Google Maps Hacks

The Berlin based artist Simon Weckert has hacked Google Maps in a creative way:

99 second hand smartphones are transported in a handcart to generate virtual traffic jam in Google Maps.Through this activity, it is possible to turn a green street red which has an impact in the physical world by navigating cars on another route to avoid being stuck in traffic.

I find this artwork very interesting, because it shows what influence the digital world has on the real world by now. Instead of looking at maps and picking out routes ourselves, we rely on the navigation of Google Maps, also because Google Maps guides us around traffic jams. At the same time this shows the decreased privacy. Motion data from Android smartphones is processed by Google by default, and Google knows where you are almost always.

http://simonweckert.com/googlemapshacks.html

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