←System Log

Specialized Public Data Relay · Record of deployment

01Why

Think about how you got here. You were out in the city, like everyone else, and you noticed something nobody else did. It wasn't a flat sticker. It had depth. You pulled it off the wall, which in New York takes nerve. You turned it over, found a code, and scanned a QR off a random object in the street. Brave. Then a page asked for your camera and you said yes. Braver. Most people stop at the first step. You went all the way to the mask.

That's the whole point of this network. Anyone can wear the mask. Anyone can be amazing. You just proved it on a sidewalk. Now go out and do something great with it.

02Overview

SPDR-BT is a network of physical nodes placed across New York City and carried, by the people who find them, to the rest of the world. Each node links two systems: the Mask, a browser-based augmented reality identity, and the Terminal, a live relay of the city's public data. No accounts, no paywalls, no tracking. In continuous operation since 2020.

03Node specification

Node · assembly, as printed

Assembly

  1. 01Body printed in metallic PLA.
  2. 02NFC chip embedded. A tap opens the Terminal. Added to the build in 2026.
  3. 03Neodymium magnet inserted. It holds the node to the city.
  4. 04QR sticker applied to the reverse. One code, shared by every node. A scan opens the Mask and logs the find: position, time, device class.

Placement. During patrol. Streets to rooftops, subway poles to storefronts, wherever the route runs that day. No signage, no instructions. A node is found or it is not.

04Deployment log

  1. 2020

    Program begins as an Instagram augmented reality filter, "Which Spidey Are You?", a randomizer of Spider-Man masks. Generation 1 masks are projection-mapped from in-game photo mode captures.

  2. 2023

    First physical nodes printed and placed in the five boroughs. QR only.

  3. 2024

    Generation 2 masks. Photogrammetry and generative 3D are tested and rejected; the final set is modeled by hand.

  4. 2025

    The Mask moves to WebAR for accessibility and reach: no app, no account, any phone with a browser.

  5. 2026

    The Mask is rebuilt as fully self-hosted WebAR on Three.js, MindAR and MediaPipe. NFC chips join every node. The Broadcast Terminal is released as open source. The public Gallery opens. O.T.T.O., the voice and vision assistant, comes online.

  6. OCT 2026

    Terminal upgrades: Near Me, regional rail, trip planning, radar and lightning, live streams, ferry sailings, satellite passes.

05Field data

Confirmed finds
2,400+
Cities
272
Countries
19+
New York
1,374
Newark
176
Los Angeles
122
Furthest find
Melbourne, Australia · 10,361 mi from the first drop
Deepest run abroad
Japan · 13 cities
Where nodes have been scanned

Updated 20 Oct 2026. Hand-delivered nodes and datacenter traffic are excluded.

06The Mask

A scan opens the camera only after the finder chooses to activate. A roulette assigns one of nine Spider Identities: 2099, MCU, TASM2, Raimi, Punk, Spider-Verse, Gwen, India, Symbiote. Face tracking holds the mask in place, with depth occlusion behind hair and glasses. Photo and ten-second video, sharing, English and Spanish. The web-shooter gesture is left for the finder to discover.

Latest transmissions to the public gallery.

07The Terminal

Emergency Relay, Near Me, Weather and Air Quality with radar, News and the WNYC uplink, NYC Events, NYC Cams with 1,000+ DOT feeds and live streams, Traffic, Transit (subway, bus, regional rail, trip planner), Air Traffic, Maritime, Community Board, the Node Map.

MTA real-time feeds, NYC DOT, NYC Open Data, Notify NYC, the National Weather Service, ADS-B, AIS, NYC Ferry, CelesTrak. All public. Location is requested only when you tap for it and is never stored.

08Change log

  • 261020_03
    • Node assembly animation on this page: printed layer by layer, tag at the pause, flip, magnet, sticker peeled on, top-down, and back to the first layer.
  • 261020_02
    • Performance pass: content in the first paint, below the fold loads on scroll, self-hosted fonts, a smaller logo. Mobile score 61 to 96.
    • One start screen everywhere: the spinning node on black.
    • NFC chips land on /tap, counted apart from the QR's /scan.
    • Change log stamped as batches.
  • 261020_01
    • Trip planner across subway and commuter rail.
    • Regional Rail tab: LIRR, Metro-North, PATH, Amtrak.
    • Radar and lightning on the weather module.
    • NYC Cams gains a Live Streams tab.
    • Ferry sailings by landing. Satellite passes on the sky panel.
    • This log.
  • 261019_01
    • Camera map draws one dot per camera.
    • Harbor map separates NYC Ferry from other vessels.
    • Spider eyes on the header open O.T.T.O.
  • 261018_01
    • Near Me: one tap for location, then nearby trains, events, incidents, cameras and bikes, with optional notifications.
    • Own sky and harbor maps replace third-party embeds.
    • Installable as an app. Every distance in miles.

09O.T.T.O.

The Terminal's voice. Wake it, ask what is overhead, where the nearest train is, how busy Times Square is. Camera vision reads objects, hands, faces and posture on the device itself; no frame leaves the phone. Aircraft overhead are boxed in augmented reality. A Spectacles build exists. Open O.T.T.O.

O.T.T.O. radar view

10Contact

Found a node somewhere unexpected, want to report a dead one, or have something for the Terminal? Open a channel.