Dan O'Sullivan's Projects

Categories:

Chronological

 

Photography

These are various experiments with capturing the world in a more complete way than is currently possible with normal video or still photography. Usually the idea is to make the images and sounds more immerse by making them navigable along spatially or temporally. Building the custom camera and playback rigs for this type of photography was how I stumbled into the area of Physical Computing.

  • Panoramic Video A system for capturing and displaying 360 degree motion video. Video Installation exhibited at More or Less show. (NYU 1999)
  • Slowglass A device for capturing time-lapse photograph within one pane of a window. Exhibited at More or Less show. (NYU 1999)
  • Lamppost A camera rig for panoramic time-lapse photography that was then used to capture a New York City corner over a period of 24 hours. The user, through a specially constructed television display then controlled the view, both time and spatial. Exhibited at Threadwaxing Gallery. (NYU 1997)
  • Space Shots A QuickTimeVR interface for viewing real estate. (O'Sullivision 1997)
  • Aeron Chair A camera rig with control and display software for QuickTimeVR object movie of the newly introduced Aeron chair.  Winner of the ID Award for Best Presentation Design. (Herman Miller, Clement Mok, 1994) 
  • Designers' Studios QTVR photography of prominent design houses and studios.Unique programming for QuickTimeVR switching between panorama and close ups. Included on Macromedia Showcase CD-ROM. The project was the first to implement dense multi-nodal QTVR (Macromedia 1994)
  • Paris QTVR A series of panoramic images utilizing Eric Chen’s new QTVR stitching technique. The images were also captured with sound.(Apple Computer, ATG Graphics 1992)
  • Pavlovsk A camera rig with hardware and software for capture and display of interactive panoramic photographs of a Russian Czar's palace.This was the first published QuickTimeVR in the widely distributed QT 1.6 CD-ROM.(Apple Computer, Human Interface Group, National Gallery of Art 1991)
  • Object Maker A camera rig for creating QuickTimeVR objects.This was an exhibit and paper at SIGCHI 92. (Apple Computer 1991)
  • Golden Gate A camera rig with hardware and software for capture and display of interactive panoramic photographs.The photograph was from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I demonstrated this during John Scully's keynote address at MacWorld and this became the impetus for QuickTimeVR development.(Apple Computer 1991)
  • Dan's Apartment An interactive television show that allowed viewers to virtually navigate through my apartment. This began as an interface experiment but developed a large cable following and received worldwide critical attention. (NYU 1990)

 

Preconscious Computing

The illusory importance of consciousness steals focus. These are projects that address what your body does before your actions are consciously observed by yourself. more

  • Trading Glances A kiosk which tracks a user's eye movement as they peruse pictures of previous users and lumps people who look at each other. (in progress NYU)
  • Difference That Doesn't Make a Difference Article describing the process and promise of Physical Computing at ITP.(i3 Magazine 2000)
  • Ambigraph A watch that logs ambient information and a displaying a representation of how you spent your day based on this information. Presented at Siggraph New York.(NYU 1999)

 

Space of Expression

This is my main interest. The idea is the clump people together based on some form of expression that they have made. more

  • Trading Glances A kiosk which tracks a user's eye movement as they peruse pictures of previous users. An accompanying web site clumps people who look at each other. (in progress NYU)
  • Xena Footnotes Online environment for Xena fans to congregate bases on where they choose to annotate video clips. (2002 Oxygen Media)
  • Booty Cam People are placed in a 3D world on the basis on rhythms of their body movements as seen by a web cam. (2000 Microsoft)
  • Time Space Chat Online environment for people to congregate based on where they choose to annotate time based media. (1999 NYU)
  • Space of Faces Online environment for congregating people on the basis of how the create a cartoon face.(1999 NYU)
  • Near There Online environment for congregating people on the basis of drawings using geometric shapes.(1996 O'SulliVision)
  • Mindchime Online environment where people congregate according to how they built a collage in response to a story.(1996 Microsoft)
  • Collage Online environment for congregating people on the basis of how they arrange characters in a digital doll house.(1994 O'Sullivision)
  • YORB Hybrid online environment/ television show where people post media into a different places in an evolving 3D world. (1992 Nynex NYU)

 

Augmented Reality

Information is more valuable when it is delivered precisely in the context where it is needed. Computers can move information faster and into more places than ever before but stop at the final few inches of delivering the information in exactly the right place and at exactly the right orientation.
  • Slow Glass A device for capturing time-lapse photograph within one pane of a window.Exhibited at More or Less show.(NYU 1999)
  • Virtualizing Glass An augmented reality device for annotating real-world objects in 3-D space.Exhibited at Siggraph New York Conference.(NYU,1997)
  • Augmented Reality Chair A chair for overlaying virtual information onto the physical world.

