Tag: Daily Life

We all have ideas, all of the time! Haphazard.Business seeks to show that idea generation is part of the daily life of everyone.

A FUTURE GLIMPSED

A co-designer of the New Scotland Yard Control Room commented on LinkedIn that Discussion Festival is a glimpse into the future of meetings. Fourth Portal Stage 3 testing focuses on the virtual Lucia House and how this developing business model will soon become the new normal. 

New Scotland Yard Control Room 1969 and 2000 (Google images)

Communication and relationships

A co-designer of the Bank of England and New Scotland Yard Control Rooms commented on LinkedIn, Discussion Festival is a glimpse into the future of meetings. Denis O’Brien spent his career in and thinking about design and ergonomics. Control in the context of a Control Room is probably misplaced as the room is a room for communications; control is a result of communication, not vice-versa.

Denis is one of several people whose work involves understanding systems and have become intrigued by the developing Fourth Portal Lucia House hybrid. Investigating how to build a hybrid concept began in 2018 and has concentrated on how people will communicate and form meaningful relationships in the future.

A straightforward concept

On paper, the hybrid concept is simple; a location where a person can talk to others in the room and simultaneously elsewhere.

The concept is not new; teleconferencing dates back to the 1980s and was available much earlier. Technical issues developing publicly accessible hybrids are audio, not visuals. Conversations bleeding into one another and audio feedback are the main challenges for hybrid spaces to become more broadly available. Solving the audio issues is complex and the reason why audio is attracting large amounts of public and private funding for research and development. In time, affordable technical solutions will overcome problems concerning sound.

Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander using an Ericsson videophone to speak with Lennart Hyland, a popular TV show host (1969). Image via Wikipedia

The end of real-world meetings?

So does the emergence of hybrid equate to there never being a reason to meet another person in real-life again, as it can be done virtually? No, and far from it.

Articles and research discussing virtual meetings, gigs, consultations, shopping and metaverse are often simplistic. The tendency is to concentrate on technology and the pros and cons of whether hybrids are taking off or dying. These arguments are symptomatic of an economic transactional mind-frame, even when people believe they are not talking about economics. Writing and research on hybrids should instead focus on human behaviours and need. 

Hybrid will dwarf Facebook and YouTube combined economically. This is how extensive the hybrid market will become. Does this also mean Facebook and Google will dominate the space? Unlikely. If anything, Facebook and Google may end up in an exhibition cabinet in a virtual museum along with Ask Jeeves and Myspace.

Not social media

Three aspects of modern hybrid communication make this period different from the transformation brought about by social media.

  1. How humans communicate and form meaningful relationships
  2. Accessibility to global communication systems and the cost
  3. Developments in machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, linked data and semantic technology.

1. How humans communicate and form meaningful relationships

Is there any evidence that the invention of the telephone destroyed the ability to have meaningful relationships? No.

The invention of the telephone enabled the expansion of meaningful relationships with people who would otherwise have been almost inaccessible. Society’s fascination with telephones soon faded and was absorbed into everyday life, becoming just an instrument for communication.

Through communication, relationships are formed. Hybrids are no different. They will become just another instrument or tool for people to use to connect with another human with the added ability to also engage with an object or activity.

2. Accessibility to global communication systems and the cost

Laying cables and building exchanges made the rollout of the telephone a slow process. More than a century after its invention, half the world still did not have direct access to the telephone. This has changed dramatically even since the launch of social media around 2004/5.

Satellite communications allow communication to inaccessible places. Relay systems even provide for those with hearing impairment and deafness. Communication infrastructure has now spread to all parts of the world. The cost of employing such infrastructure continues to fall.

In terms of people communicating, the world could become one big village.

3. Developments in machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, linked data and semantic technology

As with laying the cables and building the exchanges of the early telephone network, much of the digital technology foundations are now in place. Machines only learn what a cat looks like by looking at millions of images of cats. These images have been provided by millions of people uploading photos of their cats to social networks and websites.

As hardware, like camera phones improve, and as more people are connected to the web, machines will have more data from which to learn. In time, this will lead to further innovations and opportunities.

The layout of Discussion Festival Season One table and topics

Understanding the need

In 2005, few people could realise the potential of YouTube. The key reasons were that camera phones and broadband were still relatively primitive to what is experienced today. There was also little perceived need for such a technology. This also applied to Zoom in 2019; it will never catch on. Then came the pandemic.

The Discussion Festivals research highlighted many of the same comments and resistances noted in 2005 when this author was trying to raise interest in self-video creation and podcasting. At that time, there was almost no one willing to discuss further than as a general chat. The key reason was there was no perceived need.

Poets, professors, dancers, teachers, engineers, politicians, business people and more show interest in the Fourth Portal before returning to doing what they are doing. There generally remains a disconnect between how life was lived before social media, text messaging and camera phones and now because these things have become the norm. The Discussion Festival is highlighting that most see hybrid as another form of social media. This is a misplaced understanding.

The hybrid needs to be imagined as the arrival of the invention of the telephone. It will be fundamental to everyday communication and life. Social media, as it is used and understood today, will be absorbed into hybrid communications. Hybrid allows for much richer contact with others. It will expand connection beyond the restraints of physical walls and controlled virtual spaces, as provided by Zoom and others.

Global Cafe

Hybrid is likely to explode in locations where other forms of physical infrastructure are less developed. Areas suffering from poor public transport, roads and bridges. Towns suffering from a lack of conducive meeting places like cafes, pubs and community spaces. Remote or inhospitable places, like Antarctica.

A new kind of global cafe community will transpire. These communities already exist in a lesser form, gaming being the best example, and to some degree in international corporations. The global cafe community will be more diverse, open and exposed to new ideas and innovation. New businesses and forums will emerge that have not yet been imagined. How everyone works, socialises, purchases and is educated will expand beyond recognition.

Screenshot from Discussion Festival DF026 Camille Table

The layout of the Discussion Festival Season One table and topics

That’s all in the future

“The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed”, as William Gibson the author has written (Wikipedia)

The opportunities are enormous, as are the risks of becoming even more isolated for those determined to resist. It is why spaces where people can come together, whether physical or virtual, are the necessary next step in how people communicate.

Fourth Portal and the Fourth Portal Lucia House are early attempts to develop a hybrid equivalent of the telephone exchange. 

