Doppelgänger

Master Thesis l Prof. Mark Shepard l Situated Technologies Research Group , University at Buffalo l Prof. Jens Geelhaar l Interface Design, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar l Spring 2014

Doppelgänger is a public communication sculpture and a sound installation realized in form or a tunnel structure. It was exhibited at the Media Architecture Biennale 2014 and Bauhaus-Universität Weimar's summaery 2014.
Two telemetrically connected tunnels at remote locations create an apparatus for meeting/communicating virtually, yet spatially perceivable, with others merely through the sound of your footsteps. This happens with the aid of 16 speakers and 16 microphones that are built into the floor platform of each tunnel. Microphones pick up the sound of your footsteps which then get transmitted to the other tunnel to be played back on the corresponding speakers in real-time.

Two participants simultaneously enter each tunnel and walk towards each other while they only hear the other person approaching. They meet at some point along the tunnel and then pass through each other as there is only enough room for one person in the middle.
Doppelgänger investigates the communicative qualities of the human gait as a counterpoint to existing visual, verbal and textual communication protocols. It introduces subtle, culturally varying aspects of situated interactions to digital communication media, and re-evaluates the potential of walking as an embodied, contextualized mode of interacting and being in the world.

Due to time and money constraints only one tunnel could be constructed in Phase 1 which was located at the courtyard of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar's Library. Therefore, a catwalk was built and placed at a distant location to replace the second proposed tunnel in Buffalo. The catwalk incorporated the same number of microphones and speakers which would make it function identically to the built tunnel. The architectural design of the tunnel is an attempt to create thresholds of isolation/concentration both visually and acoustically. The first phase allowed for studying visitor engagement and an evaluation of technical efficacy and overall experience.
Doppelgänger also features a standalone mode which uses the array of speakers to create interactive spatial sonic experiences using multi-layer sound samples (e.g. a freight train that sweeps through the tunnel as a visitor enters).

Video on vimeo.com "Doppelgänger in Weimar"
Video on vimeo.com "Doppelgänger goes Aarhus"