 

Television

Interactive Television is an oxymoron. On the other hand television provides the most common ground in our culture for ordinary conversation which arguably the most enjoyable interaction a person has. These were some projects that try to leverage the power of television while creating some channel back from the audience to provide content, control or just a little conversation.

  • Xena Footnotes Online environment for Xena fans to congregate bases on where they choose to annotate video clips. (2002 Oxygen Media) Internet Television Station A roaming Internet Video Broadcasting Station and viewer software. (NYU 2001)
  • Dunk Yaron A motorized catapult controller, which allows web participants to control elements in the studio during the l live televised broadcast.(Oxygen Media, Convergence Lab 2000)
  • Trivia/Polling Web Game Engine An engine for authoring and running trivia and polling games on the web to compliment on-air programming.(Oxygen Media, Convergence Lab 2000)
  • BubbleVision Software for synchronizing Web games and on-air/televised broadcasts.(Nickelodeon, Viacom Interactive Services 2000)
  • Puppet Long Underwear Software and hardware for combining puppetry and live video on the web.(NYU 2000)
  • Big Mosh Video Installation exhibited at More or Less show.  Prototype design for a television show which allowed television audience members to control the broadcast by turning on and off lights within their own home. (NYU 1999)
  • Mind Probe On-Air A simultaneous live television and web-based broadcast of a game-show format program utilizing telephony as a controller. I developed a real-time synthetic virtual studio that was controlled by various motion sensors attached to actors.(Beyond TV, USA Networks 1998)
  • Prisoner Chat Software for overlaying real-time Internet chat over televised broadcast of cult science-fiction series "The Prisoner".(SCI-FI Channel, USA Networks Online / Echo Communications 1995)
  • Red Booth An automated booth that traveled nationally filming teenagers' reactions to a drama.These reactions were then included in broadcast of that drama on NBC.(Karen Cooper, NBC 1994)
  • YORB Interactive television experiment that combined novel forms of user control and contribution. This project received international critical acclaim and attracted a large local following. It became a showpiece for the department.(NYU 1992)
  • Dan’s View An interactive public access cable show where the audience could place their computer art within a photograph according to time and space coordinates. (NYU 1992)
  • Mayor For a Minute An interactive television show where the audience collaborates to establish public funding priorities.(NYU 1991)
  • Tin Tin Interactive TVInteractive television show to promote the Tin Tin cartoon series.(HBO 1991)
  • Being There with the Melons Interactive television show that allowed the user to the change camera angle as a story unfolds.(NYU 1991)
  • Window Shows A series of public Access television shows using telephone touch-tones to allow the audience to direct the show. Shows included “Marianne Rubberhead,” “Interactive Television Turtorial” and “The Healing Hand.”(NYU 1991)
  • Dan's Apartment An interactive television show that allowed viewers to virtually navigate through my apartment. This began as an interface experiment but developed a large cable following and received worldwide critical attention. (NYU 1990)

 

WebCams

Visibility has been lost on the Internet. Web pages accept no expression from the user except what registers in a web log. Text chat environments send out only what you meant to give out and filter out what you "give off. The street in New York City is such an effortlessly expressive place because people must present themselves in order to see others, no lurkers. While most people may not have to the level of extroversion necessary to appear on television you will be arrested if you don't at least dress yourself. We not after the exalted type of expression you see on stage but rather the uncontrollable expression on a person's face. Cameras capture all of this.

  • Internet Television Station A roaming Internet Video Broadcasting Station and viewer software. (NYU 2001)
  • Booty Cam 3-D virtual world that captures the user's dance movements and incorporates them into their avatar and moves the user closer to people similar dancers. (NYU 2000)
  • Shadow Conferencing A multi-point videoconferencing system that captures the participant's gesture without intrusive video detail.(NYU 2000)
  • Ghost Cam A Web-cam for transmitting changing low-bandwidth information. (NYU 1999)
  • Dan's Apartment An interactive television show that allowed viewers to virtually navigate through my apartment. This began as an interface experiment but developed a large cable following and received worldwide critical attention. (NYU 1990)

 

Public Displays

Just because computers can help us communicate over a physical distance, that doesn't mean we shouldn't occasionally gather in physical spaces. Using a mirror as the base metaphor gives us a leg up in for interface because users can effortlessly perform functions like scaling, rotation and positioning. It also taps the natural interest people have in themselves.