Telephone exchanges were set up to centralise the telephone network within a smaller geographic area. This system allowed other individual lines to be connected through a central station. These were the forerunners of switchboards. An individual would need to manually connect the wires to each other through the switchboard. Most of the early users of phones were businesses. Many phones would go to a doctor’s office, police station or bank. Individuals could subscribe to the switchboard for a monthly fee that gave them access to the telephone network.

https://www.mitel.com/en-gb/articles/history-telephone-and-communication-businesses

Each Fourth Portal will be the hub for a smaller geographical area. Each hub will allow people to connect both manually, in the physical space, whether to socialise, work, learn or shop and virtually, via remote access. The majority of early adopters will be those considering the next evolution of their business, education, friendship circle or personal development.  

The Fourth Portal is an opportunity to immerse in the near future.  

Relational Industry

A prosumer is an individual who both consumes and produces. The term is a portmanteau of the words producer and consumer. Research has identified six types of prosumers: DIY prosumers, self-service prosumers, customising prosumers, collaborative prosumers, monetised prosumers, and economic prosumers.[1]

The terms prosumer and prosumption were coined in 1980 by American futurist Alvin Toffler and were widely used by many technology writers of the time. Technological breakthroughs and a rise in user participation blur the line between production and consumption activities, with the consumer becoming a prosumer.

(Wikipedia)

Social media was, and remains, a prosumer industry. The Facebook model is predicated on people posting content that others wish to look at. US Cable television had already introduced this model in the 1980s, and social media only expanded it.

Pool room 2 sofas 2 armchairs 5 stools Record player Pool table Games, meeting friends, meetups, drinks. Social occasion, club get together, play records.

Screenshots of the Fourth Portal Lucia House virtual and real-world testing (2022)

Hybrid is different

Hybrid will be much less about consumption and more about connection and reconnecting, not only to individual people but to places, activities, environments and communities. Hybrid will become more democratic and less dictated. It will reverse the trend towards social isolation that has been growing.

Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly being recognised as a priority public health problem and policy issue for older people. (World Health Organisation, Social Isolation and Loneliness)

https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/demographic-change-and-healthy-ageing/social-isolation-and-loneliness

Whereas social media is about creating content for others to consume, hybrids will become an avenue to connect to like-minded communities. Geographical location will become less of a hindrance to meeting new people. Even language will become less of a barrier to finding such communities as languaging applications allow instant translation.

Providing spaces for this new collective mind view is at the heart of the Fourth Portal and the Fourth Portal Lucia House. Spaces where people seed new ideas, grow networks, watch relationships flower and feed a new generation of positive connectivity.

Viewing the Fourth Portal Lucia House promotion

Conclusion

Many of the recent ills in society are blamed squarely on social media. Algorithms driving social media have certainly contributed towards antagonistic social interaction. Feelings of inadequacy and FOMO – fear of missing out – have had consequences for many people. On the other side, there have been, and are, many positive aspects to social media, including bringing old acquaintances together, forming new friendship circles and keeping people updated on personal and business developments.

Social media can create connections but does not, in general terms, build meaningful relationships in the same manner as real-life interaction. This is where hybrids will be different. Hybrid spaces will be more akin to physical interaction.

The combination of global, efficient telecommunications accessible to much of the population provides opportunities to form relationships that were not possible in previous times. Advancements in machines and artificial intelligence will bring about a revolution in business and social interaction. It will lead to previously unimagined engagement with other people, some already known, others yet to be met.

Fourth Portal has been envisaged much like the World Wide Web (www). A web of nodes communicating with each other and sending messages back and forth. Instead of computer nodes, it will be people communicating with each other.

The Discussion Festival Season One was set out with virtual hosted tables that visitors could move between uninhibited. The Fourth Portal Lucia House has virtual rooms, with sofas, record players and wine racks, that people can wander in and out of and interact. The Fourth Portal’s tests in Great Yarmouth were to develop the real-world aspect of the hybrid model.

What comes next is how these seemingly different contexts bleed into one another to form a space that feels normal. Places like fully hybrid Fourth Portals will soon become the new normal. The technology will be almost secondary, it will be the meaningful relationships that form within the spaces. And not only between people but also between objects, the environment and the wider world. Join us! Subscribe or email here.

John M

We are testing our virtual Lucia House throughout 2023. To have a tour, check https://www.fourthportal.com/ for upcoming dates.

MIND ROOM

The Mind Room was the unexpected star of the Fourth Portal stage 2 testing. Exhibited on the walls were paintings by Kevin Gavaghan. In this 15-minute video, Kevin speaks candidly about his mental health struggles and discusses the relief painting can bring and why visitors engaged as they did with the Mind Room.

Window to an inner emotion

When asked why people open up so quickly about their mental health issues on entering the mind room, artist Kevin Gavaghan responded, ‘because it probably opens a window to their own inner emotions.’

Kevin has been asked by the Wellcome Trust to write a piece on his work for an upcoming issue of their magazine. This piece will expand on the motivations of the work and the varied reactions of the viewer.

Watch Kevin Gavaghan discuss his work

Artist Kevin Gavaghan discussing the Mind Room with Fourth Portal’s John McKiernan

Mind Room Surprise

The purpose of the Mind Room was to introduce some freely available technologies that can have a positive impact on people suffering from mental health issues.

The success of the Mind Room was the biggest surprise during test 2 of the Fourth Portal popup in Great Yarmouth. It was composed to experiment with ideas that might initiate conversations around mental health issues without being too direct. In designing the Mind Room, it was essential to create a sense of relaxation while gently challenging visitors. Displayed on the walls were a series of paintings by artist Kevin Gavaghan. Kevin suffers from Tourettes Tics, anxiety and an acute eye issue that causes vision distortion. In the video, Kevin discusses his conditions and how he embraces them in his art.

Poetry performance in the Mind Room.

Response

The paintings resonated with people of all ages. NHS employees and mental health practitioners commented on how the Mind Room could benefit clients and the potential for it to expand. People who had suffered a mental health episode told of how they could relate directly with the artist through the paintings. We had a number of returning customers who had received an ADHD diagnosis. They found the space calming. The most surprising reactions were from people not presenting any mental health issues or having any diagnoses but who shared quite personal information about themselves within moments of walking into the Mind Room. Although these conversations cannot be documented for obvious reasons, they did boost the scope of what technologies can be included in future Mind Rooms.

