Sara Owsley

Network arts: exposing cultural reality

In this article, we explore a new role for the computer in art as a reflector of popular culture. Moving away from the static audio-visual installations of other artistic endeavors and from the traditional role of the machine as a computational tool, we fuse art and the Internet to expose cultural connections people draw implicitly but rarely consider directly. We describe several art installations that use the World Wide Web as a reflection of cultural reality to highlight and explore the relations between ideas that compose the fabric of our every day lives.

Buzz: telling compelling stories

This paper describes a digital theater installation called Buzz. Buzz consists of virtual actors who express the collective voice generated by weblogs (blogs). These actors find compelling stories from blogs and perform them. In this paper, we explore what it means for a story to be compelling and describe a set of techniques for retrieving compelling stories. We also outline an architecture for high level direction of a performance using Adaptive Retrieval Charts (ARCs), allowing a director-level of interaction with the performance system. Our overall goal in this work is to build a model of human behavior on a new foundation of query formation, information retrieval and filtering.

The association engine: a free associative digital improviser

In this article, we present the Association Engine, a multimedia installation that explores the space of language and exposes connections between words by performing a series of improvisational games. It stands out from previous efforts in the realm of computers and theater as the agency has been empowered with a cultural understanding, more specifically, it uses the Web as a source of cultural reality.

Believable performance agents for interactive conversations

As computers become more integrated into our everyday lives, they will need to be able to interact with us within the context of our world as well as theirs. While it is unlikely that we will ever want all interactions with a computer to mimic dialogs with other people, it is clear that they will need to be able to engage in coherent, compelling conversations with people who are not thinking of them as machines. Our effort, and the system described below, is aimed at approaching this goal by creating a framework for believable performance agents within the content of interactive theatrical experiences.

Computational support for compelling story telling

This paper describes a digital theater installation call Buzz. Buzz consists of virtual actors who express the collective voice generated by blogs. These actors find compelling stories from blogs on the popular and contentious topics of the day and perform them. In this paper, we explore what it means for a story to be compelling and describe a set of techniques for retrieving compelling stories on a topic. We also outline an architecture for high level direction of a performance using Adaptive Retrieval Charts (ARCs), allowing a director level of interaction with the performance system. Our overall goal in this work is to build a model of human behavior on a new foundation of query formation, information retrieval and filtering.