A dog that follows any Master

This installation, displays a 3d image of a dog on a office window, creating a holographic image of a dog. The dog follows individuals who pass though the streets. creating an interaction of a dog at a pet shop display. Incoming video feedback follow and track the people walking in front of the window. Extremely simple as an idea, but a creative way to create a lifelike interaction with digital figures.

WTF?

I really enjoy the possibilities within the realm of computer vision. What the broad category can create is amazing and fun at the same time. I came across this music video which clearly uses computer vision technology throughout the entire thing. If you click on the title of this post, you can watch OK Go's official music video. They also have a video that explains (in a very wordy way) how they created it in collaboration with someone with knowledge of effects and how to create something like this. The collaborator got the idea from an old photograph of a man jumping by Thomas Eakins. It showed several different frames of motion, and the effect is, to use the band's words, "pretty dope." In their music video, they used a green screen to make background subtraction very easy, and blob detection so there wouldn't be any places where the band members had "holes" in them. A fan of OK Go was able to recreate this effect using open-source software, processing. You can see his recreation of this effect here. There are links to download the software (free, btw) he used to create it, as well as the program he created to make the effect. All you need is your webcam! It's all in real-time. In addition, he lists several links to other artists that have used this effect, including the Jackson 5's song "Blame It On The Boogie." I enjoy playing with these types of art, and I believe that is the ultimate achievement of it. Art is no longer a quiet gallery for the elite. It is right on your computer, encouraging you to dance!

Flexible LED curtain

When I first stumbled upon this video, it was like having a flashback into my childhood. I use to have this toy called "Lite-Brite". It was a box that contained a lightbulb inside and had little holes on the top. You'd place a piece of black paper over the holes and then stick little colored pegs through the paper to create lighted designs. Now I know that this is not the same concept that LEDs use, however, Lite-Brite and the LED curtain in the video above share a striking resemblance; despite their difference in size. These 2 contraptions, I believe, show how technology has evolved over time. Going from a lighted toy box with simple pegs, to a complex blanket of LED lights that can not only display still photos, but can display a wide range of videos as well. It's unbelievable what some Artists/ Inventors have come up with. It makes me think to myself "What will they come up with next?" Maybe they'll apply that same concept to clothing... Then we could all be a walking, talking, movie screen, music video, or commercial advertisement: anything.. you name it. Now, that wouldn't be annoying at all.

AntiVJ

The other day I came across this excellent artist: AntiVJ. One of the mexican electronic music labels Static Discos (http://www.staticdiscos.com/) posted his new media collaboration with Murcof (http://www.murcof.com/) who has been famous for his experimental electronic and neo-classical music. That video made me research more on AntiVJ and I discovered his website as well as his vimeo channel where he posts his projects. Not exactly sure how he makes what he makes but it is definitely stunning. Here are couple of direct links:

Murcof + AntiVJ from AntiVJ on Vimeo.

Principles of geometry + AntiVJ: a stereoscopic show from AntiVJ on Vimeo.

 

Halloween maybe over, but it's an interesting project using LEDs and Arduino boards to just simply put inside a pumpkin and 

make a controlled lighten Jack-O-Lantern. These vids are just one of the examples of what other people have done to make their 

own LED Jack-O-Lantern, youtube has a ton of them if you look them up your selves. I found it interesting since it has to do with 

using LEDs to make a Jack-O-Lantern light up by using what color LED lights up or just make it flash all the time to have a scary 

horror feeling. It's smarter and simpler than just using a lit candle stick.

pd tutorials

hello classmates. not sure how often you decide to visit the blog, but decided to post this excellent link nonetheless. hope you find it helpful as much as i do.

et voila!

http://www.youtube.com/user/cheetomoskeeto

Lev

Lev as well as authors in general like to speak of everyday variables that we don't pay attention to in our everyday life. because they have been incorporated into our lives as everyday items. Here are two examples.

1. Electronic Screens on buildings walls
2. Computer and Network technologies

The poetics of Augmented Space basically is referring to space. Lev talks about how we immersed into this Virtual world that we gradually started seeing it as the norm. We took for granted how it actually came to be. Things like video surveillance and GPS systems as well as cell phone interfaces. He does talk a lot about the technology that back then would be considered out of the question that now a days we have such as the GUI which allows a person’s location to be tracked. My guess is that it probably was around just not to the public. I am highly fascinated with architecture therefore when he Lev moves on into talking about smart Architecture I was reminded of the structures that Julio had shown us on Thursday. It is in its own way public art that can be viewed by everyone. The possibilities are pretty much opened ended we have the technologies to take some thing that is already there and overlap a visual on it. This article was a little on the past side. What he talked about is out there already but still the concepts are still here.hat can be viewed by everyone.

reading response

I don't know if this article did much to talk about the construction of poetics of augmented space as much as a historical overview of the problems associated with new technology, but I thought many of the points brought up about architectural augmentation were interesting. Venturi's ideas of embracing architecture as the form of communication through complex iconographic surface treatment are terrible.
Modern architecture abandoned the idea of surface narratives and ornament; the problem he creates is trying to unify the spatial integration of information as surface and the contradictory decoration of architecture created to deny decoration and embrace form.
Both of these problems are poor problems to worry about. What happens if all current architectural surfaces are used to display information? Who will get to decide what information is displayed or how it is displayed? We already have enough of a problem with an overabundance of information on the internet, as well as the strategic targeting of users' attention. Yes lets cover up surface with bright lights and pictures in the name of a false dialogue (because the information is dynamic, you see); taking inspiration from Las Vegas, flashy Billboards, and Times Square, with their wasted resources and social misdirection.
The discussion of the public dialogue definitely appeals to me, and it still remains an issue of spatial control. One of the neat things about looking out my window and seeing nothing but bland industrial buildings is the idea of potential. It’s low-key, unwanted and sometimes unused. There is the potential to be clever, creative, and raise awareness of other things than Pedigree brand dog food or Prada or whatever.

