Public Access to Robotic Camera Fosters Discourse

What's happening this very moment on UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza?

Perched inconspicuously atop the roof of the MLK Jr. Student Union is project Demonstrate-the newest brainchild of interdisciplinary research from Ken Goldberg's Alpha Lab that enables anyone with internet access to find out.

By combining today's most advanced networked robotic camera with a new visual database engineered by the Alpha Lab, Demonstrate is the first surveillance system whose software allows multiple remote users to simultaneously control a single robotic camera.

"I tried it out and was amazed at how the computer decides where to move the image when so many people were clicking on different parts of Sproul at the same time," said senior Melissa Galicia.

Demonstrate's user-friendly applet may seem to operate like a Ouija planchette for many, but its conception derives from an optimization algorithm developed by former Alpha Lab graduate researcher Dehzen Song last spring under the direction of Goldberg, an artist and Berkeley professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) as well as Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR).

"Given a set of camera frames (pan, tilt, zoom) requested by users, we present an algorithm that computes an optimal camera frame that maximizes a quasi-linear ‘satisfaction' metric based on the summed ratios of frame area overlap divided by the maximum frame size," Goldberg said. "It then moves the camera accordingly and displays the resulting live image."

After logging in, users can control the robotic camera, which is capable of outputting a live video panorama of Sproul plaza down to the detailed inscriptions on Sather Gate. It uses various degrees of negotiating influence with other users on the website interface, designed and coded by Andrew Dahl and Jeremy Schiff, EECS undergraduates in the Alpha Lab.

In a universe of rapidly evolving high-tech video cameras, where surveillance takes on a new meaning in security operations and corporations alike, Demonstrate is the first of its kind to bring technology out in the open with the purpose of fostering public discourse surrounding implications of privacy and freedom.

"We're living in a time where, especially in big cities, there are cameras on every corner, recording everything, and those cameras are controlled by the government and sources you can't access" Dahl said. "What we're doing is presenting, or ‘demonstrating,' the technology-something where everyone can go in and use together to get a better

understanding of what's going on with our society and what we're capable of."

In conjunction with ongoing Free Speech Movement activities, the Vice Chancellor's office has authorized a temporary increase in zoom level between noon and two o'clock this week in order to demonstrate the camera's power, capable of a 22x zoom-a magnification previously deemed too close for comfort by former Chancellor Robert Berdahl and Vice Chancellor Paul Gray last spring. It was reduced to 10x to avoid the possibility of privacy infringement on neighboring apartment buildings.

Maintaining an open dialogue is crucial in the transformation from research to industrial and public use, emphasized Goldberg, who assembled a collaborative team of students for Demonstrate from the departments of Rhetoric, Performance Studies, IEOR and EECS. Making the two cultures feel at home with one another in the Alpha Lab was part of the interdisciplinary education intended by Goldberg.

"We would try to communicate with each other in a way the other person would understand," said Dahl, who collaborated with colleagues from the rhetoric department on presentational aesthetics for the project. "It could be frustrating at times but was an enlightening experience for me."

Administration and faculty are in active collaboration with Goldberg, who has recently formed a campus-wide Committee on Vision and Privacy, scheduled for its first meeting next week.

"We're thinking about the impact of new media on our campus and beyond," Goldberg said. "From there we can suggest appropriate policies for the future."

To use Demonstrate, visit

demonstrate.berkeley.edu

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