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Locative Media, Augmented Realities and the Ordinary American Landscape

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Locative Media, Augmented Realities and the Ordinary American Landscape University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Geography Geography 2013 LOCATIVE MEDIA, AUGMENTED REALITIES AND THE ORDINARY AMERICAN LANDSCAPE Andrew Boulton University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Boulton, Andrew, "LOCATIVE MEDIA, AUGMENTED REALITIES AND THE ORDINARY AMERICAN LANDSCAPE" (2013). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 5. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/5 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Geography by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained and attached hereto needed written permission statements(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine). I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless a preapproved embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s dissertation including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Andrew Boulton, Student Dr. Matthew A. Zook, Major Professor Dr. Matthew A. Zook, Director of Graduate Studies LOCATIVE MEDIA, AUGMENTED REALITIES AND THE ORDINARY AMERICAN LANDSCAPE DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Andrew John Boulton Director: Dr. Matthew A. Zook, Associate Professor of Geography Lexington, Kentucky 2013 Copyright © Andrew John Boulton 2013 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION LOCATIVE MEDIA, AUGMENTED REALITIES AND THE ORDINARY AMERICAN LANDSCAPE This dissertation investigates the role of annotative locative media in mediating experiences of place. The overarching impetus motivating this research is the need to bring to bear the theoretical and substantive concerns of cultural landscape studies on the development of a methodological framework for interrogating the ways in which annotative locative media reconfigure experiences of urban landscapes. I take as my empirical cases i) Google Maps with its associated Street View and locational placemark interface, and ii) Layar, an augmented reality platform combining digital mapping and real-time locational augmentation. In the spirit of landscape studies’ longstanding and renewed interest in what may be termed “ordinary” residential landscapes, and reflecting the increasing imbrication of locative media technologies in everyday lives, the empirical research is based in Kenwick, a middleclass, urban residential neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky. Overall, I present an argument about the need to consider the digital, code (i.e. software), and specifically locative media, in the intellectual context of critical geographies in general and cultural landscape studies in particular. KEYWORDS: locative media, augmented reality, poststructural landscape, cultural landscape, Lexington Kentucky. Student’s signature Date LOCATIVE MEDIA, AUGMENTED REALITIES AND THE ORDINARY AMERICAN LANDSCAPE By Andrew Boulton Director of Dissertation Director of Graduate Studies Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very grateful for the support and service of my Advisor and committee members: Drs. Zook, Schein, Brunn (Geography) and Kraemer (Psychology). In Kentucky’s geography department, I am particularly grateful for the support of: Matt Zook for help and encouragement beyond the scope of an Advisor; Rich Schein for his great teaching and inspirational work; and Stan Brunn and Sue Roberts for their support, optimism and confidence over the years. I am also very grateful for the inspiration provided by Michael Samers and Andy Wood at various points. These individuals embody levels of scholarship, professionalism and humanity towards which I aspire. Additionally, I am grateful to the friendly and supportive individuals among geography’s graduate student community who, more than anything else made the years of geographing leading up to this dissertation enjoyable. Outside of the department, I am thankful to other geographers with whom I have had the pleasure to collaborate directly: especially, Lomme Devriendt, Ben Derudder and Frank Witlox. From my Bristol days, I will not forget the personal and scholarly encouragement and inspiration of Paul Plummer and Wendy Larner. I am grateful for the generous individuals, most my former students, who offered their time and efforts to participate in this study. Although beyond the scope of this perfunctory acknowledgment statement, it goes without elaboration that I love and am eternally thankful for my family and particularly my daughter. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FILES .................................................................................................................. 8 1. Place, digiplace, landscape – summary and outline .................................................... 1 2. Context and Justification for Research ..................................................................... 10 2.1 Chapter summary .............................................................................................. 10 2.2 A date with locative media ............................................................................... 10 2.3 Kenwick and the re-reading of ordinary landscape .......................................... 14 2.3.1 Kenwick ...................................................................................................... 17 2.4 Locative media and the re-rethinking of maps ................................................. 20 2.4.1 The power of locative media: a quadripartite typology .............................. 25 2.4.1.1 Distributed power ................................................................................ 27 2.4.1.2 Communication power ........................................................................ 28 2.4.1.3 Code power .......................................................................................... 29 2.4.1.4 Timeless power .................................................................................... 31 2.5 From place to digiplace: from page to screen ................................................... 34 3. Literature and theory: geographies of place, digiplace, landscape ........................... 41 3.1 Chapter summary .............................................................................................. 41 3.2 Cyberinfrastructures and world cities ............................................................... 42 3.3 Place and the materiality of the virtual ............................................................. 46 3.3.1 Economic geography and the stubbornness of place .................................. 50 3.3.2 Digitally-mediated transnationalism: “community without propinquity”? 54 3.3.3 Second Life: “you may think this is but a game” ....................................... 57 3.4 Neogeographies of place, cyberspace and landscape ....................................... 63 3.4.1 Emerging perspectives on mapping subjects of locative media ................. 67 3.4.2 Map Maker’s subjects ................................................................................. 69 3.4.2.1 Inclusion and Hospitality ..................................................................... 69 a) Benevolence ............................................................................................ 71 b) Personal projects and self-interest ........................................................... 71 c) A commitment to a democratic mapping vision ..................................... 72 iv 3.4.2.2 Tier 1: The stranger/enemy.................................................................. 74 3.4.2.3 Tier 2: The semi-permanent-resident alien .......................................... 74 3.4.2.4 Tier 3: The citizen ...............................................................................
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