Body Immersion An Exhibit Proposal IAT 222: Interactive Arts Instructor: Ben Unterman TA: Carlos Castellanos Lab Section: E101
By Lisa Simon, Emily Ip, Simon Bong, Remi Ho, and Shahnaz Mohammadzadeh 12/7/2009
Table of Contents
Body Immersion 2009
Artist Biographies ..............................................................................................................................3 The Artwork and Description ..............................................................................................................4 Interaction Diagrams and Technical Installation Information ............................................................ 5-6 Technical Specifications ..................................................................................................................6-8 Display Objects Needed & Cost...........................................................................................................9 Total Cost & The Floor Plan ......................................................................................................... 10-13 Production Timeline & Why is “Body Immersion” suitable for the Surrey Art Gallery? ....................... 14 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Works Cited ..................................................................................................................................... 16
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Body Immersion 2009
Artist Biographies Shahnaz Mohammadzadeh
Born in 1984, Shahnaz studied computer engineering at AMN University (Iran) prior to immigrating to Canada in 2005. After a year, she began her Bachelor of Arts degree at Simon Fraser University. She has always had a strong passion for design, and taking some design courses at the Surrey campus gave her a chance to test the waters. Finally, she decided to pursue a double major in interactive art and technology with business administration. Simon Bong Simon Bong is currently attending Simon Fraser University to pursue a degree in Interactive Arts and Technology with a focus on media arts and design. He is pursuing a degree in media arts to satiate his inquisitive nature in regards to the changes brought about by new technology in our everyday lives. In the future he strives to become an author with the ability to create artwork. He feels very passionate and interested in the experimental aspect in arts, and is most interested in experimental audiovisual and the remixing or combination of different forms of technology to create an artwork. Emily Ip Emily Ip is a 3rd year SFU student in hoping to switch to the design stream. Previously, she has experience in interior design and is fascinated with how a space can emotionally affect a person. In addition, she has some knowledge on art history and the development of various art movements. Currently, her main interest is the interaction between the artwork and its audience in a space. In the future, her goal is to incorporate contemporary arts into various design disciplines. Remi Ho Remi Ho is an arts student at SFU currently taking course related to design and interactive arts. His background includes the culinary arts, classical music studies, and drawing. He finds himself very attracted to art works that make people asks the question, "what is art?" or "what is that?" Lisa Simon A transfer student from Santa Cruz, California, Lisa is in the process of procuring her Bachelor’s degree in Interactive Arts and Technology with a concentration in the Media Arts. When she has spare time, she is an artist who does digital painting commissions, sewing, leather-working, and a variety of other arts and crafts. She is very interested in the hands-on aspect of art, and feels most comfortable when she is in the process of creating something new.
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Body Immersion 2009 The Artwork and Description Before entering Body Immersion, the participant puts on a set of headphones. They pass a heavy curtain, entering a space that has no light. They are encouraged to feel their way along the walls, which have various textures that go along with sound effects playing from the headphones. There are different types of texture on the floor as well. The first section will be “Home”. In “Home” there is a carpet and then hardwood on the floor, and on the wall are drapes. The hum of electricity and other noises that are usually taken for granted are played through the headset. Past “Home” there is “Beach”, where the participant will feel the texture of palm trees, and sand under their feet. They will hear the crashing waves of the ocean and the crying of sea birds. As they make their way around the room, they must rely on their feeling of touch and sound, and to a lesser degree smell, in order to navigate. Once they pass the “Beach” they move on to the “Forest” where there is the feeling of tree bark and branches, and then stone with water running over it. The sounds will include songbirds, the wind through the trees, and then once they reach the stone, the sound of water dripping and echoes as though they have entered a cave. The texture underneath their feet will go from dirt, grass, and pineneedles to stone. The sound effects fade there, and as their feet notice the fact that they have moved on, they realize that they are standing on concrete instead of rough stone. Under their fingertips are metal panels, some of them smelling of rust, and the sounds in their ears are those of a busy city street; honking horns, jackhammers from construction, people walking by and talking, and other sounds that one might experience in the middle of a busy metropolis. Upon exiting, they will have to take a few moments to adjust to the light, but it is our hope that they will not forget what it was like to have temporarily lost their sense of sight and instead had to rely on their other senses to move around. Each participant will leave with an experience that has been very personal to them alone. Some may be frightened by it, and some may embrace it, but our hope is that this will be a memorable experience for everyone who goes through the exhibit.
