Eye am a camera; Eye am everywear
for MZTV opening exhibit:
Preferably this will be a traveling exhibit to be shown at the
Smithsonian Museum in the United States, and the Science Museum
(e.g. Wellcome Wing, where WearComp was shown) in the U.K., and
then to Canadian Museum of Civilization, etc. (e.g. since U.S.
is very "provincial" they may react better if being first)...
Funding sources:
- SONY (hardware rich)
- CHUM (cash rich)
BUDGET:
- Curatorial fee, use of equipment, etc.: $10k
- Upgrades to equipment (restoration of various pieces of apparatus into good
working order): $5k
-
Hiring of additional assistants to help in the making of a lightvector painting
of MZTV building (emphasizing top floor, so perhaps shot from a building
across the street);
2 masters or PhD students, 10 hours, at TA union rate of $30/h: $600
-
Additional student assistants to help setup and debug some of the systems
in the exhibit: $1200 (amount may vary depending on any unforseen problems)
-
TOTAL so far: $16800
-
Insurance: may already be worked into budget
-
Setworks: rough estimates are very high; comparison to be made
(reduction to more manageable level)?
-
RF modulators, etc., for museum: already budgeted into museum infrastructure?
-
Large screen TV sets for MZTV entrance and for a mannequin in the
CHUM CITY building: to be donated by SONY (approx. $200k worth of equipment
from SONY)
-
Video production; budget to do the Fashion Television piece,
also for working into the museum exhibit and combining efforts to do
a piece to be aired on Fashion Television, BRAVO + Producer Willis, etc..
segments of which would be used in the museum piece: $??? (internal budget).
-
Carpenter shop at CHUM City to build raised platform(s), etc.,
for approximately
10 to 15 mannequins, in conjunction with in-house architects: $??? (internal
budget).
Pieces to be exhibited (prioritized sequence list)
Generally a larger number of rigs are proposed into the exhibit, and
as we get down to the actual details, new ideas unfold, resulting in
slight variations in the number (e.g. it's better to bring too many items
to exhibit, and thus not use them all in the exhibit, than to have too few).
- 3 or 4 items on bridge from the past, in chronological order:
Philco Safari, SONY tummy TV, wristwatch TV.
- World's first functional wristwatch videoconferencing
system, (1998, CA2237939, filed June 29, 1998, issued Sep. 21, 1999
and later presented at ISSCC 2000 and featured on the
cover of Linux Journal July 2000).
This Internet Linux wristwatch could be displayed in a manner consistent
with the wristwatch TV, on a 4th element of the bridge, or it could be
displayed on one of the mannequins, or perhaps differently, so that it
stands out (may otherwise be lost in the visual clutter of a whole
mannequin).
- possibly include a wall: mannequin breaking through the wall
to move from past to present...
- big screen TV...
- mannequin 1 wearing pushbroom with keyer (WearComp0 and WearComp1,
the first wearable
computers of the 1970s) depicted rightmost in the first picture at
http://wearcam.org/citytv/
(carp shop or set designers to work with mannequin to get fingers to
grasp the keyer, etc.)
- mannequin 2 wearing flashgun with keyer
(WearComp0 and WearComp1, the first wearable
computers of the 1970s) depicted leftmost
in the first picture shown on http://wearcam.org/citytv/
and also shown leftmost in the first picture at http://wearcam.org/lvac/
and in the third picture at http://wearcam.org/lvac/
(carp shop or set designers to work with mannequin to get fingers to
grasp the keyer, etc.)
- Base station depicted center in the first picture at
http://wearcam.org/citytv/
- mannequin 3 wearing WearComp2 (wearable wireless television photographic
production studio) of 1981, 1.5 inch cathode ray
tube running at 5000 volts, 6502 microprocessor,
second picture at http://wearcam.org/citytv/
and also shown leftmost in http://wearcam.org/steve5.htm
- mannequin 4 wearing WearComp4 (wearable wireless TV photo production
studio) of 1984, 1985, Wearable videographic/photographic apparatus of
the 1970s and early 1980s gave rise to a new genre of photo/video in
Toronto. Following an exhibit at Night Gallery, 185 Richmond Street,
Toronto, in the Summer of 1985, Cybernetic television was born and evolved
into what would later become the first Internet television station,
as shown in the second picture in http://wearcam.org/lvac/
- some of the pictures that were taken with the above apparatus
- mannequin 5 wearing WearComp6: wearable wireless webcam
(world's first personal life on the World Wide Web),
1992: N1NLF-TV, a complete wearable television production studio.
