Street View
CTA Access
“Street View – CTA Access” is a work that looks at the struggle people with disabilities have had trying to access Chicago’s buses. Today many people take for granted the accommodations they see on our buses that make it possible for so many citizens to get to work, school, store and play. But without a concerted effort by ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit) and the disability rights movement to take the struggle to the courtrooms and to the streets, they would not have won the landmark law suit in 1988 calling for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to stop discriminating against people with disabilities. “Jones vs. CTA” mandated accessible buses in Chicago and was a significant milestone leading to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Street View” provides a unique point of view of our streets by using public markers represented in signs and images as launching points for the forgotten or untold stories of change by people who “took to the streets”. Using mobile AR technology, viewers will see historic images and video clips in the context of where the events occurred. This augmented view is layered on the live camera view of their mobile device (smartphone) giving site specific meaning to the media.
To view the historic images and video clips visitors must point their mobile device camera at the lower portion of CTA bus stop signs on the East side of Historic State Street (formerly the State Street Mall) from Wacker Drive to Congress Parkway. The background of these signs (with route numbers overlaid) is an image of historic State Street with vintage buses. Visitors can find the specific bus stop signs to scan at these locations:
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Southeast Corner |
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State & Adams |
Southeast Corner |
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State & Madison |
Southeast Corner |
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State & Randolph |
Southeast Corner |
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State & Wacker |
Southeast Corner |
Link to “Street View
– CTA Access” Google Map:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=209886583242768111132.0004c531f95cf9628d522&msa=0
The video clips contain audio and there can be significant street noise at these locations, so for the best experience viewers should wear headphones. Users of newer mobile devices will see a video clip embedded in the camera image while older devices will display the video in the built in player.
"Street View - CTA Access" is dedicated to those Chicago ADAPT freedom fighters who helped achieve equal access to public transportation in Chicago and in particular, those that are no longer with us:
Kent Jones - seen in video at State & Wacker
Anna Stonum - seen in video at State & Van Buren
Tom Raferty - seen in video at State & Van Buren
Cris Matthews - seen in video at State & Randolph
Tom Shworles - testified in “Jones vs CTA”
Drew Browning is an electronic
artist/designer whose work began with the video art movement of the early '70s,
including interactive video installations and video performances, and who now
focuses on interactive digital media and virtual reality. His work is about
creating dialog around issues of difference, about using the power of
technology to challenge viewer perspective, and about calling attention to what
makes us human. He is involved in research and development of technology for
persons with disabilities and universal design. Browning is an Emeritus Professor of
Electronic Visualization and Industrial Design and founder of the Design
Visualization Lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Recent works include data driven sculpture (Approach, Prairie Center of
the Arts, Peoria 2012 and River Benches, Slane
Scholar in Residence, Bradley University 2006), interactive installations
(Puff, IDMAa Conference 2011 and Elevator Music, Site
Unseen, Chicago Cultural Center 2009) and video (Fragile, SCAN2GO Catalog, CAA
Conference 2012 and Winds of Change, IDMAa Conference
2011 and New Media Festival Los Angeles 2012).
This program is partially supported by a grant from
the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
“Street View –
CTA Access” is part of Expose, Intervene, Occupy: Re-interpreting
Public Space an augmented reality project that interrogates the meaning of
public space using models, images, text, and movies overlaid on locations in
Chicago’s Loop. Expose,
Intervene, Occupy is supported in
part by the Propeller Fund.
Drew Browning
drew at uic
dot edu