the human antenna experiment

8/7/2019 The Human Antenna Experiment

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A scientic paper on a public media intervention in Al-Darb El-Ahmar

Supervised by: Pro. Daniel Fetzner

Co. Supervised by: Bernd Dudzik & Christian Fischer

ayahtv.blogspot.com

Ayah O Moustafa

The Human Antenna Experiment:

Can an interactive television set up in a public site afect the

viewing habits o passerby pedestrians while helping an

outsider establish an identity? Al-Darb El-Ahmar

March 2011

Pre-Master Research Study

The German University In Cairo

Faculty o Applied Sciences & Arts

Department o Media Design

AYAH

TV


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Research and development or expanding the use o artand technology on our daily lives, customs, & traditions.

ayahtv.blogspot.com iiTe Human Antenna Experiment |


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Tis study oers an extension to the world o interactiveart by building a bridge between it and the humble people o

Al-Darb El-Ahmar; an extension o the human body through

a television set medium. It will analyze whether the medium

used (and the way it is used) will aect the outcome o commu-

nication or not, and i it can help evolve the means o the V

set as a medium today in the world o interactive art/video.

Trough this research acts, theories, assumptions, and ideas

will be put into consideration while trying to expand the useand means o a V set today to do more than just brainwash

viewers and act as a receiving device. But to also allow viewers to

send and interact in a third non-place environment (neither

virtual nor physical). Trough the science and technology o

computer vision and the action-reaction input o the human

body, this study will analyze an interactive public-media

installation set up in the district o Al-Darb El-Ahmar. Tis

research attempts to redene the denition o the V set giving

it a whole new role to play as a medium where it can receive as

well as send messages while allowing the artist to cross borders

and interact with the local residents o the neighborhood. For

this study an interactive public installation will be set up in

the display window o a small computer shop in Al-Darb El-

Ahmar to allow exposure between the artist (in the V as a

medium) and the target audience o the district who range in

the ages between 15 & 30.

All o the patches and programming done and tested in this

research project have been composed in the Cycling 74 Max5 MSP/Jitter under the German University in Cairo (GUC)

license registration.

Keywords: interactive art, public media installation, television,

media design, computer vision, identity establishment, human

antenna, live perormance.

ayahtv.blogspot.com

Abstract

Abstract | iii


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Tis paper is or a pre-master course project at the GermanUniversity in Cairo: Faculty o Media Design. It is intended to

develop and redene what is used today in our everyday lives as a

one way streaming medium and transorming it into a medium

or communication and bonding (through the interactive art

eld). Tis papers main concern is to aim at establishing a new

unction o the medium (V) as we know it, allowing users to

act and see more while experimenting i the artist could break

boundaries with locals.

Preface

Preace |ayahtv.blogspot.com iv


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Contents

AbstractPreface

Contents

Introduction

i. Televisionii. Conceptiii. Overview

Chapter 1

Methods

1.1 Design Process1.2 Site1.3 Target Group1.4 Sel Applied Constraints1.4.1 Computer Vision1.4.1.1 Pattern Recognition1.4.1.2 Face Detection

1.4.1.3 Live Perormance1.5 Installation Setup

1.5.1 Hardware

1.5.2 Sofware1.6 Remote Location1.7 Blog

Chapter 2

Results

2.1 Meet Ayah2.2 Candid Camera2.3 Complications

Chapter 3

Discussion3.1 An Invisible Barrier3.2 A Human TV3.3 Hello, Nice To Meet You

Chapter 4

Conclusion

4.1 In the End4.2 Future Directions

References

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able o Contents | 5


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Introduction

i. elevision

In our world today, most o us were raised in a residence

where the living room revolved around a main centerpiece.

Te main piece that made it all complete and perectly t: the

television set. However, or those o us who did not, we were

exposed to the medium in our classrooms, at art museums,

at the entrance o warehouse retail stores (where they were

connected to surveillance cameras and showed us on screen),

or even on airplanes thousands o miles above ground.