  • MirrorPlay 4-7 Continuation of life-size video scanning project. (NYU 2001)
  • Eyebeam Atelier Competition A video enhanced poster to propose a design for the new Eyebeam Atelier Arts Center. (Diller and Scofidio Architects 2001)
  • MirrorPlay3 Storefront mirror that utilizes life-size video scanning.(NYU 2000)
  • MirrorPlay2 A rear-screen projection environment for capturing, processing, and reflecting images of people standing in front of the screen. ( NYU 1996)
  • MirrorPlay Software application for selectively reflecting a user's image.(Apple Computer, Human Interface Group 1992)
  • Human Joystick A telerobot controlled by a person leaning from the waist as sensed by a video tracking system. (NYU 1990)
  • Electronic Poster A system for displaying messages on twenty monitors located throughout the World Financial Center. (Olympia and York, Edwin Schlossberg Inc. 1990)

 

Online Games

A lot of people like games.

  • BubbleVision Software for synchronizing Web games and on-air/televised broadcasts.(Nickelodeon 2000)
  • Trivia/Polling Web Game Engine An engine for authoring and running trivia and polling games on the web to compliment on-air programming.(Oxygen Media, Convergence Lab 2000)
  • On-line Football Game (GTE, Ogilvy One Interactive 1998)
  • Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Trivia Game A web-based trivia game to promote the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards Show.(Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, MTV 1998)
  • Mindprobe On-line A web-based trivia game for science fiction enthusiasts.(USA Network 1997)
  • Concept Prototypes Animatics of concept ideas for Microsoft's VWorld Software. These were created for presentation to Bill Gates at the initial stages of the software development.(Microsoft, Virtual Worlds Group 1996)

 

Music

Musicians understand instinctively that there is more you than reaches consciousness and thus need the skills of Physical Computing. They need interesting sensors to reach subtler and richer expressions than can trickle through a keyboard and mouse.

  • Networked Musical Sensor Boxes An infrastructure for sensors appropriate for musical instruments.(Interval Research 1997)
  • Podium A podium used as musical Instrument with video input.(Interval Research 1997)
  • Stick Interval A complex MIDI musical instrument in the form of a simple broomstick. The device as later used by artist Laurie Anderson in performance.(Interval Research, 1996)
  • Web Musical Instrument Kiosk Adaptation of screen-based musical instrument (entitled "Web" see below) into a kiosk. This was exhibited at the Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA) and Los Angeles County Art Museum (Los Angeles, CA) (Experience Music Project 1996)
  • Expressions Performance A control device for a live performance utilizing the "Web Musical Instrument".(Royal College of Art, Interval Research 1995)
  • Expressions Musical Instruments A project team for developing musical instruments in Summer Pressure Projects.   (Interval Research 1994)
  • Music Hand A 3D screen based MIDI musical instrument.(NYU 1990)

 

Misc.

These are mostly projects where I wanted to work with the other people on the project.

  • Microcontroller Video Scanning An inexpensive and portable video scanning system using a CMOS camera and SX microcontroller.(NYU 2001)
  • Merpy.com Puppet Theater An Authoring tool for animating life-sized puppets.  Collaborated with author and designer of children's web site, Marianne Petit. (NYU 2000)<
  • Psychology Experiment A series of tests for use in psychological experiments.(Dr Brian Corby, Fordham University 1998)
  • Balance Diagnosis 3D sensors to measure and display an individual's ability to maintain their balance.(Hypocrites Project, NYU Medical School 1996)
  • Manage your Money An application for analysis of home finances.(Wall Street Journal, Interactive Edge 1995)
  • Shock Sculpture An Interactive Sculpture about Futurism. (ITP 1992)
  • Diplomat Interactive Fiction An interactive fiction where the dramatic arc was customized to uniquely frustrate the user based upon previous actions.( Apple Computer, Human Interface Group 1992)

 

Chronological

2002

  • Trading Glances A kiosk which tracks a user's eye movement as they peruse pictures of previous users. An accompanying web site clumps people who look at each other. (in progress NYU)
  • Xena Footnotes Online environment for Xena fans to congregate bases on where they choose to annotate video clips. (2002 Oxygen Media)

