Neighborhood Watch Files is a collection of landscape experiments which explore new narratives and conditions that may emerge as our everyday environments are transformed by the proliferation of camera­-equipped autonomous devices, and large-scale electronic displays. As these technologies advance to the foreground of our daily experience, the parameters of their algorithmic and physical performance will gradually shape all aspects of the built environment. The scenarios in Neighborhood Watch emerge from selected imagined - by not entirely unlikely - aspects of life when we share the city with intelligent mobile objects and screens of all kinds. These scenarios have more in common with diagrams of weather maps than cinematic or gaming versions of reality. Rather than consisting of authored stories or entirely top­-down designed 'worlds,' the project is a construction site where simulation software is used to add new technological elements to familiar environments, creating unfamiliar scenarios and situations with a degree of unpredictability and humor. Our perspective in all this is neither dystopian nor boosterish. We are not interested in sci-fi moralizing or video game nihilism. Rather, we view this project as optimistic: that the effects of so much intimidating change can nevertheless be explored and appreciated – perhaps co opted with curiosity and humor in a way that artists, architects and filmmakers have been occasionally adept at in the past. 03/2014—Neighborhood Watch is a collection of landscapes, each exploring new narratives that may emerge as our everyday environments are transformed by the domestication of industrial and military technologies, particularly camera-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). As these technologies advance to the foreground of our daily experience, the parameters of their algorithmic and physical performance will gradually shape all aspects of the built environment. The scenarios in Neighborhood Watch emerge from imagined - but not entirely unlikely - aspects of life when we share the city with intelligent objects: airborne devices with limited battery life, flying (and perching) arrays of projectors, flocking and herding of air and land-bound autonomous vehicles, algorithmic tethers, UAV debris, watchful - but nosy - autopiloted cameras. These simulations have more in common with diagrams or weather maps than cinematic or gaming variations of reality. Rather than consisting of authored stories or entirely top-down designed ‘worlds,’ the project is a construction site where new elements are added danger, and humor. This project is a collaboration with Tim Durfee, Shona Kitchen, Andrew Nagata; with assistance from and thanks to Eric Battin, Ian Besler, Walton Chiu, Sarah Needham. collection of landscape experiments that consider how our everyday environments might be transformed by the proliferation of camera­-equipped autonomous devices. Supported in part by an ArtCenter College Faculty Research Grant A collaboration with Tim Durfee, Shona Kitchen, Andrew Nagata; with assistance and thanks to Eric Battin, Ian Besler, Walton Chiu, Sarah Needham. This project was made possible with a grant through ArtCenter College's Media Design Practices (MDP) summer research program.

Yeah, I'd probably want my own private flock. Yes, I would.

They’re mostly biodegradable at this point, though those tiny batteries and cameras seem like a waste.

It seemed so tacky at first – like a lawn jockey or gnome or what have you. But once it caught on that you can make serious money from these things – oh, well, everything changed overnight.

You could say they are keeping things out as much as they are keeping things in.

I like the birds to match the colors of the plants... It’s a mostly harmless procedure.

Planning my flock’s work has become a bit routine, and the interface is due for an upgrade. I thought I would be trimming my hedges everyday, but they have been really useful for is rare bird spotting.

At first it was unsettling because I lost track of what were things and what were images of things! Now I just don't think about it any more.