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Body Immersion 2009
Interaction Diagrams and Technical Installation Information
For the Body Immersion, there are not many technical components needed, as most of the materials are taken from the daily life and nature (such as: leaves, barks, sand, and so on). However, to create the sound effects for the auditory system that is accompanied with the use of the somatosensory system, we would need a few technical components to trigger the sound effects necessary in the right spots. To create the right system for our interactive piece, we would need the following technical components: 1. The Passive Infra-red Sensors 2. The Programmable System on Chip (Microcontrollers) 3. The computer device ( to receive all the information needed from the sensors) 4. The wireless headset (Philips SHD9100) PIR sensors are used to detect the changes in the level of infrared radiations (motion). Most often, they are used to detect whether a human has moved in or out of the sensors range. The most important component in a PIR is the pyroelectric sensor, and it detects levels of infrared radiations. The PIR sensor has two slots in it, and both are sensitive to IR. When the sensor is idle both slots detect the same amount of IR, and through the wire that they connected with, they cancel out each other. When a human/warm body moves in the sensing area, it generates a positive differential change between the two halves. After leaving the sensing area, it creates a negative differential change between the two slots. Seeing more or less IR radiation than the other, will cause the output swing high and low. The output signals from PIR sensor has to be amplified, and then converted into a digital value that can be used for triggering the computer system used for selecting the sounds and then playing them. The micro-controller that is being used in our system is a PSoC, from Cypress. PSoC is a programmable mixed-signal controller (8 bit core) which has a set of analog and digital blocks and they can be used to 5
Body Immersion 2009
provide the functionality needed. After the signals are amplified and converted into desired digital formats, they are sent to the computer device and order for the sound selection and their execution. The sounds executed are then heard by the gallery’s visitor through a wireless headphone which is connected to the computer through its control system.
With the use of PIR sensors, we can easily create a system which can distinguish where and when to play what sound effect track.
Technical Specifications Passive infrared (PIR) or ultrasonic sensors
Figure 1: Sensor coverage diagram (Reliant Energy Retail Holdings, 2009)
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The PIR Sensor
Body Immersion 2009
(Corporation, 2009)
How does it work?
(ladyada.net)
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Body Immersion 2009
The Discrete Solution and the The PSoC Solution
(Company, 2009)
(Ltd., 2008)
Figure 2: A PIR sensor works by sensing the difference in infra-red radiation between one sensing element and another
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Body Immersion 2009
Display Objects Needed:
Object Description:
Price:
Where to Find:
Laminate floor (RONA, 2009)
1.18/sft
Rona
Ceramic floor 12’’x12’’ (RONA, 2009)
1.95 each
Rona
Carpet 36” width (RONA, 2009)
9.19/ft
Rona
Curtain (IKEA, 1999-2009)
15.00
Ikea
TV
free
Junkyard
Key
free
From us
Door+hinge+handle (IKEA, 19992009)
47.00
Ikea
Floor topping(cement) 1.8ft**2 (RONA, 2009)
15.50
Rona
Gravel 30kg (Depot, 2009)
5.30
HomeDepot
Rusted metal
free
junkyard
Car door
free
junkyard
Sea salt
3.99
Grocery store
Sand& Pebble
free
beach
Drift wood
free
Beach
Water fountain
899.00
Soothing wall
Turf/Grass (Farm, 2009)
18.00
Highland redi-green
Leaves
Free
Everywhere
Dirt
Free
Everywhere
Bushes (Farms, 2009)
10.00 each
Richmond County Farms
Small Trees (Farms, 2009)
13.oo each
Richmond County Farms
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Body Immersion 2009
Room= approx. 254ft square Laminated floor shield = 254 x 1.18 = 300.00$ Water fountain = 900.00$ Other objects= 200$ Total = other objects+ water fountain+ floor shield= 1400$
The Floor Plan The room will be set up to have four different sections. The first section will have a home feeling. The second section will give a street feeling. The third section will give a sensation to be at a beach and the last section will put the user in the nature. How will this room be constructed to give the user these feelings are really simple. The floor and the wall will have different texture that fit into the category of that specific section and play together to make the user feel like he is in the nature or beach or home or street using his senses of touch, and smell. Section1: When the user enters the dark room, the first thing he will feel is the carpet ground under his feet. As he moves into the dark room the texture on the floor will change to a ceramic tile floor to a laminate wood floor. Together with the floor texture, the user will also be touching with their hands the objects attached on the wall such as a curtain, a television, keys, hanged jackets, and these will give the user the sensation of being at home. Section 2: Between the home section and the street section there is a door where the user has to open and cross to get out of the house into the street. Once on the other side of the door, a quick change in the floor texture, from the laminated wood to concrete texture. On the wall of this second section will be attached rusted metals and car doors. Rusty smell, the metallic feel, and the hard and bumpy floor plays together inside the mind of the user to make him believe that he is actually outside in the street. Section 3:
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Body Immersion 2009
Pass the hard and lumpy floor of the street underneath their feet are sands, wet pebbles, and on the wall will have a large wide wall water fountain. (Walls, 2009) The salty smell of the water with the floor texture creates the feeling of being at the beach. Section 4: After the long walk on the beach, the user will enter the forest, where nature really is at. The floor will have grass, leaves, rocks and bushes. The wall will have trees attached with their branches coming out and their leaves touching the user. This is the final section, after this, the user will go back to their world going back out from the entry door. Will the floor be damaged by the concrete or rocks? No. The whole floor will be covered once with laminated wood floor to protect the floor of the room. On top of this shield will be adding the different textures.
