'Magic Wand' Followup

hi Erik, sure let me send a link. maybe w can talk by phone -- it'd be easier than my hen-pecking.... it'd be fun. FYI, everyone (else)-- Marek Alboszta's company in California holds the patents on true 6 DOF devices. He's trying to bring it to market. He replied...it's too expensive -- different league, but I'll talk w Marek when I go out to sf this week.

Xin Wei


On 2011-05-21, at 8:58 AM, Erik Conrad wrote:

> Hi Xin Wei + TML,
> > Happy to help, but maybe I missed the part of the thread that explains
> the overall concept and desires? Could someone please fill me in?
> > Best,
> Erik
> > On Friday, May 20, 2011, Sha Xin Wei wrote:
>> I'm asking some experts: Erik Conrad, a TMLabber who built mappings to haptics (vibration motors on various parts of body) from camera as well as GPS models of built environment, as well as Marek Alboszta, whose company makes the only true 6DOF wand. (Asking for non-tethered, non-line-of-sight, but may not be possible.)
>> >> BTW. Deleuze' micro-perception lay behind my musing about locus of sensing. It's not a satisfactory vocabulary, but an invitation to parse out the layers: sensing modality / sensing locus / interpretation / logic of response / feedback locus and type ... and of course not leave them split! A "locus" may not be spatial, it could be temporal: keeping a "stimulus" sharply delimited in time, or very clearly temporally-textured is a form of delimitation and localization. Another way is to have a crisply defined rhythm -- unbounded in time (or least in an open set), and with no particular spatial locus.
>> Warmly,Cheers,Xin Wei
>> On 2011-05-20, at 1:09 PM, David Morris wrote:
>> Follow up on magic wand possibilities: --Sandeep’s student has a ‘T-Stick’, http://www.idmil.org/projects/the_t-stick, but this is far too much and it doesn’t sense position. --Lenay’s group is using an ‘enactive torch’ which looks like a handheld device that converts distal measurement it makes into vibration stimuli, in a programmable way, with an Arduino chip. This isn’t quite what we want, because we are more interested in locatedness than distance, and want to be selective on the location/object that prompts a stimulus. But the design is interesting, seehttp://enactivetorch.wordpress.com/. We could use a similar physical sized thing, if we could get position/acceleration sensors into it. NB the enactive torch project looks interesting. --I was trying to find info on getting position in room via Wii, but wasn’t sure we could, at least not in a robust way, because that seems to depend on IR sensitive detectors, and so would get cut off if there is no line of sight… David
>> > >

'Magic Wand' Followup

Yes... It could be that rhythm, textures, and/or seemingly fixed stimulae in the environment would provide participants with those 'anchors' I was speaking about. Of course, these can be generated through any number of experiential circumstances, events, or sensory references. Providing a degree of experiential familiarity so that the distinct or contrasting qualities of the experience might become, all unto themselves, compelling. Especially if participants are to still to endeavor the destablizing experience of being blind. The search for more recognisable means of inquiring or tracing one's way through the environment may have to be satisfied in some manner, in order for whatever is unique or contrasting about their experience to be more notable. Or even if they are not going to move around through the space, it seems we need then otherwise provide an intrigue that, when explored, supports some kind of experiential journeying (temporal evolutions). No? xp Just to drag around my 'sounding' (sea bottom) metaphor a little. There's a great recording on Alan Lomax's Deep River of Song: Mississippi Saints and Sinners of Joe Shores reciting a song/call for riverboats sounding depth in the Mississippi.... "no bottom" is the deepest call. Imagine if our sensing apparatus was a long string with a light or texture or sound sensor, or just an eraser, on the end (or if we were animals with one of these--which we all are in a way). Throw it out and drag it through space and time building a place. Like Xin Wei's 'not necessarily spatial' locus - the stimulus that is fixed defines itself. af

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Sha Xin Wei

Sent: 05/20/11 01:31 PM

To: post@memoryplace.posterous.com, Erik Conrad, David Morris, Niomi Anna Cherney, Noah Brender, Tristana Martin Rubio, p.a. duquette, Andrew Forster, zoharKfir

Subject: Re: 'Magic Wand' Followup


I'm asking some experts: Erik Conrad, a TMLabber who built mappings to haptics (vibration motors on various parts of body) from camera as well as GPS models of built environment, as well as Marek Alboszta, whose company makes the only true 6DOF wand.   (Asking for non-tethered, non-line-of-sight,  but may not be possible.)
 
