June 20

The final day of the workshop.

In the morning, we spent time finalizing our showcase pieces and prepping the space for the event. As time allowed, a few of us continued to learn new aspects of Isadora, Mark spent some time with Hugh Conacher and I showing us the midi and DMX actors in Isadora for show control. I also spent some time creating an voice activated oscilloscope that would display vocal patterns.

The afternoon showcase began at 4 PM and was attended by about 20 guests. The presentation went smoothly and everyone gave a good showing. Below is a clip of my final piece titled Words, Words, Words.



This installation piece explores human-computer interaction. Traditionally humans control the machine but in this interactive piece the roles are reversed. The laptop monitor, through a wave generator, beckons the unsuspecting participant to "Come Here." As they approach, a video camera mounted over head is used as a visual sensor and triggers the next several events that boss the human around the space. When the participant screams on command, her voice, through the use of a listening sensor in the computer, triggers the sequence telling her to dance. The iSight camera in the laptop captures the video feed which is blended with a video clip to create the visuals seen. The final text sequence is controlled with envelop generators and timed to allow the participant to exit the space before it resets itself to the beginning ready to repeat the sequence when triggered by the next participant who walks towards the laptop. This event is totally self-contained. Once activated, no operator is needed for the system to function. It will loop, pause, and await sensory data as necessary until deactivated.