Plane Tracker

The Plane Tracker recreates the view from passing aircraft, allowing people to travel along from the comfort of their sitting room. It uses the information transmitted continuously by aeroplanes for air traffic control to determine the start and endpoint of their current journey, then recreates the view out the window from take off to landing using a modified version of Google Maps. The design of the Plane Tracker, echoing modernist ‘jet age’ forms, also derives from the need to support the unusual antenna, which was designed by NASA Intelligent Systems to receive aircraft registration transmissions. The devices creates a situation highlighting air travel, an issue about which different people (frequent travellers, environmental activists, plane spotters) might have different opinions.

Click here for a conference paper about the project.

Date: 2007

A photograph of the Plane Tracker in the living room of a participant
A photograph of the front view of the Plane Tracker in a studio with a white background