Concept
Is it still possible to attribute emotions towards others, such as shame and guilt, when a person is able to hurt people by controlling another person? ShameStation does not provide an answer to that question, but give users the opportunity to experience transitions from shame and guilt to freedom from these feelings by way of an interactive installation within the recognizable context of a computer game.
The ShameStation project requires two users: one player and one human avatar. The player takes place behind a game console, which is basically a custom-built arcade console, with a joystick, an action-button and a monitor. The avatar puts on a head-mounted control set, consisting of a helmet with a mounted wireless camera, wireless headphones and a blindfold. Now it’s time to play.From the camera on the avatar’s helmet, video is continually streamed to a receiver in the console and displayed on the monitor, giving the player a first person view of what is happening. In response to movement of the joystick, audio commands are sent via a wireless headphone transmitter to the avatar. This provides the player with the possibility to control the movements of the blindfolded avatar, transforming the world into a video game. Of course, as in a real game, a weapon is available in the form of a water pistol generating a spray of water to ‘attack’ innocent bystanders with.
