What if you could build a Wi-Fi Hot Spot that could support 100+ people at the same time doing bandwidth-intensive, multimedia things? What if your connection back to the internet for these users was not a DSL, or even a T1 at 1.5 Mbps, but a ADSL2+ running at 10 Mbps or a fixed wireless link running at 10 Mbps full duplex?
Let's say that Wi-Fi Hot Spot was covering a public square, or a music stage, or a theatre such as Union Square, Summerstage or The Delacorte Theatre. How could a highly localized wireless multimedia experience be developed in such spaces? What amenities in terms of localized content about the performance, artist, venue could be delivered locally? How can Wi-Fi enhance public art? How can it become a platform for media driven promotions? How can Wi-Fi, especially when combined with a local portal or event portal, become the medium through which to drive multimedia content locally for whatever arts, cultural, marketing, or commercial purpose?
Wi-Fi can be more than the means to the internet. It can help us experience anew social spaces and bring us closer to them. When it comes to Wi-Fi for performance venues, with all the new antennas and with higher speeds, with the iPhone and with Web 2.0 functionality at hand, there is a lot now that can be done.
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