Future Mind Rooms

The intention of the Mind Room was to host a number of technologies focused on the mind. Time constraints and internet infrastructure issues restricted the ability to install the first series of apps. In hindsight, this may prove beneficial, as we now have a better insight into the range of challenges people face in daily life. Discussions on how best to embed this learning from test 2 into future Fourth Portal Mind Rooms have begun.

More about the video

This video was filmed in one take on an iPhone14pro, with no editing, by John McKiernan, Founder of the Fourth Portal.
Narrator: John McKiernan
Interviewee: Kevin Gavaghan
Recorded at the Fourth Portal, 2 Stonecutters Way, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England

http://www.fourthportal.com. | @fourthportal

JohnM

VISITOR FEEDBACK

The feedback from people visiting the Fourth Portal in Great Yarmouth has surpassed expectations. This second test stage focused on whether the real-world layout would stimulate conversations on the likelihood of technology improving people’s lives and reducing human impact on the planet.

Stage 2 complete

The second test stage of the Fourth Portal ended on Sunday, 4 December 2022. We began to ask visitors to share their thoughts on camera. The comments were almost universal in recognising a need for such spaces where in-depth conversation and understanding of technological change can occur.

The following is a selection of videos recorded in the last weeks of November 2022 and photos of customers throughout the two test periods. A write-up on test two and the next stages will follow.

Future of the High Street

Keith and Paul from Birmingham came into the Fourth Portal with their partners on the last weekend of test two. Paul declared that it was the future of the High Street. Keith stated he was ‘gutted’ at the closing, as it was the kind of place he adores. Along with his partner, Keith moved to live in Great Yarmouth two months previously. Paul and his partner were visiting for the weekend. (Film: 40sec)

Keith and Paul from Birmingham define the Fourth Portal as the future of the High Street (40sec)

Gutted

The word gutted was used by many visitors when hearing that the Fourth Portal test was coming to an end. Jaye and her sister stumbled on the Fourth Portal and became hooked on the coffee. As a qualified mental health practitioner, she found the Mind Room fascinating and recommended Fourth Portal to colleagues, who also began to visit. (Film: 35sec)

Jaye reflecting on the end of test two of the Fourth Portal

Understanding the concept

Both Fourth Portal test sessions confirmed the art interventionist approach and layout works. Developed by Platform-7 Events, the method involves creating intrigue and curiosity. It can often be difficult to attract people into any building unless the person has entered previously – tempting people over the threshold is why shop windows play such an important role in retail. The Fourth Portal was not in a retail space and only had small domestic sash windows. To be inviting for people of all ages and backgrounds is a vital component of the Fourth Portal. Without actually walking through the door, understanding the concept can be mystifying. In this video, JP came in with his wife and provides an insight into how most people enter an unfamiliar space. (Film: 1m:45sec)

Long time Great Yarmouth resident JP reflecting on the Fourth Portal

Developing conversations

Sharon and Brian began regularly returning to the Fourth Portal. The video captures how the layout draws in visitors and develops the conversation around technology and lifestyles. (Film: 1m:15sec)

Sharon and Brian discuss their attraction to Fourth Portal and the end of test two.

Instigating ideas

Visitors Emma and Phil met while in the Fourth Portal. Emma moved to Great Yarmouth to create a business – Airbnb and artspace within her home on the seafront. Phil was born in Great Yarmouth and is embarking on a history degree. Emma and Phil discuss the attraction of the Fourth Portal and why such spaces are vital for the town. (Film: 10min)

Phil and Emma discuss why Fourth Portal is needed in Great Yarmouth

Engineering the future

A Norwegian choir came to Great Yarmouth during the last weekend. Three members found their way to the Fourth Portal on Friday, returning on Sunday. Four of the choir, who are professional engineers agreed to be interviewed. The men were struck by the power of the Fourth Portal to bring different people together to create new ideas, businesses and solutions. While in the Fourth Portal, they observed how the space attracted a diverse customer base. The interview touches on how technology should solve some of the climate issues and why humans need to change their behaviour. (17m:55s)

Norwegian engineers discuss the importance of space like Fourth Portal and technological advances in the fight against climate change (17m:55s)

Conclusion

Stage two testing was to ascertain how people would engage in an unfamiliar concept and whether the objects would stimulate conversation around new technology. What surprised us was the breadth of people engaging, and across all age ranges. We will be taking this learning into our (online only) stage three testing and then into a new real-world site in early 2023.  

John M

UCL VISITS GREAT YARMOUTH

Students from The Bartlett, UCL’s Faculty of the Built Environment, spent four days at the Fourth Portal. Using emotional mapping software, students engage people in Great Yarmouth to gauge body reactions to the built environment when walking around the town.

Unit 8

Students and lecturers from UCL The Bartlett Unit 8, Engineering and Architectural Design MEng (MEAD) arrived in Great Yarmouth on Tuesday, 8th November 2022. Establishing themselves at the Fourth Portal, the four-day exercise encouraged public engagement using emotional mapping technology.

Unit 8, Engineering and Architectural Design in Market Row, Great Yarmouth

Day one: Students and lecturers arrive in Great Yarmouth

The group began their stay with an enjoyable visit to the Time and Tide museum before walking across Great Yarmouth as darkness fell. Arriving at the Fourth Portal, they met Gillian Harwood, owner of the buildings where the hub is situated. An overview and introduction to Great Yarmouth followed.

Catch The Tide Museum. Read about this important Great Yarmouth asset here

Day two: Guided tours and meeting local people

Students had two guided tours of historic Great Yarmouth before gathering at the Fourth Portal for an evening event. In the weeks leading up to the visit, the Fourth Portal team had been contacting local businesses, institutions and groups with an open invitation.

Fourth Portal invitation October-November 2022 

A range of local people came to discuss the town, including the principal of East Coast College and the chair of the Civic Society. The locally made short film, Love Letter to Row 116 was shown followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, Karl Trosclair. Enjoyable conversations continued late into the evening. The feedback from attendees and students was positive.

Students and local people discuss Great Yarmouth at the Fourth Portal

Day three: Emotional mapping

Students employed the open-source electronic prototyping platform Arduino to construct emotional maps of Great Yarmouth. The Arduino proved fascinating to everyone coming into the Fourth Portal; even the students seemed excited.

Arduino emotional mapping devices

What is Arduino?

“Arduino designs, manufactures, and supports electronic devices and software, allowing people around the world to easily access advanced technologies that interact with the physical world. Our products are straightforward, simple, and powerful, ready to satisfy users’ needs from students to makers and all the way to professional developers.”

https://www.arduino.cc/

Emotional mapping walks

Two finger sensors connected to the Arduino were attached to the volunteers. The sensors measured how the body reacted to different urban environments as the volunteer walked around Great Yarmouth. Students set a pre-defined destination and followed the volunteer, who chose the walking route.