 
BTW. Deleuze' micro-perception lay behind my musing about locus of sensing.  It's not a satisfactory vocabulary,  but an invitation to parse out the layers: sensing modality /  sensing locus / interpretation / logic of response / feedback locus and type ... and of course not leave them split!   A "locus" may not be spatial, it could be temporal: keeping a "stimulus" sharply delimited in time, or very clearly temporally-textured is a form of delimitation and localization.   Another way is to have a crisply defined rhythm -- unbounded in time (or least in an open set), and with no particular spatial locus.
 
Warmly,
Cheers,
Xin Wei
 
On 2011-05-20, at 1:09 PM, David Morris wrote:

Follow up on magic wand possibilities:

 

 

--Sandeep’s student has a ‘T-Stick’, http://www.idmil.org/projects/the_t-stick, but this is far too much and it doesn’t sense position.

 

 

--Lenay’s group is using an ‘enactive torch’ which looks like a handheld device that converts distal measurement it makes into vibration stimuli, in a programmable way, with an Arduino chip. This isn’t quite what we want, because we are more interested in locatedness than distance, and want to be selective on the location/object that prompts a stimulus. But the design is interesting, seehttp://enactivetorch.wordpress.com/. We could use a similar physical sized thing, if we could get position/acceleration sensors into it. NB the enactive torch project looks interesting.

 

 

--I was trying to find info on getting position in room via Wii, but wasn’t sure we could, at least not in a robust way, because that seems to depend on IR sensitive detectors, and so would get cut off if there is no line of sight…

 

 

David

 

 


...............................................................................................
Because the essence of technology is nothing technological, essential reflection upon technology and decisive confrontation with it must happen in a realm that is, on the one hand, akin to the essence of technology and, on the other, fundamentally different from it. Such a realm is art. But certainly only if reflection upon art, for its part, does not shut its eyes to the constellation of truth, concerning which we are questioning." - Heidegger

'Magic Wand' Followup

I'm asking some experts: Erik Conrad, a TMLabber who built mappings to haptics (vibration motors on various parts of body) from camera as well as GPS models of built environment, as well as Marek Alboszta, whose company makes the only true 6DOF wand.   (Asking for non-tethered, non-line-of-sight,  but may not be possible.)

BTW. Deleuze' micro-perception lay behind my musing about locus of sensing.  It's not a satisfactory vocabulary,  but an invitation to parse out the layers: sensing modality /  sensing locus / interpretation / logic of response / feedback locus and type ... and of course not leave them split!   A "locus" may not be spatial, it could be temporal: keeping a "stimulus" sharply delimited in time, or very clearly temporally-textured is a form of delimitation and localization.   Another way is to have a crisply defined rhythm -- unbounded in time (or least in an open set), and with no particular spatial locus.

Warmly,
Cheers,
Xin Wei

On 2011-05-20, at 1:09 PM, David Morris wrote:

Follow up on magic wand possibilities:

--Sandeep’s student has a ‘T-Stick’,

http://www.idmil.org/projects/the_t-stick, but this is far too much and it doesn’t sense position.

--Lenay’s group is using an ‘enactive torch’ which looks like a handheld device that converts distal measurement it makes into vibration stimuli, in a programmable way, with an Arduino chip. This isn’t quite what we want, because we are more interested in locatedness than distance, and want to be selective on the location/object that prompts a stimulus. But the design is interesting, seehttp://enactivetorch.wordpress.com/. We could use a similar physical sized thing, if we could get position/acceleration sensors into it. NB the enactive torch project looks interesting.

