ITP Spring Show 2008

Epafi

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Epafi is a pair of bracelets built to simulate the common and playful exchange of touch amongst mates, loved ones, or even close friends. Whenever either of the wearers touch the bracelet worn on their wrist, the location, pressure, and movement of the touch is replicated on other the wearer\’s wrist. The bracelets connect each wearer via Bluetooth wireless radio and allow for a form of communication that could be whimsical and fun, as touch often is, or it could grow to be a more intricate form of bodily communication.

Solar SoundSystem

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Solar Sound System is a portable audio player powered by the sun. Its slim design for easy travel, and its unique angling system allows you to harness the sun\’s rays from any postion. Now you can jam along to your favorite tunes ecologically guilt-free knowing that you\’re utilizing 100% green power!

Vajrapani {4 people and a table of sand between them}

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vajrapani is an interactive sand table instillation for 1 – 4 persons, which encourages them to experience their individual and group presence as a natural kind of magic. A meditation on fleeting images which parallel the passing of time, like a digital sand mandala, it is the meeting point of a crossroads, and a compass to find our way back – to where we are.

How it works: Have a seat on a cushion. Use your hand to toggle the video triangle in front of you. Triangles only appear if there’s someone on the cushion in front of it. Invite more people to sit with you if you’re all alone. If there are 4 of you together, you form a mandala and timeless counsel of sage advise will emerge. Enjoy the space you cultivate.

Vajrapani is meant to instill a sense of simplicity, wonder and calm in the minds those that experience it. The imagery and interaction chosen represents the immutable and enduring beauty of pure being within each of us as we simultaneously co-create the present moment.

Simon Stabs…

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

\”Simon Stabs…\” is an interactive game that provides \’harmless\’ platform differs from a typical knife skill game with a real knife. It consists of two gaming platforms with wooden knives as \’switch\’ to press six \’buttons\’ in the space between each finger. The rule of the game is that player should remember sequence of pressing buttons led by flash movie clip on the screen similar to \’simon game\’. First player\’s stabbing several spaces between fingers replays on the other player\’s screen so that he mimics the sequence and add more on it. Then first player should do the same, then back and forth.
Game ends when any mistake occurs.

24 switch pixel

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This piece mimics the way a computer uses 24 bits to control the colour value of each pixel on a screen.
...

Ambient Amplifiers

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cities are filled with information — every street bleeds data in every conceivable form, emanating from taxis, sirens, conversations, not to mention the data flowing from every cell phone, laptop and music device. This sort of flood can’t possibly be parsed, leaving city dwellers to develop mental walls to protect themselves from the fire hose of data they’re bombarded by every day. But what do they miss? What’s happening in their immediate area that they can’t even become aware of?
This information deluge has sparked a push to visualize data in recent years, leading to some beautiful maps, diagrams and videos of areas and the facts they hold. Complex programs have been written to emulate the passage of data in nearly all walks of life. However, in nearly every case, these expressions exist only on paper and in computers — the average city-dweller has no reasonable access to this data; certainly not in their daily routine. What good is data that can’t be used?
My project aims to address this need with a series of small personal devices for interpreting the city. My objects are small, pocket-sized items that monitor for sounds we miss in our everyday lives, and display in real-time the audio events around us.

Picture Me Rollin’

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Picture Me Rollin\’ is a manufactured surface designed to produce beats as roller luggage is pulled across. Tones are produced as the wheels of the roller luggage encounter different textures, and these tones will be arranged in a way to create beats. Multiple parallel surfaces are planned, as to allow for multiple bags to generate more complex melodies. The tones produced are modulated and amplified using contact microphones and Max/MSP.

Bintel Vox (Bundle of Voices)

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bintel Vox is a prototype for an interactive application for Bluetooth enabled mobile phones. Bintel Vox, \”bundle of voices\”, is a fantasy word based on Yiddish and Latin.

Listen to voices of the past asking you for directions. The real life owners of these voices are at a crossroad of their lives in early 20th century New York, often in emotional distress. Listen to them and get immersed in their stories. Follow the prompts on your cell phone to leave a message with your advice. Voicemails are collected on the bintelvox.com website.

We invite people to use our application for bluetooth enabled cell phones at historically charged locations on the Lower East Side. Our goal is to provide a mobile educational tool and prompt playful empathy with voices of the past.

The original \”Bintel Brief\” letters, sent to the editor of the Jewish Daily Forward from 1906, are dated documents. The texts reflect personal and social problems, religious, political and cultural difficulties of new immigrants in the early 20th century. While the content of these letters may seem strange for today\’s listeners, with their tone of intimacy they can still reach out and connect with listeners of our time.

Rorschach Art

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Many art collectors are drawn to abstract art because they see the work differently each time they approach it. Abstract works never give the exact same impression twice. Viewers don\’t get bored over time. Take this simple five-minute test to see if there is a correlation between your current mood and your impressions of abstract art. The results will be compared to others who took the test. You\’ll be shown results at the end. It\’s the Rorschach Test for the art literate.

The Naked Pixel

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Naked Pixel challenges our notion of decency in public arenas by using the entire visual display to represent individual pixels of a nude photograph sequentially over time. By viewing the piece, the audience is not only unaware of what they are viewing, but their primary visual cortex can not mentally construct the sequence of colors into a coherent image.

Using a light sensor, the piece detects nightfall and further \”undresses\” each pixel\’s color into its binary value by displaying a sequence of ones and zeroes. This further obfuscates the representation of the potentially \”obscene\” image.

My intention is to convert a still image into an animated sequence of pixels. This changes our perception of the image by limiting the stream of optical information from a parallel format (all pixels at once) to a serial format (each pixel individually). Our visual system is incapable of parsing this visual information, which fundamentally changes the character of the image. Our experience of the still image becomes entirely new, even though the content of the image remains.