Volunteers and students set off on different walks

Analysing the data

Students worked late into the evening on the data they had gathered. Not all the Arduino boxes worked as was hoped. Data was interrupted for several reasons, including loss of GPS connection. As frustrating as it was for the students, enough data was collected for the exercise and to present results on day 4.  

Students analysing data from the emotional mapping walks

Day four: Presenting results

Day four saw the Fourth Portal mind space transformed into a room for student presentations. Each student group presented their findings to professors back at UCL in London. The 3D models provided a fascinating insight into how people react when walking around Great Yarmouth.  

Presentations and 3D emotional mapping visualisation of Great Yarmouth

Conclusion

Great Yarmouth would benefit from an extensive study using such technology as Arduino. Engaging a large sample of local people and those new to the town could provide a deeper understanding of what the citizens of Great Yarmouth feel about their hometown. Such an undertaking could be a positive step toward addressing some of the many issues the town suffers.

The UCL students also had a direct beneficial impact on the income of local businesses, particularly accommodation, restaurants and gift establishments. The Fourth Portal will encourage more academic partners to visit Great Yarmouth over the coming year.

John M

HYBRID AI POETRY NIGHT

The first real-world hybrid live event using the developing Lucia House online platform took place at the Fourth Portal. Four years in development, the event highlighted the challenges of merging virtual and physical spaces. 

The Fourth Portal was, from the beginning, envisaged as a hybrid working and social space. A place where a person can sit at a table and meet others in the virtual and the real world. Hybrid meetings in public settings will become normalised and the experience seamless. Fourth Portal is at the cutting edge of developing such spaces. On 4th November 2022, we curated our first live test event.  

Lucia House

Lucia House is a four-floor virtual home developed by the Lucia Collective in response to the first pandemic lockdown. The Lucia Collective is a loose gathering of programmers, engineers, mathematicians, philosophers and visual artists.  

The Lucia Collective came together with Fourth Portal via Platform-7’s Discussion Festival events. The Discussion Festival was a weekly open-house occasion. Visitors moved about, without hindrance, between virtual tables hosted by experts on various topics. Engagement in a virtual environment is different to being in a real-world occasion. These evenings sought to observe how people interacted, moved about and communicated in virtual space when undirected. The learning feeds into the design parameters of the Fourth Portal and the online equivalent.

Open-mic poetry evening

The open-mic poetry event was on a Friday evening, hosted by Platform-7’s Bristol-based poet, Isabel White. A mixture of local poets and non-poets came along. Online were members of the Lucia Collective and other guests, including poet Andrew Duncan with his Ai nomenclature, R Andru Dunkn (a homage to Asimov robot stories).  

Poetry host, Isabel White and local Poets Jason Parr and Clare Currie

Lucia House’s virtual theatre beamed into the Fourth Portal via WiFi. Surround sound provided an immersive feeling inside the space. For guests in the room, the event was a new kind of experience. Although most people were familiar with Zoom, the Lucia House’s eclectic virtual furnishing and moving face tiles were unexpected.

Learning

There was no wide-angle projection of the Lucia House floorplan in the venue. This meant the layout was unclear for those in attendance to understand how the theatre was part of a much larger online environment. The Fourth Portal is awaiting the installation of a dedicated 1Gb fibre cable, leaving the event operating on a slightly erratic internet connection. Occasional weak signals caused breakdowns in the audio, leading to some chatter coming from the online guests while the real-world poets performed. The venue arrangement meant the performer could not see the online guests. In response, poets would move out of the camera shot to view the online audience, who then could not see the poet.  

Facebook indetifiers

A simple website front page asked for a name and email address to gain free online entry to the event. A link was posted to Facebook and Instagram. As the event was due to go live, it became apparent that the Facebook link would not work. Post-event investigation discovered the issue; Facebook attribution parameters stop logged-in users from reaching the webpage. A solution, found via Seb’s IT blog, will be implemented for the next event. 

Stop facebook attribution parameters from breaking my website

Problem Description

The affected application would return a 404 The requested URL was not found on this server message when accessed from logged in facebook users. That is because the link facebook presents to its users contains their fbclid URL parameter:

Example: https://domain.tld/adventcalendar/?fbclid=IwAR0QwiqUUrAZqv66g2y4SINDYjMZlGSZXEi6NhMXSLJqdfzoVGiWxMgfP1c

Internet connection issues aside, the online visitors who did find their way had a reasonably smooth experience. With no cameras facing the real-world audience, online guests felt denied the opportunity to feel fully involved in the real-world venue. 

AI poem

In between the poetry performed by humans, the audience was treated to some poetry from an AI. Created by John K, from the Lucia Collective, the AI constructed its poetry by scanning the works of poet Alan Duncan. The poem was somewhat odd and caused unintended amusement in places, however, the audience was reasonably impressed by the poem recited. (Can an AI recite? One of the many debates yet to be had!) 

R Andru Dunkn, Ai. performs reconstructed works of poet, Alan Duncan

Conclusion

The hybrid open-mic poetry night was a culmination of many years of work. The evening felt momentous for us involved in developing the Fourth Portal and Lucia House. Bringing together a real-world audience with a virtual audience was a milestone. It was all done in proper DIY style. The virtual and physical spaces are cobbled together using hanging cables, available kits and, of course, the ubiquitous old ladder. 

During the first half, the poets were a little disorientated by the experience, as were some of the real-world audience. The second half was more relaxed and people became accustomed. 

For the team, plenty of learning was gleaned, which will feed into the next event on 2nd December 2022.  

Was the hybrid open-mic night a World’s first? Probably not! However, not many hybrid open-mic poetry nights can claim poems performed by an artificial intelligence performer.  

John M

NEXT EVENT

Fourth Portal Hybrid Open-Mic Night

Friday, 2nd December 2022, 7pm – 9pm, UK time (19:00-21:00 BST)

To attend the real world event: Fourth Portal, 2 Stonecutters Way, Great Yarmouth, England, NR30 1HF

To attend virtually: https://lucia.network

ALL WELCOME | FREE ENTRY

FUTURE OF WORK

The picture appears bleak for the Future of Work. That’s the impression taken away from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ai. The session involved legislators hearing evidence on the impact of Ai on workers. Protecting worker rights while not stifling innovation is a priority. With an increasingly global workforce from which employers can choose, it is a complex balancing act.

