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4040	11140	Hello everyone and thank you for having me. My name is Simon Weckert. I'm a Berlin-based artist
12200	17480	and in the beginning of the year I did a project which is called Google Maps Hacks,
17480	24460	which got a lot of attention in social media, in the news, on television. And today I would like
24460	31820	to give you a short introduction and a short insight about the project, what was my motivation,
31820	38700	what is the technique behind. And before I gonna start with that, I would like to
38700	44880	play a short video of the project, especially for the ones which don't know what I'm talking about.
157580	165680	So before I start, just a short introduction to myself, what is my background.
166720	173600	I studied art at the University of Art in Berlin and there I was much more interested into
174300	181640	digital computing, coding, electronics. And that's actually also, I would say, what I learned
182200	188780	and that's also what I'm interested in. So basically in my artworks or in the topics
188780	196660	I'm dealing with, I'm super interested in how technology influences, how technology
197580	205360	shapes our society. So one of my, let's say, sentence I'm always kind of following is that
206040	211380	at first we shape our tools and then they shape us. At some point I truly believe in that.
211640	216860	For example, how it shapes our language when we talk to each other, but also of course
216860	224620	how it shapes mobility, how we move in a city, how we interact in society and so on by technology.
225320	235360	And those are basically some leading questions and topics what I'm trying to understand
235360	243760	and to follow and basically also make people aware of it, what technology means to us,
243760	253980	what technology means to society and also make topics specific related to technology,
253980	262660	let's say, open or understandable for people which are not so familiar with it.
263300	274180	So therefore, one of these projects or one of the performances I did was the so-called
274180	282120	Google Maps Hacks in the beginning of the year. And as you have seen in the video, what I did
282780	292000	was basically I used a red wagon, which is actually made for for children, and I used
292000	299040	99 smartphones, put them into the wagon and was carrying those wagons behind me in the streets
299040	308160	of Berlin. The special thing about it was that on the smartphones there were Android smartphones,
308160	315200	basically Google smartphones. There was also Google Maps running on it, but I will come to
315200	320120	that specific point later on because it might be possible that some of you are interested in how
320120	327240	this technique behind works. But anyway, so basically I was carrying those 99 smartphones
329040	337300	behind me in the streets of Berlin and by doing so I was able to generate and virtual traffic
337300	344940	on Google Maps service or basically in the navigation tool of Google Maps.
345940	353800	So I got the idea for the performance during the 1st of May demonstration in Berlin.
354020	360460	Basically every year in Berlin, on the 1st of May, there are huge protests and basic
360460	366820	demonstrations in the city of namely Kreuzberg and Neukölln, where people are going outside
366820	374820	in the streets and fighting, protesting for their labour rights. And I think it was like
374820	380680	three years ago when I went to one of those protests and during that time I checked my
380680	388720	smartphone, also in that sense the application Google Maps, and then I realized that in that time
388720	395680	that there were a lot of traffic in the streets of Berlin or in that area where the protests were
395680	404400	going on. And then I thought like, oh wow, actually interesting that there is virtual traffic
404400	412100	on Google Maps right now, because in fact right now there is no car at all on the street,
412100	417760	there are just people walking alongside the street. And then I thought like, wow, that's actually
417760	425780	quite interesting to me to see how Google is generating this virtual traffic.
426240	431680	And I thought like, might it be possible to reproduce that kind of effect? And it was for me
431680	439120	quite clear that I don't need, let's say, a lot of people walking alongside the street.
439120	446660	Actually what I need is their smartphones to generate something similar to this.
446660	454640	So this was basically the beginning for me to start, or when it was starting to grow, to think
454640	464900	of, okay, can I reproduce something like that by myself? This was then the point where everything
464900	476640	started to think about, okay, how can I reproduce it? And then the whole journey began for me like,
476640	486380	what do I need for that? For example, do I need for each smartphone one SIM card,
486380	493300	or could it also work with some kind of hotspot? It means that multiple smartphones are connected
493300	498700	to one smartphone, and does it mean that this could also work, that Google believes or thinks
498700	504620	that, okay, there are, let's say, 10 smartphones, but in fact they are all connected to one SIM card.
