Mobile CrimeLab at the crossroads of technology and art

Milena Stanoeva
Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Technological innovation and artistic expression converge at the University of Waterloo Critical Media Lab’s Mobile CrimeLab this year. Housed in a 24-foot truck and parked by the beer tent, the Mobile CrimeLab will showcase critical media displays and interactive projects.

Congress-goers will be invited to check out projects like “Cabs of Curiosity,” inspired by Renaissance cabinets of curiosity, but contained within old arcade cabinets, and “Teat Tweet,” which documents the lactation cycles of 12 dairy farm cows through Twitter. Visitors can also interact with some of the projects, such as “Geomosaic,” which uses geotracking technology to map images, as well as a project by Critical Media Lab Visiting Artist/Researcher, N. Katherine Hayles, involving Augmented Reality, biofeedback and mobile computing.

The Critical Media Lab is a “cross-disciplinary, research-creation initiative developed in the English Department at the University of Waterloo. The CML fosters the creation of new media projects that explore the impact of technology on society and the human condition”.

The Mobile CrimeLab is presented in partnership by the Canadian Communication Association and University of Waterloo Critical Media Lab. It is open from 9 am to 5 pm every day from May 26 to June 2 by the beer tent.

Photo courtesy of freefotouk on Flickr.