- We want to provide a flying tele-presence that causes viewers to experience an emotional reaction to a flying object.
- Themes of artificial surveillance systems and a reinterpretation of the video camera as an eye rather than a video recorder.
- Control the blimp through our Java applet across a local network.

Background

- Initial concept was conceived of on a much larger scale floating around New York City.
- Each object was to be networked with one another and geo-tracked through a map API online.
- Scaled down to a smaller more personal version of the sensing bot.

Audience

- This project does not have any specific demographic, all users are welcomed to interact with it

User Scenario

- Visitor experiences a 3-foot diameter red balloon hovering past their heads.
- Control of the bot through videosensing or manual controls through our java applet interface, which communicates with our java server.
- Both the user & viewer will have interesting reactions voyeur/operator & spectator/tracked person.

Implementation

- Components – 3-foot helium balloon, RF reciever, RF transmitter, RF video camera, 4 mini propeller motors, Lithium-polymer battery, 9v battery, PIC chip + circuit, and wooden chassis.
- Serial information to high and low different motors is transmitted via RF to serially connect to a computer.
- Images are processed across a java server that writes a jpeg image of the data, including the rect color tracker graphic. – Processing applet serves up the front-end where the user can control the color selection and manual control methods.
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Flash Demo

Conclusion

- Biggest challenge was enabling networked communication between separate server and client applications.
- Understanding of threads, and socket connections in Java to get our code to function reliably.
- Aerodynamics are more important than we thought.

References

Shawn Van Every, Dan O’Sullivan, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Patrick Dwyer, Jury Hahn, Leif Krinkle and Karl Channell

Summary:
In the same vein of H.G. Wells’ radio announcement of the War of the Worlds, in which he drove the nation into a frenzy, we hope to create a hopefully similar spectacle using three large-scale floating objects. Instead of using the radio we will be using the Internet as our medium for propaganda. Three large-scale floating masses will fly around different sections of New York City. Each ‘blimp’ will contain wireless cameras that will send video to a web interface where users can track each blimps location and view of the city. If technology and budget permit we also hope to put giant ‘markers’ on the ground in parts of the city where the blimps are flying, which would allow us to map virtual layers of geography on top of the camera’s view of the city creating and augmented real-time view of the city. People viewing the project over the web as well as from the ground will have completely shifted perception of the city for that moment in time. We also hope to have a live camera stream from the ground that online user’s can cut to as well, where different people are being interviewed about the event.

Project Developments:
A smaller scale version of this project will be performed indoors at the NYU, ITP Spring show May 9th & 10th. We are currently in the process of creating a 5-foot version of the flying object that will be flown during the show. This blimp will have different motors attached to it and be able to fly in different directions based on what colors the user selects. For example, if looking through the blimp’s camera someone is standing with a green shirt, then an online user clicks on that shirt. The blimp will then continue to fly towards the color. The camera attached to the blimp will serve as a video sensing controller continuously tracking a different source. We see this project as the precursor to a larger version that takes place throughout the city.
We are currently funding the project ourselves and using low cost components to achieve positive results. A cheap nokia cell phone camera with our own Java midlet application will hopefully suffice, although we are also testing using wireless Radio Frequency cameras. The blimp itself is being designed with extremely lightweight fabrics to hold the desired components. Approximately 5-feet around of mylar filled with helium can hold roughly 1/4 of a pound. It will be designed with iridescent material in a series of interconnected pods, a shape that will not be recognizable as a typical blimp.

Elements:
-Creating 1-3 different floating objects
-each one is equipped with java midlets writing images to a server.
-users can navigate through the different cameras through an online flash interface
-usage of mapquest openapi for geotracking of the blimps locations

The idea is to have a videosensing flying robot that hovers around the show controlled by user input from a computer. It will follow whatever color is clicked on within a user interface. 2 potential cameras will exist that are both user selectable (hopefully over the Internet).

Elements:
-Creating 1-3 different floating objects
-each one is equipped with java midlets writing images to a server
-users can navigate through the different cameras through an online interface
-usage of mapquest openapi for geotracking of the ufos location

Useful Links -

Heather Autonomous Blimp – http://www.deweyhagborg.com/lighter_than_air/index.html
Dudes that sell Blimps – http://www.blimpguys.com
Cheap GPS Phone – http://www.mologogo.com/site/phonesales
Border Jumping Flying Robot – http://www.lowdrone.com/
http://www.rctoys.com/eyecam.php
http://www.rctoys.com/eyecamextreme.php
http://bleex.me.berkeley.edu/ME102/proj_archive/S02/blimp/main.html
http://www.myairship.com/
http://scientificsonline.com/Product.asp_Q_pn_E_3038115
http://www.ias.uwe.ac.uk/People%20Pages/j-welsby/blimp_propulsion.htm
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1786
http://toytx.com/Media/E_Zonemag_Aug2000/E_Zone_Review.htm
http://www.otherlandtoys.co.uk/ufopic2.htm
Shawns Networked Stuffed Animal – http://www.walking-productions.com/school/nob/journal.html
Air Genie
The White Diamond