Research / Experiments No. 3

Content Development – Papervision 3d Experiments.

I have been experimenting with Papervision 3d, an open source library that allows 3d objects to be rendered in Flash. Written in Actionscript 3.0, Papervision 3d enables you to create real-time, interactive 3d experiences. I am going to show you two experiments that i have done using papervision, for the content development part of my project.

Sphere Object

Similar to 3d modeling software such as Maya or 3d Max, Papervision comes with a set of ready made primitives. Primitives such as plane, sphere, cylinder, cone, cube, arrow and paperplane are available by default in Papervision. These are handy because u don’t have to create objects from scratch each time you want to model something.

In this video, a sphere object is added into the scene and is rotating around it’s own y-axis. Papervision 3d has an extra set of properties that enables objects to move and rotate in 3d space.

Sphere of Spheres

In this video, random sized spheres are placed on the vertex of a large sphere (which is not rendered on screen). The large sphere serves as a pivot point and holder for the smaller spheres, so when the larger spheres moves, the smaller spheres will follow automatically.

Mouse Interaction

A grid of planes is generated on the screen and camera angle can be moved by using the mouse. This is done by setting the camera’s initial position when the mouse is at the center of the stage, and changing the camera’s position when the mouse moves further away from the center.

For this experiment i used the mouse as input method, but this can be change to any other input devices such as keyboard, sliders or potentiometers similar to what i did in my previous experiments.

From this experiments i have figured out the basic components of my project which are:

a. generating multiple 3d objects using actionscript
b. controlling the objects and camera movement

Finalized Proposal – scu.lpt

Scu.lpt is a project that uses the pottery metaphor as a method of interacting with visuals. Using natural gestures such as squeezing and pulling, user will be able to manipulate abstract shapes and patterns.

Scu.lpt  is experimental in nature, from the look and feel of the visuals, to the way the visuals interact with the movement of the users. Although it uses natural gestures as input method, the outcome of these gestures will have a little bit of randomness as to encourage exploration.

The theme of this project is exploring the connection between the physical world and the virtual world, how the computer inteprets human gestures into work of art. It attempts to stray away from the stereotype of human-computer method of interactions, offering a natural way to interact with digital art.

Research / Experiments No. 2

Since i will be using interactive visuals as a central theme of my project, i am listing down a few projects that is relevant to my own. Even though the final output/look and feel has not been finalized yet, i believed these projects has a few features that could be integrated into my project.

Tagtool:

(Description taken from their official website)

The Tagtool is a performative visual instrument used on stage and on the street. It serves as a VJ tool, a creative video game, or an intuitive way of creating animation.

The system is operated collaboratively by an artist drawing the pictures and an animator adding movement to the artwork with a gamepad. The design achieves virtually unlimited artistic complexity with a simple set of controls, which can be mastered even by children.

There’s a few tutorials on building the tagtool interface, for example: How to build a Tagtool Mini. It uses Arduino as a controller for the interface, something that i am exploring right now.

Midi Fighter Kit

Image taken from dj techtools.com

The Midi FIghter Kit is a MIDI controller which is designed to be use on any MIDI compatible device. It uses arcade buttons as an input device which known for it’s high durability and rapid input. It’s main purpose is for music controllerism but i think it will be interesting to use this kind of device for interacting with visuals.

Reference:

http://www.djtechtools.com/

http://www.tagtool.org/wp/

Moldover on Controllerism

Critical Commentaries on Social Behavior.

Disclaimer: This essay is a very personal, overdramatized and somewhat biased view of the subject matter. Reader discretion is advised.

Akademi Fantasia and The Fall of Human Civilization

Let’s face it. Malaysians are known for their kepochi (busybody) attitude. Sitting on the front porch, ‘discussing’ about the latest development of (insert local celebrity name here) personal life has become a favorite pastime among Malaysian women (and men, albeit in a different setting, mamak shop, for example). Or the way we slow down on highways when accident happens so we could see all the gory details is a typical behaviour of malaysians who find enjoyment in other people’s misery.

An entrepreneur might wonder, how could I make a profit from this behaviour, which so prevalent among us? Well wonder no more, since Astro Ria has created the biggest thing in national television since the Thomas Cup.

Akademi Fantasia (AF) is reality television show where 12-16 contestants (called students) competes in a singing competition. The judging is based solely on SMS votes, not from professional judges. But AF is more than a television show, it’s a national event. Magazines, radio shows, chatrooms, mobile phone based services is all part of the AF phenomenon.

But the main attraction is the ‘Diari AF’ show, where the daily activities of the students are broadcasted (Big Brother style) and the ‘Konsert’, where the students with the lowest votes will be eliminated, never to be seen again in the Malaysian entertainment industry.