Online and connected, with wireless communication, the new photographic
videographic genre emerges,
1994: World's first Internet television station (N1NLF-TV) goes on the
World Wide Web. First roving Web reporter.
The complete wearable television
production studio transmits continuously to the World Wide Web,
to define a new genre of electronic newsgathering.
3rd or 4th from the left in http://wearcam.org/steve5.htm
- 1995, 1996
mannequin 6 wearing WearComp7: world's first covert
eyeglass based television.
The eyeglasses also contained a camera system, for use with a television
production studio concealed underneath ordinary clothing.
This device was also an internet connected
wearable television production studio, as shown rightmost in
http://wearcam.org/steve5.htm
- video loop or the like, repeatedly showing a 5 minute portion of
the documentary video "ShootingBack", that was shot with the above
apparatus, http://wearcam.org/shootingback/160x120compressed.avi
or http://wearcam.org/shootingback/160x120noncomp.mov
- mannequin 7 wearing "maybe camera" shirt, as shown in
http://wearcam.org/http://wearcam.org/maybecam.htm
- mannequin 8 wearing "probably camera" also known as the "Tie Dome",
as shown in http://wearcam.org/telepointer.htm
- mannequin 9 wearing "definitely camera", also known as
"Photonic Filter", as pictured in
http://wearcam.org/pleasewait.htm
Additionally, a piece entitled "Mirrorshades", as pictured in
http://wearcam.org/lvac/ (second to last picture) is intended for
placement at the entrance to the exhibit (where the Marilyn Munroe exhibit was).
This piece is intended to be worn on a mannequin, and
connected to a computer system which alternately shows transparency
(a view of the wearer's eyes) and reflectivity (a view of the viewer).
The switching between the two is done in the manner of a jump cut,
with a deliberately induced vertical asynchronicity, in order to mimic
typical video switching in video surveillance CCTV systems.
A large screen TV behind the mannequin is intended to show only the
viewer (reflection mode only, no transparency).
At the time of the exhibit opening, or slightly later, an additional piece
entitled "ShootingBack Pack" http://wearcam.org/lvac/ third from last picture,
is to be made available for display in the CHUM CITY building. This piece
comprises five Internet connected cameras and a wearable
radar system intended for display on one
or more large screen televisions to be donated by SONY.
It will become available after a department store performance piece entitled
ECE431 Personal Safety Device for which it is required.
Layout and additional thoughts and ideas
Mannequin 1: the mannequin about to leap across the bridge of
3 or 4 artifacts.
Mannequin 2: the one on the circular raised portion, closest
to mannequin 1.
Mannequin 3: the one on the circular raised portion, furthest
from mannequin 1.
Mannequin 4: the one in the middle on the circular raised portion,
(the tall antennas will not reach too close to the ceiling)
The theme of the circular raised portion of mannequins 2, 3, and 4
is wearable television in the cybernetic photographic context,
(painting with lightvectors) for which lightvector paintings from the
past 20 years would play on the tv screens mounted thereupon.
Mannequins 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 represent the theme of performance art.
This theme differs somewhat from the earlier theme because the earlier
theme regarded television as a means to another end (production of the
final lightvector paintings) while the performance art theme of
mannequins 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 incorporates television more directly.
These devices were Internet connected wearable television production
studios in which the television production was itself the final work
of art, as well as the process of resituating television in a disturbing
and disorienting context to challenge our preconceived notions of the
moving visual image, and of cameras in particular.
While mannequins 1-4 depict that which was concerned with static
art in the lightvector painting, mannequins 5-9 clearly shift to
the moving image as an art form.
These mannequins could therefore be situated differently, e.g. around
the periphery, or around the museum, in a more dynamic fashion.
