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Digital Fireflies

The entrance fee for Ghana vs. Brazil is 500 Ugandan Shillings (0.3 Euro), a sum that buys us squeezing space in a village hall that's packed to the rafters. The game has already started when we enter, and contrary to what you might have read in the European press the hall includes a local contingent rooting for Brazil rather than their West African neighbours. The heat in the hall is stifling - the windows are boarded up and taped over and there are a lot of bodies generating heat. The video projector cuts off half way through the second half, not as you might expect due to a power cut (the proceedings are running on a back-up generator) but because of a lost satellite signal. For a couple of minutes the audience watches a man with a controller navigate menus and channels, his efforts projected for all to see before he eventually locates another channel showing the game. With all the talk of niche programming what is the potential of usability studies as spectator sports? Thoughts a stadium full of people watching a cognitive walkthrough on a JumboTron before giving their verdict to the designer sitting in the center circle. Public adoration or shaming.

It was dusk when we walked in and by the time the game is finished its dark outside save for the stars and a few candle lit market stalls. This part of town does not appear to be on the mains. At the final whistle the inside of the hall turns pitch black - the organisers simply cut the power. For a few truly wonderful moments we sit watching human fireflies navigating and feeling their way out of the hall using only their mobile phone displays to guide their way.

The photo above? An overlay of repeated 2 second exposures.

Writing from Kyotera | June 27, 2006 | Permalink