[ISEA2006] Artists Statement: Amy Alexander, Jesse Gilbert, Wojciech Kosma, Marilia Maschion, Vincent Rabaud & Nikhil Rasiwasia – SVEN

Artists Statement

Theme: Interactive City. Venue: San Jose

SVEN is the project that asks the question: If computer vision technology can be used to detect when you look like a terrorist or other “undesirable” – why not when you look like a rock star? The SVEN system is set up in public places where a surveillance system might be expected – like a van on the street. A custom computer vision application tracks pedestrians and detects their characteristics, looking for possible rock stars. A real-time video processing application receives this information and generates music video like visuals from the live camera feed. The resulting video and audio are displayed on a monitor in the van’s window, interrupting the standard security camera-type display each time a potential rock star is detected.

  • Amy Alexander (US)
  • Jesse Gilbert (US)
  • Wojciech Kosma (PL)
  • Marilia Maschion (US)
  • Vincent Rabaud (FR)
  • Nikhil Rasiwasia (IN)

Support from the Digital Research Unit at The Media Centre, Huddersfield (UK), UC Institute for Research in the Arts (Calit2), UCSD Center for the Humanities, UCSD Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (CRCA), The Hellman Fellowship Program at UCSD and the UCSD Academic Senate