toai-essay — >janmaher

*essay/images

#1–image analysis

In the first phase of the work, I focus on analyzing the scene.

Here, I break down the image into four essential parts:

– A row of garages with blue doors – key reference point
– Type of public lighting base – helps with localization (within city districts)
– Municipal waste bins – the logo on the bin can be deciphered
– Type of curb and sidewalk – helps with localization (within city districts)

These four points serve as the main elements of the scene throughout the development of the entire project. They act as anchor points that guide my search. Some of them, in combination with additional clues, gradually reveal new information helpful for the final localization of the scene.

#2–geolocation

The second part of my research focuses on narrowing down the search area. In this section, I examine individual details in the scene that evolve over time, which allows me to gather a significant amount of information about the specific area or city where the camera is located.

The website where I discovered the camera provides a GPS location, which is listed as being in the center of the city of Pilsen. However, the site itself warns that these data are approximate and may be inaccurate by up to hundreds of kilometers from the stated location.
– Vehicles in the scene
– Construction
– Field research
At this point, I am addressing several aspects that I have obtained through various methods—field research, online research, and analysis of archived footage from the live stream.

#2.1–vehicles in the scene

Vehicles present in the scene often play a crucial role in geolocating it. They frequently carry a big number of key information that can dramatically narrow down the search area.
One of the main points of interest is, of course, the license plates, which always include a letter indicating the corresponding region (of Czech Republic). However, in most cases, the license plates are completely unreadable due to their distance and the camera’s poor resolution. But there was one moment when a car appeared parked at the edge of the sidewalk, bringing it close enough for the camera’s resolution to allow me to identify the letter P—indicating the Pilsen Region.
Additionally, vehicle branding and wraps can also provide valuable information. In my case, I observed a Bolt company car (most commonly found near larger cities) and a Škoda Karoq with a Pilsen Municipal Police decal (though I was unable to capture it clearly), which passed by while I was collecting footage. Both of these vehicles strongly suggest that the scene is likely located within the city of Pilsen.

#2.2–construction

About halfway through my work, the scene underwent a major transformation. Overnight, traffic signs and mobile fencing appeared in the background, suggesting that some kind of construction had likely started here.

I decided to monitor this development. Over time, I managed to obtain two additional clues useful for geolocating the scene. The first was a concrete mixer truck bearing the logo of Beton Union, a company with several concrete plants in Western Bohemia—two of which are located directly in Pilsen. The second was the text “UNI DEVELO” on a safety vest worn by one of the workers, referring to a company which is also based in Pilsen.

#2.3–field research

The final step in this phase was deciphering the label on a municipal waste container. The previous clue had already suggested that the scene was likely located in Pilsen. I therefore went out into the streets of Pilsen and located a container of a similar type.

My field research confirmed that these containers are provided by the company Čistá Plzeň. With this information, I had gathered enough evidence to confidently determine that the scene is situated within the city of Pilsen.

#3–orientation

The scene is therefore located somewhere within the territory of Plzeň. In the third part of my investigation, I focus on methods that will serve as the basis for the final selection within the city area.

– Prediction of the ground plan (sketch)
– Position of the sun and cast shadows

The goal of this phase is to use various parameters to eliminate as much of Plzeň’s area as possible, and drastically narrow down the territory that needs to be later searched using Google Maps.

#3.1–prediction of the ground plan (sketch)

#3.2–position of the sun and cast shadows

At this point, the main tool for me has become the position of the sun and the cast shadows that appear in the scene. Over the course of a single day, I recorded several shadow positions cast by an adjacent building onto the walls of the garages.

By combining several images, my sketch, and the software from the website suncalc.org, I evaluate which cardinal direction the street in the scene faces. Determining this orientation later becomes a useful element, allowing me to eliminate a large portion of non-matching city districts.

#4–finding the scene

After filtering the entire city area using the aforementioned methods, only a few city districts remained to be searched. The final clue was a municipal decree banning the placement of trash bins in public spaces in certain parts of the city. After obtaining information about the waste management decree and combining it with the previously mentioned points, only one city district remained.

– Self-portrait
– Photodocumentation
At this point, I just combined the sketch with the determined street orientation and used Google Maps satellite images to find the corresponding location. After a short time i successfully found the scene.

#4.1–self-portrait

After locating the scene, I traveled to the site. The self-portrait, captured as a screenshot using the camera interface, becomes the focal point of the entire final installation of the project. Here, the self-portrait serves as direct proof of the scene’s discovery.

#4.2–photodocumentation

The final part of the project is the photo documentation – pictures taken directly from the discovered location. The photographs capture individual points of the scene that served as key reference points for geolocating the place during the creation of the work. In this sense, the photographs function as proof of the scene’s existence and its discovery.