Cultural Luggage

Brief / Concept

Cultural Luggage consists of a compact rucksack containing a portable computer, a GPS receiver and a PDA. Cultural Luggage system uses a own-made software, based on a software package that makes different hardwares and data formats working together. The software decodes in real-time the coordinates received through the GPS receiver, determines latitude and longitude of the current location and whether the user is crossing an area being described by a Point-of-Interest or not. When crossing these areas of interest, Cultural Luggage downloads and displays on the PDA relevant rich-media contents that are specific to the space. According to this, the platform creates an augmented experience of the space, often built on a diachronic basis: memories and facts of the past (rich-media content) that can be directly compared with nowadays conditions.

Design Process

Cultural Luggage was initially conceived in January 2005 for a demo in the city of Pinerolo (Italy) and developed along different prototypes during the following months. In its advanced version, Cultural Luggage works with a DIY Java / PHP code that makes the hardware devices exchange data and coordinate the discovery experience. Cultural Luggage was deployed in Santiago de Chile during July 2005 for the urban performance “Memoria Historica de la Alameda”.