Telepresent Onlookers

Telepresent Onlookers
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Telepresent Onlookers
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Telepresent Onlookers
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Telepresent Onlookers
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Telepresent Onlookers
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00:55

The Telepresent Onlookers utilizes the EVE (1993) visualization system. In the centre of a large inflatable dome, two video projectors are mounted on a motorised pan/tilt device which can move the projected image anywhere over the inside surface of the dome. The two video projectors present a stereo pair of images and viewers wearing polarising spectacles can see the projected imagery in three dimensions.

One of the visitors to EVE wears a helmet with an attached spatial tracking device that identifies the position and angle of their head. This controls the positioning of video projectors so that the projected image always follows the direction of the viewer's gaze. As a result the viewer can move the picture frame over the entire dome surface.

In the Telepresent Onlookers the movement of these interior video projectors is drectly linked to a stereo pair of video cameras mounted on another motorized pan/tilt device situated outside the dome. The viewer thereby controls the exterior cameras and the projection system in tandem, enabling the exterior scene to be visible within the dome so that the viewers inside are vicariously telepresent in the space outside. This 1:1 real time conjunction of exterior and interior spaces becomes especially evident and paradoxical when the viewer points the exterior cameras towards the entrance of the dome. The projected image then shows the exterior view of the dome entrance that is behind them, and they can watch people entering and leaving the space they are inside of.
© Jeffrey Shaw