Networks of Sensors in Public Spaces: Combining Technology with Art

This paper presents ongoing work with a wireless sensor network application at the Herbert Johnson Art Museum. We discuss the design and deployment of networked motes for the purpose of collecting information about museum visitors including number, density and tempo of group movement within the space. We also address the use of the collected data for dynamic real-time artistically-rendered feedback to those interacting with the system. In particular, the paper focuses on practical aspects of secure communication protocol design, mote application programming, network setup, gateway and server considerations, data processing and output of the system designed to accomplish these tasks. A discussion of major privacy concerns for uses of sensor networks in public spaces, such as a museum space, is introduced and methods of user-privacy protection are discussed. Finally, the paper introduces possible future deployments and upgrades to the system as well as enhanced privacy protections for museum visitors.