Universal Cell Phone Network is an interactive installation that consists of digital images, Processing software, Arduino board, photoresistors, and a light source from the viewer. Upon entry into the dark gallery space, the viewer is confronted with a photoresistor hanging from the ceiling, pointing towards them. There is a blank projected image of the color of the night sky along with two other photoresistors facing towards the image. When the viewer places their cell phone LCD display towards the photoresistor, a zoomed in, dissected NASA image of the Milky Way starts to appear. Once the image gets brighter from the initial cell phone light, the other two photoresistors facing the image trigger two other images and make the room brighter. As soon as the viewer takes the cell phone away from the photoresistor, the image slowly fades back into the night sky color.

The title is a play on words in regards to the ubiquity and power of the cell phone’s connection to information. I have been investigating the phenomenon of light pollution and this piece takes the light of the phone and “conquers” the problem in this environment, as if information is power. The cell phones light becomes part of the network embedded within the piece and reveals the underlying layer concealed from our view. This reliance on technology can lead us to forget about the natural environment and this piece stands in as a poetic, simplistic take on the issue.

AD 456 - Physical Computing, Prof. Daniel Sauter

[ movie clip, 640 x 480 px, 18.88 MB ]

Universal Cell Phone Network [ PDF 1.31 MB ]