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Body Immersion 2009
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Body Immersion 2009
Production Timeline
As can be seen in the timeline below, the gathering of materials and the installation should take just about seven months to put together. We hope to have all of the display object obtained halfway through the pre-production, and begin advertising around a month ahead of time.
Why is “Body Immersion” suitable for the Surrey Art Gallery’s TechLab? “Body Immersion” is an artwork that creates multiple virtual environments that users are able to experience within a confined space. The virtual environments are created by using a combination of touch, smell and also sound which differs from most conventional VR environments that greatly emphasize the visual element of the artwork. As “Body Immersion” uses the manipulation of 3D sound to create a virtual environment, we believe that it is aligned with TechLab’s goal in providing “an appropriate, equipped and structured environment and context for artists to develop and present original work and interact with the public.” (http://surreytechlab.ca/data/media/proposals.pdf) Furthermore, since our artwork combines both the fundamental elements such as the materials proposed for the floor and walls with the technological element such as the infra-red sensors and wireless headsets, we believe that our artwork will engage the public in the ongoing discussion of technological aspect in artwork and how we perceived technological artworks in the modern world. Therefore, our artwork is exactly the type of artwork that should be exhibited in the TechLab as it is both technological and also encourages the “multi-directional exchange of ideas and dialogue” between the artists and the users in the overall experience.
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Conclusion
Body Immersion 2009
“Body Immersion” is a collaborative work that is inspired by different virtual reality artwork such as “Legible City” by Jeffrey Shaw, “Osmose” by Char Davies and most importantly, the earlier virtual environment “Cave Automatic Virtual Environment” or better known as “CAVE” by Dan Sandin. However, during the process of planning the artwork, we all agreed that most of these VR artworks have one thing in common, the artists created these virtual environments that are heavily dependent on the visual aspect of the work. In short, the aesthetic element is paramount in their work and these VR environments forfeit the other senses that human possess such as somatic, olfactory and also auditory senses which we believe are also equally important in human perceptions of their surroundings. This is our main criticism of most of the VR environment artwork and it also became the motivation of creating the “Body Immersion”. We wanted to create an alternative to the conventional idea that defines virtual environment which is to immerse users in an environment that would only allow users to use their sense of hearing, touch and smell to navigate through the virtual landscape instead of using their sights. In order to create an environment by the manipulation of acoustic element, we looked to “Paradise Institute” by Janet Cardiff and George Miller for inspiration and ideas because this particular artwork uses 3-dimensional sound in creating an illusion of space. Our hope for “Body Immersion” is that every user is stimulated in different ways when he or she is interacting with the artwork and leaves with a better understanding of their own senses and also the meaning of virtual reality environment.
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Body Immersion 2009 Works Cited Company, S. (2009). PSoC_WUSB. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.sopcco.com/html/psoc_wusb.html Corporation, C. S. (2009). Programmable System. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.cypress.com/?id=1353 Depot, T. H. (2009). HomeDepot.com. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.homedepot.com Farm, H. R.-G. (2009). Highland Redi-Green Turf Farm British Columbia. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.highlandredi-greenturffarm.ca/index.html Farms, R. C. (2009). Richmond Country Farms: About. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.countryfarms.ca/about.htm IKEA. (1999-2009). IKEA | Home | IKEA, furniture, kitchens, beds, chairs, sofas, decorations. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.ikea.com/ca/en ladyada.net. (n.d.). How to use Pyroelectric ("Passive") Infrared Sensors (PIR). Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.ladyada.net/learn/sensors/pir.html Ltd., I.-T. I. (2008). MS-360. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from IR-TEC: http://www.irtec.com/ms360.htm Reliant Energy Retail Holdings, L. (2009). Smart Power Strips. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from Reliant Energy: http://www.reliant.com/en_US/Page/Generic/Public/esc_purchasing_advisor_smart_power_strips_bus _gen.jsp RONA. (2009). Rona. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.rona.ca/ Walls, S. (2009). Wall Fountains : Water Fountains : Outdoor Fountains. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.soothingwalls.com/
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