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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
iiiiv56
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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
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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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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]
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Westphal, K. 2004. Are you addicted to V?[online] Available at: [Accessed
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suite101.com, 2010. What is V Addiction? Symptoms andCures or elevision Addiction. [online] Available at: [Accessedon 4 October 2010]
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