Not that I even remotely put myself in a class anywhere near the mastermind of Leonardo da Vinci — however, today I offer my idea of what I could see as useful application of high-speed communications in and around North Adams. I suggested this idea a couple years ago on Wes Finn's (Wes has since moved on to bigger and better things) blog Walk in Brain.

Guideless Tour of North Adams

With the explosion of third generation and now fourth generation, or 4G, handheld devices (essentially cell phones that double as mini-computers and global positioning system devices) I think it would be relatively easy for a group like the North Adams Historical Society to put together a detailed walking (or driving) tour of historical sites in and around the city. As well, Mass MoCA could commission pieces that could be displayed at various outside locations around the city — I'm no fan of the hanging rock, but along those lines.

These groups could embed a small Wi-Fi transmitter at each location that would send pictures, video, voice and text to any device in the immediate proximity — whether it be a laptop or handheld device. In the case of art, the creator could discuss the piece, show video of its creation, talk about their other work, etc. The Historical Society could present pictures of what the site used to look like or how it functioned as well as text from firsthand accounts or experts on the topic.

The tour "brochure" could be downloaded from the Internet from either of their sites, work off GPS, or a combination of the two. For people who would like to take the tour (though I believe most tourists coming to MoCA and surrounding museums already have their own) but may not own a compatible device, the society or museum could provide one for a small security deposit and/or rental fee. Each location could point out the next closest destination either on a map or with GPS coordinates for a navigation device.

Here is an example of what someone did with the free Google API and what I can see could be easily converted to the electronic brochure of the guideless tour. It could be easily maintained by either entity and viewed or downloaded by those wishing to take the tour.

Revenue could be generated by advertisers that could embed a small picture or voice file at each kiosk/display that would be presented just prior to the tour information. Through the high-speed network, advertisers could easily change their message (monthly, weekly, daily, hourly) as conditions warrant.

Someone views a piece on a fall weekend — stay for our award-wining parade this weekend; it's the 3rd of July — see our fireworks display; snowstorm coming — get your new tires at XXX tire store or why not stay at YYY Inn tonight and drive home safely tomorrow; it's 11:30 a.m. — give directions to your restaurant. I'm sure you get the idea.

There are certainly people a lot smarter than I that could take this idea and really polish it, making it a top-notch attraction for North Adams. I believe the tour could be a good device to draw tourists out of the MoCA compound (or in addition to their visit there) and generate foot traffic for North Adams' downtown merchants and beyond.

C.J. Vadnais is president of the Southern Vermont Broadband Cooperative in Stamford, Vt. His opinions are his own. You can contact him at Tech_Tuesday@yahoo.com.

Edited to refer to the handheld devices' ages, not their size, on April 8, 2008.