505660	515080	So that was basically a lot of backward-forward processes and tests going on. I mean, for me,
515080	520260	the biggest thing was actually to get smartphones in general. I thought it might be quite easy to
520260	523820	get second-hand smartphones, but in the end, I figured out it's actually not that easy.
523820	530820	Especially, I mean, when I was in Germany, I couldn't find, let's say, providers which
530820	537720	offered them cheap, where you could basically buy them. So what I did was, in the end, I asked
537860	546600	a lot of friends if they could rent me their smartphone for one day. And I also got a pretty
546600	552620	good contract to an official smartphone rental station, where you can rent a smartphone for one
552620	563040	day. And then this was basically the way how I got 99 smartphones. 99 in that sense also stands
563040	573800	for the Occupy movement in New York. And of course, there's also a link to the Jay-Z song
573800	582160	99 Problems. And so, for me, it was actually after I figured out, okay,
582760	587160	actually, this hack also works with less smartphones. For me, it was pretty much
587160	592580	only a question, okay, I need basically some kind of number which is, you know, getting
592580	599540	somehow rememberable or notable in social media. And that was the reason why I came up with 99
599540	606020	smartphones. So there's, for example, here an important fact is that you don't need 99
606020	613420	smartphones. It can also work, for example, with 50. And I have always also seen people,
613420	622300	let's say copycats on YouTube, and they use 20-25 smartphones. So therefore, here it makes sense to
622920	632340	point out that it's basically the question where you want to produce virtual traffic.
632600	639600	So to me, it looks like this. You can use less smartphones to produce virtual traffic when you're,
639600	644920	let's say, on the countryside compared to when you're in the city with the potential that,
644920	651980	let's say, cars are passing by where you're going to carry the wagon with the smartphones behind you.
651980	657540	Then it seems to make sense to have more smartphones in the wagon. So that's actually
657540	667920	what I learned or basically what I figured out during my test phase. And so, yeah, basically,
668880	673660	then for me, it was like, okay, what I learned is, okay, let's say to produce something like this
673660	681700	in Berlin, I learned that I need around 50. But then, of course, it also came to my mind,
682260	687280	basically, I would like to place that somehow, let's say, in the social media, I would like to
687280	694400	have some kind of, let's say, that people remember that. And that was the reason why I came up with
694400	704600	99. So what was my main motivation behind the project? So I would say that there are multiple
705720	712440	reasons or motivations behind them. But I think like one of them, probably the biggest one is
712440	719900	the map in general, in that sense, the digital map. And let's say the paradigm change,
719900	727480	compared to analog maps, which we had back in the days. So I mean, imagine that probably if
727480	735140	you ask somebody, think about the map, then I would say that for 80 or 90% of the people,
735140	742040	what pops pops out in their mind is probably a digital map, for example, Google Maps, right?
742440	749140	But this wasn't always like this, of course. And like back in the days, we had analog printed maps.
749140	755960	And those maps have been shaped, those maps have been produced. And those maps have been,
755960	763140	of course, let's say, controlled and manipulated as well, by most of the time states and military.
763220	770860	So they used it for specific purposes, they use it for an instrument to argue. And I mean,
770860	776140	of course, they use it, for example, to divide countries to divide areas. And
777000	783360	yeah, basically, they have been used as an instrument for powerful control.
785440	793700	And well, regarding this, and having a look at the maps we have today, I thought, okay,
793700	800180	actually something is going on here, which basically I see as a paradigm change,
800180	807620	in case of regards to the, let's say, power to the control to the influence of those maps,
807620	813480	which means that back in the days, we had the military, we had the state. And now we have pretty
813480	821060	much more, I would say private companies, which are defining how those maps looks like. And this
821060	828760	to me generates, of course, questions like, okay, we have these maps as digital maps, but then where
828760	836180	does those standard comes from? How transparent is the system? How can I, as a user of those maps,
836180	842800	shape it? Especially also, let's say, also as well, how can I manipulate it?
842800	847640	And how open is the system, especially from a democratic point of view, right?
