Showcase¶
Breaking the Ice¶
Overview:
Breaking the Ice is an artistic telepresence installation, with the goal of connecting individuals across cold wintery climates. Originally commissioned for the CODE Live festival, as part of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the station allowed visitors in Montreal to experience the Olymic atmosphere from thousands of kilometers away. It places its users face to face in front of a collaborative game of reconstructing the image which fragments when the screen is touched. In doing so, the participants engage in a dialogue that literally permits them to "break the glass."
Origin:
The first telepresence stations at the SAT were developed in the Territoires Ouverts (2003-2007) and Propulse[ART] research programs. This project includes and refines the results of this research.
Innovation:
The insertion of a collaborative 3d space between the participants.
Results:
The system is permanently installed (still true?) between the SAT and the W2 space in Vancouver. It is therefore possible to observe the quality of the communication experience that it offers.
Researchers: Mike Wozniewski, Paul Warne, Michaël Richard, Alexandre Quessy
Artists:
original concept: Paul Warne, sound design: Andrew Kozloski, programmer: Mike Wozniewski, shader programmer: Louis Bouchard, industrial designer: Sébastien Dallaire, production director: Louis-Philippe St-Arnaud, technical coordinator, Vancouver: Dominic St-Amant
Year: 2010
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Dieu est un DJ¶
"Dieu est un DJ" (God is a DJ) is a telepresence show using Scenic technology, the dialogue of two scenes in search of a common space. The network becomes the theater, the complete representation of a scene where two actors join through the projection of their images on the same screen.
Artists: Co-direted by: Julien Brun (GE) and Vincent de Repentigny-Corbeil (MTL), Actors: Pascale Güdel (GE) and Etienne Blanchette (MTL)
stage assistant: Émilie Martel, set and costume design: Ariane Thibodeau, video: Laurent Schaer, lighting: Julien Brun, dramaturgy: Guillaume Corbeil
technical director: Sylvain Béland, technologies: Walid van Boetzelaer (GE), scenic technology: Metalab team, creation partners: Société des arts technologiques(SAT)and Mapping Festival
Year: 2011-2012
Country: Canada, Switzerland.
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Motifs Urbains¶
Motifs Urbains is a networked performance group in audio-visual animation. Using stop-motion photography, sound effects, drum beats and vocals, two performers work together to build a perpetual loop of sight and sound.
Artists: music and code: Alexandre Quessy, visual and media: Isabelle Caron
Year: 2008
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Soupe Transatlantique¶
This research and creation workshop is an experiment in common practices. Working with plants transformed into digital instruments to develop an amazing digital "soup" together between Mons and Montreal.
software designer, software director: Alexandre Quessy, software designer, in-situ composer: Michal Seta, director, multimedia artist: Valérie Cordy,
musician and performer: Laurence Moletta.
Year: 2010-2011
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The Posture Platform¶
Plateforme Posture en français
Overview:
Posture is an immersive telepresence platform that allows users to explore virtual worlds and socialize. Immersed in sound and image in a virtual landscape extending in all directions, users are captured by a series of video cameras placed at the horizons and their 360 degree video representation is transmitted in real time to participants in virtual proximity. This project's objective is to invite the body into cyberspace, restoring non-verbal communication and social rules of interaction like those described by Edward T. Hall in The Hidden Dimension (1966). The platform is composed of a server-client network connecting the bases where users can enter the shared virtual space. These bases are constructed from Panoscopes (a monochannel immersive projection system), to which a series of cameras are added on the horizon around the point of observation. An iPhone application (PosturePad) allows the users to move about in the virtual space. Real-time communications bewteen the users is carried out with the help of a headphone/microphone combo.
Origin:
The Posture Platform is used in developments carried out in collaboration between the SAT and the University of Montreal. It uses a system of video capture and transmission in 360 degrees that adds to the functionality of Scenic, also developed by the SAT. These functionalities, combined with SPIN (Spatial Interaction Framework), are at the base of immersive telepresence experiences.
