29 September 2013

Valletta’s heritage on your smartphone

The Times of Malta reported last week: "When Matthew Mamo placed a cardboard marker in front of the iMac screen on the opening night of the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Digital Art degree exhibition held in Valletta recently, a map of the city the audience stood in reflected back at them as the artist moved the card gently from side to side.

As Mamo demonstrated the way in which his project functioned, the question on everyone’s lips centred upon the project’s role within society. What makes this application different from Google maps and other gizmos?

In a society suffocated by digital media and smartphone applications, readers have become accustomed to living in a world in which one cannot flip through a magazine or look at the wrapper of a chocolate bar without being presented with Quick Response (QR) codes. These apps not only allow users to track products, manage time and expose readers to even more marketing material, but QR codes can also be used to store bank account and credit card information...read on".