Zach Lieberman, James Powderly, Evan Roth, Chris Sugrue, TEMPT1, Theo Watson. EyeWriter. 2009

Zach Lieberman, James Powderly, Evan Roth, Chris Sugrue, TEMPT1, Theo Watson EyeWriter 2009

  • Not on view

TEMPT1, a Los Angeles-based graffiti artist and activist, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2003, and the disease soon left him entirely paralyzed except for his eyes. The team that developed EyeWriter equipped a pair of eyeglasses with eye-tracking technology and custom software that could capture TEMPT1's eye movements. From his hospital room, wirelessly connected to a laptop and laser-tagging apparatus installed in downtown LA, the artist could draw his tag and have it projected on buildings at a superhuman scale in real time, so viewers could see the glowing graffiti as they were created. The EyeWriter research project was a collaboration among TEMPT1, the members of Free Art & Technology (FAT) lab, the openFrameworks community, and Graffiti Research Lab (GRL), with support from the Ebeling Group production company, the Not Impossible Foundation, and the Design and Technology program at Parsons The New School for Design, New York.

Gallery label from Born out of Necessity, March 2, 2012–January 28, 2013.
Medium
openFrameworks and custom software, eyeglasses, PlayStation Eye camera, IR pass filter, IR LEDs, battery clip, resistor, zip ties, and flexible metal wire
Dimensions
7 7/8 x 5 7/8 x 1 15/16" (20 x 15 x 5 cm)
Credit
Architecture & Design Purchase Fund
Object number
777.2011
Department
Architecture and Design

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