Re: Visit Palestine is a prototype interactive mixed video-virtual environment installation. This prototype is part of my Ph.D. research investigating the potential use of interactive installations and digital media for communicating complex political narrative experientially and spatially. This prototype specifically addresses the occupation of Palestine narrative. This prototype has been tested on a group of experts from related disciplines. Their interaction, feedback, and a follow-up questionnaire have been documented and then analyzed as part of the doctoral research.
The prototype consists of two main output channels; a virtual environment and a video projection. The interaction device is Leap Motion Controller.
The virtual environment is built using Unity game engine. This environment serves as the main navigational and interaction interface. The interface allows the viewer to move through places and time zones while getting exposed to different information relating to the occupation of Palestine.
Interaction is supported by an infrared sensor called Leap Motion Controller. The controller has been set up to translate hand gestures into a first-person controller inside the environment. The design specifically investigated using low-cost technology, non-game controllers, devices that can be used as spatial navigators inside the virtual environment. Leap Motion Controller is still in experimentation mode and mainly used with VR “Virtual Reality” headsets. Using it in this capacity to control the first-person view inside Unity game engine, in a design activism project rather than a game, is a novel idea and still needs more fine-tuning.
The second output channel is video projections. The videos projected were edited from the Internet-sourced footage, created mainly by people in Palestine or from different activist organizations.
The two output channels are synchronized; the second output channel is triggered by movement inside the virtual environment. The signal is being transmitted between the two over UDP “User Datagram Protocol”, local router and using a customized video player built on Processing.
This prototype is in the process of being further developed to become an exhibition that will be open to the public. If you are interested in supporting this project in any capacity please contact me directly on rusaila@lab-tajribi.com
This research is part of Rusaila’s doctoral research at Curtin University, Australia. The research was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Hutchison from the School of Design and Built Environment and Prof. Erik Champion from the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry. Rusaila acknowledges the technical assistance of Kevin Raxworthy and Amy Hickman, technical officers at Curtin University and Saffiya Bazlamit, a freelance animator. This doctoral research was supported by the contribution of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.
You can check Rusaila Bazlamit’s thesis here: “Designing Activist Spatial Experiences Using Mixed-Media Virtual Environments”.