Page 75 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

by regulating tra c lights or parking spaces in real time. This concept has given rise to curious projects such as “Pigeon Air Patrol”, whereby a group of geniuses (or madmen, depending on how you look at it) strapped sensors that mea- sure air quality in real time onto pigeons in cities like London and Los Angeles. This information is processed and sent to the related app so that users receive a report on air pollution in their neighbourhood every morning. Another example, further away from cities, is crop elds where there are drones that survey the state of the crops, sensors that measure soil dryness and robots that analyse leaves in search of pests.What the IoT can contribute to art and cultureArtists constantly come up against obstacles in their attempts to make known their traditional works and gain due recognition. If things continue as they are at present, the art market will shrink. Could the Internet of Things be the solution?Artists will seek, in their quest for creativity, new means of expressing their emotionsin their works, with a technology that allows them to reach more users and, more importantly, amaze them.We cannot lose sight of the fact that one of the greatest risks posed by the use of new technolo- gies is that they could do away with intellectual property rights and increase the risk of plagia- rism. Some artists are lagging behind owingto their inability to adapt to such a changing environment, but the advent of IoT technology, far from being a disadvantage, is an opportunity, as it will allow them to create unique works that interact with the users who visit them and make a worldwide impact.What the IoT o ers artists: opportunitiesThe Internet of Things can provide artists with new opportunities. For one thing, evolved and hyperconnected artworks can fetch higher prices. For another, each artist can create a unique work by incorporating new ways of interaction, raising the quality of their work and minimising the possibilities of fraudulent practices.Let us take a look at a few examples of the so-called “Network Art” or interactive art, which makes it possible to share emotions or moodsin artworks by accessing information from anywhere in the world:Our lives are starting to change as a result of all this information and all these devices, though, like any self-respecting revolution, it has started out being almost invisible. Aside from the impact it may have on how we work or communicate with friends and relatives, it will also a ect leisure.Institutions and promoters are exploring new ways of getting artistic content to consumers. Artists themselves, who in their quest for creativity seek new means of expressing their emotions in their works, have at last found a technology that allows them to reach more users and, more importantly, amaze them. For make no mistake, in today’s world hyperconnectivity and information overload are making it harder and harder to surprise us.AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 201775Smart culture. Analysis of digital trends