APPGai

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ai brings together world leaders & global decision-makers. Its remit is to address the economic, social and ethical implications of developing and implementing Artificial Intelligence. (including machine learning, natural language understanding, automated reasoning, autonomous systems etc.).

Ai will impact every aspect of work in some form. One area that is causing great concern is the gig economy.

Gig Economy

The gig economy is where workers are paid for each individual “gig” they accomplish. A gig can range from food delivery to driving a vehicle to typing some code. Workers are paid by the job rather than by day or by the hour.

4.4m people work in the gig economy in some form in the UK, according to the Trade Union Congress. The gig economy is growing fast, with new online platforms bringing more services to market that require gig hirelings.

Gigification of work

Prof. Ashley Braganza (Brunel) sees a world moving increasingly towards the ‘gigification’ of work. He assesses that online platforms are taking a Taylorism approach. Jobs are being salami sliced into smaller components so they can then be automated or reduced to simple menial tasks. The salami slicing does not reduce the workload, only makes the role more defined.  

Why is the gig economy different to temping or fruit picking?

The difference between gig workers of the past and now is the facelessness of the employer. The employee rarely meets the employer. The industry is a Wild West, says Anna Thomas, Co-Founder & Director of the Institute for the Future of Work. Pay is low, with 2 in 3 earning less than £4ph. Time spent on a platform chasing new work is not included when calculating the average pay. Too many of the jobs the platforms provide are repetitive. Unpaid tasks run at 30%. Communicating with clients is not the only issue. Meeting other workers is equally difficult, if not impossible.

Charles Barry. British architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster. Architecture is one industry seeing a rapid rise in the use of gig workers for more mundane tasks.

Microwork and Piece wage task work 

Microwork is a series of many small tasks which together comprise a large unified project, and it is completed by many people over the Internet.  [1][2] Microwork is considered the smallest unit of work in a virtual assembly line. It is most often used to describe tasks for which no efficient algorithm has been devised, and requires human intelligence to complete reliably. Wikipedia

‘Piece work is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed, regardless of time.’  Wikipedia

How is AI impacting the real economy?

Workers have lost control of the hours they work. Social inequality is being exacerbated, particularly among women. Opaque policies of the online platforms make it difficult for workers and regulators to ensure fair practice.

Further reading…

Politico

What happened when humans stopped managing social media content 

Politco

EU to propose reclassifying some gig workers as employees

What can policymakers do?

There is a tricky balance for policymakers. Without an international agreement, legislators are limited in what regulations they can implement. If regulations become too stringent, citizens in that country may find certain jobs that will not be available to them.

Immediate Actions

  • Standard definitions for gig workers/gig work.  
  • Organisation change their processes to smooth income understanding 
  • Micro Workers should be paid minimum wage 
  • Finder’s fee paid
  • Pre-tasked tests should be paid for.

Cori Crider, Co-Founder, of Foxglove says to ‘make algorithms fair and take legal action when they are not. There is real-world hurt to individual workers.’

Fourth Portal begins to establish itself as a gathering space.
The virtual lift under development

A new type of work and social space is emerging that is both local and virtually global. Fourth Portal is at the forefront in developing these spaces with a live test site in the Norfolk seaside town of Great Yarmouth.

Summarising

We are in the ‘Amazonia Era’. The instinct would be to look back to the legislative response to Taylorism. The difference is that Ai is not a man in a white coat doing the monitoring; it is a machine. It could be regarded as the ultimate Fordarism – there is almost no escape.

And it’s not only in the gig economy. Close monitoring occurs in 8 of 10 large companies in the US, where boss work-watching technology has been implemented. On the present trajectory, job engagement is likely to fall.

New York Times

How My Boss Monitors Me While I Work From Home

Conclusion

Legislators will remain behind the curve when it comes to the gig economy. The pace of technological change and the demands of businesses and consumers will drive further platform innovation. With innovation will come new types of gig employment.

In response, a new type of work and social spaces will emerge that will exist locally and globally in the virtual world. These new spaces will seek to accommodate the change in how people wish to work, particularly since the pandemic. In turn, they will force other areas of legislation to catch up, with tax and finance being a priority.

Fourth Portal is at the forefront of creating such hybrid spaces where people can flip between different work roles, social interaction and retail experiences. The APPGai panel made clear the world of work faces major challenges from the growing gig economy. On the flip side, there are also incredible opportunities; especially for those who want to change the direction of their life and achieve a balanced work, social and family.

John M

____

The Future of Work APPGas took place on Monday 18 October 2022 at the Houses of Parliament, London.

Speakers

  • Gita Shivarattan, Head of Data Protection Law Services, EY UK
  • Cori Crider, co-Founder, Foxglove
  • Anna Thomas, co-Founder & Director, Institute for the Future of Work
  • Prof. Ashley Braganza, Professor of Business Transformation, Brunel University London
  • Neil Ross, Associate Director – Policy, TechUK

About APPGai and secretariat

The APPG AI was set up in January 2017 to address ethical issues and new industry norms for applying Artificial Intelligence (AI), including machine learning, decision making, natural language understanding, automated reasoning and autonomous systems.

Without being too technical, we will try to understand how AI will impact the lives of UK citizens and organisations, and subsequently, how should it be regulated? How will health, energy, insurance, consulting, financial, legal and knowledge-intensive business services be traded? How should the new business models be regulated, and what about the data? There is a lot to explore and evidence is key for regulation and policy. The APPG AI is co-chaired by Stephen Metcalfe MP (Conservative) and Lord Clement-Jones CBE (Liberal Democrat). The Group Officers are Chris Green MP, The Right Reverend Doctor Steven Croft, Baroness Kramer, Lord Janvrin, Lord Broers, Mark Hendrick MP and Carol Monaghan MP. Big Innovation Centre was appointed as the APPG AI Secretariat.

All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal, cross-party groups formed by MPs and Members of the House of Lords who share a common interest in a particular policy area, region or country. APPGs have no official status within Parliament.

TOWN SQUARE

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will bring many challenges. As the world goes virtual, the role of public gathering places will need addressing. The Town Square must again become the centre of local discourse. If not, the 4IR may become known as the Period of Polarisation.

From Wikipedia

“A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or piazza) is an open public space[1] commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Related concepts are the civic center, the market square and the village green.”

