World's first MMS Mobile Phone Game

"The pressure points and the movement of your body interacts with the visual image on the screen in front of you and is transmitted to another BODYSHELF connected by broadband.

"I can be on a BODYSHELF in Brisbane and interacting with someone else on a BODYSHELF in the UK. We each have characters within the online performance and by the way we move our bodies, we interact and influence the movements of the character. The movements are tracked and transmitted via the BODYSHELF, which incorporates an array of sensors, detecting the shifting balances of bodyweight."

“Now I can't see the person in the UK or hear them, but I can see what their character is doing so I have to become the character to interact with the other person. There are also sensors that indicate how “close” I am to the other person. The closer I get to them, there will be a vibration or a pulling sensation that indicates I am coming closer to the person I am interacting with.

The 'Intimate Transactions installation' (aka BODYSHELF) forms part of a larger ACID research and development project that uses bandwidth - once the vehicle for corporate and educational data - in new and challenging ways.

"This interactive installation allows us to test the social and technological aspects of streaming-technologies, whilst pushing the boundaries of what constitutes smart-furniture," said Professor Jones.

"Two people in separate locations, possibly countries, can communicate using body movements via the BODYSHELF.

So what sort of experience does the BODYSHELF offer the user?

“As you begin to interact with the visual image that’s in front of you, you learn that you have to move your body to define the character and by moving your body you create different physical characteristics in the image and become very aware of your body movements. How you “talk” or interact by moving your body becomes a sensory, a new sensory capability.

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