Research Abstracts and Papers

Position Paper:
Engaging Ambivalence: Interventions in Engineering Culture
Published in DataBrowser 2: Engineering Culture by Autonomedia

Contestational Robotics
Pamphleteer: A Propaganda Robot for Cultural Resistance
GraffitiWriter: A Tactical Platform for Remote Content Deployment
Rogue's Gallery: A Public Interface to Mediated Criminal Experience
iSee and The Myth of Privacy Vs. Security

Press Releases

Post-RNC TXTmob Announcements 09/03/04
PROTESTORS AT DNC RELIED ON NEW TXT MESSAGING SERVICE; BIG PLANS FOR RNC IN AUGUST: 08/01/04
Austrian Web Resistance Awards: 12/13/00
Open Letter to ArtByte Magazine: 11/21/00
Public Netbase: 9/4/00
Rogues Gallery: 8/11/99

Contestational Robotics

Abstract:
This paper sets out the context in which the notion of Contestational Robotics has come to be a viable option for resistant activity. It offers an investigation into the recent history on ineffective modes of resistance and outlines several of the first Contestational Robots to be constructed. Part II of this essay contains early plans for the construction of a graffiti writing robot.

Complete Paper: English

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Pamphleteer: A Propaganda Robot for Cultural Resistance

Abstract:
This paper presents research findings based on performance evaluation of Pamphleteer, a propaganda robot which automates the often dangerous practice of distributing subversive literature to the public. In field tests, Pamphleteer consistently out-performed human activists in quantity, scope, and efficiency, and also scored significantly higher on the cuteness – obnoxious scale (COS).

Complete Paper: English | German

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GraffitiWriter: A Tactical Platform for Remote Content Deployment

Abstract:
The advent of next generation military/police technologies for urban use has made engaging in active social insurgency an increasingly risky venture. Real-time video surveillance systems (1), networked databases, urban infiltration robots (2), and a flurry of "nonviolent" restraint and subjugation technologies threaten to have a chilling effect on traditional methods of cultural resistance, particularly the creation and dissemination of subversive texts. The Robotic GraffitiWriter (GW) was developed in response to the need for a high speed, teleoperated, portable platform that operates beyond the line of sight (BLOS) to disseminate unsanctioned content in the dynamic adversarial urban environment. In repeated testing, this system has proven its effectiveness on such high risk/high profile targets as the U.S. Capital Building as well as numerous urban commercial and municipal spaces in the US and abroad.

Following its first full year of active service, an in-depth technological assessment was performed on GraffitiWriter. During this time several significant upgrades were made to GraffitiWriter including a full mechanical and electronic sub-system overhaul. With these improvements, GW now meets the requirements of strategic transportability, operating with extreme confidence in standard threat scenarios including public parks, federal buildings, and shopping malls.

References:

1) Kanade, Collins and Lipton. "Advances in Cooperative Multi-Sensor Video Surveillance". Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 1998.

2) US Army Research Laboratories, "Pandora: A Robotic System for Operations in Urban Environments - Final Design Document", official contract report submission, March 1998.

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Rogue's Gallery: A Public Interface to Mediated Criminal Experience

Abstract:
Rogue's Gallery is a social experiment testing the capacity of robotic technology to create public spectacles that transform public consciousness. Acting under the guise of "performance art," I.A.A. researchers infiltrate public spaces, including parks and business districts, to make GraffitiWriter available for use by members of the general public. Participants use the robot to spraypaint personal messages on the ground. IAA operatives act only as facilitators - both the message content and actual operation of GraffitiWriter is left in the hands of test subjects. This action transforms public space into critical sites for free speech and public discourse while simultaneously transforming ordinary citizens into petty criminals. Testing has been performed with a variety of participants including construction workers, homeless people, police officers, and girl scouts in four countries and seven cities. Test subjects have included males and females ranging in age from 5 to 74, and representing a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. To date, no participants have been arrested for involvement with this project.

Results strongly indicate that along with the careful combination of new technology and social engineering, the contrived performance is an effective means to subvert the prevalent attitude that writing graffiti is both risky and destructive. This finding seems to suggest the possibility of combining social and technical engineering skills to create, at least temporarily, spaces for free action and expression in the urban environments - even in broad daylight.

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iSee and The Myth of Privacy Vs. Security

Abstract:
The past several years has seen a dramatic increase in CCTV surveillance of public space. Video cameras peer at us from the sides of buildings, from ATM machines, from traffic lights, capturing our every move for observation by police officers and private security guards that often act with very little public or legislative oversight. While the effectiveness of these devices in reducing crime is dubious at best, recent cases of misuse by public and private authorities serve to question the appropriateness of video monitoring in public space.

Complete Paper: English

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