Piazza della Signoria, in Florence, Italy, a historic example of a traditional public square

Announcement of the establishment of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on Congress Square in 1918

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_square

Warning

Town squares will become contested during the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Technology will permeate every part of daily life. As it does, the need for physical gathering places will rise. The risk is that such public spaces become battlegrounds.

Urban planners need to pay close attention, particularly in England. The virtual world is changing behaviours. These changes are spilling out into the real-world streets. [1]

Class system

Since the Edwardian period, England has neglected public spaces. Public squares that encourage the mixing of cultures are rare. The Georgians began the trend to fence off public spaces and streets. The policy was steeped in the British class system. In recent years, the privatisation of public space has accelerated.

Sample of English public spaces

In Southern continental Europe, the opposite is the case. Town squares are the centre of the entire community. The design, construction and purpose are all geared towards civic pride and participation.

Sample of Spanish public spaces

Spanish Squares

In Spain, all urban planning revolves around public space. There are plenty of elaborate squares and boulevards to be happened upon. Most though are of simple design and materials. They work for all occasions. Organised events, family gatherings, meeting friends or eating a sandwich. Finding a public space with a fence or a locked gate will be a challenge in Spain.

Some squares have a cafe or restaurant bordering the parameter; many don’t. It is unusual to see a cafe in the middle of a town square. Modern Spanish libraries and museums spill out onto public squares. Public spaces in Spain are welcoming and well used because of their simplicity. [2]

Comparison

The two photo galleries above show the public realm where people live. These are not tourist areas or places of commerce. Public spaces are there, in theory, for the local community and visitors to use and enjoy. The public realm in Spain sits at the very heart of a community. Unless there is a commercial reason, public space in England is a low priority.

Metaphor

Town Squares can be a metaphor for what is happening in the virtual world. Some people wish to see them controlled with restrictions on who has access. Others want them completely open, freeing and welcoming to all. [3] [4] [5]

Demonstration

Recent history has demonstrated how the virtual world can spill out into the real world.

Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, is the most prominent example. Protests in 2013 began online, discussing government corruption and policies. WhatsApp groups and Facebook posts began to grow and to spread. Soon these virtual spaces were not enough. People had to come together. Tens of hundreds of thousands of people started filling Tahrir square. Night after night protests continued until Egypt’s President Mubarak toppled.

Similar scenes with different results played out across the Arab world. These 2013 protests became known as the Arab Spring.

Although not on the same scale, most areas of the developed world have seen similar protests. The rise of the online protest hashtag has been instrumental. #MeToo and #blm (#blacklivesmatter) are the most successful to date.

Brexit

Britain’s exit from the European Union was a direct result of online campaigning. What followed has been years of disruption, strife and polarisation. The struggle between the Leave and Remain camps manifested physically in London’s Parliament square. The argument has continued right up to the present day. [6]

Brexit supporter carrying Great Britain cardboard cutout, Parliament Square.

Rise of technology

As life moves further online, the need for real-world gathering forums will increase. Failure of authorities to not plan for this change could lead to dire consequences.

Reasons for people to engage within the physical world has been declining since the 1990s.

The internet changed the world of work, allowing employees to be more distributed. The onset of the pandemic brought a further scattering of the workforce as people work from home. Retail has been shifting steadily online. Restaurant food can now be delivered directly to the family dining table. The world of supermarkets without cashiers is upon us. Online gaming transformed from a table gathering to global competitions. The gaming industry now dwarfs, by revenue, the movie and music industries combined. [7]

There are plenty of Apps that anyone can access for free. However, to receive the full benefit requires buying a subscription. Public squares in England surrounded by cafes and shops are similar. To fully partake in the space requires a certain amount of purchasing power.

Two-tier England

English Extremes

Above photos from the Argent development, Kings Cross, London (2020). Below, public squares managed by Great Yarmouth borough council (2021).

In Spain, public squares are places where people congregate, play and celebrate. The public realm encourages the community to come together for serendipitous moments. Spending power is not relevant except in the most exclusive of shopping areas.

Public forum, with permanent outdoor screen, multilevel seating, no barriers. Eivissa, Ibiza, Spain, 2022. [4]

In England, the opposite is too often the case. There is heavy reliance on the private sector to create public amenity spaces. It is another aspect of Britain’s two-tier society. Money buys access.

Fenced public spaces, ‘Keep off the Grass’ signs and other rules are commonplace around England.

Bridge-building 

Public space needs to become the bridge between the virtual and physical worlds. Some may believe this is about introducing VR – virtual reality. VR will soon be playing a much larger role, but this is more about the physical spaces themselves.

The layout, ambience and purpose of the public domain in England should be along Spanish lines.

Free to access town squares must have 5G connectivity. Multipurpose seating and tables that encourage gatherings, games, meetings and work. Architectural flair can overcome issues around Britain’s inclement weather. The public realm needs to be attractive to all cultures, ages and abilities.

Without change, England risks further polarisation. Addressing the poor quality of places for public gatherings is now urgent.

Conclusions

The internet has slowly eroded the need for people having to meet fellow citizens. The pandemic has further reduced real-world interactions. Technology seeping deeper into everyday life raises the potential of a more isolated society. Free to access public spaces is critical for communities to stay in touch in the real world.

The political discourse around local issues cannot be online alone. To allow this will lead to unhealthy debate and will undermine stable democracy. Views are best challenged and debated in the open, in places where alternative voices can be heard.

Open, free, real-world forums, like town squares, are the best spaces for such discussion to happen. Being open will also allay some fears around privacy, censorship and freedom of expression.

Britain is in the grip of a mental health crisis, with loneliness and a sense of isolation increasing. Social media gets some of the blame. Not much is written about the lack of public amenity spaces.

England needs to rethink its approach to the public realm. Design should encourage serendipity and random conversations. Learning from Spain’s public spaces would be a good start.

We are in the fifth decade of the internet. It will be one that will see the virtual world and the physical world merge. Successful societies this decade will be the ones with the most engaging public realm.

Introducing technology into these spaces is the next phase around the world. Creating buzzing ambient public spaces will be essential for community lifeblood. Animated public squares will also attract the next generation of innovators.

