NYT story on an interactive art installation that toys with the surreal, free-association results of Internet keyword searches. David Ayman Shamma of Northwestern University, and Kristian J. Hammond of Northwestern University have created "Imagination Environment," currently on display in Chicago.
[The exhibit] starts with a live television news broadcast that is displayed at the center of a wall-mounted array of nine computer monitors. A software program scans the broadcast's closed-caption stream and selects keywords that prompt Internet searches for images. Seconds after the live audio is heard, the news broadcast is surrounded by pertinent photographs and illustrations on adjacent screens, as well as some images completely unrelated.
"The words tend to be linked to a strange combination of images that are on point and strikingly bizarre," Professor Hammond said.
For instance, during a recent televised briefing by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a reference to troops was as likely to retrieve a photograph of Girl Scouts as one of soldiers. But a mention of the secretary's title only generated a cartoon drawing of an administrative assistant.
Registration-free Link, and Link to artists' site (thanks Tony)