849400	856520	So in that sense, I think it's worth it to have a closer look what digital maps,
856520	864500	especially Google Maps, means to us these days. And also, yeah, how I think it's shaping,
864500	876400	how it's influencing our everyday life. So the advent of Google's GeoTool began in 2005
876400	885140	with Maps Earth and followed by Street View in 2007. And they have since become
885140	892800	enormously more technology advanced. Google's virtual maps have little in common with classical
892800	898560	analog maps. The most significant difference is that Google Maps are interactive, scrollable,
898560	905600	searchable, and zoomable. And Google's map services has fundamentally changed our understanding of
905600	911500	what a map is, how we interact with maps, their technology limitation, and how they look
911500	917280	aesthetically. So in this fashion, Google Maps makes virtual changes to the real city.
917580	924800	Applications such as Airbnb and car sharing have an immense impact on cities, on the housing market
924800	931800	and mobility culture, for instance. There's also a major impact on how we find a romantic partner
931800	940280	thanks to a dating platform such as Tinder and on our self-quantifying behavior thanks to the
940280	948620	Nike Jogging app or map-based food delivery apps like Deliveroo or Foodura. All of these
948620	955880	apps function via interfaces with Google Maps and create new forms of digital capitalism.
955920	962920	And without these maps, car sharing systems, new taxi apps, bike rental systems, and online transport
962920	970020	agency services such as Uber would be unthinkable. An additional mapping market is provided by
970020	975080	self-driving cars. And again, Google has already established a position for itself.
975740	981980	With its GeoTools, Google has created a platform that allows users and businesses to interact with
981980	986460	maps in a novel way. This means that questions relating to power and the discourse of
986460	992640	category have to be reformulated. But what is the relation between the art of enabling
992640	998880	and techniques of supervision, control, and regulation in Google Maps? Do these maps function
998880	1005560	as a dispositive net that determines the behavior, opinions, and images of living beings exercising
1005560	1014720	power and controlling knowledge? So as an example, think about protest demonstrations in a city.
1015160	1022780	So let's say, I think the main purpose for demonstrations or protests is to interrupt
1022780	1028260	the everyday life of people living in a city, right? So when you go to the street,
1028260	1035080	you're going to block the street. And that means you would like to interrupt their daily, let's say,
1035080	1041960	business and to make them aware of something, what you're fighting for, what you're protesting for.
1041960	1048280	So let's imagine that we have a navigation system like Google Maps.
1049200	1058200	That means that cars and, let's say, tourists in cars, people living in the city, driving in the
1058200	1064660	city are getting rerouted around that demonstration because of this navigation system. Because the
1064660	1070440	navigation system is saying you, yeah, actually there is some traffic in front of you, so I'm
1070440	1075440	going to show you a better route to your destination. But what happened then is that
1076080	1081980	you in a car, sitting in a car, driving in a car, you will never get aware of what
1081980	1089360	happened there in front of you into the street. Like basically what happened there, let's say,
1089360	1096920	when people, let's say, farmers are protesting for better milk prices or so on and so on.
1096920	1102200	So you will never get to know actually what's going on there because you will actually
1102940	1109160	not get that there are people protesting there in front of you. And that, for me,
1109160	1116360	is actually a kind of, let's say, dangerous effect because that means that, therefore,
1116360	1124100	it's somehow cutting one of our democratic tools we have, which is basically the democratic
1124100	1131060	or the protest culture, the demonstration culture, where we are able to go out and say something out
1131860	1139200	and I think there I see a kind of danger what, let's say, Google needs to work on to
1142680	1147420	basically implement this and that into their cities that even if you are getting re-routers
1148100	1154020	that you already get some kind of indication why you are basically getting re-routed. So is it
1154020	1158360	because of a traffic or might it be possible there is, for example, a demonstration going on
1158360	1162040	and if there is a demonstration going on, what kind of demonstration is it?
