Project

AgoraPhone

The first of this project's two goals is to enable those with internalized, psychologically distressing states to speak their own stories out loud to others without fear. The second goal involves understanding the �architecture� of current public spaces, both physical and online, and designing the structure and interaction of a physically located audiospace project that enables and encourages citizens to respond easily, and to be responsible towards each other in urban public places. This project revolves around the design and building of a public installation to let people call from any touch-tone phone into a public space. At the site of this public space will be a sculpture of sorts�a physical tele-presence for the person calling. The person calling will actually speak out of the physical sculpture. A full duplex audio link will be opened up between the caller and the tele-presence sculpture via existing telephone infrastructures. People in the public space can talk with the remote caller by talking to the sculpture. This project brings the privacy and anonymity of online communication into a physical public space to facilitate emotional processing by individuals. Public disclosure of private information may open dialogues around topics otherwise private or dangerous. Individuals may take steps towards dealing with personal situations while simultaneously offering public citizens voices articulating broadly pertinent issues. People present at the site of the tele-presence sculpture will be called upon to be responsive towards others while simultaneously feeling less alone in facing issues they may also be dealing with personally. Public spaces will potentially become more vital, and private issues less alienating.