Dans le blanc des yeux: binocular portals between two distant places
A six-person capstone that turned two coin-operated-style viewing instruments into networked portals between distant parts of a city. The project asked how a familiar physical form could invite people into an unfamiliar social interaction.
Take the handles and the far unit turns to match you, so you can look around a place you are not standing in. If someone is using the other end at the same time, both heads stop and each screen switches to the camera pointed at the other person’s face. The object goes from looking outward to looking someone in the eye.
We demonstrated the working system in supervised campus and exhibition sessions.
Binoculars as portals
The placement mattered because the two units could connect very different parts of a city and invite social interactions between people who were unlikely to meet otherwise. We drew on Eduardo Kac’s telepresence art as a reference for connecting place, distance, and interaction.
Two modes
A pressure plate tells each unit when someone is standing there. The system then shifts between looking around a place and talking to a person.
If you use the binoculars while the other unit is empty, the far unit mirrors your movements so you can look around its surroundings. A microphone and larger speaker let you call to passersby and invite them over.
When someone steps onto the other unit, both switch to interior mode. The screens show the inward-facing eye cameras, and audio moves to a smaller, quieter speaker for a more private conversation.
Mapping the handoff
We adapted the Participant Journey Map to distinguish observation from participation. The map focused our attention on the handoff between those states: when a person first notices the object, understands that another site exists, realizes another person has arrived, and decides whether to engage.
That analysis led us to make the mode change physical. The binoculars stop moving the moment both plates are loaded, so the shift from surveying a place to facing a person arrives as a change in the object rather than a notification on a screen.
The screen delivered the encounter, but the physical change made it legible.
Mast, D., de Vries, S. I., Broekens, J., & Verbeek, F. J. (2021). The Participant Journey Map: Understanding the Design of Interactive Augmented Play Spaces. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3, 674132.
Form studies
The shape mattered. Before building, we rendered two versions into street photographs: one with the mechanism exposed and one wrapped in fabric. The final build used a shorter, pleated fabric skirt.
Building a two-site instrument
Making the concept work pulled several systems into one object: gyroscopes to track movement, pressure plates to sense presence, cameras, microphones, and speakers for the encounter, and LTE to connect the two sites.
The mechanics had to keep up. A slip ring let each head rotate without twisting its cables, while separate motor power kept movement from interrupting the computer mid-stream.
People knew what to do
We demonstrated the prototype on campus and at an exhibition. People recognized the binocular form, took the handles, and began exploring without instructions.
The familiar form gave people a clear first move, even though the experience that followed was new.
Team and contributions
Alexander Terziyski
Server coding for video and audio feed
Lucien Cusson-Fradet
Physical design, mechanics, electronics, wiring, and assembly
Maxime-Alexandre Gosselin
Physical design, mechanics, electronics, wiring, and assembly
Michael Hemingway
Industrial design, 3D modelling and printing, fabrication, floating build and code support
Shayne La Rocque
Interaction design, journey mapping, floating build and code support
Thomas Rompré
Server coding for video and audio feed
Project links
- Context
- Coin-operated viewing instruments are among the few objects in public space nobody has to be taught to use. You walk up, you take the handles, you look. They point at exactly one thing: the landmark somebody else chose. The view is decided before you arrive.
- Objective
- Build two networked viewing instruments meant to sit in different parts of a city, so that each one opens onto the other's surroundings, and so that the object turns into an eye-level exchange when both ends are occupied.
- Method
- We designed two modes. With one person present, the far unit mirrored their movements and showed its surroundings. With people at both ends, the units held still and switched to inward-facing cameras and quieter audio. I mapped that handoff, wrote control code, and supported the electronics wiring and fabrication.
- Outcome
- We demonstrated the working prototype on campus and at an exhibition. People recognized the binocular form, took the handles, and began exploring without instructions. The familiar form gave them a clear first move into an unfamiliar telepresence experience.