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The Prix Ars Electronica Archive is a collection enabling search and viewing of all the submissions since 1987. The award-winning projects are documented with catalogue texts and audio-visual media. All other submissions can be searched by title/artist and displayed with year, category in list form. Please cite the credits (artwork name, artist and photographer) and only use the materials if your article is related to Ars Electronica.
Watch Me!
Yasushi Noguchi,
Hideyuki Ando
Original: IT4X9682.jpg | 3504 * 2336px | 4.6 MB
Original: Watch Me! | 1440 * 810px | 3.4 MB
Original: Watch Me! | 1440 * 810px | 3.4 MB
Original: Watch Me! | 1440 * 810px | 3.4 MB
Original: Watch Me! | 1440 * 810px | 3.4 MB
“Watch Me!” is an experimental project dedicated to documenting social binding by intervening in a public space. It observes the different behavior of people’s “eyes” using a robot bear as an unusual event.
If you are staying a country for the first time, you may be puzzled by people’s behavior as they respond to incidents or encounters. Then you might realize that though they seem to behave spontaneously they are predisposed to exhibit certain behavioral traits by society and culture. We call this “social binding”.
Furthermore, how does society react when an unusual event happens? Do the police come? Does some local authority force us to clear out or make a detour? Does someone like a gangster make us donate something? Does no one complain?
A teddy-bear-like robot is the main performer in the project. It looks cute, but has been programmed to move with difficulty and awkwardly. The robot is put on a street in various cities to watch the behavior of passers by. Three hi-definition camcorders mounted below the robot and covering 180 degrees record the reactions of passers by. Only the area around the eyes is extracted from the movies; other areas are blurred. These effects are applied by a custom program written in C++.
Through the “Watch Me!” project, we are asking you not only to observe social binding and cultural differences in local areas but also to contemplate the boundaries of privacy.
Links: http://r-dimension.xsrv.jp/projects_e/watch_me/
If you are staying a country for the first time, you may be puzzled by people’s behavior as they respond to incidents or encounters. Then you might realize that though they seem to behave spontaneously they are predisposed to exhibit certain behavioral traits by society and culture. We call this “social binding”.
Furthermore, how does society react when an unusual event happens? Do the police come? Does some local authority force us to clear out or make a detour? Does someone like a gangster make us donate something? Does no one complain?
A teddy-bear-like robot is the main performer in the project. It looks cute, but has been programmed to move with difficulty and awkwardly. The robot is put on a street in various cities to watch the behavior of passers by. Three hi-definition camcorders mounted below the robot and covering 180 degrees record the reactions of passers by. Only the area around the eyes is extracted from the movies; other areas are blurred. These effects are applied by a custom program written in C++.
Through the “Watch Me!” project, we are asking you not only to observe social binding and cultural differences in local areas but also to contemplate the boundaries of privacy.
Links: http://r-dimension.xsrv.jp/projects_e/watch_me/
Yasushi Noguchi (JP) is an interactive artist / designer with a BFA and an MFA in visual communication design from Musashino Art University in Japan. After serving as a design research assistant for four years, he moved to New York in 2000. He studied interactive art at New York University and earned a masters in practical studies. He currently lives and works in Tokyo as an assistant professor at Tokyo Polytechnic University. http://r-dimension.xsrv.jp/
Hideyuki Ando (J P), born in 1974. Received the BE and ME in electronic engineering from Aichi Institute of Technology, Japan, in 1997 and 1999. He received the Ph.D. (Information Science and Technology) from the University of Tokyo, Japan, 2004.Since 2002, he has worked for NTT Communication Science Laboratories. His studies have been presented at international conferences such as Siggraph 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. His work was selected for an adjudicator’s recommendation at Japan Media Arts Festival 2006 in the art section.
Hideyuki Ando (J P), born in 1974. Received the BE and ME in electronic engineering from Aichi Institute of Technology, Japan, in 1997 and 1999. He received the Ph.D. (Information Science and Technology) from the University of Tokyo, Japan, 2004.Since 2002, he has worked for NTT Communication Science Laboratories. His studies have been presented at international conferences such as Siggraph 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. His work was selected for an adjudicator’s recommendation at Japan Media Arts Festival 2006 in the art section.