Golan Levin & Greg Baltus: Opto-solator, Responsive Eye Interface 2007

Opto-Isolator (2007: Golan Levin with Greg Baltus) inverts the condition of spectatorship by exploring the questions: "What if artworks could know how we were looking at them? And, given this knowledge, how might they respond to us?" The sculpture presents a solitary mechatronic blinking eye, at human scale, which responds to the gaze of visitors with a variety of psychosocial eye-contact behaviors that are at once familiar and unnerving. Among other forms of feedback, Opto-Isolator looks its viewer directly in the eye; appears to intently study its viewer's face; looks away coyly if it is stared at for too long; and blinks precisely one second after its visitor blinks.
More info: http://www.flong.com/projects/optoisolator/
Golan Levin's talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/golan_levin_ted2009.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• robot
• eye
• interactive
• art
• responsive
• interface
• observer
• spectator
• viewer
• Bitforms
• gallery
• NYC