--I was trying to find info on getting position in room via Wii, but wasn’t sure we could, at least not in a robust way, because that seems to depend on IR sensitive detectors, and so would get cut off if there is no line of sight…

David

subjective experience vs. psychology

Yes, Andrew the form regards a recording rights issue, with the permission to disseminate with anonymized but still individualized accounts as David pointed out.   

Pertinent to David's observation about the conceit of the interchangeability of subjects, here's Al Bregler's keynote to CIRMMT / McGill in 2008.


Xin Wei


On 2011-05-12, at 9:35 AM, Andrew Forster wrote:

I can type something up for today's use to make sure we have something:

-short description (from protocol)
-participants name and contact info (for follow-up contact)
-participants occupation/specialty
-permission to be recorded by video/audio
-assurance that this recorded material or participants name won't be disseminated in public but is for research purposes
-further permission will be requested for any public dissemination of the material, if we want to do that

(this is really a recording rights thing, if I understand,  not an 'experimental subjects' thing--as we are framing this as participating in an 'environmental experience'..right?)

andrew

On 2011-05-12, at 9:10 AM, David Morris wrote:

I haven’t worked on this. Xin Wei, I’m wondering if your past work might give us some templates that could be quickly modified. I’ve never seen the language on such release forms.

From: Niomi Anna Cherney [mailto:niomi.anna@gmail.com] 
Sent: May-11-11 1:22 PM
To: Noah Moss Brender; Andrew Forster; David Morris; Sha Xin Wei; zohar; Tristana Martin Rubio
Subject: IMPORTANT

Has anyone made the waiver form for the participants to sign?

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 11:39 AM, Niomi Anna Cherney niomi.anna@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Guides, 

Noah - is it ok if I send the participants your cell phone number in case they are running late or something? I've instructed them that one or both of you will be meeting them in the JM lobby and taking them upstairs. 

Let me know if this is ok.

-Niomi.

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 11:37 AM, Niomi Anna Cherney niomi.anna@gmail.com> wrote:
Holy jeeze that is amazing! We should buy Michael a present or something. 

Ok, I vote we set up a semi-permanent warm-up debrief space in the snack studio. I will also be responsible for bringing the cookies and tea. Have just sent the participants an email so I think we're all set to go. 

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 10:15 AM, p.a.duquette impetus@graffiti.net> wrote:
We are lucky wee experimenters, we are. Michael has been able to confirm a third studio for us. So we now have access to: MB 7.265, MB 7.251, and MB 7.255.

-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Forster af@reluctant.ca>
To: Niomi Anna Cherney niomi.anna@gmail.com>
Cc: zohar zohar@zzee.net>; p.a.duquette impetus@graffiti.net>; davimorr@alcor.concordia.ca; tristana.martin.rubio@gmail.com; shaxinwei@gmail.com; noahmb@gmail.com
Sent: Mon, May 9, 2011 9:59 pm
Subject: Re: Untitled document (af@reluctant.ca)

I will bring lamp no have bulb... perfect.

Re: the warm up room... is there a curtain or separation possible in one of the studios, then we could use that space...

On 2011-05-09, at 9:36 PM, Niomi Anna Cherney wrote:


That's why I suggested we meet at 3:30 - so we could all gather together, talk and then split up and gather the gear. 

I can bring light bulbs but I don't have any lamps.

Niomi.

On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 9:32 PM, zohar zohar@zzee.net> wrote:
I can pick up the equipment at 4ish and bring it to TML, pas problem. since Hexagram/CDA depots close at 5pm, 
4:40 might be stretching it, as gear is divided between 5th and 11th floors.

light bulbs and lamps, how many? can people bring such from home? I think there is one or two office lamps at TML.
also, what watts do we need, should be consistent?

/z.

On May 9, 2011, at 9:14 PM, p.a.duquette wrote:


I recall the desk lamps w/bare bulbs being the preference also.

Meeting earlier Thursday sounds wise to me also. Do note though that we don't have the studios until 5pm, so if we do pick up the gear @4pm, we'll only be bringing it over to TML. 

