Wireless technology is an energy field that is transmitted as waves. The waves have a certain height, distance between them and move at a certain speed. Wi-fi waves are all around cities, silently and secretly powering our access to the world’s information.

Wifi waves travel through space as rapid, data encoded pulses or waves in public spaces. It is a new and invisible layer of a city that transfer data via signals. Additionally, density of wifi waves gives an information about public spaces’ character. You can make speculations about density of commercial activities, housing density, accessibility etc.

This project aims to sense ghost waves around public spaces. Density of wireless waves creates visualisation to make them visible to the human eye.

Sense of urban waves is a mobile device to detect and convert wireless waves that are a secret layer of cities. Detected invisible wireless waves are imprinted as light in real time. Color of light represents density of available wireless signals around you. It continuously observes and reacts to start a discussion about relationship between cities and waves.

Intro to Physical Computing – Sense of Urban Waves is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in City and Technology in 2016 by:
Students: Seda Tugutlu
Faculty: Angel Muñoz