3. Books, Keys and Gardens page 2

The role of the garden

The main function served by the garden is to act as the `window' or interface through which Living Books are re-played.

Various `active elements' within the grounds of the Living Garden are the final component which enable the whole system to work (see Figure 4). A central element is a low-power radio transmitter which constantly scans the local environment. If anyone enters the garden in possession of a Key the radio signal is detected by the passive semiconductor built into the Key which - excited by the scanning radio frequency - emits a low-power signal which transmits the PIN number stored within it. This signal is picked up by detectors within the garden and then relayed back to the central multimedia database (which could be hundreds of miles away). The database executes a search to match the unique PIN number which has been detected to the record to which it relates.

The record, in this case a sound recording only, is found, retrieved and sent back to a temporary store (a `buffer') within the garden. From here it is relayed to a certain area where the visitor has been directed (as described later) - where it is replayed and heard by the holder of the Key. The end result of the entire process is that a message created by one person days, months or years before is delivered - perhaps hundreds of miles away - to the person it was intended for. Whilst being the end of one process, this message may be the catalyst for starting another type of dialogue between the individuals concerned beyond the garden's physical walls.

The choice of a garden as `interface' to a message might at first seem odd, but it serves a number of purposes. As a public space, the garden is open to everyone. Anyone can, therefore, visit a garden to receive a message.

The garden also allows messages to be unlocked simply by moving through a natural environment (as described later on) - which technology transparently tailors to create an individual experience. So although this is a public, shared space it can transparently create a unique environment for any individual in possession of a Key which will unlock events unique to that one person.

Neither does the Garden require any special `literacy', training, or knowledge, nor - unlike most communications systems and certainly multimedia computers - does it demand ownership or access to computer hardware. Ultimately, then, the Garden provides a context for content, rather than a definition of content - in possession of different Keys, any two visitors will have completely different experiences. Finally, the garden can - of course - still be visited without a Key, and serves the same `functions' as any other public garden spaces.

Although up to this point a single garden has been cited, the database at the centre of the Living Garden can be linked not just to one garden location but to a whole series of national gardens, spread around the country - clearly, location is vital if people are to be able to visit gardens (see Figure 5). This range of landscapes also allows for diversity in terms of design. Some gardens will be large, open `natural' landscapes similar to national parks, whilst others might be much more formal, or indeed `modern' (avant gardens?). A role for private gardens within the scheme may exist, but within the Living Garden scheme, proper, any one garden (no matter its layout or location) is designed to be able to re-play any Living Book. The creator of any Living Book may well, however, have one particular location, a specific Living Garden - in which a message is intended to be recalled. One aspect of the scheme as a whole is that choices regarding not only content, but the context for content are left up to the individual to decide.