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See LA Times Coverage here - - Download full Studio IMC park proposal here

Download recent Normal Lear Center Grand Intervention list of selected park concepts

THE PARK OF THE FUTURE

Overview

The fast pace of change in today's city centers demands that we re-imagine the role of the urban park. The current cultural climate requires that we invent new definitions of civic spaces: definitions that are more inclusive, more useful, and more democratic in nature. This will especially be true in big cities where people rarely feel as if they have a voice or the ability to affect change in their community.

Studio IMC proposes a design for The Park of the Future: a civic space in downtown LA for relaxation, entertainment, and open creativity. The Park of the Future is a place where people can make their mark.

The Park of the Future will be an information commons and cultural hub with gardens, pavilions, sports courts, playgrounds, a public theater, and a space for free speech and political debate. The Park will promote civic participation through an overall design that integrates new media innovations such as “green” technologies, Wi-Fi, mobile device networks, a light sculpture, an interactive fountain, and hybrid spaces that blend the virtual and the real. (Fig. 1-3)

Introduction

Our concept blends traditional and future roles for parks. It is a traditional garden and entertainment space yet it also has a free speech space with hybrid environments that encourage creativity and blend the virtual and the real. Though free speech spaces and soap boxes for political speeches have existed in parks such as Hyde Park in London since 1872, [i] the idea remains a fresh and largely underexploited concept that Studio IMC feels should be at the heart of all city parks. By inviting public participation, the park will become a rich forum and a vibrant hub for debate, community building, film, music, and other types of civic collaboration, in addition to serving its traditional role as forum for leisure and relaxation.
Figure 1: Objectives

 
Figure 2: Blending virtual and physical spaces

 
Figure 3: Bird's-eye view of the park split into three areas

 

Spaces

Overview

The spaces and park elements described below provide a variety of solutions that Studio IMC believes would make the 16-acre civic park in downtown LA a more enjoyable, enlightening, and empowering experience. Elements such as environmental light sculpture, hybrid spaces, and wireless networks work well together, however, they can be used individually as well. All elements described below are also meant to be minimal and esthetically designed to blend well into the park landscape during the day while having the ability to stand out at night. Overall, the spaces and elements of the Park of the Future are meant to create unforgettable, magical, experiences that strengthen community, spur innovation, and encourage civic participation.

 

Infinite Garden : Woods, Ponds, & Meadows:

The park's center area is a 10-acre garden with ponds and meadows where people can relax. (Fig. 1) It is inspired both by French gardens and by Central Park in New York City. Infinite Garden has winding paths, trees, and small streams that spread like roots through the landscape providing shade and a sense of calm. (Fig. 2) From the office buildings above people will see an infinity pattern created by the paths. Overall, the garden is a place of openness, with rolling meadows where people can lay down and sunbathe beside small ponds (Fig. 3). Yet the garden also has dense trees, hidden passages, and secluded benches, with a variety of exotic flowers, plant life, and trees that highlight the biodiversity of the garden.

Figure 1: Left image of Sheeps Meadow in Central Park, NYC, U.S. [ii] Figure 2: Middle image of shaded area in Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France [iii] Figure 3: Right image of pond at Versailles, France [iv]

 

The Courts, Pools, Pavilions, & Playgrounds : Sports,  Food, & Play

On the four corners of the garden, are sports courts, and playgrounds where people can exercise and play. The courts (Fig.s 1-2) are versatile and can be used as basketball courts, tennis courts, or small soccer fields. The pools are beautifully integrated into the landscape. (Fig. 3) The pavilions offer a nice place for people to sit, talk, and eat. Pavilions and cafes can also act as a glue that holds the park together. (Fig. 4)

Figure 1: Left image of Sports Park in the UK [v] Figure 2: Middle image of basketball court in Central Park, NYC, U.S. [vi] Figure 3: Right image of eating area at Grand Avenue, LA, U.S. [vii]

 

The Entertainment Space : Plays, Concerts, & Productions by the Public

At the end of the park that borders on Grand Avenue, closer to the Disney Concert Hall, there is a 3-acre entertainment and cultural center that has a public theater and sound stage. (Fig.1) The performance space is extremely high-tech with the latest sound and lighting technologies. (Fig.2-3) Yet, the whole area is surrounded by grass and trees so it still has the feeling of being in a park. The theater is designed to be flexible and modular so it can be easily broken down and transformed into a variety of different formats and sizes. This way it can be used for concerts, plays, or any other type of performance, big or small, with a variety of seating arrangements. In addition, the public can sign up at public kiosks near the theater to organize their own theatrical productions and musical performances. Video of all performances is kept in the Grand Intervention time capsule and displayed on the public kiosks and the Free Speech Bulletin in the days following big performances.

