I am reading about Myron Krueger’s “VIDEOPLACE“. Myron Krueger is the guy who coined the term “artificial reality” and VIDEOPLACE was one of his artworks from the 1970s that is sort of labeled as “the first” in interactive artwork. I don’t know if that is too accurate but I guess the point is that the work was/is very influencial, especially for video- and camera-based interactive systems that track participant movement and gestures.

VIDEOPLACE is an artificial reality environment consisting of a video camera and other sensors to track a participant’s movement in front of a projection screen. Video displayed on the projection screen responds to participant gestures with over 50 compositions that include the person’s shadow as a base. The compositions manipulate participant silhouettes, create graphical worlds around them, and produce virtual objects and lively organisms that interact with the silhouettes. A participant in turn can interact with movement of their whole body as well as direct manipulation with elements of the compositions.

I’ve read about VIDEOPLACE a lot but I think that tonight is the first time that I’ve really looked at imagery from the video compositions and I must say that they really attract me. I kind of want mini VIDEOPLACE aesthetics on my computer at work. Some images from this guy here (who took them from some of Krueger’s publications I think so we both apologize if they were copyrighted):

…and from a Golan Levin paper…

Graphics from the 70s - simplistic shapes but amazing colour schemes. It makes me nostalgic for a time before I was born. A time when people who experienced this artwork would be absolutely amazed by the technology. It would be like magic for them.

From what I read VIDEOPLACE is still up and running somewhere but I don’t know where. I would really like to see it. I imagine that it could still be a really engaging experience given the playfulness of the interaction compositions.

Why are similar video/camera interactive pieces made nowadays not very engaging? Is it because the experience is convolved with social, political, environmental, etc. messages and it is no longer based on pure interaction with the media and reflection of the participant?

UPDATE: I woke up in the morning thinking about what I said in that last paragraph. About pure interaction with the media…Well that was in a day when the technologies used were not woven into the fabric of life. When what was being confronted was the technology itself and what it meant for our future. Now many of the same technologies are still used in artworks but in an exploration of current-future issues such as our social networks and behaviours as constructed with current communication technologies and environmental consequences of current human practices (much supported by computing devices).