What's the story?

Well Saturday was a great success, we had a great group and the sun shone, which for this summer was a surprise! 

But what was it we were doing? Well all the current walks are tricky to install and have flummoxed the minds of scientists and would be walkers alike. So there has been diligent work behind the scenes on developing a browser based walker, sounds easy but in fact rather a tricky job. If it were easy then the player would have been live long ago and tweeked to run all the stories for Art Week.

 

Well the best minds rose to the task, and the player was built, tested, then rebuilt, and on Saturday we did a full live test with eager kids and inquisitive adults. But there had been so many technical obstacles that this became the first full field test (yikes) but with some confidence in the smaller tests we had done, it was all systems go.

After a brief chat and intro at the Tantivy Cafe we set out up towards the Church (Chapter 1 of The Watching Way) On the player it showed how many metres we needed to go to trigger the images, text and tale. As we walked up hill the distance numbers reduced - perfect but then they started to rise!!

So quick as a flash, I dipped into the back-end of the system on the iPad, swapped the first two chapter zones around (my mistake) and refreshed. Then straight away we were live, the story revealed and the tale telling began. 

Wow (phew!) and testimony to the strong user interface of my code man Mr Joiner.

The walk progressed with ease, going from zone to zone, making mental notes as to what worked and what needed to be improved, alongside quite a few comments and questions from the children who came. But I kept focused and all was good.

One of the hurdles was that a few of the walkers had come with smart phones which were actually not smart enough, and it was rather disheartening to say, I'm sorry but you're phone just doesn't cut the mustard for this task. But the tech requirements are pretty high as the ask is so big, and some of the HTML5 code used is as pioneer as it comes.

I lead the walk, so I read it out showing the images to the group as we progressed, then deep in the woods we stopped to make clocks out of leaves and twigs. When that was done, we finished the tale on the hill top with a great vista of Dulverton whilst the kids climbed trees and signed the journal.

All in all a fabulous day, and the kind which makes you pleased that you wrote the tales, and made everyone come and step inside your world just for an hour or so. Personally I shy away from the public reading, I created the walks to be enjoyed by you and your family, which make them personal and special in a different way. Everyone invests a story with a different voice, a style and I think that's just what makes them shine.

So keep on shining please.

Testing Testing one two one two Ahem 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud....

Tomorrow is the big day, the storywalk player will be tested live in the wilds of Dulverton town, with a group of eager story-walkers who are not truly aware of the challenges crossed to reach this point. 

But surely you already have a storywalk player Mr Jelley? 

Well yes and no, the current formats are really awkward as anyone who has tried will testify. Apple is the easiest of them but still there are several steps and in the case of Android multiple apps required to just put the walk and player in your phone, never mind the walking. So I have been madly working in the background on a browser based player with the smartest coder this side of The Stop Line. (With a little help from Somerset Art Week and LARC funding)

'I can do that through a browser' Martin said after I had explained what my storywalks technically do, just one little URL and you could be away! Wow what a concept, it wouldn't matter if you are Android or Apple, Windows phone or Blackberry, just a single click and magic. But you know when things are easier said than done, well this is one of them, and I know for a fact that Martin didn't realise how tricky this little project was going to be, or whether it was really possible at all.

So what made this so difficult?

Well, firstly my walks take place in hidden valleys and secret locations where there is no mobile reception for miles (literally) wooded valleys and secluded combes in the heart of Exmoor where the walker must work without a connection. But these locations all have sky, they all have satellites and therefore GPS reception, location capabilities. Easy ay, but alas no, every step seemed dogged with technical difficulties, all of which have (hopefully) been solved. But not without a lot of help especially from the Geek community themselves, (Bristol Hack Night where the guys helped shed some light on the dark arts required!)

So this afternoon I will be stepping out in Dulverton, to do the first proper trial run of the storywalks player, I have a fully charged 3G iPad ready to roll. It will have to remain live for about 15 miles of drive before we even get to the first zone, so this is a proper field test.

Wish me luck!

Why don't you join me on the first public testing and launch of the storywalks player tomorrow, meet 10am Tantivy Dulverton. Bring your smart phone or 3G iPad and become part of my test programme.

