hardware

I did technology consulting for this visitor center designed by Picture Projects, in Frank Lloyd Wright's last building.

To highlight the special features of the building, 360 degree panoramas showing it in all its variability, in changing weather, over changing seasons, and different light, are shown on a Panasonic TC-P50G10 50" plasma screen with (Happ) trackball for interactive navigation. (Mac Mini drives this)

Results of a one-month test of live sensor data for monitoring plant growth outdoors, for implementation at Kew Gardens as part of of the research project Village e-Science for Life.

In my second time working with video artist Jennifer Steinkamp, I enlisted electronix guru Brock Craft (pictured here with the artist) to help install her piece Flora's Feast at the home of a private buyer in London.

Beautiful rendering of moving flowers plays on a two-story-tall LED screen installed in the wall behind a lift with glass doors. The flowers subtly move up or down depending on which way you're going in the lift.

Originally spec'ed for infrared sensors to detect movement of the lift, we managed instead to detect button presses from the lift electronics. We retained one of the Arduino Diecimilia boards shown here, for feeding the data into the PC which controls the animation (a Quicktime movie controlled in Director).

Part of the VeSeL project, this wireless sensor network collects data on soil and weather conditions and sends to the Internet and nearby Bluetooth devices. After testing for a few months at Kew it will go to rural Kenya as part of an integrated system including digital resource kits and activities which have already been sent. My role includes working directly with Kew, some technical work, conduct participatory research and design as part of a team, and general project management.

Featured in Make Magazine

Provided consultation on technology to Picture Projects for the exhibition In our own words: Portaits of Brooklyn's Vietnam veterans, running at least until Dec. 2008.

I helped Allen Coombs with the technical design for this piece, a digital version of the 100-year-old mutoscope. Turning the handle moves a flipbook of images; in this case a Quicktime movie in Macromedia Director. Provided hardware design and software.

... with the $34 video server

From: Molly Lenore
Date: Tue Sep 2, 2003
To: Kevin Walker
Subject: Re: a link for you

hello kevin,

I need to talk to you about syncing three computers using Director. Sound familiar? Need to do the exact same thing as Shackleton, but will will have to use three computers and a fourth for the timing because each computer will be playing 6 to 7, 1.5 GB movies. It is for the Petra exhibition. 26' panoramic views on three screens, showing Greg Downing's excellent hi-res panoramic video. Macs, hopefully G5s and we need frame-accurate sync. What do you think?

Molly Lenore
Senior Animator

Physical space is becoming overlaid with a data grid. Researchers like J.C. Spohrer (see WorldBoard) and Fredrick Espinoza (see GeoNotes) are developing methods to "tag" real world locations with information. Andrea Moed developed a similar system (Annotate Space) in which people can learn about a place, or comment on it, using handheld, networked computers. Mobile telecommuncations providers already have the ability to track their users' location, and they are gearing up for what they call "location-based services" such as targetted ads.

At Zeum, San Francisco May 2003 - June 2004

A tilting table allows visitors to navigate across an aerial view of California, zooming down to San Francisco and directly into Zeum.

The installation consists of a simple, round table, painted white, witih a conical base. Onto the tabletop is projected high-resolution satellite imagery, with a caped child in the center for orientation. There are no instructions; the design exploits visitors' desire for exploration, and as soon as they touch the table, the method of navigation is revealed.

Not cars, but devices, making media more easily accessible in hard-to-reach places.

It's no secret that computers and components continue to shrink. So too does media, with more efficient compression algorithms for audio, video and data. MP3 players already serve audio to exhibits and installations (in, for example the MiniMSC by BBI Engineering). Now video, too, can reach those hard-to-reach places, thanks to portable DVD players and pocket-sized video players.