 

Figure 1: Left image of Shakespeare in the Park in Central Park, NYC, U.S. [viii] Figure 2: Middle image of musical performance in Prospect Park Brooklyn, U.S. [ix] Figure 3: Right image of unknown outdoor concert [x]

 

The Free Speech & Debate Space : Linking Every Day Citizens to Politics & Art

Inspired by the Speakers Corner in Hyde Park (Fig. 1), on the other end of the park, closer to City Hall there is a 3-acre area for free speech and public debate.

 

Figure 1: Bird's-eye view of Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. [xi]

This area includes new media art works such as an environmental light sculpture titled, Temperature Rising. Directly beneath the sculpture is an interactive fountain that reflects the light and hugging both the sculpture and the reflection pool is a mixed reality environment comprised of Infinite City LA and the Free Speech Bulletin. (Fig. 2)
Figure 2: Bird's-eye view of the free speech space.
In this space, speech is totally free, meaning that people can voice their opinions, participate in local politics, and actually “see” communities and individual sentiments on issues surrounding the city. This is a way of making LA more transparent by making the communities within it more apparent. The Free Speech space of the park provides a platform that “visualizes” LA and offers tools that build interest in local politics. The Free Bulletin displays the public debates, voting, and comments on a semi-transparent media wall that faces City Hall. In addition, this space should also make people more aware of the greater environmental issues facing the globe. This is a space for building “social capital”- networks that can have implications on how people engage with each other, with the government, and with the environment around them.

 

Temperature Rising : Solar Powered Environmental Light Sculpture

The environmental light sculpture is called, Temperature Rising, and was inspired by the Washington Monument. (Fig. 1-3) This monolithic structure glows and stands over 100 feet tall, its changing colors responding to the temperature and acting as a type of thermometer indicating how bad Global Warming has gotten. The color spectrum and intensity depends on the temperature as well as the season. In addition, the light sculpture is self-sustaining, and has solar panels on two sides. As the sun changes position, the sculpture will swivel and turn itself so that the solar panels face the suns rays.

 

Figure 1-3: Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool, Washington DC, U.S. [xii]

Similar to the Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool, our monolithic light sculpture reflects its bright colors in a long fountain that stretches out beneath it. Walkways and benches surround the fountain where people can walk, sit, and relax. In addition, the pathways surrounding the fountain are lined by embedded sensors so that when a person passes a sensor, a spurt of water emanates from where the person stands, arching to the middle of the fountain. When people stand at opposite sides of the interactive fountain, the arching streams of water spurt from both sides, converging at the center, and creating infinity symbols in the reflections. (Fig. 4-5). The colors and orientation of the sculpture on its swivel depend on the temperature, weather, season, and time of day. (Fig. 6).
Figures 4-6: Temperature Rising light sculpture and the Reflecting Pool
Temperature Rising and the reflective fountain below are meant to remind people of their connection to nature and their responsibility to the environment. It is also meant to evoke a broader view of our planet and the timelessness of light and water. The sculpture and fountain make visible the notion that we are constantly interacting with and changing the environment around us.

 

Infinite City LA : Interactive Fly-Through Map of Downtown LA

Infinite City LA is an immersive environment and hybrid space (blending virtual and real) that depicts a 3D map of downtown LA. In approaching the 3D map in the park or online, multiple people use mobile devices and physical gestures to explore and make their mark on the futuristic cityscape. In addition to visualizing the web of communities in and around downtown LA, Infinite City LA is also about learning about LA and the appreciation of our natural and constructed environments as an important element of leisure.

