TransitTime-Oratorio for Transit
by Stephen Wilson,
Professor, Conceptual/Information Arts Department, SFSU
Overview
TransitTimepresents an "infomatic" digital media event based on
the real time movement of buses and trains at the moment of viewing.
Using the Web to extract data from the NextBus system it tracks the movements
of all MUNI light rail trains via GPS and advanced signaling. (MUNI is
San Francisco's public transit system.)
The installation projects digital video and sound which change in real
time based on the precise current position of Muni trains and busses.
Each train and station has its own sound/video "signature" which develops
with real movements in the city. The sounds include processed versions
of sounds from the city, a range of spoken perspectives on the way transit
affects life, and tonal compositions related to transit. The voices
form a kind of oratorio. The video includes maps, city scenes, satellite
maps, historical images, and other poetical reflections on transit.
Viewers can pick which Muni line to focus on the strategy for mapping position
to media. The goal is to give visitors a feel for transit as
the life pulse of the city.
Another part of the event allows visitors to ride in a driver's and
passenger seat which had been discarded from an old train. The resurrected
seats vibrate in accordance with the real movements. When the real
train stops so does the vibrating seats in the gallery. The projected
video matches what real riders on the train being tracked are seeing at
that precise moment. (The views from every meter of track in the
system had been previously documented.)
View the Documentation
A short digital movie (approximately 5 minutes) presents documentation
of the event including the rationale, scenes from the installation, and
excerpts from the experience.
Investigations
Information Systems: The movement of streetcars and buses
can be viewed as the movement of blood in a body. The changing flow
of the transit system is an important part of the vital signs of life in
the city. What does it mean that we now have information systems
that provide a 'gods-eye' view of people's actions? What are
the opportunities and dangers?
Transit as Poetic System: Public Transit has inspired many
artists. Who are these other passengers? Where are they going?
What is suggested by the passing sights and sounds? What is the meaning
of the flow of neighborhoods? Which is more important - getting there
or the process of the ride?
Political/Ecological Questions: Some see public transit as way
to save the ecological life of the city. Others see the autonomy of the
car at a symbolic core of American life. What should be transit's
future?
Public Knowledge of Emerging Technologies: New technological
developments such as GPS tracking and dynamic information visualization
are often poorly understood by the public. This installation attempts
to make emerging technologies come alive for general audiences by exposing
them to functioning systems and hinting at the opportunities the new technologies
open up beyond the mundane. This system attempts to promote environmental
awareness by showing a global view of the city as a functioning system
and by promoting public transit as a viable alternative to use of private
automobiles.
Events
TransitTime offers a meditative view of this information system.
It includes several features:
-
The 'Single Train Tracker' which allows the viewer to see video views of
what passengers on a real train moving through the city are seeing at the
same moment as the viewer is at the installation. See
screenshots (88k).
-
The 'Magic Muni Seat' which vibrates as a particular target train moves
through the city and stops when the train stops. Viewers control
installation choices by driving a simulated MUNI driver control panel.
-
'God's View' which allows overviews of the current movements of all trains
at the moment of viewing. They can look down on maps of the city and see
the positions and movements of all trains. Viewers can decide to
create event linked to music and/or voices.
|
 |
See documentation images
of people interacting with installation (76k) at Somarts Gallery.
Acknowledgements
The event was part of the YLEM
20th anniversary show at the Somarts
Gallery in San Francisco during September,2001 This event was
possible because San Francisco is home to the visionary
NextBus
demo system which uses GPS (global positioning system) position sensors
and other technologies to let web visitors know in real time where Muni
train and designated busses are. NextBus uses this information to
let viewers know how long before a bus or train reaches their stop.
The event showed that the system had potentials far beyond the utilitarian
and used it to provide conceptual, data-based resonances to the underlife
of the city.
Another version of TransitTime was presented as part of
the Second Wednesday series at the Exploratorium,
San Francisco's museum of science and art in Frebruary, 2002. That
particular program, curated by Spnge, was called Teleopolis
and
focused on art that reflected on the urban experience.
Thanks to the following who helped realize this project:
Michael Smith and Next Bus for adapting their system for the art event;
Aerlia MacLaird for videography, Andrew Chung for Magic Muni Seat and dirver's
unit construction, Lisa Siewert for coordinating information services at
Somarts, David Dick for interviews of Muni riders, Catherine Witzling and
Sophia Wilson for aesthetic consultation, and Eleanor Kent and Ylem for
mounting the show. For the Exploratorium show thanks to Pam Winfrey,
head of the artist-in-residence program, Chris Saulter of Sponge, and Lesli
Wood and Jessie Gould.
View the stations/lines/and events chosen by the viewers at the gallery
and the Exploratorium..
See
the listings.