Interactive Spaces Final: ZoeBike

ZoeBike

The ZoeBike is a spatial device that aims to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle by combining the bicycle and the zoetrope. The rear wheel of the bicycle is used as a gear to spin the zoetrope to display a light-projected animation of a running deer. As the user mounts the bicycle and holds on to the handles, a projected video plays in front of them to simulate the feeling of actually cycling out in the mountains to be closer to nature.

Going Green

With the current state of our planet, as excessive amounts of carbon is being emitted every day, straining on our climate and the Earth’s ecosystem, it is important that we realize and discuss how we could change and improve our daily activities to make sure that we maintain a sustainable way of living.

Taking public transportation and driving an electric car are just some of the ways where we could reduce air pollution and increase fuel efficiency. Excessive use of fuels could possibly destroy the environment, depleting wildlife as well as natural resources.

The ZoeBike creates a space for users to realize how important the environment is to us and how it provides shelter and resources for millions of species. The deer, being one of the most common species found in the forest, is used as a representation of the very planet we live in. If we stop caring for the Earth, we might not be able to see deers in the future.

That is why we have decided for the light-projected animation of the deer to only be played if the bicycle is being pedaled. If the user stops pedaling, the animation would slow down and come to a stop. Having pressure sensor pads on the handles of the bicycle to start and pause the POV video symbolize how important it is for us as the most intelligent species on the planet to maneuver carefully to be able to move forward.

Changes to the Original ZoeBike Design

The previous ZoeBike had several flaws. One is that the support that is used to hold the zoetrope up was not strong enough, resulting in an inconsistent and lop-sided animation of the deer. We installed wires and fasteners to make sure that the PVC pipe (previously an uneven bamboo pole) was stable enough to bear the weight of the zoetrope. The PVC pipe is then further secured with a plastic chair and bricks to elevate it.

The zoetrope’s design was also changed with the silhouettes of the deer inverted to have it be projected better. We have decided to use the flash light in strobe mode as it allows for sharper projection of the animation.

For a digital spin of the original design, we have added pressure sensor pads to activate a POV video to the handles of the ZoeBike. The pressure sensor pads attached to the icubeX were programmed to start and stop the video that is projected in front of the bicycle.

Documentation Video

Done by: Goh Cher See & Anam Musta’ein

Emergent Visions Response: Machiko Kusahara

Introduction

Machiko Kusahara is an internationally recognized researcher in media art and theory, who has been publishing and curating in the interdisciplinary field connecting art, science, technology, culture, sociology and history. She is given Ph.D in engineering from University of Tokyo for her theoretical research in this field.

Kusahara’s dialogue “From the Movie Screen to Moving Screens: Life in Tokyo with Moving Images” was a reflection and observation of the use of screens in the public space in Japan. The talk focuses on the functions and the social impact of screens, using various examples with different applications of screens to create an interactive media.

Screens

Kusahara also highlighted the fact that audiences were often fascinated by screens that were interactive. That brings us to the daily life of an average Japanese white/blue collar where the majority of their time was spent commuting on public transport such as trains. The commute time often accompanied by the use of mobile phones to play games or videos was a source of entertainment for themselves. Screens, being a driving force in Japan, could often be found on the train as well, whether they are used for advertising purposes or for public service announcements.

In recent years, urban public screens have also emerged on the exterior of buildings, as large-scale projections on several architectures, on billboards, and also on moving vehicles. The ad trucks are one of many ways to show how screens have evolved in transmitting information to passers-by.

Ad trucks:

Screens + Interactivity

Kusahara shared in her dialogue several examples of how screens were taken to the next level by having them paired with interactivity to engage more public involvement. Major advertising companies have came up with innovative ways to encourage the crowd participation with their ads.

From mobile screen to the big screen:
In Adidas’ The Highest Goal”, crowds were given the chance to directly interact with the display on public screens from their own mobile phone screens.

From computer/mobile phone screen to projection:
As part of a launch for the Xbox360 game “Blue Dragon”, IMG SRC inc. made shadow projections of dragons at a carpark in Shibuya where the crowd was able to be part of the screen. People could also participate from the official website and they could control the movement of their shadows shown in Shibuya from anywhere around the world.

Old Public Screens

Kusahara made a comparison between olden-day public screens in Asia and in the U.S. Outdoor cinemas in Asia were held in a way where viewers were sharing public space while for the drive-in theaters in the US, movie-goers are still confined within the private space of their vehicles despite being parked in a public space.