Studies have shown that the television is considered a reliable

medium or (mainly pointless) entertainment that can eat hours

o our day at a whole. elevision sets are like portals or those

o us unknown on a prominent level, into a bubble-like world

where the rich, amous, and notorious lie or a living. On my

rst visit to Al-Darb El-Ahmar, I realized that the people there

have been exposed to limited amount o mediums: televisions

sets, computers, and cell phones. Within that rame, I was

determined to create an installation using one o the mediums

they are so amiliar with. Te best candidate: the image (idiot)

box. Te hardest part was to gure out how to reach out to the

residents and connect with them when I was always worried

that they would see me or a stranger -i not a oreigner.

ii. Concept

Beore we can proceed, you need to understand how personal

this project is. I am an individual with hybrid cultures, traditions,and motherlands. I am American born and bred, but Egyptian

in blood. Despite the latter act, it is always hard or me to be

truly Egyptian with my past always catching up on me. Upon

every visit to Al-Darb El-Ahmar, I always nd mysel recoiling

and reluctant to try and start a conversation with anyone who

is old enough to tell when I am grammatically incorrect. I was

constantly worried I would say anything I did not mean, or

inappropriate and not even realize it. Tis was truly rustrating

as I am a person who loves to strike up conversations withstrangers and make my presence known.

ayahtv.blogspot.com Introduction | 6


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Ater months o thought, I nally came to the conclusion

that I could expose mysel through a television set as a way

o releasing my ears, and crossing my borders rom a remote

location. Tis way, I can interve publicly without physically

being there. A small step towards condence.

iii. Overview

Te hypothesis o this paper aims to prove i whether or not

an interactive television set can help change the viewing habits

o the residents in that area. o see i they can adjust to the

idea o a receptive television set, while trying to help me, the

artist, break my personal barriers and learn to interact with the

people o Al-Darb El-Ahmar. Te results showed to be quite

signicant to the expected hypothesis and have proven to besuccessul in accomplishing the desired outcome.

Tis paper is divided into our chapters. Chapter 1: Methods

will cover the basic inormation on the site, target group, and

the computer vision I had planned to use. Chapter 2: Results

talks about the outcome o the live perormance. Te third

section, Chapter 3: Discussion, will then analyze and go deeper

into discussion on the results briey mentioned in the previous

chapter. Finally Chapter 4: Conclusion, concludes this paperwrapping up the results o the installation and the overall eel

o the project. It also talks about what could and would be

done dierently i this installation were to be implemented

again at a dierent location.

7Introduction |


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Chapter 1: Methods

1.1 Design Process

Beore I began planning out the project, certain pointsrequired clarity in my head. I needed to:

Create a simple computer vision-based television to human

interactive installation.

Participant(s) should quickly understand what to do and

grasp how the installation is used.

Installation needs to be set in the correct context where it

will reach the intended target group & encourage interaction.

1.2 Site

While looking or the perect location, one main condition

was set: I needed a display window (mostly or the protection

o equipment as children/young adults have no denition o

private, no-zone space). I went touring in the area behind the Al-

Azharpark and the Blue Mosque, but could not nd anything

suitable or my needs. Locals there told me to look in the

direction towards the Sultan Hassan Mosque and MuhammadAliStreet. Tere the area was a bit more modern. I searched

that part o the region until I ound a small computer store

standing between a street ast-ood parlor and a Playstation

ca (which attracted young boys o various ages). Te store

was on a main street (down the street rom the Al-Darb El-

Ahmar police station) and, most importantly, had a sidewalk

with sufcient space.

Methods |ayahtv.blogspot.com 8

Figure 1.1 Site


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1.3 arget Group

In order to begin, I had to gure out who my target audience

was. I went back to explore the area around the site and ound

that the majority o people on the street were middle and high

school students. Most o which went to the school down the

block or the other one urther down the road. I also had a long

talk with the store (site) co-owner, Mr. Khatter, who advised

me to ocus on ages between teen and twenty-ve. He

claimed that children needed something that would grab their

attention and hold it or the rst ten seconds beore they lose

interest (and that may be hard to accomplish with something

experimental). As or adults (especially those with kids) they

do not have the time or the will to stop and do anything unless

it has any benet or their children. Seniors were out o thequestion and not in any way targeted. I they happened to pass

by, I will not neglect them, but not expect them to stop (or

maybe even hear me over all the noise) and interact. Finally,

the teenage group is composed o teens and young adults who

believe they have nothing to worry about and that time grows

on the trees around the block in bulk.

1.4 Sel Applied Constraints

Now to create an interaction that would satisy the previously

listed goals (rom 1.1 Design Process), some sel applied

constraints needed consideration rst. I needed to simpliy the

large task I had at hand and shit my ocus to the most important

design decisions in relation to this project. My biggest issue

was guring out what kind o simple interaction I could use in

Max 5 that would easily demonstrate the concept and, more

importantly, would not slow down the computer RAM and

bandwidth connection between both remote locations. Tiswould ultimately lead to unwanted latency-related issues.