Park-goers approach a semi-transparent 3D rendering of downtown LA (Fig. 1-2) projected on a sheet of glass. The interactive map activates upon sensing the proximity of any people. Once the map is activated, the participants can then navigate and fly over the immersive cityscape using hand movements. People can also send images of their favorite landmarks to the 3D city using their cell phones. Architecture and famous city and park landmarks are recreated on the long translucent plane that comprises the map, allowing many people to use gesture to navigate to all parts of the city and to all periods in the history of the city. People can  use Infinite City LA to zoom in to explore certain districts of the city and to learn details about their history and occupants. Infinite City LA is thus a map that empowers people to visualize and explore the area's physical structures, historical developments, and diverse communities, seeing the city as never before.

In addition, the hybrid environment will be programmed to interface with the Annenberg Center for Communication's 3D tools that allow people to explore the Grand Avenue development virtually. These technologies could also be tied into USC's Integrated Media Systems Center's GeoDec (Geospatial Decision Making) technology whose development is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

More info on Infinite City and CINE below and at www.StudioIMC.com/CINE.html

Figures 1-2: Images of users exploring Infinite City LA

 

The Free Speech Bulletin : Interactive Forum & Hybrid Space for Public Debate

The Free Speech Bulletin is identical in construction to Infinite City LA except that it depicts people's ideas instead of the buildings of downtown LA. (Fig. 1) Park-goers approach a large semi-transparent bulletin where they can post comments, vote on local political issues, and read town meeting notes using physical gestures and cell phones. All poles historic or current can bee accessed and viewed on the bulletin, City Hall might guide the current discussion and voting on the bulletin, though people would still be free to express themselves. The only rule is that there can be no hate speech- the Free Speech Bulletin is about opening up to a diversity of viewpoints. Similarly to Infinite City LA, the Free Speech Bulletin allows the public to see the city from many different angles.

Park-goers enter their comments and creative works using gesture, text messaging, and jacks that connect to iPods, laptops, and video cameras of all types. All comments and political opinions submitted to the Free Speech Bulletin is logged in a time capsule / database that displays the historical and current information about public sentiment on the bulletin for all to see. As such, the bulletin becomes a sort of thermometer that can visualize public sentiment in new ways.

Because the Free Speech Bulletin is designed to encourage collaboration and open creativity, users can work together to record music, podcasts, and video to be shared and saved in the Civic Park Music and Film Archives (also visualized on the bulletin). In addition, park-goers can go to the public kiosks to record their thoughts and submit to the bulletin and to the virtual park time capsule.

More info about Free Speech Bulletin below and at www.StudioIMC.com/fsb.html

Figure 1: People browsing the comments left by other, collaborating, and posting their own ideas.

 

Free Wi-Fi & Web Portals : Kiosks and Internet Access for Everyone

Another of the Park's central components is the virtual commons created by a free Wi-Fi network (Fig. 1) accessible by anyone in the park. Through this Wi-Fi network, people can access the Internet and create temporary wireless networks isolated from the Web for park-goers only. In addition, all web portals are equipped with solar panels and hand-cranks (inspired by the MIT Media Lab's $100 Computer initiative [xiii] ) in order to be self-sustaining. Thus is the sun is not out, people might have to physical turn the crank in order to generate the electricity needed to use the web kiosk.

In addition to providing free Internet access, the web kiosks are designed to have other functions. For example, when people are not using them to browse the web, the displays go into Signage Mode meaning that they can be used as signage by the park and local government notifying people of performances or town meetings. Yet, when users get close to the displays, they go into Magic Mirror mode, integrating interactive video art that allows people to see video reflections of themselves and make ripples in the video using gesture. When people actually touch the screen, the portals enter Web Kiosk Mode, allowing people to browse the web and view the archive of content being collected by the park time capsule (Fig. 2).

Figure 1: The Universal symbol for free hotspot Figure 2: Web kiosk functionality

 

The Mobile Device Network:

People with mobile devices like cell phones and PDAs can be used to create social networks and distribute text message information about entertainment schedules. (Fig. 1)

Users can connect to the Mobile Device Network to access any of the following features:

1.Local Politics- voting on local issues, debate/forums, town meeting notes.

