Adrift app
Adrift is an experimental and artistic research-based web application for walking in the city.
Adrift deconstructs Google Maps directions text* and by doing so it offers a new set of directions based on the original one, thus it enables the performers to get lost in their very own environment. "Getting lost" refers to the perception of the urban fabric in a different way than what we usually experience in everyday life.
During the walk (or run, play, etc.) to nowhere, the performers are being asked a set of questions regarding the surrounding and offered the opportunity to record the answers in the form of conversations between them, hoping to initiate another level of observation and meaning-making through the act of walking and mapping.
* The directions text (generated by the Google Maps Directions API) is accessible by sharing the selected walking route on Maps mobile app (See the instructions).
As Google Cloud requires payment methods to grant MAPS API Key (and services that provide search, directions, etc.) it is more liberating to use Adrift on devices with already installed Google Maps to attain the directions text from.
For more information visit the initial version's repository.
Development
The app stores data locally (only on the device) following the four basic operations of persistent storage create, read, update and delete (CRUD).
The app is built with React and hosted with Netlify.
Unlike the initial Vanilla JS version, this app is a Progressive Web App (PWA) developed with React Hooks and Router.
It also uses more APIs and libraries such as Dexie.js as the IndexedDB wrapper, Service Worker API, and WebKit MediaRecorder API.