internet super-highway

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DESMA 9 Art + Science + Technology

Fall 2013Professor Victoria Vesna

Section 1B

Title:

Information Super-Highway Comparing the Internet to Transportation

Networks

Name: Arthur Steven Wolf



CONCEPT / TOPIC

I am specifically interested in exploring how interactive three-dimensional

displays and analogies to familiar examples can educate the public abouthow the internet provides us with information.

The internet is a “packet switched” network, in which information isbroken up into small pieces of data known as packets and sentindependently via a network of wires and cables to a final destination.

Once they arrive at the end user, the packets are then reassembled andpresented in their original form1.



CONTEXT & PRECEDENTS

As of June 2012, 2.4 billion people used the internet worldwide2.

However, in a recent survey of 1,000 Americans, 51 percent of therespondents believed that stormy weather could interfere with cloudcomputing3. Clearly there is a disconnect between the public andknowledge of how the internet works.

In Kurose & Ross’ textbook on computer networking, an extended

analogy of a factory needing to move a large amount of cargo to adestination many kilometers away to sending a large amount of dataover a packet switched network.



PROJECT PROPOSAL

A model city will be built to scale. The city will contain factories, roads, freeways, freewayintersections, cars and trucks. The cars and trucks will move via tracks along the roadsand freeways using slot-car technology4. There will be audio recordings explainingvarious concepts in computer networks through comparison to the transportationexample. There will also be buttons and a touch screen to control the audio playback

and the actions of the vehicles. This will allow the user to digest the information at his orher own pace.



The subject will press a button on the touch screen to start the interactive exhibit. The

audio will begin to explain how packet-switched networks, like the internet, are similar

to the transportation networks of highways, roads, and intersections which transport

vehicles. The recording will present the example of a factory needing to move a large

amount of cargo several kilometers away. To start, the cargo is segmented into a fleetof trucks, just like information is broken up into packets. At this point in the audio

recording, trucks from a factory on the model will start to drive away from a factory and

take different routes along the roads and freeways. The audio will explain how each

truck takes an independent route along the network of highways, roads, and

intersections.

Project Proposal (cont.)



The recording would explain how the communication links made of cables

and wires are analogous to the roads and highways, and how packetswitches are analogous to intersections. The trucks would gradually

arrive at the end warehouse. The audio would explain that just as the

trucks take different paths to the warehouse, so to packets take different

physical routes to the end user, but they eventually end up in the same

place. Thus, transportation of information over the internet is much like

transportation of materials via highways and roads.

Project Proposal (cont.)

The interstate highway system and the internet backbone.



Conclusion

Billions of people use the internet, yet so few of them actually know how itworks. It is quite a difficult concept to understand, but through public displayof an interactive exhibit like the one presented, the visual learners among us

may be better able to understand the basics of a packet switched network.Furthermore, the familiar analogy to a transportation network may aid longterm retention of the concepts learned. Overall, basic knowledge of how theinternet works will allow users of the internet to move beyond consumers andbecome digital citizens who may one day contribute to the internet.



References1) Kurose, James F., and Keith W. Ross. Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach. 6th ed. Boston:

Pearson, 2013. Print.

2) "World Internet Users Statistics Usage and World PopulationStats." Internet World Stats. N.p., 10

Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Nov. 2013. <http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm>.

3) "Most Americans Confused By Cloud Computing According to National Survey." Citrix.com. N.p., 28

Aug. 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2013. <http://www.citrix.com/content/citrix/en_us/news/announcements/aug-

2012/most-americans-confused-by-cloud-computing-according-to-national.html>.

4) Chang, Dave. The Slot Car Handbook . 1st ed. Ramsbury: Crowood, 2007. Print.



Bibliography / Links"How Does the Internet Work?" HowStuffWorks. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.<http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet.htm>.

"How It Works: Why People Should Know Internet Basics." OpenMedia at McGill . Web. 03 Nov. 2013.<http://openmediamcgill.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/how-it-works-why-people-should-know-internet-basics/>.

"Internet Society." Brief History of the Internet . Web. 03 Nov. 2013. <http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet>.

"Maps to Market Your Network." Mundi Magazine. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. <http://www.mundi.net/maps/maps_012/>.

"Most Americans Confused By Cloud Computing According to National Survey." Citrix.com. 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 03 Nov.2013. <http://www.citrix.com/news/announcements/oct-2012/cloud-confusion-survey.html>.

"Optical Touch: How It Differs from Other Technologies." NextWindow . Web. 03 Nov. 2013.<http://www.nextwindow.com/optical/comparison.html>.

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