Zohar can we pick up gear @4:40pm instead, or is this a 'summer hrs' thing?

The debriefing could take place in one of the already-booked studios (same one the snacks are permitted in). Don't know how easy or possible it will be to get a third studio at this point... I can try... Would the hallway be an OK location for the warm-ups, unto themselves, though? 

xp

-----Original Message-----
From: Niomi Anna Cherney niomi.anna@gmail.com>
To: zohar zohar@zzee.net>
Cc: davimorr@alcor.concordia.ca; Andrew Forster af@reluctant.ca>; Tristana Martin Rubio tristana.martin.rubio@gmail.com>; Xin Wei Sha shaxinwei@gmail.com>; Noah Moss Brender noahmb@gmail.com>; p.a.duquette Duquette impetus@graffiti.net>
Sent: Mon, May 9, 2011 8:39 pm
Subject: Re: Untitled document (af@reluctant.ca)

Zohar - I think we decided on the adjustable desk lamps with the bare bulbs.... am I wrong about this?

Other things as per David's numbering system (with an additional 5 & 6) :

1) I will be sending out the email to participants as soon as Patricia forwards me the security clearance attachment. I was thinking that perhaps it might be better to simply meet and gather participants in a central location in the lobby and then head up to the studios altogether. We thus avoid the security thing also. Perhaps Noah and Andrew could take this on as well?

2) I think we should meet at 3:30 to sit down as a group and just go over how the set up and running of the evening will proceed. At this time we can discuss any last minute logistical problems/ address the remaining questions about the lighting moves and so on. We can then get the equipment at 4pm and begin taking it over to the studios. Whoever is available at this time should head to the TML I think. I also suggest that once we have the set up roughly in place in the studios, we try a few dry runs right away so that we can tweak the edges of the transitions during the protocol while fine tuning the tech set up. We should have enough people present to have this happen. 

3) David, of course you will be involved in the debriefing. That must have been an oversight on my part. Sorry. 

4) Word. 

5) The hallway absolutely WILL NOT DO as a warm-up/ debrief zone. Do we have any other options? I believe there's a third studio on the same floor. Is there any way to get the additional studio?

6) I will add in additional stuff to the protocol and have multiple copies on hand for Thurs. Please add in any last minute stuff you can think of. I can also be in charge of keeping us on task/ schedule. 

-Niomi.

On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 7:58 PM, zohar zohar@zzee.net> wrote:

Some thoughts regarding the lights- did we like the LED ones Andrew got for last time? or better to use a more of an omni-tungsten light?
as they gave very different result, we might want to be consistent.

Andrew, did you buy them in a dollar store?

Not a bad idea to meet tad before, I booked the equipment from 4pm, so maybe we can meet all at the TML and head over to the studios together?

/z.
On May 9, 2011, at 3:53 PM, David Morris wrote:

Hi Niomi,
 
Thanks for all the work on this!!!
 
Catching up:
 
I couldn’t get onto the online doc, but I had suggestions for revisions to the initial script, to build on what you’ve set up,  break the points down a bit, and use what I think is a bit more neutral vocabulary. (E.g., I think we should avoid the language of navigation, and just talk about moving around and finding things, because navigation might put them into a ‘map mindset’; also talk about ‘something’ vs. ‘an object’ just to leave open that they might not feel the thing as an object (might feel it as a barrier?) or may feel more than one thing). I paste my suggested reworking below; I hope you’ll find them an extension of your initial thoughtful framing and work.
 
1)      Have the participants been contacted?
2)      I see there are number of questions we still need to answer, e.g., about how to move the lights around, and who is bringing what. Maybe we need to meet a bit earlier than Patricia’s suggested time?
3)      Also, I wanted to be part of the debriefing process.
4)      In general, I think we have to be careful with the debriefing, balancing letting them speak spontaneously, and drawing them out, also, attending to not getting it to confusing or too many voices.
 
David
 
 
Welcome. Thanks for joining us.
 
