Most people think of digital networking in conjunction with something called cyberspace – a space removed from the physical spaces in which our bodies live. They think of virtual reality as a synthetic experience removed from the relevancy of the real. But as the Internet becomes more pervasive and computing moves out of the desktop and into phones, music players, and the urban environment, as the social and political fabric of society migrates into virtual worlds, we have to consider how new technology is transforming how we design, inhabit and interact in physical space. We have to consider what new forms of narrative and documentary representations might emerge. We have to consider how identity and social interactions of all kinds are changing in response. The Network Localities Collective at Emerson College is a practice-based research initiative devoted exploring these issues. The represented work focuses on the design of new technologies, processes, practices and methodologies that have the ability to transform the physical and psychological make-up of our inhabited spaces and to invent new immersive, interactive and networked forms of media.
