Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 4.3
Screenshots showing
NAMAland
in operation in Dublin city centre
Layar
App for Apple IOS and Android devices.
Layar
provides a standardised
user interface, with limited options for modification, supplying a standard set of
AR methods upon which layers can be built. It was selected for two reasons; the
first was ease of use, it imports a database effectively and is a reasonably robust
working AR app which can be used with a minimum of development. Secondly it
provided a method of publishing a politically sensitive work on the iPhone (at the
time the most popular smartphone platform in Ireland) as layers are submitted to
Layar's
own approval process and publishing through their proprietary iPhone app,
effectively evading the appstore gatekeeping, essential for a politically sensitive app
working with grey unofficial data.
9
NAMAland
in operation takes the location of the user's phone and compares
it to this database of geo-tagged NAMA properties within certain defined ranges
(Fig.
4.3
). An overlay of properties within the specified range is then created
which can be further interrogated for ownership details (the majority of properties
in NAMA are associated with a small number of individuals with vast property
holdings and billions in defaulted loans). The location of each response is indicated
by an overlay of a cartoon “Monopoly Man” figure over NAMA properties in the
camera-view of the user's device. It also generates a real time map of localised
NAMA properties along with a list of nearby properties and their locations.
NAMAland
thus visualises the extent of NAMA property ownership, allowing users
9
See Zittrain (
2011
) for an account of Apple's gatekeeping.