1.4.1 Computer Vision

1.4.1.1 Pattern Recognition

My main concern was to nd a way to reduce human laziness

and encourage physical interaction. I started programing Max

patches that required human motion to generatethe picture on

the V. However, that soon proved to be quite the rustration:the rst protoype showed that it was hard or the participant

to both move and watch at the same time. So I started looking

into pattern recognition, something that still required physical

9Methods |


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interaction, but on a lower scale. One that would detect a

human body and activate certain channels when a pattern was

achieved.

1.4.1.2 Face Detection

I then realized that pattern recognition was an inappropriate

idea due to the lack o a stable surrounding environment. In

order or pattern recognition to successully work, there had to

be a stable background to set the camera picture to and allow

the computer vision tracking to detect the dierence in picture.

Since cameras have a hard time drawing in 3D, everythig

according to it is on one layer, two dimensions (up and down,

let and right). It was going to be tough to gure out how to

set an invisible wall between the oreground and backgroundmovement.

On that ocassion, I started considering the cv.jit.aces object

which counts and tracks human aces. I then realized it also

acted as a metaphor or my concept o the project. Tat I am

crossing sel-constructed boundaries and introducing mysel

through the V medium which is made or viewing. However,

ater a certain threshold o viewers (number o aces) my signal

is cut o allowing me to disappear into the medium and other

channels to emerge.

1.4.1.3 Live Perormance

I had created the patch and was in the nal polishing stages

when I realized that it would be best to create this entire

installation intervention as a live perormance instead. Tat wayI could be in control o when I am on, of, and what channels

are playing. o view a complete list o the Max patches, please

visit ayahtv.blogspot.com.

10Methods |

Figure 1.2 Installation Setup


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1.5 Installation Setup

For the perormance, I used a combination o sotware and

hardware to help execute the desired outcome.

1.5.1 Hardware

2 Laptops (1 PC, 1 Mac),

1 VGA/AV TV Graphics converter,

1 Microphone,

1 Webcam,

1 Pair of Speakers,

Extension Cords/Plugs,

1 Internet USB Stick, &

1 CRT ube.

wo laptops were connected rom remote locations via

the Internet. Te PC laptop was set up at the site and was

connected to the CR tube (V) using a VGA/AV converter

allowing me to display what I want on screen. Remember that

all this could have easily been done with an LCD screen and an

HDMI cable, but I needed something that camaouged into

the environment. Ten, a small webcam was connected to help

me see what and who I was dealing with. Te camera was set upin the store so that it looked like it was on display: or sale.

11Methods |

Figure 1.3 Remote Connection


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1.5.2 Sotware

Max 5 Jitter/MSP

Screenium

Skype

Internet

Screenium is a program that helps you make live screen-

capturing movie-les o o your desktop. You can adjust it to

record a designated portion o your screen, the entire screen, or

to ollow your cursor. Figure 1.2shows a detailed explaination

o what the installation looked like.

1.6 Remote Location

For this perormance to be complete, I had to make sure

that I was no where to be ound on the day o the intervention.

I went late the night beore to make sure all is correct and

ready to be set into motion. Te ollowing morning, our

Figure 1.5 Remote Location

Figure 1.4 Max Patch


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representatives were sent: one to keep an eye on the on the V

connections, one to photograph documentation pictures rom

the street, a third to keep an eye on the video camera rom

the neighbors house across the street on the second oor, and

nally, a outh man capable o all three other positions.

As or mysel, I perormed rom home that day. I set up a

plain bed-sheet behind me and launched all three programs:

Max 5, Skype, and Screenium. On the other computer back at

the site, Skype was the only thing running. On my end, I set

Skype to perorm a desktop share with the other laptop to allow

me to display what was playing in that portion o my screen.

Screenium was simply used to record what was happening on

my computer including what I could see (rom the webcam).

1.7 Blog

Our teachers have us given each student a Wiki page to

document every step o the project online. Not only does this

make discussion with our teachers easy, but it also helps spread

our project or other eyes to see. Despite the kind gesture, I

nd that one page (with limited edit control) is not enough.

I created an online blog (ayahtv.blogspot.com) that gave me

many more options to customize. Many more pages were addedto discuss dierent parts o the project there.