2.Social Network- networking/jobs, collaborations, dating

3.Big Games-life-size pong, group treasure hunts, organizing pickup games on courts

4.Tourism and Maps- guide to local area, map of park

5.Culture & Entertainment- schedules of local events, theater signup, time capsule

6.Free Speech & Debate- text archive, music & film archive

Our mobile device network is also inspired by and can work in combination with a project being developed at the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication by Julian Bleecker. Bleeker's project, called Wifi.Bedouin, is about “the concept of inserting wireless signals into unexpected places – and thereby suggesting new ways of thinking about the world.” The project is described on Bleeker's website as “a wearable, mobile 802.11b node disconnected from the global Internet. It is designed to be functional as well as provocative, expanding the possible meaning and metaphors about access, proximity, wireless and WiFi.” Our Mobile Device Network could similarly be connected to a localized, mesh network with site-specific information separate from the Internet and only available to park-goers. For example, people could act as “Music Nodes” or “Film Nodes” who collect and distribute the creations of park-goers, encouraging collaboration within the park.  Just like Infinite City and Free Speech Bulletin, WiFi.Bedouin is “a deliberate attempt to meaningfully stitch together what are often considered two entirely separate realms – virtual and physical worlds – into a more cohesive… and deliberate hybrid.” [xiv]

 

Figure 1: The Universal symbol for free hotspot Figure 2: Web kiosk functionality

 

Grand Intervention Time Capsule & Film / Music Archive

In order to further stimulate collaboration and innovation across the virtual commons, the final element of our proposal is a Grand Intervention Time Capsule and archive that collects the creative works of park-goers. Seeing as the chief creative industry in LA is film, there is a Film Archive which can be accessed on online, via the web kiosks, or via the Free Speech Bulletin where people can plug in their own cameras, computers, mobile devices, iPods, and other external hard drives. In addition, there is a music archive and people have the ability to plug in their iPods and computers. (Fig.1-2)

Figure 1: iPod Connectivity to Virtual Park Figure 2: Time Capsule & Archive
As part of the virtual park, the Grand Intervention Time Capsule stores and organizes all of the comments, images, and music collected by the web kiosks and Free Speech Bulletin. This makes the virtual park timeless in that the entire history of the park and the creations of its participants are forever logged for future generations to see. Also, this way social progress can be easily mapped over time and problem areas can be identified. The political process as well as the creative process could be aided a great deal by a virtual park with integrated time capsule, archive, and compelling visual tools that engage greater participation.

 

The Park at Night: Transformation & Timelessness

Most parks at night such as Central Park are scary and dangerous to enter at night. Our final concept proposal for the Park of the Future is a total transformation at night,  giving the park the ability to become an inviting and brightly-lit, events-filled cultural center that doesn't need to close when it gets dark. Not only will the light Free Speech and Entertainment spaces be glowing, but concerts and projections onto the sides of the surrounding buildings will bring the entire space to life. Projections of water running down the side of Disney Concert Hall or a rainforest projected on other nearby buildings would be an example of how this immersive urban environment could be used. (Fig. 1) The juxtaposition between the scenes of nature projected onto the huge urban canvass of the nearby buildings would be astonishing and stunningly beautiful to look at, again reminding us of our connections to nature and the need for new forms of public art in cities.

Figure 1: Nighttime immersive urban projection environment using nearby buildings as canvasses

 

Conclusion

The Park of the Future and its associated hybrid spaces invite open participation and civic engagement in new and unexpected ways. By utilizing such design concepts, the city park would become a magical place: a true model of democracy and a hub for innovation, sharing, and creativity. By giving the publilac a voice and allowing an information commons to grow in a physical place, the park will act as a magnet that will continually strengthen and pump genius into our communities. (Fig. 1)

Figure 1: Illustration from article by Martin Kaplan, Associate Dean of the USC Annenberg School and Director of The Norman Lear Center (www.learcenter.org), which studies the impact of entertainment on society. [xv]

 

User Testing & Scenario of Use

Though it has many applications, we are focusing on CINE's immense potential to enhance group experiences in the context of entertainment, public debate, and education.

We have tested it and seen its success in city parks, universities, and museums. See more information here.

Those inside the environment find themselves in a flying taxi cab and they are told at the outset that they have been given the responsibility of organizing the images on this new futuristic urban desktop while navigating the space and composing music in real time.

Not only can this application inspire creativity and collaboration, it can also be educational. Another layer of this urban infoscape might take them outside of the game, allowing them to explore various architectural landmarks around Downtown LA.

