a/v

nicole and i researched audio/visual technology for our pod. we came up with two basic schemes. the first very simplistic: each person would use their own laptop and connect it to headphones, webcam, and a microphone provided in the pod. the drawbacks of this solution is a certain amount of downtime between each video conference as each person would have to configure their computer. the advantage is that it would allow for a great degree of portability of the pod, as their would be very little a/v equipment.

the prefered solution would require a larger pod that could accommodate more a/v equipment. the concept is to create a screen that would be visible both inside and outside the pod. this screen would be connected to the pod's computer which would serve as the host for video conferencing. this would free the individual's laptop to be used for following links and text chatting. the system audio would also be connected to this internal computer (i.e. speakers and microphone). this idea for the screen is to disassemble an lcd monitor and remove the backlight. this would allow the screen to be viewed from inside and outside. the pod user would be required to orient the pod toward an environmental light source to provide the backlight for the screen. conceptually, this would be very interesting as the isolated person would be required to respond to the changing environment around them. in this scenario, focused audio could be used on the outside of the pod so that observers could hear the conversation within the pod if they were close enough to it. the pod could also be used for studio conferences with ron. and internal light could be switched on and backlight the screen. external speakers and microphone could be used to communicate with ron. the studio could the gather around the pod. (see diagram below)