|
> version
[ ]
Drums of War (DOW) gives viewers an auditory display of the popular media's war coverage over the last few tumultuous months. DOW has been logging newswire stories during that period of time, parsing them for mentions of war, conflict, and strife in numerous regions of the world. From this data DOW has generated a "war-likelihood" index for each day. Viewers are invited to plug small drums into a large map of the world. If the war-likelihood in that region is high, the connected drum will beat quickly; if it is low, the drum will beat slowly. Plugging in a number of drums allows viewers to compare the perceived chance of conflict in various parts of the world. A simple knob can be used to dial back in time, enabling viewers to hear the ebb and flow of reporting since late March. Setting the dial to "today" fetches realtime data directly from the web.
DOW joins a growing family of ambient information displays. This reinterpretation of distributed data into the simple and classic notion of beating the "drums of war" leaves the passerby with an audible perception of unrest across the globe. The background drumming echoes both the tribal communication patterns of civilizations past, and the drummer-boys who accompanied western European armies in generations of combat. It also serves as a concentrated information source to replace the onslaught of today's news and war-reportage.
In the Press:
•
Drumbeats unveil biases in war coverage
India New England - Jan 15, 2004
•
Drums of War
India Abroad - Jan 7, 2004
•
Bhargava discusses 'Drums of War'
MIT's Tech Talk - Dec 10, 2003
|
created in collaboration with Mira Friedlaender
hardware built around my iDisplay driver board
boxes created with BoxMaker
Watch a short movie [500kB] from the ArtBots show! The DOW starts at in late March, and I dial over to mid-May.
Shown at:
•
ArtEXPO International Feb 26 - Mar 1, 2004 (New York City)
•
MIT Museum: Inventor's Spotlight Dec 11/18, 2003 (Boston)
•
ArtBots: the robot talent show July 12-13, 2003 (New York City)
|
