Wizard API updated!
Tim Boudreau has released a new version of the Swing Wizard library (version 0.997) that fixes the WizardException bug reported in JavaWorld's recent Open Source Java Project profile. The article's examples have been reworked to test out the new, improved WizardException. Thanks, Tim, for this helpful fix!
Open Source Java Projects: The Wizard API

Newsletter sign-up

Sign up for our technology specific newsletters.

Enterprise Java
View all newsletters
Email Address:
JavaWorld.com > Java Development Tools >

Java goes to the extreme

Programming language lets remote users take control of lethal machinery

By Jill Steinberg, JavaWorld.com, 08/01/98

Picture this: A high-pressure gas launcher fires explosives, entirely obliterating objects within range. A Boeing jet engine shoots ferocious flames at a flailing robot. A claw-armed mechanism grabs at passersby, who shift nervously, barely avoiding its reach. "Must be that new Armageddon movie," you're thinking, right? Wrong. These are the latest projects from San Francisco-based Survival Research Laboratories (SRL). The real kicker? They all use Java.

Yes, Java. The word usually brings to mind the relatively innocuous -- applets running on browsers, enterprise software applications, bean components, that cool programmable ring you've been hearing so much about lately.

Of course, those of us in dire need of a caffeine fix or a trip to an exotic land may conjure more elaborate notions, but it's safe to say that images of flames, destruction, and mechanical warfare tend not to enter the mind upon hearing the word Java. Unless, of course, you're thinking of the Sun/Microsoft legal battles.

The use of Java in SRL's creations represents the latest development in the nonprofit organization's 20-year history of pushing the boundaries of humankind's relationship to technology. Indeed, over the past year, Java has been the enabling force behind the newest projects from SRL, which as you'll soon see, involve the remote operation of potentially dangerous machines. To gain insight into the ideas behind these Java-enabled works, first, let's look at the creative force behind them.

What is SRL?

Survival Research Laboratories was founded in November 1978 by Mark Pauline. With a background in visual arts and mechanical engineering, Pauline's vision was to merge the two disciplines in a form of pseudo performance art never attempted before. Pauline says that the process of arriving at his machinistic shows was deliberate and efficient; it took two weeks of concentrated thinking to devise their basic form. SRL's work to date involves looking at the possibilities of human and machine interaction in ways unlike those found in military and scientific endeavors. (For links to SRL's Web site see the Resources section.)

Pauline uses the imagery and machines of war (quite literally, some are weapons) in his performances, which he describes as "nearly life-threatening but not quite," to push his audiences to their sensory limits. Incorporating fire, noise, mechanical movement, and speed, SRL shows present a kind of technological nightmare, providing the audience, according to Pauline, with a "genuinely exciting experience" that we don't find in our everyday lives. The result is cathartic.

The Arm has appeared in many SRL performances. It's controlled remotely by an apparatus that attaches to the arm and hand.

SRL's Java projects

When SRL initially registered its Web site in 1993, its intention was to use the Internet as a means of self-promotion. But, Pauline notes, it soon became clear that the Web could be used "as a good tool for making something extreme." Java is one of the technologies that has allowed SRL to realize this vision.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |  Next >
Resources
  • For information on Survival Research Laboratories, including notes from shows, video clips, image and sound files, and merchandise, see http://www.srl.org
  • Interviews and articles about SRL can be found at http://srl.org/interview.html
  • More information on the SRL activities concurrent with the Web Design & Development Conference and Exposition can be found at http://www.srl.org/shows/web98
  • Eric Paulos, who does Java programming at SRL, lists his research interests and projects on his Web site http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~paulos/
  • Information on the performance in Japan, "Increasing the Latent Period in a System of Remote Destructibility" (July 13, 1997) http://www.srl.org/shows/japan/
  • A description of the project launched in Germany, "Further Explorations in Lethal Experimentation" (October 18, 1997) http://www.srl.org/shows/zkm/
  • The author of this article was present at the San Francisco event, "A Calculated Forecast of Ultimate DoomSickening Episodes of Widespread Devastation Accompanied by Sensations of Pleasurable Excitement" (May 28, 1994) http://srl.org/sf_show.html
  • Coverage of keynote panel discussion at Web Design & Development Conference and Exposition in San Francisco http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/13208.html
  • Story on SRL show sponsored by the Web Design & Development Conference and Exposition http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/13284.html