No, this is not a joke. Such a lottery really did take place in London about seven years ago, and 43 people entered. A group of three artists, calling themselves Blast Theory, decided to conduct an experiment surrounding the issue of giving up control.

They were researching why such an independent society gives up control so easily to things like drugs, religion, fear, anger, and in the extreme, fascism. They presented their research for this experiment as well as two others during an iEAR Presents! lecture November 17 in West Hall.

Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr, and Nick Tandavanitj began Blast Theory in London in 1991. “The group’s work explores interactivity and the relationship between real and virtual space with a particular focus on the social and political aspects of technology. It confronts a media saturated world in which popular culture rules, using video, computers, performance, installation, mobile and online technologies to ask questions about the ideologies present in the information that envelops us,” writes Amy Curley, on RPI’s Arts website.

Since its birth, Blast Theory has conducted three large research experiments on human psyche. Each one was conducted with the use of virtual reality and the media. The kidnapping experiment was broadcasted over the web and covered by the local papers and news stations. There were cameras up recording the hostages during the 48 hour period, during which the public could access the video at any time on the internet.

Blast Theory’s next research experiment analyzed the concept of reality versus virtual space in a mixed reality lab. The project, called Desert Rain, consisted of placing six participants in a virtual room programmed to represent Desert Storm. The participants mission is to find people who were involved in Desert Storm and try to figure out how many causalities occurred during the war. Each person tells them a different number.

The whole idea of this experiment is to study how humans react to switching from reality to virtual reality and back and the confusion between the two. The participants have to leave their coats with Blast Theory before they start the mission. While they are in the middle of the mission, they are slipped a note in their coats with the correct number of casualties. This adds to the confusion between reality and virtual reality. The whole set up consisted of 17 tons of equipment and took four days to set up. Blast Theory toured 12 cities with this project.

The third experiment conducted by Blast Theory was based on mobile technology and society’s acceptance of it. They put together an interactive game that consists of finding Uncle Roy in the city they are touring. Thirty-two players are invited to try to find Uncle Roy, either in person with hand held devices on the street or his location through a computer program.

The hand held devices and computer programs are connected so players on the computer can help guide the players on the street through text messaging. Players on the computers know the exact location of each hand held player through a GPS system on the device. The game is based on trust and commitment. When a hand held player is guided to Uncle Roy’s office, they find it deserted. At this time they and the computer players are asked a couple questions about commitment, including whether they would commit a year to a total stranger or not. If both the computer and hand held player responds yes to the question, they are required to commit a year to each other as friends and confidants.