Virtual jukeboxes, non-linear films among creations at prototype launch

The days of listening to bad music at bars, clubs and even airports could be numbered. VirJ (www.virj.ca), a virtual jukebox in prototype stage, will arm mobile phone users with the power to choose music of their liking in public spaces – using only a phone and a visual interface. Created by Rawl Benton, Geoff Phillips and Rami Posner, graduating residents at the Canadian Film Centre’s Habitat New Media Lab, VirJ is part of the Hybrid Media Exhibition on display at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel until October 20th. The exhibition showcases interactive projects created by graduates of the Telus Interactive Art and Entertainment Programme (IAEP), a post-graduate program with a focus on storytelling and collaborative new media projects. Funding for these projects is administered through the Canadian Film Centre and various grants and initiatives, including the Telus Innovation Fund. Many graduates have turned their prototypes into successful new media ventures, including: Tightrope, winner of the 2001 Hot Docs Festival’s Cyber Pitch competition; The Seen, a Web show later developed into The Comedy Network’s Odd Job Jack series; and , an audio storytelling project accessible through mobile phones. This year’s prototype launch featured several innovative projects, from Perfidia Gardens, an alternate reality game where players guide the protagonist through an emotional journey via email, websites, game play and literature, to PACU, a participatory public gallery initiative where members of the community are invited to present creative works in display cases affixed to poles throughout the city. However, some – like VirJ – appear to offer greater marketability and profit potential than others. VirJ’s large IP-networked screen is projected on a wall, displaying countless albums for users to choose from. Mobile phone users call the number listed at the top of the screen and listen to a voice prompt. The user’s phone number is picked up by a telephone communications server hosted off-site and is read through VirJ’s Flash-based interface. Using their phone’s keypad, users navigate through the choices to select their desired album. The display then changes to the album’s song list, and the user navigates to their desired track. After the user selects his or her song and hangs up, the selection joins the queue of songs waiting to be played. Phillips and his VirJ partners are working on a second version, but have not entered into any partnerships with public venues yet. "There are definitely some prospects on the horizon," says Phillips. True to VirJ’s tag line, "rockin’ outside the box," they aren’t limiting themselves to public spaces. "Television too – maybe have a collection of music available to people in their homes, and establish a subscription service through cable providers," he says. Between user, subscription and licensing fees, this project could be a lucrative undertaking – provided the VirJ team secures some venture capital. Some of the other projects, however, are having difficulty getting fully launched, let alone turning a profit. Things Left Unsaid, created by Bronwyn Anderson, Melisandre Schofield and Sharon Switzer, offers users a novel online experience. Their website (www.thingsleftunsaid.com) serves as an online confessional, where visitors anonymously divulge their deepest secrets. Somewhat voyeuristic, the site allows visitors to explore the private musings of other users and rearrange the titles of these confessionals into poetic verses. The creators had hoped to include a mobile phone component where users would be able to subscribe to free weekly text confessionals on their phone but, according to Anderson, carriers have turned down their requests: "What the carriers are saying, is they’re protecting their subscribers from spam, but they’re also blocking unique things like Things Left Unsaid... they’re blocking us from being able to send text messages." The trio aimed to create an interactive artistic experience rather than a revenue-generating business, but their ability to sell the project is limited without carrier support. "I guess we’re just not big enough," Anderson says. Size hasn’t limited some of the projects, however. Meanwhile, a 22-minute, non-linear film, bills itself as "three times a movie." Shot in Toronto and screened at several festivals, the film consists of nine scenes that can be viewed in any order, offering nearly an infinite number of movies. The DVD version plays the scenes in random order. The Web version (www.meanwhile.ca) allows users to choose which direction they want to go at the end of every scene; forward, backward or "meantime," where viewers see what other characters are doing at that given time. "When video iPods came out, we thought ‘this is perfect!’" says David Clark, one of the film’s creators. "Users can download the scenes separately and then hit ‘shuffle’ and watch the film." Meanwhile’s team – Clark and co-creators ChrisMendis, Jeff Howard and Shelley Simmons – doesn’t expect to commercialize this piece, but are instead testing the viability of the concept. "I think it’s very early in terms of online commercialization of video," says Clark. "People are just now turning to YouTube and Google Video, and that’s going to open up possibilities of marketplace for (this type of film)." Meanwhile exemplifies what this exhibit is really about: artistry that can change the way we not only play games and watch movies, but also the way we interact with each other and with technology.

Virtual jukeboxes, non-linear films among creations at prototype launch

Broadcast | October 18, 2006

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