However, both cinemas were lacking in audience participation. Traditional screens was not enough to attract the public’s attention. Screens needed to be transformed and made interactive to encourage crowd involvement. In order for interactivity to come in play on screens, the content needs to be participatory and have transmedia capabilities.

Public Screens in Singapore Then

Wayang Kulit:

Wayang Pacak:

Community Television:

Public Screens in Singapore Now

Projection Mapping on the National Museum:

SMRT North-South Line Display Panels:

Interactive Mall Directory:

Augmented Reality Photo Booth:

Three Great Light Shows:

Future Possibilities with Public Screens

The projects shared in Kusahara’s presentation all happened in the last 15 years. Screens have been transformed and have served different purposes for the public. If we could achieve so much in the advancements of screens, could you imagine what have yet to emerge from the next 15 years?

AR contact lenses and hologram models are just one of the few possibilities in the transformation of screens. With developers already working on such ideas, future feats in public screens are endless.

Done by: Goh Cher See & Anam Musta’ein

Reflection: An Evening with Blast Theory’s Matt Adams

Matt Adams

Driven by his passion in theater, Matt Adams has incorporated performance and interactivity in his projects, exploring sociopolitical themes while applying new and unorthodox methods. Merging the realms between the real world and the virtual, Adams has certainly redefined the genre of play within itself.

Interactive = Unfinished

Adams began his talk by claiming that when a work is interactive, it means that it is also unfinished. He highlighted the importance for us to see the relation between the two words. When a work is interactive, it means that it leaves and offers something opened for the viewers or participants to come and engage with, and complete for themselves. The viewers are the ones completing the experience for themselves and in turn become a part of the artwork or installation. That is why it is the artist’s responsibility to ensure that the work is tidied up into a narrative to be properly presented to the viewers.

The idea of having a work ‘unfinished’ is pretty evident in all of Blast Theory’s projects that Adams shared during the talk. The participants and their experience play an integral part in making these projects complete.

Kidnap (1998)

One project that really stood out for me during the talk was Kidnap (1998), a performance that featured two participants kidnapped in a safe house for 48 hours under the surveillance of several online viewers. The online viewers were given the autonomy to control the cameras in the cell and communicate live with the kidnappers.

Prior to the kidnapping, a registration was posted online to call out for interested participants to partake in the project, which also required them to pay £10 and sign a disclaimer to confirm their consent. Ten entrants were then picked at random to be under surveillance, where their behaviours and daily activities were closely monitored by the team over a two week period. Two of the ten shortlisted participants, Debra and Russell, were then randomly picked again as winners to be involved in the actual kidnapping while keeping law enforcement, friends, and family informed of the situation.

The team was then engaged in a lengthy chase to capture both winners and have them confined in a purpose built room at a secret location where live footage of them were streamed to the online viewers. Over the 48 hours, the winners were fed and taken care of by their kidnappers while the process was monitored by a psychologist. The winners were also offered a prize of £500 if they managed to escape, reach a telephone and call a designated number.

The project was covered by several news reporters across London and was also turned into a 30-minute film which was then premiered at The Green Room in Manchester in September 1998. It managed to garner a major response from the public as it raised the awareness of several social issues circulating the area.

Themes

The project was a work of control and consent, inspired by the Spanner Trials where sadomasochists were prosecuted despite carrying out activities out of consent, has also delved into themes that revolved around several other social issues. It exposed the workings of the media in Britain while addressing problems in lottery culture (similar to how participants had to pay a certain sum with a small chance of being awarded a prize money), and voyeurism (where online viewers were able to “spy” on the kidnapped participants in private).

Conclusion

Kidnap is a perfect example to demonstrate how the interactive work was completed by not only the kidnapped winners, but also the online viewers who have spectated the events that transpired over the course of 48 hours with having a certain amount of control to what they were seeing on the screens. The experience was different for the winners as they were physically confined in the space and in the center of attention while the participation of the online viewers were rather more passive. Therefore the work goes unfinished if the participants were taken out of the picture.

“Interactive = Agency

Interactive = Political”

Before ending the talk, Adams also made relations between interactivity with agency and how it is political. Works should have agency for narratives to unfold and different actions may result in different outcomes. It goes the same for how interactive works can be regarded as political, in which it is able to offer a new perspective to spectators or provide change to how certain things should be carried out.