Technical Concept
A mobile room in the size of 5 m x 2.6 m x 2,5m defines the space where an acting person is being tracked and recorded. The acquired tracking data and its references to the recorded video are saved in a database. According to this, the database grows with every new user. One side of the room is used as both, a projection canvas and the location from where a video camera points at the user. Gazing at the canvas, the user can see a projection showing the movements of his predecessors that is generated by combining their specific video data. This selection is made by comparing the users ongoing tracking data with the existent data in the database. The video showing the closest correspondences is selected and displayed. As the tracking data is compared permanently for every single video frame, a new video will be selected once the difference of the compared tracking data goes beyond a certain threshold. As a result, the user gets a reconstruction of his own movements by the combination of movement fragments of preceding users.Theoretical Concept
The installation sets up a simplified model of cultural mechanisms. By performing own movements, every user triggers an already existing gestural vocabulary and simultaneously produces new expressions. This way, a various kinetic language is elaborated in the database and gets more and more profilerated. At the same time, certain paradigms are made up because the system is able to reproduce frequently performed movements more precisely and thus supports the performance of those movements on the users side. To a greater or a lesser extend, there a three versions of interaction provided to the user. Those are situated along the range from consumption to production. Consumption-wise, the extreme of pure perception would intend to just explore the vocabulary of the system or to evoke certain reactions by performing calculated movements. In this case, the users recognition as being an integrative element of the system would step back. As a consequence, the system would offer alternate representations. The predecessors are represented to a greater extend because the re-selection rate tends to be lower and thus longer continuous video sequences are displayed. In contrast, a production-wise perspective would give preference to the users activity to a degree that the system‘s visual reactions would be neglected. In other terms, the representation is shifted to the user himself. From a practical point of view, the selected video fragments are now shorter and consequently, the screened persons are no longer recognizable. Interaction in sense of action and reaction, as a third option of use, only takes place between these two perspectives.
