You Are Here tracks and displays the paths of visitors traveling through a large public space. The system displays the aggregate paths of the last two hundred visitors along with blobs representing the people currently being tracked. When viewers approach the work, they can display the live video image with the paths of currently tracked visitors superimposed:

The viewer is identified with a large red "you are here" arrow where they are clearly identified standing in front of the installation:

Viewers can also scroll backwards in time, revealing where visitors came from and how their paths intersected with others':

The technology of this system is rooted in surveillance systems that are rapidly being put into place in all of our public spaces: airports, shopping malls, grocery stores and our streets and parks. The motivation for such public systems ranges from security and law enforcement to marketing and advertising. The system of this artwork is wholly anonymous – no data is collected and the only use of the information is by the museum visitors to track themselves and their friends. However, in many real-world applications of such technology, the identities of those being tracked are also registered. You Are Here provides a visceral understanding of surveillance systems' capabilities and a sensual, visual representation of information that is normally only accessible as dry statistics.

This benevolent application of tracking is also meant to show the interconnectedness of viewers' with other visitors to the space by give them a sense of the aggregate presence of people over time.

Technical Execution

The overall system consists of two major components: an array of overhead cameras to visually record actions throughout the hall and a computer that integrates the images and tracks people's paths. The overhead tracking is accomplished with an array of six networked firewire cameras:

The custom tracking software integrates the cameras' disparate views into a single composite data stream by correcting for lens distortion, then transforming each image into a common coordinate system. The images below show the alignment and calibration process while the exhibition hall was still under construction:

raw camera images

camera images corrected for lens distortion

camera images aligned for geometric correspondence

Commissioned for the New York Hall of Science Connections exhibition.

Credits:

Eric Siegel	director
Stephen Uzzo	project manager
Scott Snibbe	concept, engineering, programming
Jeff Kennedy & Associates	exhibit design
Design Craftsmen	exhibit fabrication

Print resolution images:

tracking paths [1 2]
rewinding [1 2 3]
live image [1 2 3]
viewers [1 2 3 4]