Tamás Waliczky - Sebastian Egner - Jeffrey Shaw: The Forest, 1993, demo
After completing the computer animated version of The Forest, Waliczky
started working on a second interactive version of The Forest in
collaboration with Jeffrey Shaw and Sebastian Egner. Here, the animation
becomes part of an interactive installation based on a flight simulator
with a seat and a large screen monitor on the surface. A joystick
mounted in the armrest of the seat allows the viewer to control the
movement of the simulator while simultaneously moving through the forest
on the screen in front of him. The flight simulator reacts accordingly,
so that changes in speed or direction are experienced as a physical
sensation. For this version, Sebastian Egner, who wrote the software and
designed the platform's control system, also designed a new way of
building the visual image - for technical reasons, it was not practical
to use the previous solution. In the new version of the work, the
drawings of the trees are not mounted on transparent cylinders, but are
randomly arranged inside a large cube in which the camera is free to
move in the direction chosen by the viewer. Theoretically, when the
camera reaches one side of the cube, it moves to a new box of the same
type with exactly the same trees; in reality, however, it re-enters the
same cube from the opposite side. So this space also seems infinite.
The flight simulator version of "The Forest" is very different from
other flight simulator works. It does not have a pre-recorded, linear
structure like the technically similar installations in various
amusement parks. It is not a computer game: there is no goal to be
achieved (for example, an airport waiting to be landed or an enemy to be
destroyed). Using the flight simulator version of "The Forest" is a
meditative experience.
"THE FOREST" 1993
Interactive flight simulation plattform application, the interactive
version of "DER WALD".
Common work of
Tamás Waliczky
Sebastian Egner
Jeffrey Shaw
Produced by Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
Hardware assistance: M. Hauffen, Dr. R. Gruber, H. Bruckner, W. Wentzel,
V. Kuchelmeister.
"Shepard instrument" adapted by P. Dutilleux
Reality Engine provided by Silicon Graphics, Karlsruhe
Copyright © 1993 Tamás Waliczky, Sebastian Egner, Jeffrey Shaw
"The Forest" (interactive cd-rom version), 1995
In the CD-rom version of "Forest", Waliczky uses the structure of the flight
simulator interactive version, with only a few modifications dictated by the
technical requirements of the medium. One significant modification is a further
reduction in the number of colours, which minimises the amount of information and
thus allows for higher projection speeds; for Waliczky, the size of the image
format and smooth movement were more important than the wide spectrum of tonal
shades. Instead of the grey tones of the original version, which give the
impression of a photograph, he uses pure white and black, giving the new
animation a distinctly graphic effect. The result is a kind of interactive
illustration of the original animation, but with modifications it becomes an
artwork in its own right.
Animation: Tamás Waliczky
Design: Tamás Waliczky, Anna Szepesi
Interface design: Holger Jost, Volker Kuchelmeister
Cd-rom adaptation of the work: Volker Kuchelmeister
Assisted by: Sylvia Molina Muro
Produced by ZKM, Karlsruhe
Copyright © 1995 Tamás Waliczky
Images copyright © 1993 Tamás Waliczky