1999 -
Computer controlled chair objects
Interactive public art installation
Overview and concept
Technical requirement
Interactive art installation as public art
Reference
Related designworks
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Exhibitions:
*Forthcoming:
SIGGRAPH 2004 Emerging Technology
Los Angeles Convention Center, August 2004
(upon acceptance)
[SIGGRAPH 2004 webpage]
*Past:
Deutsche bank international student art competition "Identity"
Akasaka, Tokyo Feb 2001
Frankfurt,Germany Nov 2000
Berlin, Germany May 2000
Toride, Ibaraki Japan May 2000
Public Communication Sculpture
Self produce exhibitions in public spaces
Fujisawa, Kanagawa Japan Nov 1999
Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan August 1999
Ginza, Tokyo Japan July 1999
Two rocking chairs are installed on the floor facing each other.The audience sees no interactions between chairs. The interaction is triggered when two people from the audience sit in the chairs and rock.
Each chair has a sensor and motor.These devices enable mutual interaction between the chairs. They allow one to feel the other's rocking action. The aim of "Remote Furniture," then, is to create direct and tactile touch.
I arrived at the idea by first considering the meaning of talking. Secondly, I wondered what kind of environment supports it and what kind of rules are behind it. In "Remote Furniture," two chairs facing each other represent the environment, and the type of interaction represents the rules of talking.
Exhibition in Yokohama, Kanagwa JAPAN 1999
Technical requirement:
The two chairs have a tilt sensor and a linear motor, and are both connected to a PC running control software. When someone rocks one of the chairs, the tilt sensor detects the inclination and transmits the data to the other chair through the PC. The motor in the other chair then causes it to rock.
Usually this kind of remote object is designed with a Master-Slave (one-way) method. But in "Remote Furniture," full duplex (two-way) interaction is realized because it feels more natural. It's more like what we would imagine a telephone-like system to be like, which televises and exchanges tactile touch or motion of the body.
Interactive art installation as public art:
"Remote Furniture" was originally designed towards recent situation of public spaces around Tokyo and shown there. Following description is about why the artist created the artwork for the particular situation.How public spaces in Japan introduced:
I have designed "Remote Furniture" to make unexpected encounters between passersby in public spaces. Unlike westerners, people in Japan doesn't have a custom of talking to other passersby in public spaces such as plazas or main streets.
Although there are many public spaces in Japan, many of which are built in post-war style, we Japanese do not have a trandition of activity using these spaces. We are still trying to adopt traditional usage of space to those "imported" from other cultures. The spaces look the same but feel different from those in the western world.
The Japanese have a long tradition of forming communities based on small streets. So it looks to them that the new brg public spaces some only commercial or transportation purposes and maybe some street performances but do nothing for the community. Perhaps Japanese people are too shy to come face to face with an unfamiliar person in a public space.
How the artwork worked in public spaces around Tokyo:So it was interesting to see what happened when "Remote Furniture" was shown is some public spaces in Japan such as an underground passage or an indoor shopping mall. Because the object were chairs, passeresby became curious about them and eventually started sitting, rocking and playing with them. And when these people realized what was going on between the chairs, they finally communicatied with each other in funny and tactile ways.
More conservative means of communication such as talking and gesturing became more open to them because the chairs allowed them to face each other like they were used to, when thay talked over a coffee table in a cafe or a kitchen table in their homes.
Some of the audience even tried to develop ways of playing through this means of communication. This artwork seemed to help remove people's shyness in public spaces. Hopefully, this artwork can make the unseen potential of public spaces more visible and provide an experience of communicating to theose people who have not experienced it before. I think this is the potential of public art.
Reference:
CAST01 -Living in mixed reality-
International symposium of art and technology,Bonn,Germany 2001
The artwork was mentioned in the paper "Public Communication Sculpture -Interactive artworks in a public space", written by Noriyuki Fujimura and Nodoka UI
PDF version of the paper is aviable (English)
Infusion systems website
Infusion systems creates various type of sensors for artists and educators. The artwork used their "Tilt sensor" and I-cube MIDI-Digitizer to retrieve inclination of both chairs as well as control linear motors. While I was making recent version in 2000, they contacted me and offered that put the work on their website! As an example of usage.
Deutsche bank international student art competition "Identity" 2000
World first prize is given to Noriyuki Fujimura. His work, consists of a pair of rocking chairs, is capable of exchange the motion of it each other. Then audience can communicate each other in marvelous way.
Nikkei BP, Nov 24th, 1999
Web-zine of Japanese leading business newspaper
"Distant Furniture (*the work used to be called with this name)" by graduate student, Noriyuki Fujimura was eye-catching. Two distant rocking chairs synchronize its motion by pendulum and accerometer embedded within. I felt it is innovative since most of presentation in this event is based on internet technology but none of them but this one gave me a sense of communication through our bodies. - Kenichi Tohi
Related designworks :
Annick Collins
"Pixela bench", 2003
A prototype of product. Annick Collins's "Pixela bench" consists of a bunch of pneumatic cylinders. Two of the bench are connected by air tube (looks like so) each other and give sitters a pleasant surprise. I found this at London Designer's Block 2003
MIT Media Lab, Tangible media group
"inTouch", 1997
"inTouch" is an excellent example of the machine which make us possible to communicate through tactile sense. It shows diversity of the world of tactile communication through the viewpoint of engineer.
Copyright 2003-, Noriyuki Fujimura