Scenario: When you step into CINE LA, you are confronted with an immersive installation depicting a futuristic city reminiscent of downtown LA. In approaching the screens and a crystal ball at the center of the hybrid space, you immediately notice that your body has initiated certain sounds and that, in unison with the person next to you, you can compose music and begin to fly through a 3D memory space filled with photographs sent from people with camera phones in the park and in the streets of LA. A third user then joins you and puts his/her hands near the walls of the environment only to find that these gestures control the scrolling and choosing of certain imagery. Immersive 3D visualizations with virtual physics and multi-channel sound augment the collaborative experience while you place images on the walls of virtual buildings and compose music in real-time.

Other Applications for CINE :

1. Collaborative Expression- Immersive Networked Performance Spaces

2. Collaborative Education- Immersive Networked Classrooms & Museum Installations/Environments

3. Collaborative Entertainment- Immersive Marking Techniques & Large-scale games

4. Collaborative Exploration- Research Data Visualization

5. Other Collaborative Endeavors

 

Interactive Demos, Soundtrack , & Video Footage

*See early interactive demos of our virtual city prototype here (larger version- use arrows to navigate) and here (more detailed version- use arrows to navigate and z and x keys to zoom). And see an interactive demo of the CAVE-like display setup for CINE here (use the arrows to rotate around the environment and 1, 2, 3 and 4 keys to change the contents of the environment).

See our current interactive demo here.

Requirements: Mac or PC with Internet Explorer and Virtools Web Player (download here for free).

Here is the original soundtrack we created in Reason and then took samples from for the environment. The music is original with the exception of several voice samples taken from Drum n Bass and regae songs by Aphrodite, Dom & Roland, Buju Banton and others.

See Video Footage of CINE at the IMCexpo at the Chelsea Art Museum.

 

Credits

Park proposal by James Tunick, Carrie Elston, Brad Leinhardt, and Tony Rizzaro (bios below)

Advisors: Paul Elston- New York City park planner, Founding Chairman of the New York League of Conservation Voters. Has done work on numerous parks as well as planning for the World Trade Center site. Jonathan Garcia- Yale graduate, law student, public policy researcher, and grant writer. Miro Kirov- Studio IMC principal 3D designer and artist

Many thanks to Dr. Johanna Blakley, Assistant Director, The Norman Lear Center, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California and to Beth Noveck, Assoc. Prof., Director Institute for Information Law & Policy, New York Law School. Thanks also to Frank Migliorelli, Jean-Marc Gauthier, and Red Burns at the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), Tisch, NYU.

 

 

Press Coverage
Video---Real Media Stream Website---www.ny1.com

 

Press Coverage Continued...

TV, Magazines & Newspapers

New York 1 News, Rollingstone Magazine, TimeOut New York, the New York Observer, IdN Magazine, NYArts Magazine, the Yale Daily News, YE Magazine

New York 1 News TV Report by Adam Balkin, April, 2005

Studio IMC's Interactive Multimedia Culture Expo, IMCexpo, featured in full report on TV and online. See video clip here.

 

New York Arts Magazine September/October, 2004

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum in New York City featured in article. Featured photographs of Infinite City.

TimeOut New York June 10–17, 2004

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum in New York City listed. Show featured Infinite City.

Rolling Stone Magazine November 22, 2001

"WHY", interactive 9/11 memorial sculpture by Studio IMC Founder and President, James Tunick, as well as Yale student artists Emily Eidenier and Austin Van, featured in photograph. This sculpture was the inspiration for the Free Speech Bulletin.

Yale Daily News December 3, 2002

"YaleScape.com" social software and digital archive (previously called "D-Swap") created by Studio IMC Founder and President, James Tunick, as well as Yale students Derek Lomas and Michael Kai, featured in front page article. SCAPE social software backend tied into Infinite City and the Free Speech Bulletin.

Yale Daily News February 13, 2002

"WHY", interactive 9/11 memorial sculpture by Studio IMC Founder and President, James Tunick, as well as Yale student artists Emily Eidenier and Austin Van, featured in front page article. This sculpture was the inspiration for the Free Speech Bulletin.

Yale Entrepreneur (YE) Magazine Spring, 2003

"YaleScape.com" social software and digital archive (previously called "D-Swap") created by Studio IMC Founder and President, James Tunick, as well as Yale students Derek Lomas and Michael Kai, featured in article. SCAPE social software backend tied into Infinite City and the Free Speech Bulletin.

