Breaking the Ice

As part of CODE, the digital edition of Vancouver’s 2010 Cultural Olympiad, the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] will present BREAKING THE ICE, an artistic telepresence installation that will invite patrons of Montreal’s Grande Bibliothèque to partake in the excitement of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

From February 4th to 21st, 2010, BREAKING THE ICE will allow the Montreal public to be teleported from the foyer of the Grande Bibliothèque to Vancouver’s Great Northern Way Campus to meet up with participants located over 4800 kilometers away. Montrealers and Vancouverites will be able to converse and interact with each other through the tactile screens of each city’s telepresence station!

Opening schedule : Montreal Monday : closed Tuesday & Wednesday : 1pm to 10pm Thursday & Friday : 1pm to 9pm Saturday & Sunday : 1pm to 5pm February 4th to 21st Grande Bibliothèque ——— Vancouver Monday : closed Tuesday & Wednesday : 10am to 7pm Thursday & Friday : 10am to 6pm Saturday & Sunday : 10am to 2pm February 4th to 21st Great Northern Way Campus

The implementation of unique interactive communication bases is the result of a collaboration between SAT researchers and designers and artist Paul Warne. Warne had been asked to conceive an original interface that would allow the user to deconstruct a human face by means of a virtual puzzle.

This state-of-the-art technology is an integration of the SCENIC and SPIN softwares, two programs developed by the [SAT]Metalab research project, and employs ultra-high bandwidth connections available through efficient fibre optic networks such as RISQ and CANARIE, Canada’s advanced research and innovation network.

Design and production :

• Original Design : Paul Warne
• Sound Designer : Andrew Kozloski
• Designer, Software Development : Mike Wozniewski
• Designer, Shader development : Louis Bouchard
• Designer, Industrial Design : Sébastien Dallaire

• Production Manager : Louis-Philippe St-Arnaud
• Technical Coordinator, Vancouver : Dominic St-Amant

Breaking the Ice is a SAT production presented in collaboration with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) and CODE. This project has been made possible by the ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition feminine du Québec, Quebec’s Scientific Information Network (RISQ), and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

In addition to the support of SAT[Metalab] team.

See photos and follow the project on Facebook