Stephen Wilson received a M.F.A. in Art and Technology/Performance from the School of Art Institute of Chicago. He is Professor for Conceptual Design and Computer Related Art at San Francisco State University; Curator of the "Electronic Gallery" on San Francisco Cable TV; Panel Chair at NCGA (1989), "Artificial Realities, Intelligent Systems, and Interactive Art"; "New Technologies Conference" (1987), "AI and the Arts"; SIGGRAPH (1985).

'Inquiry Theatre' is an interactive, multimedia installation that allows viewers to take a virtual walk along a section of Mission Street, a street in San Francisco that is typical of many in Europe and America. Historically, this street has been a port of entry for new immigrants hoping to better their lives. The street epitomizes the dream/nightmare of the act of immigration. Physically, the installation consists of a large screen with a microphone in front. A street scene is displayed on the screen. When a visitor steps to the microphone, the computer asks the person a few short questions. The answers are used by the computer to train the voice recognizer to the unique sound parameters of the person's voice. The sounds are also digitized and stored to become part of the cumulating sound repertoire of the installation. These questions and their answers become the poetry of interaction. 'Inquiry Theatre' focuses on voice as the medium of interaction. Viewers are asked to reflect on what the immigrant dreams are that lead people to leave the places of their birth. Viewers are asked to expose these views via short phrases that the computer will use as the voice recognition controls for navigating the image and sound space of the installation. Viewers put themselves on the line by repeatedly speaking these phrases to control the piece. The previously spoken opinions become a chorus of response for the present viewer.

Technical Background

HW: Mac II, Voice Navigator Speech Recognizer
SW: Hypercard 2.0, Custom Programs