 

Online Coverage

Rhizome, Arts Electric, Future Feeder, Moco.News, eOculus, EMF (Electronic Music Foundation), Upcoming, ArtDaily, Art OnOne, Cool Hunting

Future Feeder May, 2005

News about New Technology, Design, & Architecture

Studio IMC's CINE, by James Tunick, Miro Kirov, and Houston Riley featured in article. CINE is a gesture responsive immersive display system being developed by Studio IMC for use in retail and architecture.

Moco.News December 20, 2004

Mobile Content News

Studio IMC's Cellscape - Free Speech Bulletin II (a cellphone and gesture responsive mobile display system for public spaces), featured in article about the NYU Tisch ITP Winter Show on this website

Upcoming.org June 19, 2004

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City featured in article. Show featured Infinite City.

Rhizome Digest June 19, 2004

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City featured in Rhizome Digest article and listed in "Art+Text" section of website . Show featured Infinite City.

eOculus eMagazine June 7, 2004

Published by The American Institute of Architects New York Chapter

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City listed in "Sighted" section of website. Featured photographs of Infinite City.

R News April, 2005

News on Demand website by reporters from NY1

IMCexpo featured in article . CINE featured in photographs.

Arts Electric June 19, 2004

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City featured in "In the Spotlight " section of website.

iOnOne eMagazine June 19, 2004

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City featured in article

Cool Hunting June 19, 2004

eMagazine on "stuff from the intersection of design, culture, and technology

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City listed

Electronic Music Foundation 2003 - 2004

"Introductions" Lecture series with Electronic Music Foundation (EMF) as part of "Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City listed on EMF website

Le Collagiste VJ May 13, 2005

Blog about Video Art & VJ Culture

"STUDIO IMC IMMERSION 3D TOTAL", article reviewing new media installations such as Infinite City, CINE, 3D PortraitSphere, and others.

Create Digital Music May, 2005

Blog about Digital Music and Multimedia Design

"STUDIO IMC 2005, CHELSEA ART MUSEUM ", gallery documenting the 2nd Annual IMCexpo. Show featured CINE.

ArtDaily eNewspaper June 19, 2004

The First Art Newspaper on the Net

"Convergence", Studio IMC's interactive multimedia exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum (now also the New Museum) in New York City featured in article.

 

Bios

James Tunick

James Tunick is a new media engineer, artist, and co-founder of Studio IMC, a new media design studio and artist management firm based in New York City (www.StudioIMC.com). Tunick has worked with clients such as the Museum of Modern Art PS1, Hennessy, Diesel and others. He is also Executive Producer of the Annual IMC Expo (www.IMCexpo.net). Tunick's most recent work involves the design, development, and marketing of immersive and mobile visual displays with Studio IMC partner Tony Rizzaro for major clients in retail, architecture, marketing, and education. In addition, Tunick is currently developing interactive environments and audiovisual installations for stage and for museums with Studio IMC Principal Designers Jean-Marc Gauthier and Miro Kirov. Tunick graduated from Yale University with high honors in his interdisciplinary major (American Studies and Interactive New Media) and he has a master's degree in new media from NYU ITP.

Among the many multimedia events Tunick has produced and organized is Interfaced Culture at Yale University, an international conference on interactive new media technology in the arts for which he received a grant with Yale Professors Dr. Mathew Suttor and Dr. Kathryn Alexander in 2002. He also curated a Studio IMC show at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City in 2004 called "Convergence: The Collision of Physical and Virtual Space in Digital Art," featuring the works of Studio IMC's top artists and engineers.

In 2002 Tunick received a grant to design and build a digital media studio for the arts at Yale. Photographs of his interactive 9/11 memorial sculpture were featured in Rollingstone Magazine, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Yale Daily News. In addition, he was selected as a finalist in the Y50K business plan competition in 2004 for a social networking and online archiving software program he co-founded with Derek Lomas and Michael Kai at Yale called theScape.com.

Tunick also designed and built the immersive new media installation, "Infinite City" with Miro Kirov, Studio IMC Principal Designer and 3D Animator, and Jean-Marc Gauthier, Studio IMC Principal, ITP professor, and author. The installation involves real-time interactive 3D graphics and gestural control over visuals and spatialized sound through ultrasonic sensors all within an immersive virtual environment. This pioneering work was in the Studio IMC show at the Chelsea Art Museum and was in the September/October 2004 issue of NYArts Magazine. The work is also featured in Jean-Marc Gauthier's book, ""Virtual Sets and Pre-Visualization for Games, Movies and the Web", to be published by Focal Press, Elsevier Science (2004).

