video helmet prototype [ orig. posted 2004.11.15 at 06:36 PM ]
andy and i are working on a project called omnipotent vision. it involves a video helmet (which you can see here in it's first rendition) with a video screen attached to the front. a wireless receiver is attached to the top and a wireless camera is mounted to the wall surveillance camera style. the helmet restricts your vision to the fixed viewpoint of the surveillance camera effectively limiting your (visually) accessible world to a very small area. it also affects depth perception and orientation and forces the viewer to rely on the apparent truth of the 'live' video he/she is watching. this is the area we have chosen to exploit. with the use of Jitter (a software environment for working with live video processing) and a lot of modified electronics we hope to be able to create an immersive (though unnatural) experience that challenges the truth of live surveillance and is entertaining as well.