Digital networks are forever expanding. Places without cell phone reception or Wi-Fi connection are increasingly hard to find. The remaining White Spots on the digital map will soon disappear, leaving no place on Earth unconnected. But what is happening off the grid?
White Spots is a collaborative multimedia project by information designer Richard Vijgen, documentary filmmaker Bregtje van der Haak, and visual artist Jacqueline Hassink. Working in various media, they travel beyond the frontiers of the networked world to explore unwired landscapes, communities, and lifestyles, questioning the need to be always connected in one seamless, planetary Tech-Topia. While scarcely populated areas experience low connectivity for obvious economic reasons, the journey brings surprising stories of an often deliberate lack of connectivity, even inside the world's most intensely networked digital hubs.
In VR mode, the network scanner shows the invisible digital signals around you in real-time and takes you on a journey to the end of the Internet in immersive 360° stories. In Map mode, the White Spots world map shows the global divide between the connected and unconnected worlds. Browse the map to explore video stories about life off the grid, or use the route planner to venture into uncharted territory yourself. The route planner finds a route to a White Spot near you and invites you to add new stories to the map.
The White Spots App features a world map, a network scanner, a GPS-based route planner, short documentary clips, and a series of virtual reality experiences.