Poster

Remote Interactive Animated Projection

Keywords: Remote, Interactive, Animation

Robert Hamilton

School for the Arts, McMaster University
hamiltr@mcmaster.ca

Introduction:

A joint art based project that explores Remote Interactive Animated
Projections has been initiated between the Humanities Computing
Department of McMaster University and the Multimedia department of The
School of the Arts, also of McMaster University. The project will
utilize a newly funded video streaming facility that is currently being
organized by the Humanities Computing department to facilitate faculty
research. The Remote Interactive Animated Projection Project is being
initiated in part to foster interdisciplinary research between The
School of the Arts and The Humanities Computing Department.

The content of the work will largely be animation based. The content
will be generated in advance of the actual installation. Animation was
chosen as an art form because of its flexible nature and the relative
ease in which it can be digitized. Animation allows for a dynamic
projection of inner thoughts and ideas that are at best difficult to
render in any other way. Animation is often derived from abstract
thought. At times there is a struggle to simulate aspects of the world
as experienced by an artist. In this way, much like a draughtsman, the
work becomes a distilled thought: a studied observation. An observation
that is somehow greater in its sum than that of a photograph. In this
way, one could suggest that animation is able to express a remediation
of how images are perceived.

One seductive aspect of animation is production time is usually lengthy
and anything but "instant." Production is slow and meticulous. At times
the work can be quite tedious. A thousand ideas come and go as while
progressing image by image. Ones mind wanders and the subconscious seems
to permit unusual thoughts to float to the top. New ideas and
connections arise. In its creation, animation seems to encourage lateral
thinking; an intuitive thought process. Suppressed thoughts gain
currency and come to the forefront. It is no wonder that some of the
most inspired examples of animation are strangely surreal and
occasionally frightening. Examples would be the work of Jan Svankmajer,
The Brothers Quay or more recently; various clips in the recent feature
film The Fight Club: the animism of familiar objects.

The Remote Interactive Animation project attempts to bridge artifice
with reality. The project investigated the creative application of
interactive media within an environment that would normally not be
associated with external media of any form. An example of this would is
the potential of a suburban neighborhood and itís track housing.  To
intrude upon this environment presents many possibilities. The project
will convert picture windows in the front of a houses in to a large
video screens that randomly generate narratives which are triggered
according to the movements or reaction of the people passing on the
street.  The images would be streamed from a central server directly
from the University.


Streaming Video: New Potential for Expression

To augment existing structures and concepts within a community is to
address the possibility of integration or introduction of new media to
an environment that otherwise would not be deemed appropriate. The
concern is to conform media to an actual pre-existing neighborhood. The
reason for this is two-fold: to initiate interest in new media and
animation within the community and secondly, to explore and augment
existing forms of community communications.

In relation to existing forms of communication within a given community
such as television, the introduction of interactivity has begun to
radically alter the relationship between transmitter and audience. No
longer passive yet not entirely empowered, the audience has yet to
determine the exact nature of interactive communication.

An additional purpose is to explore the territory of media interface and
display. Although computers are excellent at creating and/or organizing
the content of media, they are not always the best suited to displaying
the results.  This is a major concern: to free media from the confines
of a desktop computer. The goal is to augment an
existent display system that recreates interactive elements found in a
computer terminal but within a new context. In addition, the entire
system will be portable, allowing for easy transport and installation.


Implementation

Essentially, the project consists of streaming video from a central
server of animated figures through a portable projection system in a
public space. Viewers may influence the projection through body movement
or other criteria. The interactive projection is a viable means for
creating a rich experience for the viewer.


Conclusion

The Remote Interactive Animation Project is a work in process that will
evolve over the duration of approximately one year. The project will
should wrap-up by December 2001. The results of the research will be
documented and organized in to an online site. Anticipated results
include the dissemination of fine art based projects in both the
immediate community and abroad, expanding the potential sphere of
presentation for art based projects and the implementation of technology
that will offer interactivity with media at broadband speed.


Contact Information:

Robert Hamilton,  MFA, MFA
Assistant Professor
School of Art, Drama and Music
TSH-316, 1280 Main St. West
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Phone: (905) 525-9140 Ext.27955
Fax: (905) 527-6793
Email: hamiltr@mcmaster.ca
Homepage: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~hamiltr/
Department: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~macmedia/