So basically I discovered 2 main problems in relation to the government. First is about the distribution of power, and about how the parliament controls the people instead of representing them.
However I found that dissolution of the current parliament and splitting it into the states was not the answer. The main issue is the house of representatives, the politicians and political parties. So in my plan i propose to remove political parties from parliament and replace them with the people currently working under them who do all the research, identify the problems and then proceed to facilitate a solution. The government will work on a Vote for a Policy method over voting for a party. There will be people employed to mediate and translate between the public and the government. (By this I mean, they will make government policies easy to understand and "interesting" so that the normal person is better able to understand what everything means. They will also gather the public's opinions and views and present them to the government who will then need to come up with an appropriate change or response to the people.)
The second problem I found is a communication breakdown or gap. Because of this breakdown, we don't seem to understand each others` intentions very well, each other being the government and the general population. The current forms of communication which are most prominent are things like newspapers, television, billboards, radio and computers, with the exception of computers we have a lot of one way traffic communication. So we hear loud and clear what they have to say, but do they hear us? What we need is a form of return communication which will be acknowledged and acted upon.
The system I'm proposing to close this gap, is based on existing technology called sixth sense, which was and I'm guessing still is being developed by Media Lab at MIT. The media which can be displayed through the device is similar to that of any tablet or computer. (Refer to the Pranav Mistry vid previously posted)
But I thought instead of having everyone buy one of these devices or a tablet computer etc, why don't I implement free fixed devices in various areas utilizing existing infrastructure such as walls and floors as well as progressive infrastructure like the NBN. So coming to my idea, it's more like the projector with a camera or scanning laser to detect the touch on the surface. On solid walls, it will have to be front projection, but if there is a glass wall there is no reason that it cannot be rear projection. And there is nothing stopping someone from using their feet to control it either. (Refer to the previous posts about project technologies)
Because this device is a simple projector and scanning laser. It's easier to think of it as a keyboard, regardless of how far computers have progressed, keyboards are virtually unchanged. So it's adaptability to future technology is almost endless.
The intended purpose and function of this kind of system can play host to a series of services, and does not need to be confined purely to government information. Depending on the particular area any amount of information can be displayed and be active, from train timetables to weather forecasts and local news.
However the main purpose is to create a form of media that helps people want to interact and understand the current parliament. With easy diagrams, simple dot points and interesting videos.
The ability for people to voice their opinion and having their opinion acknowledged is the most important part. This way people can type or voice their opinion and can also read and listen to other peoples opinion. The government can then see what topics people are passionate about and offer a response. (People who I previously mentioned to mediate between the government and people come in here)
The main idea for the implementation is a greater level of transparency between people and the government.
With new installations like this, initial positioning is vital to ensure people interact and use the service. So I guess there are three steps to the implementation.
First, to place them in areas where people are basically forced to interact with them. Positions where people have nothing to do, like at public transport terminals or pick up zones. When people are waiting for public transport they are generally bored and un-interested which is why the mX newspaper is such a success. Now would you rather play with a touch screen while waiting for a bus or train or read a newspaper? After people interact with the system, the goal not to limit and force them to read government news and voice their opinion, but rather give them an option to view it and attempt to make it interesting and simple enough to understand to make people want to read it.
Second, would be larger interactive displays to make people more aware of its presence in dominant pedestrian heavy areas such as Queen St Mall as well as hold appeal towards the younger generations. Maybe something like the splitting of screens every time someone steps on the area to accommodate more people and draw attention would also be useful.
Finally the third step in the hope that people are now familiar with the system is the implementation in other common waiting or standing areas such as parks and seating outside shops etc.
As previously stated, because of its flexibility and versatility there is no reason why this system can't evolve into the previously seen 6th sense device. Or depending on the limits and restrictions set by the people and government together that more data is able to be accessed through these screens. There's nothing stopping advertising on the screens while they are not in use by people, or implementing a finger-print recognition system so that people can customize what kind of news and features they see. The limits of this technology is pretty much what you can imagine.
