Pressure project 1 – Ashley Browne
Posted: January 27, 2022 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »Pressure Project 1
Goodale Park – “The Grass is Lava!”
Over the weekend I went to Goodale Park with my dog. Our walk was brief, but during my time there I took a moment to observe the foot traffic in the public space. I was particularly interested in choosing this park since many people use it as a dog park– and I wanted to see how human interactions were or were not limited in that section of the park.
I knew that gauging human interactions would be somewhat different in this context, to begin with– since most people followed their dog’s around rather than walk along the guided pathway. I started to consider that the concrete paths that connected through the park could also be seen as a form of “technology” that was meant to guide the traffic flow of dog owners rather than the dogs themselves. It gave them a place to walk with friends, chat, exercise, etc. while also being able to keep a clear eye on their pets as they ran around and played. Also because it was cold and the snow was still melting at this point, this also limited the flow of traffic.
Key Observations:
- People would walk anywhere, regardless of the path because they were following their pets
- People would stop in the middle of the path and increase congestion because they were watching or attending to their pet in that spot
- Pets on leash would try to play with dogs not on a leash, causing the owners to either pull them along the path or choose to step off the path
- Regular park goers would not interact with dogs, even if they were in the dog park section
For my interventionary EMS, I knew I wanted to devise a system that would alter the traffic or access of the pet owners but would still allow for all the dogs to run around as they please. To do so, I would place pressure and motion-detecting sensors that would recognize whenever a person would try to leave the pathway and step onto the grass. The motion detector would sense whenever a large enough animal stepped away from the concrete path, and the pressure sensors beneath the grass turf would calculate the weight and force in which the person was stepping– it was heavy enough, it would determine that it was a person stepping onto the grass and sound off an alarm.
If only people are allowed to walk in the designated area, this would extremely alter the flow of traffic– for one there would be more congestion, and when groups of multiple people passed each other while on the same path they would have to walk in single file so as to not alert the alarm system. Dog owners would not be allowed to interact with their dogs unless it came to them on the sidewalk area.
Also, because people would only be allowed to walk on the paths it would force them to experience the park in a very repetitive and cyclical nature since they would circle the path over and over. After a while, park-goers would lack the incentive to stay for longer periods of time. This would lead to less attraction to Goodale Park in general.
Although this intervention seems malevolent in nature, I’d also be interested to see the change in the wildlife as a result of it. With less disturbance to the grasses and trees in the area, would things start to overgrow? Which animals would make new homes in a park that was meant for animals to enjoy?
