Computation08

Exploring Domains

What I am trying to Discover:
1) How do we make technology such as the internet feel more familiar and personal, the way a book does?
2) Where is technology not welcome, and how can I change that?
3) How can I use interactivity to create illusions, as an exploration of memory or comfort?
4) How can changes in the environment (private and public) be mostly effectively analyzed and expressed?
5) What are new ways to view and interact with "fine art?"

Primary Motivation
1) desire to make public and private spaces more interesting and palatable
2) exploration of current technologies
3) want to make things that are pretty and also complex
4) to justify going to art school via impressive projects
5) to challenge the current perceptions of technology (and explore what they are)

Domains/Fields:
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” – Arthur C. Clarke
Accessibility, Art History, Books, Childhood, Children’s stories, Communication, Crafts
Distance, Easy access to information, Environment, Equality of experience, Fairy tales
Familiarity, Fiction, Flow, Fun, Future, History, Illusion, Invention, Kitsch, Literature, Magic, Memory, Internet, Nostalgia, Photography, Printing press, Public vs. Private, Revolution, Self expression, Studio Art, Technology, Treasure, Tricks

What relationships exist between these domains?

pink - print related things
yellow - visual art related things
mint green - technology related things
blue - memory things
white text - other stuff

 

I'm interested in literature (as made clear from the abundance of pinks things in the diagram above), and I'd like to incorporate this with my interests in art and technology. I'm fascinated with the fun of alternate realties, whether in novels, video games, movies, and paintings. The list goes on.

 If we define technology to be the study of crafts or tools and art as the artifact created by those tools, it seems only natural to end up with an articulated thought. I hope to better articulate my own thoughts and ideas with the help of technology, and allow other people to do the same.

I'm stuck on comparing the effects of the printing press with those of the internet. No Protestant Reformation yet, but I think it's fair to say that the internet has sparked a cultural revolution, as cliché as  it sounds. My goal is to figure out how to best express this, so I can move on and start thinking about something else. 

Tetris Moves Me

Tetris Moves Me : An interactive projection

Tetris Moves Me - Narrated Version from Joana Kelly on Vimeo.

"Tetris Moves Me"  is an interactive projection built in Processing.  Tetris pieces shift and dance in reaction to movement.  Originally designed to be installed in Barcade, a bar located in Brooklyn NY, vintage arcade games were used as inspiration.  Intended to be a playful installation for all ages,  Tetris Moves Me can be installed in any public space designated for recreational socializing.

A camera attached to the computer reads the speed of the motion that passes in front of it. That reading is then interpreted as fast, medium or slow movement.  The projected tetris pieces move in one of three different ways as a result. If the tetris projection is still the camera is reading no movement, a small jitter in the pieces means the camera sees slight movement and if the pieces react explosively the camera is reading a lot of movement. 

On March 28th, 2008 we debuted the project at a house party in Fort Green, Brooklyn.  People at the party enjoyed the projection for hours, but got tired of the camera interaction quickly.  In some cases people were not aware that their own movement was triggering the movement of the projection.  That passive interaction was intended, but in conclusion we questioned different ways of making the interaction more obvious.  Overall, we were happy with the result and are inspired to create further variations of this project. 

By Julia Vallera, Carol Chiu, and Joana Kelly.

Check out the tetris remix at http://youtube.com/watch?v=Daag3aRRlQE
and cowboy ninja at http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bt34kFb1LLM

Tetris Moves Me code: Download prototype_motiondetect_1.pde

Tetris Moves Me PostMortem: Download tetrispostmortem3.doc (Preview).pdf

Prototypes of Prototypes

Here is the code I worked with: prototype_drawing

My first prototype of our drawing code was to add 8-bit arcade game sprites to liven up the drawing, and make it a bit more pertinent to barcade. I haven't yet decided whether or not this adds or detracts from the drawing process or the finished product (if there ever is one). I also added in a little video capture screen in the top left to help me figure out what the camera is actually seeing.

For the second prototype I messed around with light sources. I started off with the bright led pen, and found it was quite difficult to control the drawing, and refracted in such a way that the camera sometimes read two points of light (I could see this in my little cheat video capture area--hooray). I tried using my phone instead, and I had much better control.

My third prototype involved a new user who has never encountered this interface. Set up in my apartment, my user tried out the rave bracelet that Yury provided, the led pen, and his own iPhone. The led pen was most difficult to use, the rave bracelet being slightly more erratic.  The photos compare what Roman did with his phone with what appeared on the screen. The little bits on each side of the design were added after I took the photo, just so you know. Here is a video of the rave bracelet in use, in case you want to see that sort of thing.

