media agent roaming around from place to place such as MIT campus speaking for students and downtown Boston where more awareness of the underpriviledged's voice is needed. Anyone is invited and encouraged to send their message to the public message transfer protocol to be heard to a physical and larger scale, making their voice public.

How
System
PMTP consists of three systems: infoClime(SMS based listserv) system, wearable LED display, and a mobile phone for interfacing.
- The public message from mobile network will come primarily from infoClime kind of SMS based listserv system.
- A mobile phone is subscribed to the system. Upon the reception of text based messages from this listserv, python will send the message to LED matrix controller.
- LED matrix controller takes the text data and displays it.

Please see the attached image.