Urban Atmospheres/Urban Probes

"'There is little doubt that laptops, PDAs, and mobile phones have enabled computing to become a truly mobile experience,' says the Lab's Web site. 'With these new computing devices, we emerge from our office, work, and school into the urban fabric of our cities and towns. We often view these urban areas as 'in-between spaces' -- obstacles to traverse from one place to another. However, not only do we spend a significant amount of time in such urban landscapes, but these spaces contribute to our own formulation of identity, community, and self. Much of the richness of life transpires within our own urban settings. Similarly, there is a growing body of work within the field of social computing, particularly those involving social networking such as Tribe, Friendster, and Live Journal. At the intersection of mobile and social computing, we seek to provoke discussion aimed at understanding this emerging space of computing within and across our public urban landscapes -- Urban Computing.'"