Exchange Multi Media Streams for Distributed Networked Performance Installations
This paper describes the Telemersive Toolkit [hereafter referred to as TTkit], a system that enables artists and educators to set up complex low-latency multimedia streaming infrastructures between multiple computers connected via networks.
TTkit addresses the challenge for non-technical personnel to create their own streaming environment that does not require reconfiguration of the local network infrastructure and allows computers to be connected across different network configurations and firewall setups.
The TTkit provides an intuitive user interface called telemersive-gateway [hereafter referred to as Gateway] to set up the network and displays the current status of all streams – video, audio, motion tracking data, control data – exchanged within the network. Each Gateway on the network can monitor and configure the streaming setup of all other Gateways on the network, making it a very convenient tool for troubleshooting and helping artists, researchers as well as educators (e.g. to assist novice users) in setting up their individual machines.
In order to evaluate TTkit, the Telematic Perfomance Format Research Group has used it for its three most recent project realisations in the form of telematic multimedia music and theater performances, one of which, called ’Osmosis’, is described in this paper to give a clearer understanding of the practical application of this system.
Our findings suggest that TTkit is ready to be used by a wider community, and we believe that it will help artists and educators to create their own networked performance environments without spending too much time setting up the technical infrastructure, and thus focus more on the artistic freedom that the new system offers.
