Synchrony

Fig 1: Synchrony Setup

Before explaining the execution of this installation I will describe the experience. Looking at Fig.1 you see that there are two users. These two users entered the room from completely separate hallways . This is very important; the separation of hallways is a mechanism to increase the probability that the two users do not know each other. Once in the room, each user will sit down and don the very special headgear that makes this all possible, the OCZ-NIA (this will be discussed in more detail later). Once sat down, the person is instructed that they must play a game, they are not aware of the person on the other side of the wall. They are told that the image on the screen will change when you and the person next to you get closer to thinking the same Fig 2: Hallway Setup thing. After these instructions are given, there will be a reset tone. This sound will hopefully clear the person's thoughts and focus their attention to what is on the screen. The screen will fade in, with drone music playing. The drone music is ideal because its something that can be used as background noise, something that is arbitrary and not easily focused on.

The users will sit there watching the screen, sooner or later they will figure out that according to a certain thought, the music seems to get louder and the visuals get brighter and more vivid, they will go from very little animation and color to fantastic animation and color as the users reach their goal. The same will go for the music, it will become more and more fantastic (think Beethoven's 9th - 4th movement) as the users reach their final destination. What exactly is that goal? The goal is to reach an equilibrium of thought between you and the person who is next to you. Once the program hits the time limit or is satisfied with what the users have achieved the lights will go on and you will see that person who, hopefully have never met before, Fig 3: Example of visuals (taken from iTunes) can think so completely the same. Now to convince you that this whole thing is entirely possible

Technical
The whole project seems to a little complicated, but it can all be done with the write software and this magical device, the OCZ Neural Interface Actuator, or NIA for short. This thing was originally designed to be sold to gamers as a gimmick - frag faster, react faster, be faster! Their intention of selling it was to create a device to sell to the evergrowing gaming market that would be used by hardcore gamers wishing to increase their frags on FPS games like Unreal Tournament. The thing was a flop, and I don't think anybody actually would be sane if they tried to use it for that sort of purpose as it's very buggy when it comes to making certain thoughts pertain to a certain keystroke (jump up, fire, crouch, etc.) as your brain is a chaotic device that does not think the same exact thing every time it does something. This is the fatal flaw in their design, but luckily this mass production of a cheap EM reader that has a USB interface and drivers to be able to run on a computer completely makes their efforts wonderful. I can probably pick up two of these working devices for around $70.00 each. The NIA runs a signal to the computer that is vaguely interpreted by their proprietary software that turns thought patterns into keystrokes. Since it reads alpha waves (unstressed) and beta Fig 4: OCZ-NIA - So much waves (stressed) this data can be interpreted into visuals quite easily, potential the same as a music player like iTunes or WinAmp can take audio data and create data from the beats and bops. I will need to brew up this special-sauce code that can take this arbitrary and random data and create amazing visuals. If you know about the Demoscene, coding visuals isn't that hard at all once you know how to do it. Taking the input from these devices should be a trivial matter as they act like a normal HID (human input device) like a keyboard or mouse. Your mouse sends raw data and there is a software layer in the computer that interprets it as X,Y movement. When two people are connected to this machine there will be something extraordinary as well it will become simpler to create an abstract representation. The plan is to not create visuals and a sound loop (that increases and becomes more vivid) from the random data from one device but the difference between the two signals. This makes everything easier! The data can be as random and inaccurate as anything but if we assume that the user and the visuals are a loop, and that there is a consciousness that is aware of the loop that loop can influence itself. Think of it as a person viewing a camcorder facing a television that displays the output of the camcorder.

This loop can be influenced by the person once they interact with it. The interaction is the only way to influence it. Now take this same concept, exchange the camcorder with the NIA, the screen with the pixels generated by the computer that are then projected in front of the user who is connected to the NIA. The loop can alter itself, because the interaction is pure thought. This would be very cool with one person, but the experience would be entirely different since we don't know how a brain works ant the belief that you cannot understand something equally or more complex than yourself, the device is not a true capture device. We have to change the loop to a power of two people and just determine if their waves are getting closer or farther away like the game Marco, Polo!. When they're closer the visuals will be large and bright like a loud beat and when they're farther they will be dull and small. If you've ever watched visuals as music plays this will be exactly what happens.

Why?
The whole point of this installation is to make people realize that they're more related than you might think. That's why you can't see who you enter the room with, your brain would make a snap decision about that person you're paired with. I want to block all senses to that other person (including sound and smell see Fig 5.) because any of these factors can create a stereotype in your head. If we can block all the senses of that other person and just connect their minds, even if a very arbitrary and non-direct way we can see not only teamwork, but a connection. Humans strive for connections, if after this experience they find out that they're not so different then maybe we just created a new relationship. This will probably happen most of the time because the method of creating the experience will be self-solving. I believe that this would also be an extraordinary portfolio piece. This is also where I want to go with art, I want to change people's perspectives on the world, get them to look at things at diffferent angles. That is why I created my own word, Ozwash, something to explain the things I love. That feeling of strangeness that seems to open one's mind to new possibilities. Also, I am totally psyched about trying this out and seeing how people would like it, and what kind of reactions the two people will give each other after the experience is over. Fig 5: Tommy, the Rock Opera by

The Who - blind, deaf, and mute - he just needs noseplugs and we'll get where we want to be.