In addition to producing the IMC Expo and finishing his master's at NYU ITP, Tunick is presently launching a Studio IMC magazine about technology, politics and culture to be launched in January 2007, and raising VC funding for the Studio IMC Research Lab & Gallery Space to be founded in New York City in January 2008.

 

Carrie Elston

Carrie Elston is a sculptor and painter living in New York City. She attended Yale University where she got her BA in 2003. She has been in a number of group shows including: A Fine Romance; Atlantic Gallery, NY, 2005; Women Shine Through; Weave Gallery, CA, 2005; Wind, Sea, Sky, RE: Monumenta; Project One, RI, 2004; Period Gallery, Internet, 2004; Funktion, CT, 2004; PABA Gallery, CT, 2004; Project Interactive, CT, 2003.

Tony Rizzaro

For over 20 years Mr. Tony Rizzaro has been aggressively successful introducing "new" technologies to market and bringing innovation to the enterprise. He is co-founder and managing partner of Studio IMC and the IMC Expo. 

Among many Forbes 400 companies, he has been highly valued for his industry-leading ability to integrate the creative process with some of the most valued emerging technologies. It was this innovative approach that helped launch many first-to-market initiatives around the world. In fact, the origin of many interactive and immersive environments, sales force automation tools, Internet and Intranet applications can be traced to Mr. Rizzaro. 

At age 25, he founded perhaps the first truly interactive marketing agency in the country, combining award-winning marketing and design with highly advanced technology. His vision enabled him to offer unprecedented design and marketing solutions as well as a wealth of tactical solutions that enabled companies to become more successful.

Over the years, his client list has included such prestigious names as Heineken USA, Disney, Marriott, Nabisco, Diageo, L'Oréal, Revlon, Allied Domecq, Remy Amerique, Skyy, Schieffelin & Somerset, GE Capital, Con Agra, Barton Inc., Triarc Beverages, Hartmann Luggage, WestPoint Stevens, Dime Savings Bank, Playtex, TGI Fridays, Houlihan's, Red Lobster, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Café, Chili's, and The Bali Corporation, just to name a few. What's more, his partners have included such prestigious names as MCI WorldCom, Peppers and Rogers and Hewlett Packard USA.

Mr. Rizzaro has been asked to speak at universities and Conferences throughout the world on the topic of emerging technologies. He has been featured in many national publications such as NY Times, Gannett, Wall Street Journal, POP Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1to1 Marketing, has been interviewed on technology segments hosted by Dan Rather, Technology Week, and networks such as CBS and ABC News.

His formal education took place at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, Columbia University (for telecommunications and computer science), and Pratt Institute of Technology. Mr. Rizzaro has also been involved with individuals from New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) for over 20 years and has helped to advance the careers of many of its students and researchers.

 

Bradley Leinhardt

Brad Leinhardt is a second year law student at New York Law School. He is concentrating his studies in the fields of Information Technology, Intellectual Property, and Cyberlaw. He is a candidate for the Certificate of Mastery in Law Practice Technology degree program administered by the Institute for Information Law and Policy, and is being advised by Professor Beth Noveck. His research areas include Social Software and its interactions and efficiency in the legal community, Information Management, and demonstrating an ability to build legally related systems in Virtual Worlds. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Business Law from the University of Miami and spent a semester studying at Exeter College, at Oxford University as well. Brad is currently Director of Legal Research for Studio IMC “Interactive Multimedia Culture.”

 

 

Endnotes

[i]  “…Speakers' Corner is the spiritual home of the British democratic tradition of soapbox oratory. Every Sunday since the right of free assembly was recognized in 1872, people from all walks of life have gathered to listen to speeches about anything and everything... and to heckle. The coherence of the speakers varies greatly as do the topics of discussion, but as a whole it makes for great street theatre.” From http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Attraction/Speakers_Corner/4460/

 

 

 


To learn more contact Tony Rizzaro at TRizzaro@StudioIMC.com or James Tunick at JTunick@StudioIMC.com
 
 
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