Observe Protocol

Observe Protocol is a work developed as at Vivid Projects, Birmingham 2024/25. The work represents the invisible interactions that persistently take place between our digital devices in real time within and around the building at Allison St. Visitors and passers by with Wi-Fi enabled devices will be interacting with and changing the output of the artwork.

On site it sits alongside provocations like: “can you identify yourself (or others) in the work”, and “what can be discovered about the local area (from looking at the work)”.

Developing this work was a way of figuring out how features like real time traffic data and “busy ratings” at venues on Google Maps work. While trying to see how much we can “see” with consumer grade Wi-Fi devices, as opposed to techniques that attempt to “see through walls” with more powerful Wi-Fi devices .

Each node visible on-screen, in this work, represents a nearby digital device, ordered by time of its first detected activity, in a spiral pattern. A prototype alternative to metaverses and social digital spaces promised to us by big tech corporations, presenting a low bar of access to participate in an artwork with others by activating their device, or visiting the Observe Protocol website in-browser.

As the internet is moving away from native browser experiences towards app-based experiences that require broader permissions, have more hidden tracking potential and are harder to reverse engineer. This work was part of a broader practice of developing creative responses to surveillance, in particular surveillance beyond the camera based model.

Occasionally live at: https://op.oscarcd.com

This work does not persistently store any data. Any data presented without requiring your permission is obtained via typical behaviour of consumer Wi-Fi devices and protocols. Any sensor or service you give permission to, via your web browser while using QR Code link above, may send additional data from your device that will temporarily affect the work. This will disappear when the browser session resets automatically every 24 hours, or the maximum number (200) of devices have joined since your device joined.