The idea for this project arose from my desire to build a storytelling device with emergent characteristics. The machine performs the acts of listening and remembering by manipulating the spatial and temporal characteristics of its sonic surroundings.

Comprised of an array of six speakers and six microphones, the machine hangs from the ceiling. With its microphones listening to the space, its speakers transmit what has been heard, generating a continuous sonic feedback loop. Occasionally, the machine records the sounds being transmitted through its system and stores these samples on a computer hard drive. These stored samples are played back out to the system at random intervals, introducing sonic memories into the space.

The goal of the application is to stimulate activity among people with sedentary lifestyles by building awareness of their current activity levels and leveraging this awareness to stimulate further activity through the use of social engagement, and competitive and cooperative game modes.

Challenge friends to a walk-off – the first one to reach the desired number of steps wins. Challenge yourself to a personal goal, or walk for a common cause, where steps from all supporters are combined.Here is a link to a conceptual video describing the application’s functionality:

The design of the KBD-1000 is inspired by the Panasonic RX-7000 (the same model was also distributed by National). Originally released in 1981 and retailing for $700.00 US, this product was targeted at the high-end market, as its wood side panels and controls were similar to those found on the high-end home stereo receivers of the day. In keeping with the classic styling of this model, the KBD-1000 features African mahogany side panels and handle bar, and machined aluminum parts.

Our next step was to find a location that would benefit from some form of “transition smoothing”. The main entrance to Green Library on Stanford campus proved to be an ideal location. Upon further observations and interviews with staff, students, and facilities management, we identified skateboard storage a an opportunity area.

Skateboards can currently be checked behind the security desk located at the library’s entrance, however this has many problems. The skateboards clutters the space behind the desk (which is both an inconvenience and a safety hazard), the “check-in/out” transaction slows down traffic flow moving in and out of the buidling, and the security of one’s skateboard is not guaranteed as security does not take responsibility for stolen boards.

After numerous prototypes and consultation with facilties management, we developed a working prototype of a skateboard locker which was temporarily installed and tested in the library entrance. The concept was very well received and we are currently working on designs for a permanent locker facility that will be completed in the summer of 2008.

Alain Badiou, Jean Baudrillard, Judith Butler, Peter Greenaway, Jean-Luc Nancy, Larry Rickels, Wolfgang Schirmacher, Elias Sulieman, Gregory Ulmer, and Slavoj Žižek appear on a wall of screens speaking at once, creating an almost incomprehensible cacophony, until a viewer engages one of them. Each thinker reappears with the same thought or a different one “but it’s not repetition” as new juxtapositions change the context of their ideas.

Upon first entering the room the viewer is dwarfed by the big screen and hears only fragmented thoughts and disjointed sentences. Sitting on one of the cushions provided causes all but one ‘higher man’ to stop speaking allowing the viewer to fully understand what is being said. A second cushion allows a second viewer to ‘steal’ the attention away from the first viewer. While the order of the video playback is random the viewer can listen to all the conversations by putting in the time required to do so.

If no one is listening all the higher men resume speaking.

Through a touch-screen viewers can select any of the 150 questions put to the ‘higher men’. The corresponding answer is printed on register tape, which the viewer is welcome to take. This process is captured on video, stored in a database, and displayed on a single screen facing the screens of ‘higher men’.

Within the Harmony Bank, performance artist Amy Learmonth is separated from the audience as she entertains from an isolated room. Through this physical disconnect, the performance is mediated through a custom made “gaming” console. As the audience plays with the buttons and joystick on the console, they directly impact the outcome of the performance.

Pressing any of the buttons on the console’s right panel selects which song the performer sings, while buttons on the left panel turn a corresponding light on or off in the performance space. Each light is associated with a predefined action or behaviour to be included by the performer into her performance. Moving the joystick controls the camera angle from which the audience views the performer. The outcome of the performance is ultimately in the hands of the audience as they become an integral part of the show.

The console’s design is based on the dimensions of the original Ms. Pac Man arcade console (released in 1982). The control surface uses original arcade buttons and joystick.

Greenhouse (2005) is a telematic artwork that creates a symbiotic relationship between a fully-automated greenhouse and single orchid flower housed within it. Using the Internet, real-time data is collected from a weather station in the orchid’s native habitat. This weather information is then used by a control system to create a simulation of these natural environmental conditions within the greenhouse.

Within this system, the roles traditionally associated to nature and machine are reversed. The plant is reduced to an industrial element defined by its production and consumption of various resources, while the machine is trusted with the role of caregiver to the life form housed within it. The calm and meditative state present within the greenhouse juxtaposes with the complex and dynamic interactions captured by the sensors and interpreted by the control system.