Response to "The Poetics of Augmented Space"

After reading the assignment, it let me understand the artist’s relationship to an augmented space. With increasing technological achievements as a society, the extent of accomplishing a work of art associated with technology will have no boundaries. The part within the text that got me interested was with brandscaping. With architecture becoming concentrated to commercial structures, the emphasis in creating an augmented space for commercial use was something I never thought would be beneficial. However, the public will likely view the use of incorporating augmented space at these locations. With better appreciation as a public to these augmented space, the desensitization will be able to benefit the artists to explore new boundaries.

One artist I came across after reading this assignment was a Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka. He concentrates in designing commercial augmented space. The work I found online uses the display space to create movement with the merchandise. The use of a screen to create a human presence, to a space with out any human interactions creates the augmented space its own unique spell towards the consumer.

"The Poetics of Augmented Space" by Lev Manovich

I thought that this reading was really interesting and informing. The definition of Augmented Space is the physical space overlaid with dynamically changing information. This information is likely to be in multimedia form and it it often localized for each user. Some examples of Particular Urban Spaces are environments such as shopping and entertainment areas of Tokyo, Hong Kong, and seoul where the walls of the buildings are completely covered with electronic screens and signs; convention and trade show halls; departments stores, etc. When i read the section about video surveillance i was stunned to find out that by 2002 many taxis already had video cameras continuously recording the inside of the cab! I never knew that! I guess I'll be more aware of this when I'm in a cap now. It also talked about how we are all "immersed" in virtual reality. I agree that when you watch a movie in a movie theatre or on a big TV monitor, or when you are playing a computer game on a game console that is connected to the TV, you are hardly aware of your physical surroundings. But when you watch the same movie or play the same game on the small display of a cell phone or PDA that fits in your hand, then the experience is different. You are still largely present in physical space, and while the display adds you our overall phenomenological experience, it does not take over.

Response to The Poetics of Augmented Space

By the time I made it through the half of the article I could not help but think that the way author describes the use of augmented space reminds me of medieval time Christian religion propaganda. The parallel that I had in mind was obviously with the massive transmission of commercial related information onto the buildings, malls and major squares of major world cities. Just like in medieval times where most of the artists were devoted to working within the frame of religion (by painting, sculpting, frescoing, etc mainly on religious themes) in our times most of the augmented spaces as well as other form of arts are devoted to commercial oriented production. One of the reasons of this connection might be the power of belief in the divine in the past and the power of belief in “things” in the present. As church in the past was the wealthiest and the most influential organism as corporations are today. Obviously times somewhat changed and technology brings numerous new possibilities still strangely the attitude in its mass orientation stays the same.

As for the article, it was quite bizarre to read about the future that already happened. The author talks about GPS(cellspace technologies) as an up-and-coming technology as well as surveillance and large screens (p. 3-4) as something that will gain more power and complexity in the nearest future. It seems to me that many of the subjects that the author address as soon to come are already realized in one or another way. He writes about some experiments and innovations that Universities and labs were working on at that time: “Ubiquitous Computing: the shift which away from computing centered in desktop machines and towards smaller multiple devices distributed throughout the space” (p.6). Personally I did not have a desktop computer since I bought my first laptop about 4 or so years ago. My cell phone gets smaller with every new upgrade, so it looks like research pays off.

Lastly, the article made me curious to research some of the artists that were mentioned especially Lars Spuybroek and Kas Oosterhuis, Robert Venturi and obviously malls of Osaka and Hong-Kong. I think I will adjourn and fulfill my curiosity.

Response to Augmented Space

After reading this interesting article, I realized that even though I never heard of  “augmented space,” I have experienced such spaces before. For example, the video displays and scrolling text in Times Square in New York, and the computerized water installation in Las Vegas both combine human-made space and computer technology to create an aesthetic and cultural experience.

As technology keeps improving, artists and architects will always find a way to integrate that technology to the architectural space and create interaction with people in giving and taking information. A good example would have to be from my last blog, Camelle Utterback’s interactive installation “Abundance,” which transforms an architectural space. This art installation is a good example of combining digital technology and architecture since it records the data of people’s movement and transforms the data into animated shapes and patterns and projects them on the surface of the City Hall in San Jose. 

When the author talks about augmented space, he talks mainly about the combination of physical space and information technology. I think that the human user of the space also plays a very important part in the creation of augmented space. Video surveillance and different sensors collect data from the human user, but the user also directly creates data by sending text and cell-phone messages. The author mentions the electronic screens in the sci fi movie “Minority Report.” Some of the ads on these screens are personalized virtual ads that are created after sensors identify people by scanning their retinas. In this example, humans directly play a part in creating the augmented space. The movie may not be real, but it is a fantasy of how augmented space can work.