2. Educational workshop MIT mobile experience lab
Spring 2007
In collaboration with RATP, Paris and with the kind support of MIT France Program.
MIT mobile experience lab
3. 10 Millions passengers
in the Paris metro every day.
What if crowd was a resource?
MIT mobile experience lab
4. Crowd, Space and Exchange.
Crowd
What if individuals can be intelligently connected to others?
Space
How can connections between the city and the transportation
system become more fluid and transparent?
Exchange
What new forms of exchange and economic models could
generate social and financial benefit?
MIT mobile experience lab
5. Multidisciplinary Group
13 graduate students from Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Architecture,
Media Lab and Sloan School of Management, 1 undergraduate research student
Faculty Federico Casalegno, William J.Mitchell
Teaching Assistant and Coordination Mirja Leinss
MIT mobile experience lab
6. First: wild ideas
Demographics
Mapping Purchasing
Customization Logistics
Graffiti Crowd flow
Culture
Social connections Time
News media
Displays
Information
Mobile devices
Communities
Services
Knowledge sharing Interfaces
Boundaries Agents
Artists
Advertising
Shopping
Education Communication City
MIT mobile experience lab
7. Second: 4 emerging topics
Sociable Spaces
Games – promotion of social interaction between passengers
Learning Spaces
Collective and individual knowledge and customized information
Cultural Spaces
The metro as a stage – micro-performance spaces
Commercial Spaces
Dynamic space – services for everyday needs
MIT mobile experience lab
8. Discussion on French culture with MIT France program
Gilberte Fuerstenberg and April Julich presented differences in social expectations
between the American and the French and initiated a discussion on the nuances of
communication differences.
More guests and collaborators inspiring the work throughout the semester
Stephane Cobo RATP, Paris
Marco Susani Director Motorola Experience Design, Chicago
Pierre Le Queau Professor of Anthropology of the art and the imaginary, Grenoble
MIT mobile experience lab
9. Field trip to Paris and ethnographies in the Metro
In groups the students observe people, behaviors, patterns, use of space,
communication, interaction principles, movement, occupations during the ride, use of
devices and media and general processes that work well or less well. In a conclusive
short presentation every group points out the most crucial observations.
MIT mobile experience lab
10. Mid-term presentation to RATP in Paris
The four student groups present their first ideas, observations and conepts to RATP.
MIT mobile experience lab
11. Workshop with RATP in Paris
A brainstorming session with mixed groups of MIT students and RATP
employees of different departments sharing their experiences from the field,
inspired the teams and gave new insights to the groups.
MIT mobile experience lab
12. Class Blog Metro 2.0
During the semester students post their findings and relevant links on a blog, that makes the
information accessible to the public and archives the collective knowledge related to the field.
MIT mobile experience lab
13. Sociable Spaces
Games – promotion of social interaction between passengers
MIT mobile experience lab
14. “People are often skeptical of any interaction in the Metro because
they're trying to figure out what's being sold or asked of them. We
believe that games could help this in two basic ways: games can
generate a shared experience that makes it easier to interact with
strangers and games provide strong rules about the interactions
between players.”
Sociable Spaces
Games – promotion of social interaction between passengers
MIT mobile experience lab
15. Platform Games
Travellers on opposite platforms are seperated by a unbridgeable gap. One could think
of games that can be played with or against travellers on the other platform.
Sociable Spaces
Games – promotion of social interaction between passengers
MIT mobile experience lab
17. “We believe that transforming the Paris Metro into a cultural space
is an obvious and necessary action. In the global network of cities,
Paris’ competitive advantage is based on culture.
Thus, Metro 2.0 must capitalize on the city’s cultural assets but must
think beyond the traditional museums and monuments that grace the
streets above the underground Metro network. Instead, the Metro
should transform itself into a dynamic cultural landscape that
harnesses the creativity and talents of its passengers to create an
unparalleled cultural experience. In this way, the Metro itself can
become a cultural resource for Paris’ residents and visitors.”
Cultural Spaces
The metro as a stage – micro-performance spaces
MIT mobile experience lab
18. System flow micro-rental
A Micro-rental website for reservation, the optional set-up of the space through an
RATP agent, the transformation of the space and the actual performance taking place.
Cultural Spaces
The metro as a stage – micro-performance spaces
MIT mobile experience lab
20. “Our analysis proved that the Metro space is a fertile environment for
the enhancement of different types of learning. The main goals that
guided our proposals were:
- to engage both the collective and the individual knowledge at
different levels
- to reestablish connections between the (disorienting)
underground space and the above-ground city level
- and to optimize the information each Metro rider wishes to reach
and make it available, even to passengers who have not integrated
high technology in their everyday lives.”
Learning Spaces
Collective and individual knowledge and customized information
MIT mobile experience lab
21. Learning about the city, people and everything
The proposed system of learning opportunities includes La Fenetre roulante,
Metropose and Metropoll and Papier vivant, a customized newspaper.
Learning Spaces
Collective and individual knowledge and customized information
MIT mobile experience lab
23. “Since commuting is a necessary part of everyday life, we set out to
find revenue-generating complementary services. Therefore, our ideas
take into the unique temporal characteristics of the underground.
The central idea to our project was to promote the RATP as more than
just a provider of public transportation. To do this we believe RATP
needs to extend its brand aboveground and move into a new space. Our
principal idea was for the RATP buy/lease stores next to the metro
entrances to offer essential services to everyday commuters. RATP
agents would staff these stores, acting as liaison between the rider and
the RATP services. These “Services Voisins” include dry cleaning and
simple food provision. These services would be streamlined and
efficient, so as to integrate seamlessly into the rider’s commute.”
Commercial Spaces
Dynamic space – services for everyday needs
MIT mobile experience lab
24. Dynamic commercial space
Targeted digital advertisments, push technology, ads communicating with mobile phones
and on-train auction systems are part of the dynamic commercial space.
Commercial Spaces
Dynamic space – services for everyday needs
MIT mobile experience lab
25. Final Review with RATP in Cambridge
At the end of the term, the final presentation and a common lunch give an
opportunity to students and representatives from RATP and MIT France to
discuss ideas and results of the workshop.
MIT mobile experience lab
26. Thanks to our students
Abigail Phelps, Dido Tsigaridi, Eric J. Hanover, Drew Harry, Jon Malenfant, Jesse Mintz-Roth,
Pranav Mistry, Dietmar Offenhuber, Anthony Rizos, Francisca Rojas, Orkan Telhan, Kuroki Tsuyoshi
MIT mobile experience lab
