Venus Project – The Robot Group, Inc.

In between RoboFest 1 and RoboFest 2, The Robot Group hosted the Cyberspace Convention on 04-06 May 1990, at Discovery Hall, our second consecutive record-breaking event at that venue.

This event showcased the Sense8 WorldToolKit virtual reality SDK, developed by Eric Gullichsen. Gullichsen, former project leader for Autodesk’s Cyberspace Project, is the founder of the Sense8 Corporation.

He came to the convention from California to demonstrate his software and to instruct users on the Sense8 system.

In organizing the convention, The Robot Group attracted the attention of a group of scientists who were attending an international conference on cyberspace at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Robot Group thrilled the crowd of scientists, artists, and curious children with demonstrations of their most famous devices as well as new works like the Bipedal Ornithopter, a 12-foot long airship propelled by mechanical legs and insect-like wings.

Also on display was a Space Shuttle Simulator developed by Austin’s Kealing Junior High (now, Kealing Middle School) students with assistance from The Robot Group.

Kealing Junior High's Space Shuttle simulator

Also on display was a Space Shuttle Simulator developed by Austin’s Kealing Junior High (now, Kealing Middle School) students with assistance from The Robot Group.

This mock-up featured a large robotic manipulator-arm, constructed by the students from salvage. The students used the simulator to “fly” missions and accomplish tasks such as rescuing satellites and performing experiments. During these simulated missions, the ground crews communicated with the flight crew via computer terminals and video cameras.

Other exhibits included the Venus Project, the Crawling Hand, Styro Varmint, and Varmint.

Brooks Coleman's Crawling Hand — Brooks Coleman’s pneumatic Crawling Hand

The Cyberspace Convention was a celebration of the cyber-art aesthetic. Live music and performance art entertained the museum visitors and convention-goers who were waiting their turn to experience virtual reality of the robotic kind.

[Mike is seeking additional images for the Bipedal Ornithopter, the Crawling Hand Robot, the Keeling Space Shuttle Simulator, Varmint, and the Venus Project.
Let him know if you have knowledge of any other projects that were exhibited at the Cyberspace Convention.]

The background material for this page is derived from an archived page on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Some links may have been added, removed, or updated.

In addition, confirmation of the exact dates was provided by determining the dates of a concurrent First Conference on Cyberspace sponsored by the School of Architecture at the University of Texas – Austin.

The Venus Project was formed in the spring of 1989 as an independent cyberart coalition whose members embraced the techno-aesthetic philosophy of a positive human/computer synergy. The expression of this philosophy was the use of technology in playful, educational opportunities for interaction shared with others. The Venus Project members included Bob Nagy, Karen Pittman and John Witham.

VP-1, the first public exhibit designed by the Venus Project, appeared at RoboFest (1989 show at Discovery Hall in Austin, TX).

The exhibit was a computer-mediated interactive environment for producing musical sounds by body movements and for manipulating computer graphics with those sounds.

The participant donned a helmet that actuated MIDI-controlled synthesizer sound module. Pressure-sensitive areas beneath the feet of the participant were also connected to the sound module.

The graphics display was driven by software that changed the output based on the audio pitches and the interrelation of the audio signals.

VP-2 (Sonic Silhouette), the second Venus Project work designed for exhibit at Discovery Hall, was featured in RoboFest 2 (February 1991)

In this installation, body movements were tracked by an overhead video camera and digitized. A graphical interface to the audio synthesizers, in the form of a grid, caused musical sounds to be produced.

This system acted like a virtual instrument that was played by dancing or moving inside the digitized space.

VP-3 (Musicgraphic Hyperinstrument), was designed for the Berzerkwerks installation at the Austin Children’s Museum (August 1991).

This exhibit featured several virtual worlds that the participant could “enter” through the video camera and digitizer.

These worlds, created using the Mandala System authoring software, enabled the user to create sounds, trigger animations, and to paint by moving and “touching” virtual objects.

Lights and fans in the room surrounding the exhibit were also activated by these virtual objects and acted on wind sculptures and other installations in the show.

This exhibit was modified and renamed Video Playscape and remained on display at the museum after the close of the Berzerkwerks show.

Iterations of this exhibit were the top interactive attraction at RoboFests.

Venus Project (VP-3) Mandala System interactive computer graphic scene — Mandala System interactive computer graphic scene from the Venus Project VP-3 (Musicgraphic Hyperinstrument)

VP-4 (Living Systems Interactive Video Environment / L.I.V.E.)

In February 1992, the Austin Childrens’ Museum commissioned the Venus Project artists to create a virtual representation of the human digestive system.

The Mandala System was used to design scenes for the Video Playscape which made an educational game of the process of digestion. It featured an interactive tour of the digestive tract with animations, sound samples, and music.

VP-5 (Performance Interfaces) emerged in April – May 1992. The Venus Project designed and performed with several new virtual interfaces for control of audio synthesizers accompanied by the Sainsott’s Shrinking Robot Heads Band.

The debut performance for the combined organic and inorganic groups was held at X/XX2 Experimental Musical Festival on April 4, 1992. The performance featured an ensemble of six live (organic) musicians as well as the Shrinking Robot Heads Band members.

The interface was used to play synthesizers as the performers moved inside a digitized space.

Venus Project interfaces were also designed to be used in performance at Mayfest in Tulsa, OK and at RoboFest 3 in Austin that year. In both of these events, the interfaces were also to be used experimentally by the audience.