Interactive Venice: Using Art and Games to Bring Awareness to Venetian Social Concerns An Interactive Qualifying Project Report Submitted to the Faculty of the WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Submitted by Michael Frankfort Rinaldo Izzo Roni Rostom Jillian Sauer Sponsors: Venice Project Center Worcester Polytechnic Institute Project Advisors: Professor Frederick Bianchi Professor Fabio Carrera Website: https://sites.google.com/site/ve11bien/ 1 AUTHORSHIP This project was completed with the participation of each team member. Without combined cooperation and effort, this project would not have been successfully completed and brought to its current form. Each team member contributed his or her skills in the different pieces of this project, and aided in its overall success. The “Interacting” hardware installations were created and tested by Rinaldo Izzo and Roni Rostom. The “Exploring” geocaching route was created and tested by Michael Frankfort and Jillian Sauer. The “Exploring” online puzzle game was created and tested by Michael Frankfort and Jillian Sauer. The “Contributing” mobile application was created and tested by Michael Frankfort. The “Interactive Venice” exhibit room design was created through the effort of the entire group. This report was written by the entire team, and edited by Jillian Sauer. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the help of all those who contributed to the completion of this project. Andrea del Mercato- Fabio Carrera- Frederick Bianchi- Cody Smith- 3 ABSTRACT This project explores three approaches to raising awareness about the social concerns in Venice through fun and interactivity. The first approach, entitled "Interacting," consists of hardware installations designed to stimulate the senses of a user. The second approach, called "Exploring," consists of a geocaching route, an outdoor treasure hunting game. The third approach, entitled "Contributing," is a mobile application which allows users to tag and locate Venetian social concerns. These three approaches are woven together by an art exhibit that acts as a central terminal to display all of the individual elements. The exhibit uses multiple types of interaction and media in order to share knowledge of social problems in Venice, as a foundation to be featured in a major art exhibition. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 10 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 13 2. BACKGROUND .............................................................................................................................. 15 2.1 Community Concerns ........................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 Commercializing Venice’s Culture .................................................................................. 15 2.1.2 Shrinking and Aging of Venice’s Local Population ....................................................... 16 2.1.3 Defacing Property and Vandalism .................................................................................. 18 2.2 Structural Concerns .............................................................................................................. 19 2.2.1 Deteriorating Infrastructure .............................................................................................. 19 2.2.2 Illegal Garbage Dumping ................................................................................................. 20 2.2.3 Sewage Problems............................................................................................................. 20 2.2.4 Flooding ............................................................................................................................. 21 2.2.6 Degrading Venetian Public Art ........................................................................................ 23 2.3 Tools to Raise Awareness ................................................................................................... 24 2.3.1 Creating Awareness through Art .................................................................................... 24 2.3.2 Interactive Installations .................................................................................................... 25 2.3.3 Geocaching ....................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.4 The Venice Biennale ........................................................................................................ 27 2.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 28 3. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................... 29 3.1 Identifying key issues of social concern in Venice, Italy .................................................. 30 3.1.1 Performing Preliminary Research................................................................................... 30 3.1.2 Documenting In the Field ................................................................................................. 31 3.2 “Interacting” Approach .......................................................................................................... 37 3.2.1 Creating “Interacting” Installations .................................................................................. 37 3.2.2 Testing the “Interacting” Approach ................................................................................. 42 3.3 “Exploring” Approach ............................................................................................................ 42 3.3.1 Creating “Exploring” route ............................................................................................... 43 3.3.2 Social Problems Addressed through the “Exploring” Geocaching Route ................. 51 5 3.3.3 Creating an “Exploring” Interactive Online Puzzle Game ............................................ 52 3.3.4 Testing “Exploring” Geocaching Route .......................................................................... 53 3.3.5 Testing “Exploring” Interactive Online Puzzle Game ................................................... 54 3.4 “Contributing” Approach ....................................................................................................... 54 3.4.2 “Contributing” through the Geocaching Route .............................................................. 56 3.4.3 Testing “Contributing” Mobile Application ...................................................................... 58 3.5 Creating a plan for one exhibit to be entered in a major art exhibition .......................... 59 3.5.1 Creating an Exhibit Room ................................................................................................ 59 4. RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................... 61 4.1 Creating the Three Approaches .......................................................................................... 61 4.1.1 “Interacting” Hardware Installations ............................................................................... 61 4.1.2 “Exploring” Geocaching Route ........................................................................................ 62 4.1.3 “Contributing” Mobile Application .................................................................................... 63 4.2 Objective and Subjective Analysis ...................................................................................... 63 4.2.1 “Interacting” Hardware Installations ............................................................................... 63 4.2.2 “Exploring” Geocaching Route ........................................................................................ 67 4.2.3 “Contributing” Mobile Application .................................................................................... 69 4.3 Planning for participation in a major art exhibition ............................................................ 70 4.3.1 Central Exhibit Room ....................................................................................................... 70 4.3.2 Gaining Recognition by the Biennale Institution ........................................................... 71 4.3.3 Venetian Sponsorship ...................................................................................................... 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................... 73 APPENDIX A: TABLE OF VENETIAN SOCIAL CONCERNS ......................................................... 75 APPENDIX B: MATERIAL BUDGET ................................................................................................... 77 APPENDIX C: PARTS LIST ................................................................................................................. 77 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: A busy street in Venice’s retail sector ............................................................................................... 15 Figure 2: Population of Tourists and Locals in Venice