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SOUNDSWAP // A Familiar Stranger Juke Box - Localizing the Attention Economy

“THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO RUB UP AGAINST A FAMILIAR STRANGER’S DATA BODY”

Soundswap is any stationary bluetooth enabled device that allows passerby’s to swap audio files when they are standing near it. Only people who pass by the device during the day will be able to access it. This project attempts to promote local information exchanges that allow urban dwellers to exit their normal social networks and bump into the data bodies of the familiar strangers that pass by where they live and commute. This project awards the repeated use of daily inhabitants, who gain a window into the diversity of their community while retaining a relative degree of anonymity.

Mechanism: A User blue tooths one audio file that is less than 50MB to the device. Once the device confirms the receipt of a playable file, it sends the user’s device the first of three audio files stored in the que.

It’s 8:55 and three songs are saved in the cue of the SoundSwap box. This box is a small mobile phone with blue tooth, and running Java. Ten of these have been installed by an arts group with funding from the city of Dublin. Commercials and posters announce the project, and the artists have spent a couple of weeks tweaking the system and training commuters on how to use it.

At 8:57 Melanie walks by. Melanie is an independent media activist and wants to share her left-leaning news broadcast with someone. She adds the note “News from the Front.” In return she receives a live DJ set by DJ Mooley. She hasn’t heard his stuff, but she has seen ads for his Thursday night dance party. If DJ Mooley’s mix is any good, maybe she will ask Caroline to go with her this week.

Two minutes later Ng Wan Wu walks past. Last night her son emailed her an old recording of a Chinese Opera she listened to in her youth. She hasn’t heard the song in over 30 years. She is not sure if anyone else will like the song, but she is so happy to have rediscovered it that she decides to share it. In return she receives “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by The Stooges. She listens to the track and at first she thinks about turning it off because it sounds too loud, like the heavy metal her son always plays. But then she thinks that to most people in Ireland, Chinese Opera probably sounds like a cat being tortured so she gives the song a listen all the way through and finds it kind of relaxing.

Sayalee walks by at 9:08 and wants to share this song she has been looking for all week. A song from a jeans advertisement on TV has been stuck in her head all week. She finally tracked down the band online and wants to share it with everyone else. She gets “London Calling” by The Clash. It’s a band she has always meant to listen to, but never has. The note says “off to England for a Wedding.” She wonders if its that cute boy she sometimes sees on this walkway. Hopefully HE’S not getting married.

Guy comes by at 9:25. He is late for his job at a website company which produces media for budget travelers on how to save money. But he figures he will have an excuse for his boss if he tells him that he was distributing their new audio interview with British Airways on how to get free airline tickets using the SoundSwap system. In return he receives this morning’s IndyMedia broadcast. The broadcast reminds him of something he hasn’t thought of since he was a teenager – following his dreams. Maybe he should just quit this boring but well payed job and become a trekking guide like he has always wanted.

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Some Q&A about SoundSwap

Q: People can already change a variety of files between their handheld devices without the intermediary of the SoundSwap device. What’s the point.
A: While its certainly true that people may trade files with others, it is usually with people already in their social network, and does not necessarily expose them to information that comes outside of that somewhat closed network. This box is an opportunity to be surprised and to access information one would not usually. It is important that the box physically exists in a space. It provides a well or water fountain around which people can congregate. Finally, the patterns of use that develop locally are what may distinguish it significantly from other forms of information swapping.

Q: Where do you think these could / should be installed?
A: Anywhere that people congregate and have a minute or two to make a swap. Elevators, subways, buses, walking paths, parks, coffee shops, alleyways, art museums, libraries, etc.

Q: What if people swap COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL?
A: There is a very good chance that users will initially use SoundSwap to trade the audio which is on their handhelds which is primarily copyrighted popular music. After all, large medi conglomerates spend millions of dollars making sure that is the sound track that pervades our lives.

However, the limitations of space and time make this a much less threatening network than online file trading. In fact, it is more like attending a mix tape party, where everyone brings some music and swaps with one other person. Once someone makes the a swap, the file is deleted from the device. The focus on localism makes it much more likely that people will want to use this device to share music they’ve made, unusual or interesting audio files they have run into on the net, or something they will get people’s attention.

Also, as a SoundSwap community becomes vibrant and used, it is likely that anomalous audio is what will interest people to keep participating. Social capital within the network will be generated by providing interesting audio that one would otherwise not run into in their usual information drive. It is unlikely that a familiar stranger will gain much social capital by sharing a top 40 song which is already available on radio, TV, in movies, in advertising and everywhere else.

Q: Can I set up a SoundSwap Juke Box in my (neighborhood, coffee shop, park etc.)?
A: Sure. Any Bluetooth enabled device that can run a program will do. You can use our code (as soon as it is actually written or just write your own. Remember that old PC tower that just sits in your basement? Why not buy a USB Bluetooth device and donate it to your favorite coffee shop. One advantage of a newer device is that it can go into sleep mode and only be woken up when it is contacted. One of the dangers of read/write urbanism is how much more electricity it may use.

Q: Realistically, how could a large scale deployment of SoundSwap Jukeboxes be financed in one city?
A: There are probably a few methods. The costs involved are the hardware, the electricity, and the maintenance.

-Art project or ‘cultural stimulus’ model: This is where you write a grant or get a governmental or arts funding organization to help finance the installation of these. Building this kind of infrastructure can make downtown areas more attractive and populated, and its much cheaper than light rail or other forms of infrastructure intended to create vibrant downtowns. Also, after the project runs its course the hardware can be reused for many other things.

-Advertising revenue: This is where you partner with an advertising organization who may pay for it if every 10th audio file is a jingle or something.

-Host parasite model 1: This is where you donate the hardware to a space like a coffee shop, boutique store, and they pay for the electricity because it attracts and retains customers. If they have a display window you can even put the device in the window so it is accessible 24 hours.

-Host parasite model 2: You can find an enlightened business owner who is already running something like flatscreen advertising billboards, which basically play a video file from a PC, and ask if you can partner with his organization to install your software and a Bluetooth device.

-Commons model: This is where you petition a government body and make the case that people have a right to engage in free information exchanges. SoundSwap might not be the perfect model, but certainly people need a space other than interactive billboards to exchange information in the 21st century.