England needs to rethink the public realm urgently! This is where ‘levelling up’ has to begin.**

John M

All images John McKiernan ©2022

** Levelling Up. A Conservative government manifesto pledge. What does it mean? https://www.centreforcities.org/levelling-up/

[1] see Public Space

[2] see Eivissa

[3] see Censorship

[4] see Apple Privacy

[5] see Leiston and Sizewell

[6] see Brexit

[7] see AI Supermarkets

EIVISSA – IBIZA TOWN PT.1

Eivissa, a municipality on the Spanish island of Ibiza, is changing. A seedy, shabby town 25 years ago, it is transforming into a distinctive city. Part 1 of 2. First impressions.

Ibiza Town

The Spanish city of Eivissa is better known in the U.K. as Ibiza Town. It has a poor reputation. 25 years ago it was no different to port cities the world over. Eivissa had dingy smelly narrow streets, loud bars, seedy clubs and general unpleasantness. Returning to visit was low on the itinerary list.

First impression

The first visit to Eivissa was brief, to collect an item from a warehouse. The city appeared the same as remembered, except cleaner. Bendy roads with poor signage and people driving too fast, making driving stressful. Streets snake around poor quality industrial architecture and plots of open wasteland. Without a second reason to return, this view would have been the final impression. Fortunately, the second visit furnished a far better opinion of this changing city.

Thoughtfulness

On initial impressions, downtown Eivissa felt like other large Mediterranean cities. High buildings crowd over narrow avenues, shading out the sunny January daylight. The design of the streets focuses on protection from the blazing summer heat. Walkways are clean and well maintained. Cars park bumper to bumper. Only when strolling a short while does a distinct identity begins to emerge.

There is a thoughtfulness to the town plan. The industrial area first visited was the old Eivissa. It was a town rapidly growing into a city without a plan or direction. Planning laws in the 1970s were probably akin to the wild west. Spain as a country was awaking from decades of Franco dictatorship. Business people and developers grabbed what they could. The roads and services were afterthoughts.

The Ibiza Town spreading out from the port area today has a sense of collective thinking. There is a feeling of consideration. A balance exists between the needs of tourists, the city’s main income generator, and local people. [1]

Zoning

There are large areas of pedestrianisation. Public squares with cafes, narrow streets with limited or no parking. There appears to be a policy of zoning. The casinos seem to be concentrated on the fringe of downtown, facing out onto the main road. It makes sense to keep 24-hour type businesses located in an area with the least potential to disrupt residents.

It becomes noticeable that certain streets attract similar kinds of business sectors. Exercise is one example. Several gyms neighbour each other. The retail on these streets offers related goods, from supplements to running shoes. The cafes advertise healthy food options. Food shops sell vegan and vegetarian supplies.

It is unknown whether there is a deliberate business clustering policy or it’s organic. What is clear is that residents head to this district for indoor exercise.

Consideration

Heritage has become part of the city. Historic buildings are being tastefully modernised. They can be experienced rather than set aside as artefacts to be observed from distance.

Children are not caged in, as so often seen in England. Families can enjoy the city while children play without the demand for money or restriction. A climbing frame can be practical and sculptural, fulfilling many needs.

From bins to bicycle parking, every aspect seems considered. Nothing appears to be an afterthought.

Walkways blend seamlessly into one another, encouraging walking, exploring. Subtle and practical lighting for hours of darkness provides a sense of romance. Eivissa feels safe and invites investigating.

Pride

One of the considerable differences between English and Spanish urban space is the quality of the walkways.

There is a lot of care taken in Spain. The design, installation and maintenance of street paving are paramount. It is the same whether in the smallest town to the largest city. Walkways are central to the identity of an area, evoking strong held civic pride.

In England, it is rare to find well-designed walkways. Only public space privately owned or heavily commercial has quality walkways. Paving is always relegated to insignificance within urban planning, unimportant.

Conclusion

There has been no research beyond visiting Eivissa undertaken for this post. The importance was to focus on personal observations. Part.2 will be to look into the urban plan and seek the views of locals.

Eivissa feels as if it has a 30-year plan, which is two-thirds of a way through implementing. The start point was people. What do people need? Not just the tourist who bring the income but the residents as well.

It is the eye for detail that makes Eivissa feel so exciting. The pride of the people constructing the streetscape. The whole of downtown exudes pride that is spreading outwards. Driving out of the city, in the opposite direction to the warehouses, there are new modern roads. Underpasses and properly designed roundabouts. The policy is clearly to build the new city properly and retrofit the old town for modern living.

Eivissa has the potential to become another Spanish urban design success story to rival, or even surpass Bilbo. While modernising, the city is carving out a unique identity. A rare success in city regeneration.

Part 2 of this post will involve an analysis of the city plan and local attitudes. Do any of these observations fit with the formal urban plan?

John M

[1] see Public Space

PUBLIC SPACE

It is three years since the outbreak of COVID-19. Discussions have turned to what the post-pandemic world may look like. Technology is at the forefront. Lost within the debates has been the importance of public space. As the world goes virtual, real-world gathering places will become the hot issue.

The Internet

The internet will be 40 years old on 1 January 2023. It allows the creation of a virtual world almost unimaginable 50 years ago. The World Wide Web (www.) became available 10-years later. How much harder would the pandemic have been without the web?

The internet has become an extension of everyday life. It allows mass connectivity. People communicate through an array of online mediums. Social media chat has overtaken voice calls as the communication tool of choice for the young. WhatsApp and Signal have relegated the use of email in business. The email itself replaced the printed document, the business mainstay for centuries. [1]

Business meetings

Business meetings seemed unaffected by the internet. People in business still preferred to meet in person and sit around tables. The pandemic called a halt to these face to face meetings, except in specific circumstances. The rise of Zoom and other video technologies began in earnest. Ways of doing business changed and will not be returning to how it was.

The loss of workplace meetings has caused a widespread disruption within firms. Work meetings are now more likely online than one-to-one. It cuts off a source for meeting new people, social interaction and serendipity. For some working people, it has also reduced personal contact more generally.

These changes are not only taking place in offices. Automatic checkout in supermarkets removes this most mundane of interactions. Maybe not something missed for those with busy lives. For those alone, the shop cashier may be the only human interaction that day. [2]

The pandemic has sped up the automation of everyday life. 

Doctors appointments by video link are becoming a norm. Banks close down branches, forcing people online. Buying insurance, holiday or toothpaste from an algorithm is as likely as a person.

Even in construction, the rise of efficient technologies, such as 3D printing, will reduce the requirements for human teams.

Isolation

There are fewer reasons to meet in person for a non-social purpose.

