Telematic Dreaming

Paul Sermon

8 February 1992

Beds, video cameras, projector, monitors, computer, video link.

Originally realised in 1992, Telematic Dreaming consists of two beds in different locations, one in an illuminated space and the other in a blacked-out space.

Directly above the former is a camera, which sends live output to a video projector, suspended above the latter. Thus whatever is happening on the illuminated bed is projected onto the bed in the blackedout space, and also appears on a pair of monitors on either side.

This set-up enables an uncanny experience as participants lie on a bed that they appear to be sharing with a coparticipant in a remote location, who is both present and absent. The experience is particularly unsettling for the participant in the darkened room, where the input from the other room is projected straight onto the bed, creating the illusion that the projected participant can be physically touched.