Innovation:
This project brought about the first immersive telepresence demonstration inaugurating a permanent connection between the SAT and The Museum of Arts and Crafts in August 2011.
Results:
Immersive telepresence engenders a new space for creation and socialization that promises to profoundly change our day to day lives.
Researchers: Luc Courchese, Mike Wozniewski, Alexandre Quessy, Michael Richard, David Duguay
Concept, design, scenario, direction, production, photography, soundscape: Luc Courchesne, System architecture (SPIN): Mike Wozniewski,
Network administrator: Simon Piette, camera array development: Daniel Labonté, video capture and streaming(Milhouse): Tristan Matthews,
additional programming: Alexandre Quessy, Gideon May, iPhone development and web design: Samuel Vermette, 3D modeling: David Duguay,
assistance and coordination: Audrey Desjardins, philosopher in residence: Christoph Brunner, designer in residence: Marilyn Teuwen
Year: 2011
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Audio Graffiti¶
Overview:
Audio-Graffiti, shared sound and music environment, explores new modes of interaction with sound and space. Intelligent phone users can tag sounds recorded with their devices and pin them to locations in their environment, whether interior or exterior. This graffiti could include, for example, voice messages, music, etc. The user moves through the tagged space and experiences the changing sounds or a mix of the environmental graffiti.
In addition to hearing the graffiti, a function allows users to create graffiti synchronized to the prevailing rhythm and to musically collaborate. The audio graffiti in the space combines to form a dynamic sonic landscape that fades out slowly over time. The environment serves as a frame for this artistic and interpersonal exploration. The unique sonic perspective of each user allows active participation in the sound rendering (mixing and combining of sounds) of audio graffiti found in their path.
Origin:
Audio-Graffiti is constructed on the infrastructure of mobile social networks, the technologies of geolocalization (GPS, Google Earth, etc), and the audio rendering techniques of augmented reality applications. It was conveived by a partnership between Zack Settel and Mike Wozniewski at the Centre For Intelligent Machines at the University of McGill around the creation of the game Sound Park, in which mobile players search for hidden sounds in a park in downtown Montreal.
Innovation:
As is often the case with advanced social media techniques, the most significant innovations emerge from the interactions of participants within the space. The originality of the project
This allows the creation of rich and coherent sonic landscapes, offering a very high level of spatial resolution.
Results:
The project opens new applications for social networks and artistic creations that use sound and space for content and mode of transmission. The project allows multiple collaborations between the SAT's artists, notably for projects that enrich the urban experience in le Quartier des Spectacles (Montreal).
Researchers: Art: Zack Settel, Science: Mike Wozniewski
Year: 2010
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Ball Jam¶
Ball Jam is a volumetric audio composition created by Zack Settel, combining motion tracking, realtime audio processing, and physical modelling in a virtual environment.
Commissioned and performed by the Quasar Saxophone Quartet (quasar4.com), the piece allows players to capture samples from their instruments and apply effects based on their location on stage.
Artists: conception and sonic arts: Zack Settel, science: Mike Wozniewski, collaboration: Luc Courchesne
Year: 2011
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Recreation¶
A live performance by the musicians of The National Parcs who were physically 900 km away from one another, one in Montréal and the other in Gaspé. They were able to perform together in real-time using the audio and sound transmission bridges available in the PropulseART software.
Artists: The National Parcs
Year:
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Ab Joy¶
Ab Joy is based on the parceling of body and space, both real and imaginary. By splitting the performing stage into two remote physical locations linked through the network, "Ab Joy" created a third space, imaginary yet common to both locations.
Artists: Sandrine Pitarque, Xavier Boyaud
Year:
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Ping Pong Feedback¶
Two DVJs are physically separated and linked together via IP. Each of the performing artists manipulates the audio and video data before sending the result back to his or her counterpart who then applies the same process creating a creative loop.
Artists: Florence So, Francis Théberge
Year:
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