This is where the Malaysians social behavior previously mentioned comes in. The voting process is highly criticized, on allegations that the majority of audience tends to vote for their favorite students based on looks and personality, rather than their singing skills. The Diari AF show is a voyeur’s/gossipers dream come true, in which almost every aspect of the students’ life is shown on television and heavily commented on the built in television chat rooms.

So how popular is AF? Consider this fact; The total amounts of vote for the last Malaysian general election was 7,944,274 votes where else the total amount of sms votes for the fifth season of AF was around 6.6 million votes.

How does it relate to my project? Honestly, I have no idea. Hah. I kid, I kid. Judging from this AF phenomena I have discovered that we, as designers have to into account the different types of behavior of your target audience when designing our application. In order to create an immersive experience, it must be something that can invoke the user in a personal level. I do hope that my installation would be able to achieve that.

Or at least a few million votes.

Research / Experiments No:1

Basic interactivity projects. The first one is a rgb mixer and the second one is controlling a flash movieclip using the potentiometer.

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Potentiometer

tri-color led tutorial

as3Glue ActionScript 3 library

These are the books that i’ve been reading. Very useful especially if you new to programming and electronics. (Description taken from Amazon.com)

Programming Interactivity: A Designer’s Guide to Processing, Arduino, and Openframeworks

If you’re interested in using electronics and programming to create rich interactive experiences with your artwork, designs, or prototypes, Programming Interactivity is the place to start. You’ll explore common themes in interactive art and design, like 2D and 3D graphics, sound, physical interaction, computer vision, circuit bending, geo-location and more. This book explains programming and electrical engineering basics, and introduces three freely available tools created specifically for artists and designers.

Getting Started with Arduino

Getting Started with Arduino, authored by Arduino co-founder Massimo Banzi, offers a brief, fun, and lucid overview of Arduino that will appeal to lots of people who’ve been wanting to get into physical computing and want a way in. This handy little guide should be just the ticket. To work with the introductory examples in this book, all you need is a USB Arduino, USB A-B cable, and an LED.

Getting Started in Electronics

Author Forrest Mims teaches you the basics, takes you on a tour of analog and digital components, explains how they work, and shows you how they are combines for various applications. Includes circuit assembly tips and 100 electronic circuits and projects you can build and test.

Daily Inspiration – Canabalt

This probably have nothing to do with my FYP, but i am totally addicted to this game. It’s proof that even the simplest concept can become a really fun experience. Play the Flash version here.

A (very) Brief Introduction to Physical Computing

Physical computing can be defined as building an interactive system by the use of hardware and software that facilitates conversation between the physical world and the virtual world. It’s a creative framework for understanding human being’s relationship to the digital world.

The process of transduction, or the conversion of one form of energy into another, enables human input to be turned to another form such as motion, animation, sound etc. It is used in a variety of applications, such art, scientific experiments, and product design.

Arduino: A Physical Computing Platform

The Arduino consists of three separate tools: The microcontroller, the language and compiler which create codes for the microcontroller, and a open source programming environment built in Java. Arduino’s goal is to ‘simplify the process of creating interactive applications by simplifying the programming language used to create instructions and by providing a powerful yet basic controller that can easily be used for many common programming tasks while still being robust enough to support more complex projects’.

The potential of the controller is enormous, enabling designers to create interactive environment that uses all kinds of sensors , robotics toys or  autonomous programs that communicate with one another.

Arduino microcontroller

Arduino IDE

Arduino in action:

Reference:

http://arduino.cc/

http://www.tigoe.net/pcomp/

Daily Inspiration – Infractor

Infractor is an interactive, artistic application that has been developed for a multitouch-table. It is based on the article database of the New York Times. The information can be searched, filtered and read by putting physical objects on the interactive surface.

The project has been carried out entirely in Processing. The reacTIVision-software was used for the tracking of the objects.

Infractor has been developed and designed by a group of students of the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences.

more at infractor.org

Idea no. 4 – Doopong

1. iphone accelerometer to control paddle.

2. when the ball reaches the top of the screen, visuals will be projected onto the objects near the table.

3. when the ball returns, visuals will be generated on the table.

Doopong

Doopong is a project that intends to explore physical motion as a way of interacting with video projection, as a means to interpret physical spaces. It takes a classic concept (the pong game) and turns it into a new way of interacting with visuals. It can be considered as a video game/visual art hybrid, in which the action happens both on and off the screen.

The visual for the project will consist of doodles, abstract shapes, vector style graphics (reminiscence of 80′s video games), signifying the occupied state of mind that is usually associated with playing video games.

Reason for using projection mapping – making the real world an extension of the virtual world, not confined in a computer screen.

Inspiration for the project:

Daily Inspiration – Golan Levin on TED.com

Golan Levin, an artist and engineer, uses modern tools — robotics, new software, cognitive research — to make artworks that surprise and delight. Watch as sounds become shapes, bodies create paintings, and a curious eye looks back at the curious viewer.

Via TED.com