2001

2000

  • Dunk Yaron A motorized catapult controller, which allows web participants to control elements in the studio during the l live televised broadcast.(Oxygen Media, Convergence Lab 2000)
  • Trivia/Polling Web Game Engine An engine for authoring and running trivia and polling games on the web to compliment on-air programming.(Oxygen Media, Convergence Lab 2000)
  • MirrorPlay3 Storefront mirror that utilizes life-size video scanning.(NYU 2000)
  • Booty Cam 3-D virtual world that captures the user's dance movements and incorporates them into their avatar and moves the user closer to people similar dancers. (NYU 2000)
  • Trading Glances Camera Installation that tracks a person's eye movements as they take a picture and plays them back for other people to see.
  • Shadow Conferencing A multi-point videoconferencing system that captures the participant's gesture without intrusive video detail.(NYU 2000)
  • BubbleVision Software for synchronizing Web games and on-air/televised broadcasts.(Nickelodeon, Viacom Interactive Services 2000)
  • Puppet Long Underwear Software and hardware for combining puppetry and live video on the web.(NYU 2000)

1999

  • Panoramic Video A system for capturing and displaying 360 degree motion video. Video Installation exhibited at More or Less show. (NYU 1999)
  • Slow Glass A device for capturing time-lapse photograph within one pane of a window.Exhibited at More or Less show.(NYU 1999)
  • Big Mosh Video Installation exhibited at More or Less show.  Prototype design for a television show which allowed television audience members to control the broadcast by turning on and off lights within their own home. (NYU 1999)
  • Ambigraph A watch that logs ambient information and a displaying a representation of how you spent your day based on this information. Presented at Siggraph New York.(NYU 1999)
  • Space of Faces Online environment for congregating people on the basis of how the create a cartoon face.(1999 NYU)
  • Time Space Chat Online environment for people to congregate based on where they choose to annotate time based media. (1999 NYU)
  • Ghost Cam A Web-cam for transmitting changing low-bandwidth information. (NYU 1999)
  • Intelligence Training (NSC, Viacom Interactive Services) Assisted in the development of a military training application.

1998

  • Mind Probe On-Air A simultaneous live television and web-based broadcast of a game-show format program utilizing telephony as a controller. I developed a real-time synthetic virtual studio that was controlled by various motion sensors attached to actors.(Beyond TV, USA Networks 1998)
  • On-line Football Game (GTE, Ogilvy One Interactive 1998) Programmed a web-based twitch game to promote NCAA football.
  • Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Trivia Game A web-based trivia game to promote the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards Show.(Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, MTV 1998)
  • Psychology Experiment A series of tests for use in psychological experiments.(Dr Brian Corby, Fordham University 1998)

1997

  • Mindprobe On-line A web-based trivia game for science fiction enthusiasts.(USA Network 1997)
  • Networked Musical Sensor Boxes An infrastructure for sensors appropriate for musical instruments.(Interval Research 1997)
  • Virtualizing Glass An augmented reality device for annotating real-world objects in 3-D space.Exhibited at Siggraph New York Conference.(NYU,1997)
  • Lamppost A camera rig for panoramic time-lapse photography that was then used to capture a New York City corner over a period of 24 hours. The user, through a specially constructed television display then controlled the view, both time and spatial. Exhibited at Threadwaxing Gallery. (NYU 1997)
  • Space Shots A QuickTimeVR interface for viewing real estate. (O'Sullivision 1997)
  • Podium A podium used as musical Instrument with video input.(Interval Research 1997)

1996

  • MirrorPlay2 A rear-screen projection environment for capturing, processing, and reflecting images of people standing in front of the screen. ( NYU 1996)
  • Mindchime Online environment where people congregate according to how they built a collage in response to a story.(1996 Microsoft)
  • Stick Interval A complex MIDI musical instrument in the form of a simple broomstick. The device as later used by artist Laurie Anderson in performance.(Interval Research, 1996)
  • Near There Online environment for congregating people on the basis of drawings using geometric shapes.(1996 O'SulliVision)
  • Concept Prototypes Animatics of concept ideas for Microsoft's VWorld Software. These were created for presentation to Bill Gates at the initial stages of the software development.(Microsoft, Virtual Worlds Group 1996)
  • Balance Diagnosis 3D sensors to measure and display an individual's ability to maintain their balance.(Hypocrites Project, NYU Medical School 1996)
  • Web Musical Instrument Kiosk Adaptation of screen-based musical instrument (entitled "Web" see below) into a kiosk. This was exhibited at the Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA) and Los Angeles County Art Museum (Los Angeles, CA) (Experience Music Project 1996)