Figure 1.6 Blog


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2.1 Meet Ayah

It did not take long or the rst person to stop. From what

I could see, it was an adult man in his mid-ourties. He heard

me call him and came back (passed the V) to the shop door

to nd the source o the sound. He let about ten seconds later.

Te second participant, was also an adult man who lasted about

a minute. Ater he let, I was able to catch a young girls (about

8) attention. She was very shy to approach and stayed clear.

Apparently, a group o 15 year-old boys overheard and came tosee what was going on.

2.2 Candid Camera

When people nally realized that I could see them through

a V, they were bewildered and had one question: how? Teykept asking me or an explanation, to which I replied with,

Cant you see me? Wouldnt that be a little unair i I couldnt

see you? At this point, these boys were intrigued and stayed

or quite a while. Tey attracted other peoples attention and

brought other riends over. One o the boys was able to quickly

nd the not-so-hidden documentation video camera across the

street and screamed, Oh my God! Look! I ound it! I ound it!

Its candid camera!

Chapter 2: Results

Results |ayahtv.blogspot.com 14

Figure 1.7 Site with Ayah on TV


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2.3 Complications

Tere are some things that just have to happen regardless how

many times you tested and thought you were ready. On the day

o the installation, ater everything was set up, the V started

acting up or some reason and kept cutting out my image eed

giving a solid blue glare (this did not aect my audio stream in

any way). One o my site representatives had to sit and hold the

connection piece between the television and PC laptop (VGA/

AV) all throughout the live perormance to try and prevent it

rom happening again (but did many times anyway).

Also, the image was a bit slow and, at times, ailed to stream

the video eed smoothly. Latency was a big issue and was clearly

visible between my audio play and the image synchronization.Sometimes, a complete jump cut was visible. I the MacBook

Pro laptop I was using rom the remote location could hold a

gun, it probably would not hesitate to kill me ater the extra load

o RAM I had it run. Te Max patch, Skype desktop sharing,

and Screenium were a bit too much to stream all together and

send via Internet.

15Results |


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3.1 An Invisible Barrier

When the perormance started, I ound that rarely did

people come to pass by on the sidewalk. I realized that people

in Egypt are used to walking in the street with cars and not

in the designated pedestrian areas. Also, as this street was a

bit wider than most other streets in Al-Darb El-Ahmar, cars

that requently drove by back and ourth and others parked

along the sides, created a barrier (in ront o the store) against

me. For a moment, I regretted the act that I had not spreadword or yers o a live perormance today. However, I later

came to realize that had I done that, I would have spoiled that

short moment when participants came to realize that the V

sitting in ront o them was more than just an image box, but

a responsive one at that.

3.2 A Human V

Everyone knows what a V is, but they do not know what

this V is. On that note, people rarely noticed anything washappening. Te rst man that I stopped, heard me call and

came back to the door, looking or the person who called.

Te thought that I may be digital, never had passed his mind.

However, when I told him I was in the V, he came over, with

a locked distance between us (I could hardly see him rom

where my viewing web-camera was set), and asked me i I

wanted anything. At this point, it was clear adults ound this

intervention useless and even more, awkward.

Te second participant was another adult who came a bit

closer to the V and asked me i he could help me in any

way-i I had any questions or him. He acted like this was an

interview. Surprisingly, he started to expressed his eelings

towards the installation stating that it was strange to talk to

someone in a television and yet very impressed with what I

have done. Te best part about interviewwas that he had lasted

long enough to help introduce me into the area. People started

gathering in background and noticed that something strange

was going on.

Chapter 3: Discussion

Discussion |ayahtv.blogspot.com 16


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What I really ound to be interesting was the act that people

treated the V set as i it were human: as i it were my human

head. Tey pointed things out to me in the street as i my eyes

in the set were subjective, danced, sang, ed me, and asked me

questions. For example, when they ound the documentation

video camera located in the window o an apartment across the

street, they pointed it out to me in a way their body gesture

suggested that they were showing it to me. Tey did not realize

that I was watching them rom the small webcam in the display

window.

I recall one moment during the installation where at least

ve o these participants got too close to the glass and blocked

my view rom the webcam. I then said, why are you all so

close to me? Back away a little. Tey immediately backed o,no questions asked-like I was really there, a young lady asking

boys to give her space.

3.3 Hello, Nice o Meet You

It was interesting the way I ound mysel interacting with

the people I usually avoid starting conversations to begin with.

