ABSTRACT
It is a warm spring afternoon in Boston and I am huddled around a smartphone with two friends. We are secret agents on a mission and the phone is part of the urban adventure game we are playing. The mobile application uses GPS technology to deliver location-specific clues as we race through the city. Our current clue involves the mosaic embedded in the concrete beneath our feet. We are standing in the middle of the pavement on School Street, in front of the historic Boston Latin School and across the street from the famous Omni Parker House Hotel. Commuters, shoppers, school children and other tourists walk briskly past us as we stand there. Our attention is focused on deciphering the clue on our mobile phone so we can move on to the next puzzle and, with any luck, finish the mission ahead of the other teams playing that day. We figure out the puzzle and enter our response into the phone. A few seconds later, our answer is accepted and the next clue is revealed. It leads us toward a statue in the courtyard in front of the school, where we continue the game.
