In Timetable, an image is projected from above onto a large circular table. Twelve dials are positioned around the perimeter of the table. The functions each of these dials changes and mutates, depending on what is projected onto them at any given moment. Dials can become clocks, gauges, speedometers, switches, steering wheels, and so on. A real-time 3D scene, projected onto the central part of the table, is controlled and influenced by the movements of the dials.

At the outset, the space of Timetable seems to be rational and unified, but the longer the piece is used, the more complex and multi-dimensional it becomes, as perspectives and timeframes diverge and split off from each other. Timetable attempts to make certain paradoxical (even impossible) pseudo-scientific concepts into concrete experiences, such as time travel, multiple branching universes, alternate dimensions and shared hallucinations.

The table itself represents a kind of giant immersive clock, but it could as easily be described as a board game without rules, a top-level meeting with no agenda, or a seance without spirits. At the end of a century in which all our ideas about time have been shattered and radically reconfigured, Timetable is an attempt to play with concepts of time - to buy time and to spend it, to save time and to waste it, to find time and to lose it, to borrow it, to run out of it, to kill it.

Timetable (1999)
by Perry Hoberman
Sound: Elliott Sharp
Code & Interface Design Assistance: Juha Huuskonen
Real-Time 3D Rendering Engine: SurRender 3D
Production Assistance: Scott Konzelman
Produced by: NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] for ICC Biennale '99

Awards
Winner, Grand Prix, ICC Biennale '99

• Exhibition History
  
• 1999 "ICC Biennale '99", NTT InterCommunication Center, Tokyo
• 2000 Postmasters Gallery, New York

Technical Description
Timetable currently runs on a 450mHz Pentium III computer with a TNT2 graphics card and a Sound Blaster Live sound card. The custom software was developed using the SurRender3D graphics engine. A video projector (minimum brightness of 2000 ANSI lumens, wide-angle lens) is mounted on the ceiling above the table, and projects a 1024 x 768 image downward (using a front-surface mirror) onto the table, which is approximately 2.75 meters in diameter. Twelve US Digital rotary encoders (with dials) are built into the table; these share a single RS232 serial bus. A four-channel speaker system (Cambridge Soundworks) is also built into the table, with a subwoofer below.

Technical Requirements

• Technical: Video projector must be mounted overhead - image must be large enough to fill table - use wide angle lens and mirror if necessary
• Space: (minimum) 5 meters x 5 meters, height depends on projection lens
• Lighting: dark room (or subdued lighting), no external light required
• Audio: sound isolation desirable (although not necessary)

Equipment & Material

• Supplied by venue:
  • LCD video projector (minimum 2000 ANSI lumens, wide angle lens)
  • SVGA video cable of sufficient length to reach from CPU to projector
  • Stepdown transformer (240V to 120V) 10 amps
• Supplied by artist:
  • PC (Dell Dimension XPST500)
  • Sound System (Cambridge Soundworks FPS2000 Digital)
  • Rotary Encoders, knobs & accessories (US Digital)
  • Aluminum Table
  • Projection Screen

Personnel
Programmer (Juha Huuskonen)
Assistant (Pat Courtney)

Shipping Details
2 wooden crates containing alumininum table - approx 200 kgs total
3 road cases - approx 100 kgs total

Setup Time
approximately 4 days