Unwrapped: Kommunikations-Gully

by unwrapped

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Intro: Unwrapped: Kommunikations-Gully

Connect (at least two) duct-covers acoustically to bulid a communication system within the city.

A «unwrapped - Aktivierung städtischer Objekte» project: http://thinkunwrapped.org
Watch the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94EyO73Trg.

Concept developed in the «unwrapped» seminar in Graz: http://www.thinkunwrapped.org/index.php?id=75
Concept realised by the unwrapped team: http://www.thinkunwrapped.org/index.php?id=86

STEP 1: Material

a walkie-talkie

STEP 2: Material

a headset with a baby microphone

STEP 3: Material

active loudspeakers

STEP 4: Material

a wooden box, a flexible plastic, aluminium tape, glue, screws, orange spray

STEP 5: Material

a bag

STEP 6: Material

street tape

STEP 7: Construction

wooden box:
- wooden box: 10 x 21 x 5 cm
- 1 hole for the microphone
- 2 little holes for the cables
- 4 small screws on the box (construction to fix later the plastic)
- 1 big screw (later for the electric contact)
- 4 holes on the side (to fix it later on the duct cover)

STEP 8: Construction

- tape (to fix the elastics)
- elasitcs (for the walkie-talkie

STEP 9: Construction

- microphone into the big hole
- each part of the headset switch into one small hole

STEP 10: Construction

- stick the aluminium tape on the flexible plastic
- one headset switch cable is connected to the aluminium tape
- one headset switch cable is connected to the big screw

STEP 11: Construction

- connect the head-set cable on the walkie-talkie
- fix the walkie-talkie with the elasitcs
- fix the cables with the elastics

Information:
- this antenna in not necessary

STEP 12: Construction

et voilà

STEP 13: Installation

open a duct-cover

STEP 14: Installation

- put the active loudspeaker into the bag

STEP 15: Installation

- fix the bag with cable ties on the duct-cover

STEP 16: Installation

- fix the woode box with cable ties on the duct cover

STEP 17: Installation

- stick the street tape around the duct cover

STEP 18: Installation

- and let people interact

30 Comments

Maxaxle88 16 years ago

1. It's weird and useless 2. IT RUNS OUT OF BATTERIES!

graymalkn 16 years ago

1. You say that like it's a bad thing. 2. Eventually, sure. It might be possible to rig a solar collector to it, if the cover has enough openings.

william20 12 years ago

It doesn't even have to have many openings you could put the solar panels on top of the man hole cover and feed the wires down one of the slots :)

tristantech 14 years ago

Runs out of batteries?

You should make it power itself from the methane gas in the pipes!!

nutsandbolts_64 13 years ago

 Somehow, I can't understand what this thing actually does. What does it do? 

NathanaelScheffler 12 years ago

it lets random people who find the grate talk to other random people at the other grate.

nutsandbolts_64 12 years ago

oh lol. Thank you for answering a 1-year old question!

marc92 17 years ago

don't try this in Boston because they will think that you are a terrorist and be all paranoid about everything and you will get arrested.

conceptualstratagem 16 years ago

Nice work, I like the concept behind this savvy art project. This idea to use negative space as a social conduit, interests me. All of the problems mentioned in this critique (so far) are mere technical issues that only take money and permits to get around.

James (pseudo-geek) 17 years ago

BTW your duct tape thing is actually a RF symbol, not a sound symbol. I dont know what you intended it to be lol.

Scozza 17 years ago

A very cool concept, nice work, Scozza

randofo 17 years ago

I also really like this. However... The problem, technically speaking, is that in most major American cities you wouldn't be able to put a pair of cheap walkie talkies very far apart before losing reception. Not to mention that if you were to leave it overnight, chances are that it would be gone in the morning. If some enterprising soul didn't take it and sell it, some poor vigilant fool would see a suspicious box on a manhole cover and call in the bomb squad (in New York especially). Or should neither of those happen, considering manhole covers are usually on the street, someone is just going to run over the box with their car. And of course, powering a pair of loudspeakers would require a massive amount of battery power and not last more than a couple of hours anyway. All of these factors make it quite hard to put something on the street. But I really appreciate the effort when someone tries and I really like the audio markings.

Andrew546 17 years ago

"powering a pair of loudspeakers would require a massive amount of battery power and not last more than a couple of hours anyway."

Randofo, I'm surprised you didn't mention your Camouflaged Power-Source LiberatorCamouflaged Power-Source Liberator, this would be the perfect solution for this problem!

As far as location is concerned, from what i understand, location is irrelevant, as long as its publicly accessible. So this, combined with your project, could be put on or near an outlet, where its much less likely to be damaged, and I'm sure someone could come up with a way to secure it, even if it meant chaining it to a pole.

I'm sure that it wouldn't be too hard to make a better antenna or something to extend the range.

5Volt 17 years ago

I like the concept of people interacting via unusual urban vias.

Also: in the main picture the subject turned his back to a Fiat 500L (in a pretty good shape, apparently). Shame on him !
Ciao e complimenti.
5V.

FrenchBelly29 17 years ago

i dont really understand what its about because its not in english but it looks intresting and i wish i could understand it because it looks kool.
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