The Trace

“The Trace” is a telepresence installation that invites two participants in remote sites to share the same telematic space. The piece consists of vectors, sounds and graphics that respond to the movement of the participants. Two interactive stations are needed for the piece; these are interconnected with a normal ISDN digital line so they can be in the same exhibition hall, on either side of a city or in different cities. For ARCO, the stations were in the same hall, approximately 100 meters away from each other. The main objective of THE TRACE is to allow the two remote participants to "telembody", that is, to have them occupy identical positions in telematic space, to the point where they are inside each other. This is done using real-time audiovisual events that reconstruct the three-dimensional presence of each participant in the space of the other. Each station consists of a dark room with a giant rear-projection screen on the ceiling, a side monitor, four robot-lamps hanging from the ceiling and ten speakers distributed around the room. Upon entering the station, each participant is given a small wireless sensor that monitors his or her exact three-dimensional position. THE TRACE transfers the sensors' coordinates between the remote stations so that each sensor controls audiovisual elements in both stations.

General info

Spanish name:
El Rastro
Year of creation:
1995
Technique:
Robotic spotlights, wireless 3D tracking system, projectors, computers, sound systems
Room conditions:
variable
Keywords:
indoor, tracker, smoke, robotic, projection, sound, networked, lights
Edition:
1 Edition, 1 AP
Collectors:
Fundación Telefónica

Exhibitions


Credits

  • Collaboration with Will Bauer

Bibliography