BICYCLE TV is a rider controlled real-time video tour of a scenic landscape in the Canadian countryside. This interactive installation consists of a 1950's style bicycle with a colour monitor (mounted in front of the bicycle facing the cyclist), a laserdisc and player, front wheel direction sensing device and rear wheel motion detector assembly. These devices are linked to the laserdisc player through a programmable computer controller.
Mounting and pedaling the bicycle activates the video which consists of scenic, winding country roads (shot to simulate the perspective of a cyclist). At all intersections and crossroads the viewer/cyclist has the option of choosing a new path or continuing along the same route. Indicating their choice by steering the bicycle, the video is seamlessly adjusted to represent the direction chosen. The speed of the video playback is continuously adjusted to reflect the speed at which the bicycle is pedaled.
It is possible for the cyclist to explore many different roads and paths. There is no real beginning or end to the video program; the computer controller is programmed based on a branching system developed in the pre-production stage and the cyclist is thus contained within the defined 'world' of the laserdisc.
(source: www.vacuumwoman.com)