Tom Frantzen,	1021 JT
Neville Mars,	The Netherlands

In public space you want to know where it is happening for you. Where are your shops, your bars and most important your people? Streetlights tracking GSM signals with user profiles, can become info-exchange units showing which public is in which space.

It is hard to define public space today. It is branded with commercial messages, cluttered with objects, cars and people and with new communication technology it is omni-present, seeping into our homes and embezzling our privacy. Where once a park provided an indisputable public place it is unclear today where the public stops and starts. We are forced to fight for our personal space and we feel obliged to continuously manifest our personal identity.
At the same time mass-media and mega-events, such as concerts and sports make the public domain more communal than ever. We still feel strongly compelled to belong to a group. Only today everyone has an array of identities and in the course of a day wants to belong to many different groups. We constantly zap and surf to find our equals that are present in the public domain.

Imagine yourself in a city where you haven't been before. You obtained your city map at the tourist office that shows all the important monuments and the shopping malls. But what you really would like to know is where it is happening for you. Where are your shops, your bars and most important your people? Which public is in which space ? How can we filter the mass of information to find our way?

Mobile phones have become the quintessential gadget for the modern urbanite. Everyone has one, and it can do anything; including today keeping track of your position in the city using its grid of GSM transmission posts. The other common denominator in the public space is the streetlight. Of all the objects that are crowding our streets, streetlights will remain indispensable. So we propose to make the mobile phone and the grid of streetlights work together as a navigation system for the public domain!

A number of location specific services become possible. The network provider offers you a website where you can describe your personal interests, hobbies, etc. This generates a profile. In addition you can choose more general preferences such as 'interested in contemporary art' or 'interested in clubs'. The profiles are represented by a color coding that can be easily distinguished. Now the navigating ability of today's phone network can become specific.

Your phone can guide you to other people using the same specific profile while the predominant profile of people in a certain area defines the color of the streetlights - the existing light bulbs can be complimented with light bulbs of three different colors that can define all colors and are bright enough to be seen clearly in daylight. These colors will indicate the presence of dominant profile and can guide you to or away from them.

Streetlights are omni-present in public space. Now they can become information units that tell you what kind of people are where as you walk through the city. Wouldn't it be great if the city itself is keeping you informed and guides you to the public space where you feel at home ?