Despite global connectivity, there is an increase in isolation and dis-association. Workplace reliance on providing social interaction has diminished. Workers are finding difficulty transitioning to a virtual world. Online activities only please certain aspects of emotional fulfilment. Humans are social creatures, by and large, and demand social contact.

Workplace

The workplace for the majority will not be returning to how it was pre-pandemic. The impact will go beyond how people work each day. Social interaction at work will become unrecognisable from previous decades. New ways of working are emerging. However, new forms of social contact have not yet materialised.

Public Space

Public spaces will need to adapt to fill the social void left by virtual working. Some parts will be picked up by the private sector. Work hubs, cafes and a redefined retail sector will fulfil some needs for people who can pay. The rest will require open, free to access public gathering spaces, like the old town square. [3]

Two-tier England

The pandemic has brought into sharp focus the two-tier society existing in England. As financial disparity widens, so does access to the internet and public space.  

Without paying for broadband, fast access to knowledge, easily accessible to others, is denied. Only those who can afford monthly contracts have access to unlimited mobile data.

The same is happening in public spaces. Even when public facilities with cafes are accessible, the inability to buy coffee can still create a barrier.

England requires a bridge between commercialised and non-income generating public spaces.

Extremes of English public spaces: Granary Square, London Kings Cross and a public square in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Conclusion

In England, it’s the market that has presided over the public sphere through recent generations. The High Street is the most obvious. Privatisation of squares and whole streets is not a new phenomenon in England. The pace of privatisation is the real cause for concern.

Privatised space often comes with restrictions on who can use it. The right of all citizens to assemble regardless of wealth or age has become more restrictive. Public places not reliant on enterprise are often left neglected. The online world is seeing similar barriers. Barriers risk alienating people and furthering polarisation.

Public space has to be redefined in England. Urban design should follow the templates of European neighbours like Spain, where people are the starting point, not commerce. [3] [4]

With workplace socialisation in decline, a rethinking of public spaces has become essential.

John M

[1] also see Censorship

[2] see AI Supermarkets

[3] see Town Square

[4] see Eivissa (Ibiza Town Pt.1)

CENSORSHIP

The lines between privacy, censorship and freedom of speech blurred as the internet evolved. This blurring is where the battle for social media is happening. Only real-world dialogue and understanding will produce a solution fair to all.

It‘s unfair accusing governments of abdicating duty around online communication. The issues are complex. Every decision a government makes will have long term ramifications. Unlike laws within a country’s borders, the internet requires global solutions. What one country deems libellous will be satire in another.

Culture. Economic standing. Educational attainment. Religious and political norms. Many considerations have to feed into the internet debate. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides the first step.

Overlords

In January 2021, Twitter removed the account of Donald Trump. During this period, Donald Trump was one of the most popular accounts, by followers, on the platform. He was also the sitting President of the United States of America. In removing the account, Twitter effectively issued a D-Notice.

A D-Notice is an old UK government device sent to media editors to voluntarily not report on a story. The fundamental difference between a democratic government and Twitter is one is elected, and the other is not.

And herein lies the rub. Who gets to decide what is and what is not acceptable online?

Has Twitter become a new form of democratic state? Rather than built on votes, Twitter runs on Tweets and sentiment.

Sentiment

Marketers use sentiment analysis to ascertain campaign effectiveness. It is a powerful tool for understanding how the public reacts to a topic or event. What it does not have are policy setting attributes. And this is what sets a government apart from corporations. Governments, in theory, set policies for the overall good of society in its entirety. Corporate policies set strategic goals for the company, shareholders and customers.

Distributed power

Aside from politics, the Trump episode highlights a dispersal of power. Beyond a vote, citizens can now vocalise their views, demands and concerns globally. This vocalisation has brought benefits and worrying situations. The storming of the US Capitol in January 2021 is one case in point.

Printing press politics

At the time of its creation, the printing press was the social media platform of its day. What followed sparked the violence of the Protestant Reformation and widespread education. One saw families and communities torn apart while the other brought societies together.

Our present period is no different.

The 2011 Arab Spring was, in part, attributed to social media as much as the underlying discontent. In Syria, a brutal war ensued. In Saudi Arabia, women began forcing reform around equality.

Protests, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and #MeToo went global due to social media. Groups opposed to change also use the same platforms to maintain the status quo.

So who is the referee for social media? And who was the referee for the printing press?


Public space and the arts

Public space has been the one constant throughout the history of societal change. Back to the time of the Greek agora, public space has proven pivotal, along with the arts, in forging progress.

Technological interaction is integral to progress. Real-world interaction is essential to peaceful co-existence.

It has never been more critical to have open gathering places and public spaces. Real-world environments challenge opinions and viewpoints. There is more exposure when people meet in person. More reactions are on show; body language, sweat, pupil dilation. These reactions can be positive or negative, depending on the situation. It is a different dynamic to sitting semi-anonymous behind a keyboard.

Fourth Portal

Public space, where people come together remains the best place for consensus to emerge. The arts will play a pivotal role as always. The ability of artists to see beyond the mundane will light the path.

The haphazard business journey has been to uncover what a hub of the future will look like? What does it need to convey? What will make it different?

The Fourth Portal hub needs to counter-balance the online environment. A hybrid meeting place, operating in both the real and virtual world. Open discussion and dialogue are intrinsic to the hub.

A successful Fourth Portal will spill over into other public forums. The reassertion of the historical value of public space is needed. Encouragement is required to reevaluate the importance of the town square and marketplace as places to gather. Urban design needs to incorporate hybrid relatedness into all future buildings. A well designed public space will be both physical and virtual.

Conclusion

Censorship demands by one group will be freedom of expression for another.

Measures to balance different views have not kept pace with the growth of online platforms. Meanwhile, the internet has become an extension of everyday life. It has allowed mass connectivity. Despite this, there is an increase in isolation and dis-association. Something is not right!

Censorship and privacy laws will be unable to address the problems of online interaction. Only real-life engagement and dialogue will solve these issues.

Governments are struggling to draft legislation. Big tech presently fills the void with their own rules.

We are only on our second-generation since the creation of the World Wide Web. The printing press has had dozens of generations shaping laws, regulations and principles, and we are still tinkering.

Public space, where people come together, remains the best place for consensus to emerge. It may take a long time. Discussion allows a better understanding. Ultimately, new online manners will emerge through real-world conversations – not on Twitter. The Fourth Portal will play a small part in nudging this conversation towards equitable consensus.

John M