Methodology
We propose a three-part methodology consisting of data collection and integration; documentation and representation; and confrontation and reflection.
Data collection and integration
The project will use the SocioPatterns platform, a spatial proximity and face-to-face contact-sensing platform. Using active-RFID tags, strategically placed on relevant objects (such as computers, copiers, coffee-machines), locations (such as work and resting spaces), and people (workshop participants, tutors, collaborators), we plan to collect data on face-to-face contacts and/or proximity among the tagged entities. The result will be a comprehensive and temporally fine-grained record of the interaction network and its dynamics over the course of the workshop.
Additionally, we will provide a computer interface to log and annotate events, and add relevant links among tagged entities. This logging platform can be further extended using twitter or similar systems, meant to collect information on memes and the introduction and propagation of ideas and trends during the workshop.
SocioPatterns active-RFID badges
Documentation and representation
The collected and integrated data will serve as the source material for the representations we plan to work on during the workshop. Building on tools and technologies developed in the context of the SocioPatterns project (e.g. real-time dynamic network vizualizations), the KnowledgeCartography project and elsewhere, we plan to experiment with various static, dynamic and/or interactive formats for visualizing the practice.
Confrontation and reflection
The third component of the proposed methodology concerns the confrontation of the workshop participants with the representations, which should act as mirrors that reflect their embedding in the interactional dynamics. This confrontation could be documented by means of video recordings of the participants that narrate their point-of-view with respect to the represented interactional dynamics. These documents will serve to further contextualize the representations, not only enabling the (non-participating) public to observe the impact of the confrontation and reflection, but also further expose and convey the processual nature of the creative activities that took place during the workshop.