We’re now going to do some exercises in body movement and bodily experiential awareness together, to help warm you up for experiencing a special environment that we have prepared for you. But before doing the exercises we wanted to tell a little about this special environment.
 
It’s different than the ones you might be used to. It’s something like an art installation, but one experienced through a new way of sensing that we will provide to you. We’ll provide with this new way of sensing by putting a sleeve‑type apparatus on your finger, and also a band holding a further lightweight apparatus on your forearm. You should let us know if you find either of these things uncomfortable.
 
Once you are wearing this apparatus you will become sensitive to your environment in a new way. We’ll test this out together before you go into the environment. In the environment, there’s something you can find through this new way of sensing, and we’d like you to move around to find and interact with it.
 
The environment is in a different place than the one we’re now in. You’ll be with either Noah or Andrew the whole time. They’re going to guide you into this environment and then step back a little so that you can explore it.
 
If at any time during this process you feel uncomfortable you should let them know right away. You can speak to them the whole time, even if you are feeling completely comfortable. We’re here to help you move your way around this new environment, so feel free to say what comes to mind as you’re moving around. You can move around as much as you’d like but it’s probably a good idea not to move too fast so that your guide can keep up with you and spot you.
After you have completed your time in the environment, you’ll have an opportunity to discuss your experience with the other participant and with us.
 
During the time that you are in the environment, we’ll be audiovisually recording your experience. We would like to watch these recordings later to better observe your experience. We might also want to use some of this information for future trials and to help us build a more precise environment. If that’s ok, we would ask you to sign a form.
 
 
 
 
 
From: Andrew Forster [mailto:af@reluctant.ca] 
Sent: May-07-11 1:12 PM
To: niomi.anna@gmail.com
Cc: tristana.martin.rubio@gmail.com; shaxinwei@gmail.com; noahmb@gmail.com; impetus@graffiti.net; zohar@zzee.net; davimorr@alcor.concordia.ca
Subject: Re: Untitled document (af@reluctant.ca)
 
. This is real

notes / queries : memory-place Thurs trial

Hi All,

1. Today Xin Wei, Zohar, and I spoke to a graduate student (psychology / intermedia / performance) who is interested in sitting in on our upcoming trial (as an observer). Zoe may also be interested in sitting in on any forthcoming conversations. It is possible too that, if one our volunteer participants doesn't make it Thursday, she could stand in as a back up. Barring that, there may be a technical role we can assign her... ? I've still to take a sit down with the documents Naomi sent (thanks!), but I figure we can wait and see how things pair up on that document, before deciding what (if any) role Zoe could play?

2. Michael M and I have been cooperating to firm up details of our access to the studios. We have passed along a list of all collaborators and participants names to security personnel. Let me know if you notice anyone missing from this list (other than Zoe)?:
Dr. Sha Xin Wei, Prof. David Morris, Andrew Forster, Tristana Martin Rubio, Noah Brender, Niomi Anna Cherney, Zohar Kfir, Patricia Anne Duquette. Didier Chelin, Edvta Niemviska, Jeremie LeClerc, Jen Gibson, Laura Boyd-Clowes, Jennifer Spiegel.

3. Also it should be noted that pedestrian shoes are not permitted in the dance studios (everyone will need to remove these outside the door). Michael has noted that the hallway between the studios may not be suitable for the interviewing / discussion process (students often gather there). He has also noted that food and drink would be permitted only in one particular studio (MB 7.265). My suggestion then would be that the snacks and the interviews could both take place in this same studio. How much would that mess up the existing schedule?

Though this may also mean that we need less a/v recording equipment, Zohar and I were thinking we'd keep the booking and bring the gear 'just in case'... We may actually find it all comes in handy, or find the hallway empty and quiet...

4. We will need to let the participants know where to go and at what time (I don't think it's detailed in David's original call out)... Should we simply provide them with the studio numbers and directions (rather than meeting them in the foyer, for eg)? Should we schedule each participant's arrival in correlation with their scheduled time-block (as opposed to having everyone arrive at the same time, for eg)?

x patricia