It was interesting watching Roman because he started off drawing very quickly, but the drawing didn't work so well. He immediately learned to slow down a bit, and his drawing came out much better. He likes the 8-bit characters, but didn't like that they draw over themselves if he didn't move around.

The next prototype includes some image capture code (the new program code is here ). Basically, we can now track how the drawing evolves over time. I'd like to be able to take a closer look at each users' work, and I think this will enable that kind of  analysis.

 

Other Stuff still to do:

1) identify multiple "pens" (perhaps two different phones?) to see if we can get multiple users simultaneously drawing.
2) get the sprites to fade over time so that the drawing never becomes entirely "full." this is didn't work either, but i'd really like it to. Here is the code i'm using for this--sorry, no pretty pictures.
3) play around with the sprites so that maybe they shift out of place before fading away   this didn't work out too well.

drawing tool code

below is our drawing code:
Download prototype_drawing.pde

mediated play powerpoints

Download mediatedplay1.ppt

Download presentation_prototype11.ppt

computer vision experiments

experiment 1 - tracking light

CODE!!

 

Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5 Exercises

Image2_1

Image2_2

Image2_3

  Image3_1

Image3_2

Image3_3

Image4_1

Image4_2

Image4_3

Image5_1

Image5_2

 
Image5_3

Data 2, 3, 4

Data 2 (1 - 3)

Data 3 (1-3)

Data 4_1

Data 4_2

Data 4_3

Input 4, Motion 1, and Motion 2 Exercises

jkelly_Input4_1.html | jkelly_Input4_1.jar | jkelly_Input4_1.pde

jkelly_Input4_2.html| jkelly_Input4_2.jar | jkelly_Input4_2.pde

jkelly_Input4_3.html | jkelly_Input4_3.jar | jkelly_Input4_3.pde

jkelly_Motion1_1.html | jkelly_Motion1_1.jar | jkelly_Motion1_1.pde

jkelly_Motion1_2.html | jkelly_Motion1_2.jar | jkelly_Motion1_2.pde

jkelly_Motion1_3.html | jkelly_Motion1_3.jar | jkelly_Motion1_3.pde

jkelly_Motion2_1.html | jkelly_Motion2_1.jar | jkelly_Motion2_1.pde

jkelly_Motion2_2.html | jkelly_Motion2_2.jar | jkelly_Motion2_2.pde

jkelly_Motion2_3.html | jkelly_Motion2_3.jar | jkelly_Motion2_3.pde

shape 2, shape 3, input 3, drawing 2 exercises

Shape 2.1

jkelly_Shape2_1-1.html | jkelly_Shape2_1-1.pde | jkelly_Shape2_1-1.jar

Shape 2.2

jkelly_Shape2_2.jar | jkelly_Shape2_2-1.pde | jkelly_Shape2_2-1.html

Shape 2.2.5

jkelly_Shape2_2_5-1.html | jkelly_Shape2_2_5.jar | jkelly_Shape2_2_5-1.pde

Shape 2.3

jkelly_Shape2_3.jar | jkelly_Shape2_3-1.html | jkelly_Shape2_3-1.pde

Shape 3.1

jkelly_Shape3_1-1.html | jkelly_Shape3_1-1.pde | jkelly_Shape3_1-1.jar

Shape 3.2

jkelly_Shape3_2-1.html | jkelly_Shape3_2-1.pde | jkelly_Shape3_2-1.jar

***edit*** I totally screwed up the assignment in my original post (see above). Here is my meek attempt at fixing it:

Download chair.html | Download chair.jar |Download chair.pde

Shape 3.3

jkelly_Shape3_3-1.html | jkelly_Shape3_3.jar  | jkelly_Shape3_3-1.pde

Input 3.1

jkelly_Input3_1-1.html |  jkelly_Input3_1-1.pde | jkelly_Input3_1.jar

Input 3.2

jkelly_Input3_2-1.html | jkelly_Input3_2-1.pde | jkelly_Input3_2.jar

Input 3.3

jkelly_Input3_3-1.html  | jkelly_Input3_3-1.pde | jkelly_Input3_3.jar

Drawing 2.1

jkelly_Draw2_1-1.html | jkelly_Draw2_1-1.pde | jkelly_Draw2_1.jar

Drawing 2.2

jkelly_Draw2_2-1.html | jkelly_Draw2_2-1.pde | jkelly_Draw2_2.jar

Drawing 2.3

jkelly_Draw2_3-1.html | jkelly_Draw2_3-1.pde | jkelly_Draw2_3.jar