If space permits, an additional one or two mannequins would wear one
or both of the anonymous Internet televisor art depicted in
http://wearcam.org/id/floorprojector.htm
and http://wearcam.org/newsflasher/ (warning: art may offend)
Additional pictures showing examples of installation setup
Previous exhibits at the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art in Amsterdam
http://wearcam.org/stedelijk/ and http://wearcam.org/lvac/index.html
may be consulted as examples of how to lay out the exhibit.
Additional concerns with present design
Having the mannequins lean out into publically accessible space may
present a hazard to the visually challenged or mobility impaired.
In particular, consider the growing population of elderly who may
visit with their children, etc., and may bump into objects that extend
outward from the floor, beyond the "footprint" that can easily be
determined with a guide cane in the case of the visually challenged.
Moreover, young children may also tamper with these devices despite any
motion alarms or the like, which would otherwise constantly be triggered
giving excessive false alarms and reducing sensitivity (what the layperson
describes as "crying wolf"). The mannequins being too easily accessible
could have the alarms frequently activated.
Other items such as the base station depicted in the middle of the first
picture of
http://wearcam.org/citytv/
need to also be isolated and protected from tampering.
The raised portion in the middle works well for this purpose because it is
raised and also because it is slanted (making it an unwelcome surface
upon which to walk, etc.).
Some of these issues should still be addressed.
Mannequins are to be painted mid grey (photographic grey), wherein mid grey
is defined as reflecting 18% of the incident light regardless of wavelength
(e.g. the color of the standard video/photographic "grey card" used in the
television industry). Mannequins are to be dressed in black clothing (black
cloth being symbolic of the photographic past and of the video camera which is
itself a descendant of the camera obscura).
Mannequins in a variety of poses are to be selected, suitable for emphasizing
the portable, mobile, and wearable nature of television in the modern age of
the nomadic.
Mannequins are to be secured to platform(s) with standard butt rods, screwed to
the platform, and, additionally, both feet are to be firmly screwed to the
platform, or mannequins otherwise need to be secured so that the often
heavy packs they wear to not tip them over.
One important aspect of this exhibit is the transition of time,
and the rapidly changing notion of time, and the passage of time.
The Internet has so rapidly changed our world, yet the "cyborgs"
shown in the exhibit represented the past (even though this apparatus has
appeared on many magazine covers, etc., to depict the future). This
wonderfully confused sense of past, present, and future could be amplified
by having video from the cyborgs transmitted to the many different television
sets in many different time periods, so that the visitors to the museum would
see themselves upon the different television screens as they explored the
evolution of television from the big heavy TV sets to the EyeTap television
systems of the future.
Linux wristwatch
The Linux wristwatch (wristwatch based TV production studio) needs to
be integrated into the exhibit in such a way that it does not get visually
lost in the clutter. This will be the remaining challenge.
There is more information on this piece at http://wearcam.org/wristcam/
excerpts from ISSCC 2000 conference where the invention was presented
ISSCC: 'Dick Tracy' watch watchers disagree
By Peter Clarke
EE Times
(02/08/00, 9:12 p.m. EST)
SAN FRANCISCO -- Panelists at a Monday evening (Feb. 7) panel session
at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) here
failed to agree on when the public will be able to buy a "Dick Tracy"
style watch for Christmas, with estimates ranging from almost
immediately to not within the next decade.
Steve Mann, a professor at the University of Toronto, was hailed as
the father of the wearable computer and the ISSCC's first virtual
panelist, by moderator Woodward Yang of Harvard University (Cambridge
Mass.).
...
Not surprisingly, Mann was generally upbeat at least about the
technical possibilities of distributed body-worn computing, showing
that he had already developed a combination wristwatch and imaging
device that can send and receive video over short distances.
Meanwhile, in the debate from the floor that followed the panel
discussion, ideas were thrown up, such as shoes as a mobile phone --
powered by the mechanical energy of walking, and using the Dick Tracy
watch as the user interface -- and a more distributed model where
spectacles are used to provide the visual interface; an ear piece to
provide audio; and even clothing to provide a key-pad or display.