February 17, 2004

James Fung, with head-mounted gear, discussed his mediated reality work along side Professor Steve Mann, one of the world's most known Cyborgs. James is working on image processing and described the workings of the eyeTap system where light coming into the eye is passed through a camera into a computer where it can be manipulated and sent through to the eye with an aremac.

This technique allows what the person sees to be mediated which includes diminished and augmented. What captured the attention of the learners was footage from the eyeTap as the wearer passed a advertising sign on the road. The actual image was replaced with a message to the wearer - instructions to turn left coming from the person the wearer was about to meet for instance.

It will be wonderful as our students get to make environments and content for this platform. Where we can superimpose haute couture on a passer-by, appear to walk through enegy portals, or pluck an airplane from the sky. Of course having instant information will be very useful in navigating the world - we will not get lost, electricians can superimpose wiring schematics on walls, etc.

Learners prepared McLuhan Tetrads for Multimedia Installations based on the talk and on in-class research and presentations. The Tetrads are available at: http://imm.sheridanc.on.ca/tetrads/mediatedreality.html. Learners analyzed what the technology enhances, makes obsolete, retrieves and flips into. The lecture / lab experience is part of the Sheridan Multimedia Pioneering course where a new technologies with respect to Interactive Multimedia are examined and working samples are explored. The technologies are: