Smalltalk technical description
The installation consist of :
The two computers running the robots are exchanging the textual messages via an ethernet based local network. Their operating system is windows 2000, the two custom-made softwares running on them are the Java chatbot software, and a director application "translating" the textual conversation by playing pre-recorded short videos corresponding to the words of the robots' replies. The communication is based on TCP/IP, the Java chatbots are providing a virtual webserver with several dedicated ports for interchanging commands and the sentences of the conversation.
The display-screens are tightened between the floor and the ceiling, the two projectors are installed in a back-projection order, all the cableing is visible, giving a hightech techno feeling of the installation. (Rather long professional VGA cables are needed.)
The user interface is a small palm computer running Windows CE 3.0 and Internet Explorer. The visitors can select leading sentences for the robots to chat about on a rolodex-like webpage. The webpage itself is located on a third computer, running Linux, which is used for timing and controlling the robots.