REMAPPING LA: Cultural Civic Computing in Los Angeles

UCLA Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP), a joint endeavor of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of Theater, Film and Television

Primary contact

Fabian Wagmister
Associate Professor
Film & Television
(310) 206-4431
fabian@ucla.edu

Project URL

remap.ucla.edu/losangeles

Additional project researchers

Co-Investigator: Jeff Burke

Team: Ryan Dorn, Vanessa Holtgrewe, Chase Laurelle Knowles, Eitan Mendelowitz, Vidyut Samanta, Jonathan Snipes, Javier Rivero-Diaz, Diego Robles, Alejandro Wagmister

Associated Faculty: William Kaiser, Deborah Estrin, Bruce Vaughn

Project description

REMAPPING LA explores the creation of Cultural Civic Computing systems for a dynamic, collective memory that is continually constructed from media gathered by its communities and then presented, performed, and navigated throughout the city.  Remapping LA features a decentralized, participatory approach to technological development: In Cultural Civic Computing, communities power the processes of imagining, specifying, and designing technology infrastructure for public places.  As a result, emerging technologies such as wireless mobile devices, sensing instruments, imaging tools, and databases, are re-envisioned by communities and researchers to enable public exploration of creativity, cultural identity, and our neighborhoods’ diverse identities.  Through experimentation in collaboration with communities and direct engagement with technology research programs, this project aims to increase participation in community investigation of the Los Angeles, collective remembering, self-representation, and imagining and defining the future of the urban environment.

UCLA Partners: School of Theater, Film and Television; Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science; NSF Center for Embedded Networked Sensing; Center for Community Partnerships

Community Partners: William C. Velasquez Institute; The City Project / Center for Law in the Public Interest; Resources Law Group / Packard Foundation; Haynes Foundation; Anahuak Soccer Federation

Industry Support: Cisco Systems; Nokia; Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development, Inc.

Project video