“TaxiLink” is an interactive installation that enables users to experience an authentic remote taxi ride. “TaxiLink” creates a link between a taxi driving in Jerusalem and participants from distant locations abroad.
Sitting in the static “TaxiLink” booth, the passengers join a live ride in and around the old city of Jerusalem. The booth on the other side of the world is designed to incorporate two riders. Inside the booth a screen projects the live ride from Jerusalem as seen through the windscreen. The rear-view mirror shows the reflection of the eyes of the driver in Jerusalem on video and a surround system allows conversations with the driver while listening to the local radio station playing in the background. A small monitor beside the seats transfers the live ride through GPS. All routes are recorded and the passengers can see were the real taxi is located and choose a nearby destination for the ride. Through live video and audio transmitted from the driving cab, the passengers experience a genuine ride, though they are physically miles away.
“TaxiLink” was developed as a multi-layered experience of an urban virtual tour, offering a brief yet meaningful experience of Jerusalem. The intensity of this encounter is two-fold, since the passengers see the city once through their own eyes and again, as seen through the eyes of an authentic local driver.
By recording a personal journey, absorbing, gazing, collecting glimpses along the way, one will end up with an unexpected virtual experience.
The users choose their destination, starting the trip at the point where the previous one ended. It is the road that we focus on rather than a set destination. The urban icons become meaningless and the place is exposed to chance and singularity.

Links: http://www.TaxLinkProject.com

Lila Chitayat: architectural and space design, www.LilaChitayat.com; Alon Chitayat (IL): visual and experience design, www.animishmish.com; Tal Chalosin (IL): technical director www.innovid.com; Michael Shynar (IL): software development.

Tal Chalosin (IL) co-founded Innovid, a platform for engaging brand experiences in and around on-line video. She heads the research and development department and acts as Innovid’s CTO (http://www.innovid.com). She is also co-founder of the GarageGeeks (http://www.garageGeeks.org).

Alon Chitayat (IL) is a visual artist, designer, illustrator and animator producing public and private works for companies, film and television industry and galleries. He is the founder of Animishmish visual design studio (http://www.animishmish.com). He is also part of the filmmakers’ collective O_o films, creating viral video content for the web.

Lila Chitayat (IL) is an architect, designer and an experimental practitioner of design through computational processes. She has an MA in advanced architectural design from Columbia University, a BArch from the Pratt Institute, New York, and a BSc from the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT). Lila is a full faculty member at the HIT, teaching digital architecture.