High-Rise Diver (Hitomi watches Riva) | Database of Machine Vision in Art, Games and Narratives

Brief description

Hitomi Yoshida is a business psychologist tasked with monitoring and counselling Riva Karnovsky with the goal of getting Riva out of her slump and back as an active high-diver.

Hitomi sits in her own apartment watching Riva through numerous surveillance cameras in Riva's apartment. She has data analysts search through blog posts, papavids and other media to give her more data, and logs minute observations about Riva's body language and state of mind. Riva is not aware that she is being watched until late in the novel.

When Riva leaves the apartment, Hitomi uses GPS tracking, facetag (TM) and other facial recognition tools to track Riva's movements and watch her through public surveillance cameras.

For the first part of the novel, the surveillance works flawlessly and Hitomi can track Riva in great detail.

Pull Quotes

I zoom in on Riva’s face to get a better look at her reaction. Masters advised me to use facial-interpretation software for my analysis, but moments like these are what I love most about my work. Moments of sudden understanding, like now, when Riva drops her mask of apathetic indifference and her face tells a story. The corners of her mouth shift by fractions of an inch, turn up, a barely perceptible smile. Nostalgic. Remembering better times. Then her eyes widen, she looks up, her jaw tenses, she clenches her teeth together. Her gaze turns to her partner, who still has his back to her. Lips pressed firmly together, a slight retraction of the lower lip.
With such high resolution, the image on the monitor sometimes appears clearer than reality. More precise.
Riva turns away again, looks down at her hands in her lap. Her facial expression returns to its former indifference, resignation. The facial muscles relax except for the eyebrows, which pull slightly together.
—That’s true, she says. That’s what I said back then.
Aston looks over at her, letting go of the picture frame. I select the camera closest to him, so that I can look over his shoulder. See what he sees. Riva on the floor in her summer dress, her hands in her lap, her head lowered. Almost a cliché. The fragile little girl. The damsel in distress.

von Lucadou, Julia. The High-Rise Diver . World Editions. Kindle Edition.