Smart Cities, OpenStreetMap, UNESCO World Heritage and Environmental Protection projects often incorporate open, centralized data models and transparency. They can rely on crowd-sourced financing, direct community involvement, sensor-heavy surveillance, and global access to data, where only a small scope may participate and benefit. Additionally, location-based dependencies in mapping software for mobile phones is monopolized by two major providers, with few alternatives. While satellite systems are nation state-aligned and do provide accurate data, mobile phones also rely on radio frequency (RF) fingerprinting through these providers which collects information on nearby mobile users, cell-towers, bluetooth beacons and wifi hotspots, i.e. wardriving. As ecologies and human-spaces are still tied to locality, a new method of interacting and wayfinding privately through geographic data at scale is needed.
Previously, I've worked on projects for "smart" gardening and local-first information-sharing with Diffractions Collective in Prague. Smart gardening always includes weather and location-specific data, and while I do rely on crowd-sourced weather detection systems, they are also problematic for privacy. The more sensors we carry around in our pockets, the privacy issue increases. I've also used RF spectrum analysis in archeology to passively discover human activity below ground or in war zones for detecting bombs. RF is all around us and big clouds have been using it to create a digital twin of our environments. I'd like to work toward Proof-of-Habit in order to localize this data and incentivize direct community participation, even with passing digital nomads.