Remote Lounge

Telepresence Themed Entertainment Concept

Located in NYC's Bowery District, Remote Lounge was a digital entertainment cocktail lounge, a unique blend of interactive video technology, immersive multimedia spectacle, and reality TV-style exhibitionism and voyeurism.

Experience a new concept in nightlife entertainment

The main feature of Remote was the “Cocktail Console.”

The bar contained a total of 13 double-sided Cocktail Consoles.

The bar itself featured lamps that contain pan-tilt cameras, buttons to control them, and an LED text ticker embedded in the bar surface.

Here is a close-up of the camera lamp.

In addition, there were more than 100 monitors throughout the space.

All the monitors were cheap “cable ready” consumer TV sets. A system of infrared LEDs sent commands to each one to select the channel.

Remote turned “Total Media Overload” into pure voyeuristic fun.

Buttons on the Consoles allowed for sending messages, taking pictures, and ordering drinks.

Some nights, thousands of photos were taken.

All to be seen on the Remote Lounge website, in real time.

It often got a little naughty.

Or just plain ridiculous.

We also enjoyed messing with people’s minds from our makeshift studios upstairs.

Robert Galinsky -- The “Smalltime Gang” program.

Everything was designed around the cheapest possible hardware. A 77-channel cable TV head-end distributed the video and audio.

Custom designed boards move video, audio, and control signals over CAT-5 cables.

In the control room -- again only the cheapest consumer-grade equipment.

At the time, cheap robotic Pan/Tilt cameras weren’t available; so we designed our own, made-from-printed circuit board material.

The lab, above the bar.

In the press

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