tim wright: digital writer & multiplatform wonk

2gether08: key statements for my presentation

1. MORE AND MORE BROADCASTERS ARE REDESIGNING THEIR AUDIO SERVICES FOR DISTRIBUTION VIA THE WEB. Download bbctodayjellies.mp3

2. MUSIC RADIO IN PARTICULAR IS FOCUSSED ON ‘VISUALISING’ RADIO AND ‘PERSONALISING’ AUDIO SERVICES. Download tristan.mp3

3. THE WORLD HAS GONE PODCAST CRAZY. Download morriscern.mp3

4. BOTH PROFESSIONALS & HOBBYISTS ARE INVOLVED. Download schizophrenia.mp3

5. “WE ARE ABOUT 18 MONTHS FROM AN INCREDIBLE BOOM IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS AND MOBILE ADOPTION” Download cleese.mp3

6. NEW KINDS OF WIRELESS DEVICE ARE EMERGING THAT COULD REPLACE THE TRADITIONAL BEDSIDE OR KITCHEN RADIO. Download nabaztag.mp3

7. CARS NOW HAVE VOICES AND KNOW WHERE THEY’RE GOING – AND SOON THEY’LL BE FULLY WEB-ENABLED. Download sven.mp3

8. GEOLOCATION & MAPPING SERVICES ARE MAKING IT VERY EASY TO PIN DIGITAL AUDIO TO SPECIFIC LOCATIONS IN TIME AND SPACE. Download drivingstory.mp3

9. THERE’S ALREADY A HUGE MARKET FOR LOCATION SPECIFIC AUDIO SERVICES – WE CALL THEM AUDIO WALKING TOURS. Download buenos_ares.mp3

10. NOW WE CAN USE GEOLOCATED AUDIO WHEN EXERCISING,PLAYING GAMES, TELLING STORIES & MOBILISING CITIZENS.

11. SOON WE WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE OUR VIRTUAL SELVES OUT FOR A WALK ALONGSIDE OUR ‘REAL SELVES – OR WALK AROUND WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S AVATARS.

12.. AND OUR LOST LOVED ONES WILL STILL BE ABLE TO HAVE A VOICE, LEAVE US MESSAGES & JOIN US FOR WALKS.

13. THE PUBLIC WILL BE ABLE TO PRODUCE AUDIO FROM TEXT (THEIR OWN AND OTHER PEOPLE’S) CREATING ‘USER GENERATED’ CONTENT SPACES.

14. ENTIRE WEB RADIO CHANNELS COULD BE DEDICATED TO LOCATION SENSITIVE, USER GENERATED AUDIO CONTENT. Download swywths.mp3

sample swywths

Alice didn’t love you. She never loved you. Every morning, listen to this and remember how lucky you are...

Mike is an idiot. Mike is an idiot. Mike is an idiot...

Flan. It’s such a sexy word. Just say it. Flan.

2gether08: How am I sounding?

At 2gether08 next Wednesday (3rd July 08) I’ve agreed to drive a session about radio and the rise in what I’m calling ‘ambulatory audio’.

I currently work quite a lot in spoken word radio and I've witnessed a dramatic rise in audience demand for podcasts and time-shifted Listen Again services over the last couple of years. I believe there's a whole lot more to be done, though, to allow people to take spoken-word radio for a walk or a ride – hence, ambulatory audio.

Specifically I’m interested in talking to people about how radio broadcasters might work with audio-centric audiences to produce more timely, context-sensitive, responsive and portable news & entertainment services.

Context sensitive audio - stuff that’s designed to play in specific places or at specific times - is a powerful way of both telling stories and putting people in touch with their local surroundings. Capturing and broadcasting audience voices, converting text into audio, and associating audio outputs with other trusted information sources: these are all effective, low-cost and lightweight ways of empowering, engaging and enlightening the general public.

Ultimately, I’m hoping to come away from 2gether08 with a clearer idea of what a truly interactive spoken-word radio station might look and sound like. So if you have any ideas on that score, please come and join me.

HOW I'LL BE WORKING

Since I’m getting more and more antipathetic towards the traditional idea of one person standing up and talking, I thought I’d try something a bit different in terms of presenting my thoughts at this event.

So next Wednesday, I’m going to broadcast my talk using an iTripped ipod and publish my  frequency on my T-shirt. As long as you stick fairly close to me you should be able to pick up my talk at any time.