The SAW point

Up before dawn and the first yellow signs are in place before the golden rays of the new day are upon me. I have a strange apprehension for putting up the Somerset Art Week signs, perhaps it’s just the realisation that the day has truly arrived. Or perhaps it is just show time, the time all the prep has been for, and I am sure all of the Art Week participants feel the same.

But still putting the signs in place feels odd, especially as mine are 'out in the field' so to speak, so I can't just pop one on the window ledge and another down the street.

In some part my walks are easy, I post them and people download - walk - enjoy at their leisure. In other parts thats only the start because my walks are available all year, all the time, and I use SAW to focus the mind and galvanise the will to actually 'do' rather than just talk about doing.

The walks do take some investment of time on the users behalf, I have had people do two walks in a day, and it's possible to do all four (if you're really keen and have good walking thighs!) But they can sandwich in along with regular Art Week venues, and even if you start a walk today you can always return to finish another time. 

But for Art Week this year I will be leading just one walk, which is called 'The Watching Way' in Dulverton. Over the winter (and summer) I have be smartening up this little tale which was live last year but in a rather secret manner. I had left little tickets in the boxes which mark the end of each walk, and with three of those the fourth walk was revealed. 

Since then there have been changes, upgrades and edits, firstly the images have been set up for tablet sized devices as well as smart phones, so you can get your iPad/Galaxy out and into the field to stretch it's capabilities beyond Facebook and YouTube! 

Secondly we have been working hard on a web version of the walks, commissioned by Somerset Art Week with county council LARC funding the idea is to make the walks more accessible to all, and less of a headache with installations and downloads. We have the vision, the capabilities but is the tech really capable of doing what we are asking of it?

If all goes to plan then this new browser based version will be the talk of the town, so if you want to join us on Saturday 22nd September, then you are more than welcome. Bring your smart phone (not essential), bring your wellies (good shoes are out, as we're off into the woods!) bring family and friends, we meet at The Tantivy Dulverton at 10.00

First coffee and cake then a little talk about the storywalks and how they are leading towards the new Coleridge Way works I have been commissioned to do.

See you there.

Calling all Artist's, its Art Time!

Somerset Art Week is really close, and the storywalk player which we have been tinkering with behind the scenes will be tested during art week (fingers crossed!)

On the 22nd September I will be leading the storywalk 'The Watching Way' in Dulverton, along side the regular player (as a back up!) The idea is that I gather a group at the Tantivy cafe, talk a little about the walks, what they are, where they come from, and then do a little wifi jiggery pokery putting the walks into peoples iPads and smart phones if required. 

The latter part here can really be a headache so I've created some handouts which are simple walk through guides, but truthfully I will be reading out anyway so every one can follow me.

At 11.00 when there is no more cake in the Tantivy cafe and the coffee pot is fully drained we'll start the walk which actually starts at the Church. The walk then weaves through the town then out into the woods so bring your welly's! The narrative requests you to make things as you go, so by the end of the walk we should have quite a few little sculptural installations in the trees and along the path. 

We will record these to post on the storywalks web and here in the blog, but I love this reader interaction and the legacy it creates beyond memory of the day itself.

This story is all about clocks, and so the inspired art should reflect this, clocks, dials, pendulums, cogs, gears, ratchets, watches. I think you get the idea, here are a few images of some works that have been installed over time. 

Note they are made from the organic materials available along the route, bracken, ivy, nuts leaves, twigs, and because the art is so accessible and simple everyone can have a go, everyone can pop a couple of twigs in the moss and say 'ah ha, 4 o'clock - cake time!' And thankfully nobody has gone crazy overboard with dragging logs across the paths just yet!

So join us if you can, even if it's for only part of the walk, you can always come back and do any of the walks at a later date, as they are available all the time not just during art week. Personally I think this is a great tale to return to and see what has been made by others,  and what has been added to, decayed away, refreshed, its only then that the tale really come to life.

Thanks to Somerset Art Works and LARC for support in authoring the storywalk player, and also Exmoor National Park for allowing me to hide the journal at the end of the walk.