Self-moving robots and pulverized urban displays

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate current approaches to the design of pervasive urban displays through two dimensions: increasing levels of physical integration of content into the surrounding environment (attached, blended, physicalized), and increasing levels of mobility of the display technology (fixed, portable, self-moving). We provide a classification of pervasive displays along these two dimensions and introduce a new class of pervasive display, which we call pulverized urban displays (PUDs). These displays represent content in a physical form, entangled with the built and natural environment, and are capable of autonomously changing their position. Drawing on urban robotic devices and their capability to sense and manipulate the environment, the paper lays out five characteristics of future forms of PUDs.