discursions

This blog was made to showcase the seminal work produced by the Architecture Machine Group at MIT, during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1983, they produced a videodisc, called Discursions, which documented many of their key experiments in these new forms. The Architecture Machine Group would eventually become the Media Lab. The relevance and freshness of these projects are remarkable, especially in the currently perceived short life cycle of technology. Twenty years on, the projects show glimpses of technology in use today and as well as potential applications as yet unrealized. The Institute of the Future of the Book re-presents these videos, not only in an accessible media format, but from a historical perspective as well.

February 07, 2006

Phone Slave

The Phone Slave was created by Christopher Schmandt, Barry Arons, Marc Spehlman. It combined a range of concepts including gestural interfaces, database backend, and voice messaging. Callers were asked to leave a name, a reference for the call, a phone number, a time to call back, and an extended message. Each answer was saved as a discreet segment, which was individually accessed from a screen-based interface. Without using speech recognition or artificial intelligence, Phone Slave allows the user to jump to specific information in the message.

Foreshadowing:
voice menus
digital voice mail

Links:
MIT Speech Interface Group
Schmandt Phone Slave Paper

Aspen Interactive Movie Map

In 1981, Andrew Lippman and a team of researchers captured images of the streets of Aspen using four cameras mounted on the top of a car in different seasons of the year. The videodisc based system could call images fast enough to simulate motion, giving users the ability to navigate through the town. The system also included 3D models of various buildings. Note: this video clip has limited audio.

Foreshadowing:
A9 amazon
GPS Satellite Navigation
Google Maps

Links:
History of Hypertext
Andrew Lipman Homepage

Movie Manual

This follow up to project to Aspen Interactive Movie Map was created by Andrew Lippman's group, in 1982. The Movie provided a touch screen interface that allowed users to read instructions on automobile maintenance, along with accompanying videos demonstration. Selecting highlighted words gave further explanations and definitions.

Foreshadowing:
CD-ROM/DVD instructional manuals
web-based annotated text

Links:
Brad A. Myers. "A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology." ACM interactions. Vol. 5, no. 2, March, 1998. pp. 44-54.

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file under: Movie Manual | Video Archive | architecture_machine_group | discursions | telecommunications
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Put That There

Put That There was an mapping system utilizing speech recognition technology to input commands. Using shipping as a context, users could identify locations and objects on the map. The system processed verbal commands from the user as well as from the user's cursor. The system could identify objects and their placement relative to other objects and landmarks on the screen. If the user's command lacked enough information, such as the location of a newly created object, the system would request more information from the user.

Foreshadowing:
voice recognition software
ubiquitous computing
artifical intelligence
natural language processing

Links:
Bolt Put That There Paper
Review of Bolt Paper

Posted by ray cha at 05:18 PM
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file under: Put That There | Video Archive | architecture_machine_group | discursions | telecommunications | ubiquitous_computing | voice_recognition
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Talking Heads

Talking Heads selected distilled forms of human interaction (gesture and image) which explored increasing the feeling of presence in telecommunications without using live video. This early experiment in remote presence and telecommunications used a camera as well as sensors attached the user. By projecting the user's image onto a robotic avatar, the avatar's movement was controlled by his physical gestures, which resulted in a novel telecommunication experience.

Foreshadowing:
long-distance robotics
telepresense / telerobotics
NASA Telerobotics Program

Lip Sync

Peggy Weil: "As an animator, my first contribution was to give the Votrax (a voice synthesizer machine) a face, or at least, a mouth. I digitized sixteen lip positions and matched them to the Votrax library of phonemes. Using the zoom and pan capabilities of an AED Frame Buffer, I was able to display the animated lips pronouncing words typed in “real time” at the workstation."

Foreshadowing:
machinama
web cam

Caricature Generator

This project explored the relationship between the perception of a caricature line drawing and the actual face. The system compared a vectorized drawing of a face and compared it against an average face. Using a slider interface, the user could control the amount of "caricature" applied to the face, from minimal to extreme.

Foreshadowing:
face recognition software
slider control Photoshop filters
vectorize tools (Flash, Photoshop)

Zero Bandwidth Video

In the early 80s when Talking Heads was created, limitations in bandwidth created the need to explore how to add gestural and facial information to simulate real time video. By creating a variety of ways to communicate, the Architect Machine Group began to identify which gestures and visual cues made the interaction more satisfying, as noted in their conversation.

Foreshadowing:
telepresense / telerobotics
teleconferencing
web cam

Communication News

This Color Dynamics project linked color with communication. This electronic newspaper prototype combined text, images and maps. The system contained two viewing modes, one showed the entire screen, and the other focused on a smaller section of the newspaper. Related articles were highlighted for the user, and could be presented side by side. Further, users could store read articles to be retrieved later.

Foreshadowing:
online newspapers customizable portal pages (e.g. my.yahoo.com)
bloglines / rss feed readers

Deskfile

This project demonstrates an email management system with a graphical user interface. Deskfile utitlzed both the user's desktop and optical discs for storage, a departure from client server models of the time. Individual emails contained icons demarcating the sender and subject, and could be sorted by selecting the icons. Once again, this project had the extensive use of highlighting text.

Foreshadowing:
Post Office Protocol (POP) based email
GUI email cleints Outlook/Thunderbird
IM buddy icons

Archfile

Archfile contained a database of 5000 entries of American architecture, where was accessible through a touch screen. Users could search the database by architect, era, location, style, building type. Search results were presented and could be further refined. Images of the selected building also offered additional metadata associated with the selection.

Foreshadowing:
Great Building
architecture archives

Posted by ray cha at 04:47 PM
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file under: Archfile | Video Archive | architecture_archive | architecture_archives | architecture_machine_group | discursions | telecommunications
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Picassofile

Picassofile was a digital storage retrieval system to navigate the works of Picasso using a touch screen. Users selected groups of images, by choosing fields organized around categories including: form, material, and importance. Images were presented with metadata of on the selected piece.

Foreshadowing:
online art archives

Graphical Marionette

This project was a computer model of an animated human body. The creators named this animation "scripting by enactment." Two cameras tracked and recorded the location of LEDs attached to joints of the user being captured. Using this information, the system computer generated an animation of a stick figure replicating the exact motion of the user.

Foreshadowing:
motion capture for animation

Links:
"A Brief History of Motion Capture for Computer Character Animation" by David J. Sturman

Posted by ray cha at 04:42 PM
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file under: Graphical Marionette | Video Archive | architecture_machine_group | discursions | motion_capture | telecommunications
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Viewpoint Dependent Imaging

Using a magnetic tracker, Viewpoint Dependent Imaging recognized the location of the user's head position. In real time, the system selected from thousands of stored images the correct viewpoint of the user. Note: this video clip has no audio.

Foreshadowing:
3D virtual worlds
telepresense

Links:
artmusuem.net
telepresence.org

Stereoscopic Workstation

This project used 3D video display with 3D input. This technology was used to created applications as diverse as real time 3D painting, interactive 3D modeling, gestural input for a 3D virtual desktop, and mapping a virtual "robot" to the user's hand.

Foreshadowing:
CrystalEyes Workstation
3D virtual reality

Posted by ray cha at 04:29 PM
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file under: Stereoscopic Workspace | Video Archive
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Facemaker

Foreshadowing:

Posted by ray cha at 04:28 PM
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file under: Facemaker | Video Archive
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