Live Sites and the Olympic Cultural Experience

Hi everyone, my name is Pete Leathley.  I am going to be helping out David, and others, in what ways I can to shape the next Muse business plan into something that shows a compelling business position by means of written reports, sound and video, and other appropriate formats.  I was hoping to begin that process by asking those involved in this blog, along with other interested individuals, to allow me to interview them about their thoughts and opinions for how Mobile Muse might be involved with the proposed live sites for the 2010 Winter Olympics.  These live sites are modeled after the big television screens set up throughout Germany, and much of Europe, during last years Football World Cup.  

Many football fans traveled to Germany last year in order to watch the matches on dozens of big screens situated around the country, including nine screens located within Berlin.  The BBC also broadcasted many games on large public space screens throughout the UK.  In both cases, these large public screens offered organizers an opportunity to engage the crowd through interactive games, crowd cams, along with the ability to text fan opinions and remarks onto the screen.  I was living in London during last years World Cup, and was witness to the immense energy and excitement that was created around these live sites.  In typical English fashion, people queued well in advance for a good vantage point, and crowd interaction was impressive.  Similar installations in Vancouver, and throughout the Province, could provide a good starting point for the creation of media-rich, urban, shared experiences during the 2010 games.  I want to find out what you think that might look like, and how it could be coordinated.

In exploring the possibilities myself, I started thinking about the opportunities for blended learning, referring to both formal and informal learning, which these sites could provide.  In reading through the final report of a European mobile learning project called MOBIlearn, I found some interesting suggestions: “The role of mobile content is to support the learning episode which takes place externally to the technology platform.  This differs to the more traditional concept of e-learning delivered via a desktop PC where the learning episode is focused on the content.”In order to create an interactive cultural experience, the conversation about integrating live sites with mobile technologies should begin with an examination of the opportunities for a blended learning strategy. In the case of the MOBIlearn project, three different scenarios were tested, each with a different blended learning strategy: MBA schools, where international MBA institutes extended the scope of their current blended learning, by providing learners with both personalized and tailored subscriptions to content on mobile networks; Museum and Cultural mobile tours enabled citizens to access context sensitive art, historical & cultural knowledge with their mobile devices while visiting museums and galleries; and Access to basic medical knowledge from mobile devices enabled support for anywhere and anytime interventions.  By focusing the role of mobile content on what is happening in the surrounding environment, society, and activity, the potential for a shared experience is that much greater.

An example of what I’m thinking of, although not nearly going the distance to involve mobile content, is an exhibit that was created in anticipation of the World Cup.  The FOOTBALL GLOBE was part of the artistic and cultural program of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.  Based on an idea by artist Andre Heller, the mobile pavilion toured through the 12 German Host cities.  The 40M long wrap-around projection screen inside the FOOTBALL GLOBE was designed to reflect the actual enthusiasm for football experienced by visitors to the exhibition, as well as that of people around the world.  In an entertaining manner various experience stations, all linked to the interactive projection screen, provided information about past and future World Cups, as well as football in general.  Visitors were also able to play an active part in the multi-media experience, by influencing the atmosphere through personal statements about football.  The content was run through a micro-site of the official FIFA World Cup, which also provided a host of interactive content for people around the world. 

Anyway, these are just examples of things I’ve been thinking about, and hopefully will inspire your thoughts on how Mobile Muse can involve itself in the proposed live sites.  If you would be willing to be interviewed, please either reply to this posting or e-mail me directly at pleathley@googlemail.com.  Hope to hear from you soon.