Intimate Transactions One Step Closer
Getting Physically 'Intimate' from Opposite Sides of the World
World-class Creative Technology Premiere
28th April 2005
For immediate release
Intimate online transactions are now one step closer to reality following the Australian premiere of world-class entertainment technology in Brisbane and Melbourne today that enables two people located on opposite sides of the world to get physically ‘intimate’.
The prototype of this installation, called ‘Intimate Transactions’, enables two people in separate locations to explore real and virtual space, and body-activated interactivity.
The technology was demonstrated live today simultaneously in Brisbane and a site 1,700km away in Melbourne.
Intimate Transactions swaps the traditional computer mouse and keyboard for a full body contact experience using a touch sensitive ‘Bodyshelf’ device to communicate via body movements, shifting of body weight and a landscape of images to provide a highly immersive experience.
The project has been developed by Brisbane-based ACID otherwise known as the Australasian CRC for Interaction Design in partnership with, Melbourne-based ACMI – Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and new media artists The Transmute Collective, as well as researchers from QUT, RMIT, The University of Queensland ,and the HitLab in New Zealand
“It’s a world-class project developed by a talented team of Australasian researchers, artists and scientists said Jeff Jones, ACID CEO.
Enabled also by the $14 million GrangeNet high-speed global research and education network, Intimate Transactions is challenging the traditional ICT usage of this network by calling on it to deliver distributed art and culture.
Jeff Jones, says the combination of this GrangeNet technology supporting the Intimate Transactions project represents international opportunities for interactive entertainment.
“The potential uses are diverse, ranging from interactive artwork to full body contact computer games to immersive and interactive meetings,” he said.
“The Bodyshelf is embedded with sensors that detect body movement and shifting of body weight,” said Professor Jones.
“Before getting on the Bodyshelf, participants also wear a device that passes gentle vibrations into their stomachs, enabling them to sense vibrations of different frequencies and intensities,” he said.
The project is currently being demonstrated live in Australia, between QUT’s Creative Industries Precinct in Brisbane and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne.
“The prototype of this technology involves a world created from digital imagery and multi-channel sound,” said Professor Jones.
“Participants alter this world through body movements and are aware of what the other person is doing, even though they are geographically separated and can’t see or hear each other,” he said.
ACID and this research project are partly funded by the federal governments Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Programme, a Federal initiative that links researchers with industry to focus R&D efforts towards utilisation and commercialisation.
For more information:
Jason Pickersgill, ACID. T: 07 3337 7929 or 0432 163 886. E: jason@acid.net.au