I was raising my voice and calling out random people passing

by in the street, hoping they would hear me. Tis was trulysomething I would have never done in the case o real, physical

presence. It somehow elt like I was there, without really being

there: like I was observing rom a distance. For some reason,

the male gender was the only gender I was able to establish any

real conversations with. I did see some girls reach within ve

eet o the installation, but were too shy to approach. Reason:

boys were in control o the intervention zone and the girls were

just too shy to walk up between them. I mysel, cut o the

signal when I wanted to entertain all the kids I had around me,

attract attention, or was starting to eel a bit uncomortable.

17Discussion |


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4.1 In Te End

In conclusion, the installation turned out to be overall

successul. Pedestrians on their way home and out o

school, have stopped, interacted, stayed, watched, called out

strangers, and most have even come back. Putting together

this installation was very stressul, but completely worth the

outcome. Personally, I enjoyed the interaction and ound it

to be a un way o perorming and breaking the ice. I believe

that the medium (V) used was the perect candidate or thisproject. Communicating through a V set was something all

the locals o Al-Darb El-Ahmar never saw coming. Aside rom

each o the pros mentioned above, the main aspect I ound to

prove success, is the act that everyone ignored the slow, cutting

television signal and depended on audio when needed, keeping

everything stable and constant. I being on the other end did no

notice how requent the signal was lost visually. As long as an

audio stream was audible, communication was consistent.

4.2 Future Directions

In the uture, I would love to recreate this installation at a

similar setting with similar conditions. It is crucial to nd a

site located in a neighborhood with humble people who have

no background on media installations and relatively enough

space or interaction. Tis time, I will not insist on a sidewalk

as it rarely used by people here in Egypt. My target group still

remains the same, children and teens between the ages o teen

and thirty, and maybe even lower (ten?).

One actor that must be reconsidered, is the time o the

day the intervention is perormed. During the day, sun creates

a reection on the display window glass rom the outside

making it hard or people to see the image on the television

screen inside behind the glass. However, during the evening

and night, a television produces a bright glare which not only

reects light rom the inside (making everything clear outside),

but can also act as a magnet and attract the eyes o potential

participants a lot easier. As mentioned earlier in this paper,

attracting participants to the installation was quite a stumble.

Chapter 4: Conclusion

Conclusion |ayahtv.blogspot.com 18


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Te problem is that I ear I may not be able to nd the

intended target age group available in the streets at dark hours

o the day. Or i they are present, they will not be alone but

accompanied by adults, who a majoirty o do not have the

time or patience or such time wasting, good-or-nothing art

installations that do not benet them in any way. Te title o

this project suggests that a participant controls a V set with

his body to give him more control than just choosing channels

and audio control. With the launch o this project brainstorm,

that was what I had intended. In the uture, I would like to

emphasize and boost this detail by creating an installation

which will allow the user to control the rame rate o the image,

color, noise, audio, and (possibly) some other eatures.

odays Internet USB sticks have made it more than possibleor one to be online rom anywhere a signal is detected.

Unortunately though that does not change the act that the

Internet in Egypt is slow. I nd that a good old-ashioned

immobile internet router always works best and is advised or

better, heavy Internet streaming situations. But maybe next

time, Ill be a little closer to help ease the buer.

19Conclusion |


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References

ZKM: Center or Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany. [Visited on 16 December 2010].

Frieling, R., Daniels, D., and Schwerpunkte, ., 2005. MedienKunst Netz 2 / Media Art Net 2. German & English Edition.New York: Springer.

Davenport, K., 2008. Gender and Aging: An Investigation oelevisions Inatuation with Youth and Beauty. [online] Boston:Boston College. Available at: [Accessed on 10 October 2010]

Fincham, P., 2007. What is televison or? Te Guardian. [online]Available at: [Accessed 12 October 2010]

Wikipedia, 2010. Egyptian television. [online] Available at: [Accessed4 October 2010]

Wikipedia, 2011. History o V [Arabic] [online] Availableat: [Accessed on 4 October 2010]

Westphal, K. 2004. Are you addicted to V?[online] Available at: [Accessed

4 October 2010]

suite101.com, 2010. What is V Addiction? Symptoms andCures or elevision Addiction. [online] Available at: [Accessedon 4 October 2010]

Birnbaum, D., year unknown. echnology/ransormation:Wonder Woman. [online] Available at: [Accessed on

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urn O Your V, 1995-2007. Kill Your elevision. [online]Available at: [Accessed on 4October 2010]

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