1995

  • Prisoner Chat Software for overlaying real-time Internet chat over televised broadcast of cult science-fiction series "The Prisoner".(SCI-FI Channel, USA Networks Online / Echo Communications 1995)
  • PIC Machine Vision Box (ITP, NYU 1995) Programmed and constructed a microcontroller based computer vision system for locating objects.
  • Web Musical Instrument (Expressions Group, Interval Research) Design and programming of screen-based musical instrument.
  • Expressions Performance A control device for a live performance utilizing the "Web Musical Instrument".(Royal College of Art, Interval Research 1995)
  • Manage your Money An application for analysis of home finances.(Wall Street Journal, Interactive Edge 1995)

1994

  • Expressions Musical Instruments A project team for developing musical instruments in Summer Pressure Projects.   (Interval Research 1994)
  • Red Booth An automated booth that traveled nationally filming teenagers' reactions to a drama.These reactions were then included in broadcast of that drama on NBC.(Karen Cooper, NBC 1994)
  • Aeron Chair A camera rig with control and display software for QuickTimeVR object movie of the newly introduced Aeron chair.  Winner of the ID Award for Best Presentation Design. (Herman Miller, Clement Mok, 1994) 
  • Designers' Studios QTVR photography of prominent design houses and studios.Unique programming for QuickTimeVR switching between panorama and close ups. Included on Macromedia Showcase CD-ROM. The project was the first to implement dense multi-nodal QTVR (Macromedia 1994)
  • Collage Online environment for congregating people on the basis of how they arrange characters in a digital doll house.(1994 O'Sullivision)

1993

  • YORB Interactive television experiment that combined novel forms of user control and contribution. This project received international critical acclaim and attracted a large local following. It became a showpiece for the department.(NYU 1992)
  • Augmented Reality Chair A chair for overlaying virtual information onto the physical world.
  • Dan’s View An interactive public access cable show where the audience could place their computer art within a photograph according to time and space coordinates. (NYU 1992)

1992

  • YORB Interactive television experiment that combined novel forms of user control and contribution. This project received international critical acclaim and attracted a large local following. It became a showpiece for the department.(NYU 1992)
  • Paris QTVR A series of panoramic images utilizing Eric Chen’s new QTVR stitching technique. The images were also captured with sound.(Apple Computer, ATG Graphics 1992)
  • Diplomat Interactive Fiction An interactive fiction where the dramatic arc was customized to uniquely frustrate the user based upon previous actions.( Apple Computer, Human Interface Group 1992)
  • MirrorPlay Software application for selectively reflecting a user's image.(Apple Computer, Human Interface Group 1992)

1991

  • Pavlovsk A camera rig with hardware and software for capture and display of interactive panoramic photographs of a Russian Czar's palace.This was the first published QuickTimeVR in the widely distributed QT 1.6 CD-ROM.(Apple Computer, Human Interface Group, National Gallery of Art 1991)
  • Object Maker A camera rig for creating QuickTimeVR objects.This was an exhibit and paper at SIGCHI 92. (Apple Computer 1991)
  • Golden Gate A camera rig with hardware and software for capture and display of interactive panoramic photographs.The photograph was from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I demonstrated this during John Scully's keynote address at MacWorld and this became the impetus for QuickTimeVR development.(Apple Computer 1991)
  • Mayor For a Minute An interactive television show where the audience collaborates to establish public funding priorities.(NYU 1991)
  • Tin Tin Interactive TV Interactive television show to promote the Tin Tin cartoon series.(HBO 1991)
  • Being There with the Melons Interactive television show that allowed the user to the change camera angle as a story unfolds.(NYU 1991)
  • Window Shows A series of public Access television shows using telephone touch-tones to allow the audience to direct the show. Shows included “Marianne Rubberhead,” “Interactive Television Turtorial” and “The Healing Hand.”(NYU 1991)

1990

  • Dan's Apartment An interactive television show that allowed viewers to virtually navigate through my apartment. This began as an interface experiment but developed a large cable following and received worldwide critical attention. (NYU 1990)
  • Electronic Poster A system for displaying messages on twenty monitors located throughout the World Financial Center. (Olympia and York, Edwin Schlossberg Inc. 1990)
  • Human Joystick A telerobot controlled by a person leaning from the waist as sensed by a video tracking system. (NYU 1990)
  • Music Hand A 3D screen based MIDI musical instrument.(NYU 1990)