1162040	1169960	So I think that's, for example, a pretty interesting, let's say, side effect which
1169960	1182430	comes up when we gonna use tools like Google Maps. Another effect that comes with Google Maps
1182430	1190730	and servers, especially with the traffic feature, is that imagine that there is a
1190730	1196090	highway and there is a traffic, then the navigation system tells me, okay,
1196090	1202650	I found a shorter, faster route around it and therefore you will get getting re-routed,
1202650	1210390	for example, to a smaller city or let's say an area with smaller streets
1211410	1219230	and that actually creates or could create much more traffic compared to, let's wait 20 minutes,
1219230	1224930	30 minutes until this traffic got solved. So basically what happened is, and that's a quite
1224930	1230830	interesting, for me a quite interesting friction, what I see there between, let's say, those digital
1230830	1237770	tools and the analog world, is that, for example, our cities, our streets, most of the time they
1237770	1245870	are not made for a huge amount of, let's say, cars, right? And when we gonna use these navigation
1245870	1253650	systems and we gonna get re-routed by those navigation systems through, let's say, smaller
1253650	1260910	cities, that means that the amount of cars which are getting re-routed are actually creating much
1260910	1266790	more traffic in that area because this area is actually not made for that many cars.
1266790	1271390	So therefore for me it means that actually it needs to be also something implemented
1272030	1281150	into these services that is also basically realizing, okay, this route actually makes
1281150	1287730	sense to you, but it also realizes that when it's gonna send, let's say, 100 cars there,
1287730	1292230	then it actually will create much more traffic or it will create much more, let's say, problems in
1292230	1300150	that area compared to, say, okay, look, just basically wait 20-30 minutes and this might
1300150	1308910	be better, might be faster for you instead of going to link around it.
1314060	1322860	So these are just a few examples where I think that digital maps will shape our, let's say,
1322860	1332260	how we move, how we interact, for example, in urban space, in a city and in the near future.
1332820	1337940	And, I mean, maybe as another example, as a last example, I would like to give you
1337940	1344300	also, let's say, for, let's say, kind of a future view is that, as we all know,
1344300	1354540	Pokemon Go, Pokemon Go in the background is also using Google Maps services to locate,
1355100	1363640	basically, to locate Pokemons in the area where you are. And there are reports that are saying
1363640	1372020	that there is a cooperation between, for example, restaurants or some kind of, let's say, businesses
1372660	1381780	and Pokemon Go talking to each other through the Google Maps service to means that, for example,
1381780	1388340	McDonald's talked to Pokemon Go to tell them like, yeah, look, could you probably
1389500	1398340	place pretty raw Pokemons in front of our store? Of course, with the main motivation that
1399100	1407700	the users of those applications will probably have a look or go into the store once they are
1407700	1414040	standing in front of it. So, therefore, we see that it's not just like this that we are gonna
1415100	1420080	using Google Maps, as we know it, in an application. It actually also lies behind
1420080	1427460	of a lot of services and it's gonna be used by, let's say, a lot of, yeah, things
1427460	1434720	we probably use every day or like, you know, post delivery. I mean, police is using it.
1434720	1440900	And, of course, as I already mentioned, specific delivery services and so on.
1440920	1452080	So, therefore, I see a lot of, let's say, yeah, control and power influence by Google
1452800	1460080	when we are talking about like how these tools shaping our everyday life.
1466200	1472120	So, this was pretty much more, let's say, my motivation and what I was interested in
1472120	1480560	in this project. And now I would like to give you a short insight of what happened when I
1480560	1487500	published the project and basically, let's say, the afterglow of it. And probably also
1487500	1493580	maybe some kind of stuff like how it went viral and so on. So, the thing is or one important,
1493580	1500880	I think, what I think why it went so viral was one important fact is that I published
1500880	1509080	the project one week before the 15th birthday of Google Maps. So, I was aware of that
1510000	1514700	probably a lot of or that was quite clear for me that a lot of journalists and newspapers,
1514700	1520480	they will write about the Google Maps birthday and they will write about something like, okay,
1520480	1528500	this service has a lot of influence in our everyday life and how it shaped and so on and so on
1528500	1536440	our everyday life. And I wanted also to give those journalists and newspapers, let's say,
1536440	1544800	another view about this service and also somehow, let's say, show them the downside of it.
1544800	1552460	And that was the reason why I published this project one week before the birthday,
1552460	1560720	so that they basically could took it into their articles and to write about it. And that was also
1560720	1564620	basically the whole journey, because after I published it, I got like so many
1566340	1573600	interviews and yeah, well, basically had to write a lot of emails and so on and so on.
