My plan is to create an interactive TV which reveals my opinion on the role the media plays in our society. The user will be able to navigate the interface using the TV's antenna (which a potentiometer is embedded in) and the output will be on the TV's screen.

The media is selective. Once something is presented through the media, its original meaning is lost and repurposed. The obscuration process of the media allows its output to be interpreted in many different ways. Pure truth becomes difficult to find.

On a TV, the antenna is used for a clearer reception; for clarity. I am using this relationship as my mean of navigation for the user to uncover my message: "TRUTH IS OBSCURED BY THE MEDIA".

My interface, built in flash, will consist of six "buttons" that represent each word of my message. When the button is selected (using the antenna to roll over them), a video clip of each word is spelled out in unconventional ways. Some letters will be mouthed, some in morse code, some charaded, and some in sign language. This will happen every time a button is selected. It is up to the user to decode the obscured words.

However, upon "rollover", a legible clip of the entire message will flash for a split second prior to each video clip. As a result, if the user adjusts the antenna smoothly and quickly, they will be able to see the entire message as they scroll through each button. Antenna = clarity.

I've also considered some visual aids for the user. Before entering the interface, an animation of the antenna being cranked will be on screen to inform the user about how to activate it. A "nav-bar" showing all six buttons will also be present on every clip. The active button will be highlighted. Also, a quick loading animation will play prior to every clip so the user will know that they transitioned over to the next one.

I plan on embedding a potentiometer into the antenna of a portable TV. When the antenna is adjusted, the video on the screen, which will be showing one set of eyes at a time, will change accordingly. The eyes will be recorded from a wide variety of people with a wide variety of emotions. My concept is to show the many faces of media and how they are unnavoidable. I've chosen only to show the eyes because in a way, media "watches us". Its contents are always aimed towards a target audience. The appearance is only limited to the eyes because media is over-exaggerated and often lies to us; only showing the eyes doesn't reveal the true identity of the person. When adjusting the antenna for clarity, the screen scrolls through the different "faces" showing that there is no escape from media.

Both the input and the output are going to be embedded on the same device, a portable television. The input, a potentiometer, will be embedded within the joint of the TV's antenna. When adjusted, the video on the screen (output) will change.

My "new" input takes the form of an antenna. Antennas are used for clarity.

I'm assuming the user expectation is to push the buttons on the TV. If the quality of the video is fuzzy, the viewer might be persuaded to adjust the antenna.

The installation will measure the physical adjustments of the antenna. I'm expecting a full range of action. Most antennas are able to be turned 180 degrees.

As previously stated, my output communicates that we are watched being watched by media and there is no escape from it. The relationship is in the components of the TV. The antenna is used to get clarity on the screen. Instead of clarity, more ambiguous "faces" are shown.

I then realized that this is exactly what digital effects pedals do, which are widely used by guitarists and vocalists. An analog input, such as a microphone or an electric guitar, is sent through an array of code to be processed, and is then outputted, through speakers, as a brand new sound.

The inputted sound is able to be modified in realtime with the use of multiple potentiometers (knobs) that control specific properties. Because of its ability of real-time modification, the user is able to mix and create endless varieties of sound by individually tweaking the potentiometers.

sources:

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4924348_guitar-effects-pedals-work.html

http://www.proaudiovideo.net/cheapbandgear/large/DR400.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y356KXesnAs&feature=related

VIEW VIDEO
http://3st.com/#/clients/designers/arik_levy
(fourth slide down)

http://www.ariklevy.fr/domain/project/928


2.2 The Table Talk Project




I found this very interesting as well. Like previous example, this too is dictated by sound, but not visually simultaneous. Instead of the visual, expanding and retracting like the previous example, this one leave more of a mark or a trail. It shows a visual of how long or how much was being said.


sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEGwsfpHevU&feature=related