I’ll bring a couple of small portable radios along for people who don’t have a FM radio player on their phone. And I’ll use Twitter regularly throughout the day to tell you where I am.

I’ll also make the talk available as a podcast here on my blog, and allow people to copy an mp3 file from my phone via Bluetooth. There’s also a number of links on my delicious account to sites and services that I think might help us talk up a few specific ideas for new audio-based interactive applications. Or perhaps we could map out how audiences might like to get to grips with portable audio - and even participate in the making of interactive radio content.

Any examples of podcasting or location-based audio that people can bring to the party will be very welcome.

Spoken word audio BTW  is also a very quick and easy way of generating participatory media spaces  - with some people writing stuff down and others reading it out for replaying on iPods and phones and everybody sharing the result. It could even be a way of creating site specific listening posts and virtual 'dead letter offices' for people to record audio and leave it for others to pick up later.

Perhaps we could play with this idea at 2gether a little bit too.

The Human LCD

"South korea: boys cheering for their soccer teams. the most amazing thing is that they do this with their CLOTHES (not holding up cards). they have a jacket that is one color on the back, one on the front, and that they can open or close to show a third color shirt on the inside. One school has also figured out how to use their pants to make shading."

Thanks to Dickie Preston for this one.

What is circuit bending?

Telectroscope Paul: April Fool or Genius?

“I’ve made all these connections. Money couldn’t buy what I’ve managed to do. All the right people. Pretty soon I’ll be able to complete this tunnel and install the Telectroscope that my great grandfather invented and people are going to be able to see from London to New York.”

blog.telectroscope.org/

Hail slabovia

Have just got back from Glasgow where I've been working with Tern TV on their Channel 4 project slabovia.tv.

It's only at soft launch at this stage but there are some crazy plans afoot for it. If you like jokes about pigs, this is the place for you.

Interview with/for Gavin Stewart

Recently completed an email conversation with Gavin as part of his work at the Research Institute for Media, Art and Design. Here's an extract:

For writers and artists generally - or anyone involved in cultural content - the big issue seems to me to be the ever-increasing divide that the web has brought so much into focus between monolithic professional producers of nationally or internationally branded content and small-scale local amateur DIY makers of content-making platforms, tool and services. These two groups of people offer very different and partially conflicting views of what the web is for, who’s in charge of it and what kind of content should be distributed on it.

Really?! Did I say that?. Hmmm. You find the rest of the interview here.

Kim's Game

I've been helping out with a radio drama on the BBC World Service called Kim's Game, which kicked off yesterday. I've developed the blog element where people can comment on the main character's dilemma - she's turned up in London having lost her memory and needs to piece together her past and find out who she is.

Over the next few weeks, there'll be short broadcasts on Outlook and a series of posts from the production team and writer Jonathan Myerson. The audience feedback will be used to help Jonathan develop Kim's story into a full 60-minute radio drama in February.

Already there are some great contributions from the audience. It proves - if proof were needed - that there is an audience out there for participative fiction. And also gives the lie to a prevailing view in some quarters of the broadcast industry that quality (whatever dat mean) inevitably suffers if you let the general public become part of the process.

Small signs of progress at R4 Today

I've spent the best part of six months working part-time on Radio 4's Today programme now, and sometimes it seems as if there is not a lot to show for my efforts.

True, a lot of the progress we have made has been behind the scenes, improving the workflow, tinkering with templates and generally making web site production more efficient and pleasant for those who have to do it. We've also been blessed with the Today Generation bloggers, so that we could attempt our first baby-steps into the world of 'user generated content'.

Last week, though, we managed a couple of small but significant content breakthroughs. Today is now 'twittering' twice a day to alert people to show highlights (a badge has yet to be put on the home page, but we'll work on that).

And Mike Thomson's reports from Darfur have been enhanced with photos and diary entries and then pinned on a GoogleMap:

View Larger Map

Hats off to broadcast assistant Tom Colls for creating this with the minimum of training and managing to do it alongside his daily schedule of web updates. This map looks even better in GoogleEarth by the way and it's great to see BBC radio content placed alongside other content sources (like National Geographic and NASA...) in such a neat and useful way.

I'm really hoping we can do a lot more 'audiomapping' like this next year - or better still - make it easy for listeners to enhance their own maps and web sites with Today audio.