1573920	1582500	And this was actually for me quite a long, long learning process, like how to deal with the media
1582500	1591220	and also, let's say, how to make it, let's say, as easy and understandable as possible
1591220	1600220	for a wider audience. And let's say, one of the most, let's say, the question that I got most was
1600220	1608220	that if Google basically wrote me or got in contact with me, and that's not the case,
1608220	1616380	but they gave a statement, I think it was in the Guardian, where they said,
1616380	1624200	where Google's spokesperson said, whether we are car or cart or camel, we love to see creative
1624200	1634080	users of Google Maps, as it helps us to make maps work better over time. And so I think they took it
1634080	1643260	in a kind of sporty way and basically now, I guess, they are trying to work on it, that
1644140	1653660	this kind of, let's say, hack doesn't happen in the future. I personally think that
1654720	1667720	they might not be able to fix that because, for example, what I did to, let's say, trick the
1667720	1674420	algorithm was that I was simulating some kind of stop and go behavior with the wagon. That means
1674420	1682680	that I was carrying the wagon behind me and from time to time I was running, then I was basically
1682680	1690180	standing there, going slower and then basically I had this kind of, let's say, unregular rhythm
1691210	1701300	during I was walking in the street of Berlin. And what I also did was that I also spent sometimes
1701300	1708900	half an hour or also 40 minutes at one place and basically was, you know, working forward,
1708900	1716900	backward on one spot, especially, for example, in front of the Google headquarters in Berlin.
1717620	1722420	So, therefore, I think I'm not sure if they are able to track something like this because
1722420	1729220	when they are able to track some kind of behavior, then it also means that, for example,
1729220	1734980	demonstrational protests might be not being tracked by Google. So, basically, I think there
1734980	1743900	are then... there's basically this kind of a problem for them because when they are saying
1743900	1748480	they're gonna solve these kind of bugs, it also means that they probably cannot be... they
1748480	1754640	will not be able to, let's say, track a lot of people walking alongside the street, like protests,
1754640	1762700	for example. So, therefore, I'm curious to see if Google will solve this problem in the future
1762700	1769980	and for sure I will do another test, maybe this year, maybe next year. And, yeah, well, I think
1769980	1775880	what's worth it to mention is that as we know that usually these kind of bugs, I mean, of course,
1775880	1781240	we can debate it if it is basically a hack or a bug or not, but of course it's somehow, I would say,
1781240	1787380	let's say, a problem which they have to solve, right? But when, I would say, especially in this
1787380	1793540	techie world, if somebody finds this kind of bugs, right, then they're gonna deal with it in a much
1793540	1798940	more, let's say, behind-the-curtain situation, right? So, basically, a broader audience will not
1800320	1805460	notice something or basically will never get, let's say, in touch with something like that.
1805700	1813680	And I think what this performance I did makes it unique is that I was using, let's say, a technique
1813680	1819060	or, let's say, a metaphor story which is, like, super easy to understand for everybody,
1819060	1826300	even if he or she is not familiar with this, let's say, technology in a way. Because, you know,
1826300	1832880	everybody knows Google Maps and therefore, I guess, most of them also basically use those navigation
1832880	1841140	systems and they can highly imagine how this kind of, basically, hack could work, right? Because
1841140	1849480	you have to say that to generate virtual traffic, there are multiple ways. So, I also came across
1849480	1855380	with software or, basically, with an idea of to write a program, like a little application to do
1855380	1864380	that. But then I thought, yeah, actually, like, for to make it understandable and to, yeah,
1864380	1869410	to make it readable for a broader audience, it needs to be, let's say, easier in a way to
1869410	1875850	to read. Because, of course, I mean, most of the people, let's say, a lot of people,
1875850	1881410	they, for them, algorithms and this kind of stuff is actually too abstract to understand.
1881730	1887330	So, and that was the main reason why I thought, okay, it needs another technique, it needs another,
1887330	1898610	let's say, yeah, story to, or method to tell the story. And this was also the reason why I've
1898610	1908610	chosen the Redragon with the smartphones in it and not taking the way by to write an, yeah,
1908610	1912050	to write an algorithm, to write an application, just doing that from here.
1913670	1920870	So, I think that's it. I will end my presentation here. I hope it gives you a bit of an insight
1921350	1924830	about the moderation and why I did the project.
1925450	1932070	And I am happy to, yeah, for Q&A in the chat. And, yeah, see you later. Have a great day.