Interactive shadow installation idea

Playing with Scale: small objects are placed in the centre of a room, lights projected onto the objects create large shadows around the room.

When an object is touched its projected shadow changes in someway (comes to life), which sets off a sensor which triggers a light which will project onto the viewer making there shadows enlarged and become part of the installation.

The viewer can interact with the shadows using there own shadows, when the viewers shadow touches an objects shadow, the shadow will change again.

Viewers interact and create change in the artwork by physically touching the physical object and interacting using there physical shadows to virtual shadows.

There are three particular things that have inspired me and driven me towards my idea.

Christian Boltanski's Les Ombres

Tiny figures hung in the centre of the space, suspended from a wire structure and lit gently at floor level. The images were projected onto surrounding walls, where they appeared as surreal and macabre shadows.



"Shadows are essentially early photographs" (Christian Boltanski)

Samuel Van Hoogstraten: Shadow Games



Minim++ - Tools Life
When useful physical objects are touched, their shadow-like silhouettes magically begin to move and can assume a wide variety of forms. The objects themselves do not change their shape, whereas there shadows reveal there true character or secret wishes. I experienced this interactive installation first hand at Sonar Festival Barcelona 2007, It was very impressive and alot of fun too.



Geraldine Pilgrim : Dreams of a Winter Night
Site specific installation which allude to the dreams of a young girl the night before her coming out party.
This installation has inspired me to look into dreams of young children and triggered some ideas for objects which may be used in my installation.

Observing Systems - Art from a Systems- Theoretical Perspective

I found the essay quite hard to read at first, the wording was realy difficult and I found it quite tireing. Dan went through the text with us and I found it very helpful and began to get an idea of what the essay was about. Dan explained some of the wording and the essay its self made alot of sense once it was explained. I am going to continue to look at systems theory in more detail, as I found it realy interesting. I will look at how systems work and what systems I will be using whilst creating my current project, which is design for interaction.

Some interesting points from the text
Ghetto-isation - a seperation from everything else
Systems Theory applies to everything
De-materialisation of an art object (Theres lots of ways we can consume culture, its not just one way eg Big Brother. Theres 24hr television, News bulletins,teletext , internet)ect.
Inter-media
Renaissance = re-birth of classical values
Cybernetics
Quontum physics

More shadow installations

Big Shadow is a public installation promoting the Xbox game Blue Dragon in which the viewers shadow becomes a dragon during fights.
The promotion of the game using Big Shadow is based on shadow-play:

"We projected magnified shadows of ordinary people in town and created a system whereby they could play with their own shadows. A person’s shadow is projected as a giant shadow image, which can suddenly change into the shape of a dragon. This creates a new and engaging interactive experience.

A shadow can also be manipulated via the Web while viewing a webcam image. We wanted to provide a fresh experience that links the city and the Internet as well as people and shadows."

Shadows

I would like to make an interactive installation using shadows in some way. I have experienced quite a fiew interactive installations and the ones which I enjoyed the most and were most memorable all used shadows and light in some way.

John Lewis's most recent advert uses shadows, although not interactive it is beautiful aesthetically.

New brief - idea generation

Just recieved the new brief- design for interaction and its got me thinking about some installations I have seen over the past couple of years. There is one in particular which was fanstastic, it was an interactive installation called Shadow monsters by Philip Worthington

The video doesn't do it justice.


Focusing on large scale and tactile interactive experiences that engross and envelope the visitor, Philip Worthington (1977-) created Shadow Monsters, a digital version of the traditional shadow puppet, as part of his degree in Interaction Design from the Royal College of Art.

Through a complex interplay of computer graphic and photographic programming, fantastic monsters materialise from the shadows cast by the hands of participants, reacting to and elaborating on their gestures with sound and animation. Wolf-like creatures, birds and dinosaurs are among the characters that speak and squeak as imaginary mouths open and close.

‘Play’ and ‘playfulness’ are words Worthington frequently uses when describing both his work and his approach to interactive design. As the London-based designer says, “it is a platform for experimentation and a space for the imagination to run wild.” His other projects include a digital version of the traditional toy race car track, an online community graffiti network and a colony of digitalised leaf-cutter ants that mimic the behaviours of actual ants as they forage around an interactive tabletop in search of real objects on the surface.

Worthington’s designs inject spirit and humanity into our increasingly technologically driven society. However, interaction designers today are not only concerned with the expressive and communicative possibilities of new technologies but also with their social and cultural consequences. The vision recognition software Worthington has written for Shadow Monsters could have applications beyond growling wolves and squawking birds to incorporate graphical commands for the physically disabled. While exploring all available avenues for his truly immersive and interactive designs Worthington continues to make existing and emerging technologies more meaningful and relevant to our lives now.

Design futures presentation

IT SHOULD BE RED. Don't know why the slide has changed from red to blue, but it changed colour when I uploaded it so never mind.

I presented my concept to the class on Monday, I was quite nervous but apart from that I felt that it went pretty well. I was pleased with my PowerPoint presentation as I spent a long time preparing the slides, however I would have liked to have made an animation to present , but time was against me.

I really enjoyed seeing all of the other presentations, it was great to see what every had
come up with and how different everyones was.

William Kentridge Exhibition

One of the world’s most influential contemporary artists, Kentridge will exhibit a selection of his work including prints, installations and film, in Brighton this autumn. This will be the first time that most of these works will have been shown in the UK, and will constitute his largest exhibition here to date. Born and resident in Johannesburg, Kentridge produced work that engaged in the struggle against Apartheid. Today, his work continues to infuse political sensitivity into the making of his graphic representations and in his filmic and theatrical productions in a manner that discovers politics in the daily traumas and dramas of human experience.

Future Concept

After many long days and weeks of research I have finally reached the end of the project, I'm pleased with my concept and I have learnt a great deal a long the way. From my researched I have discoverd that the majority of today’s most significant technologies have been evolving for a decade at least, and combinations of technologies are often more powerful than single technologies and innovations on there own. The process of combining technologies should be driven by consumer needs, looking at consumer demand and seeing how existing and underexploited technologies can fill the gap.
I have developed a concept which I feel could exist in the future, a portable device which offers better viewing experiences. The idea of sharing and improving vision is the key to my concept, converging current and emerging technologies and developing a product that is portable which ables users to be self sufficient.

OLED (organic light-emitting diode)

New OLED prototype is a roll-up TV

Related Entries: Cell Phones & PDAs : Future Tech : Personal Computers : Portable Entertainment


Universal Display Corp. has shown off a full-color OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen that's extremely thin and, more importantly, flexible. The prototype's screen measures just 4 inches diagonal, but it's a miniscule 0.004 inches thick. Resolution is said to be pretty good, too — about 100 dpi, so even a screen as small as the prototype could render most of the detail in a TV image. So far, OLED displays have appeared in some car head units and a few portable gadgets, but none of them have taken advantage of the technology's promise to make screens bendable like the UDC screen pictured here (Monitor Roll-ups, anyone?). Okay, now combine a flexi OLED display with a fold-out keyboard, and you can put all the functionality of a PC into a gadget the size of a PDA. Somebody please build this! — Peter Pachal

Pileus

The Pileus System is a tangible browser to make rainy days fun. The Pileus Umbrella and the Pileus WebService construct the system. At the demo, personalized photo-logs are projected on a screen of the Pileus Umbrella . User can take photos with a camera on the top of the umbrella. Taken pictures are uploaded and shared on Flickr with some context tags immediately via the Pileus WebService. The grip module has a web connection and ID for a social contents sharing for the WebService. Snapping action is used for a browsing operation with an accelerometer installed on the grip.

A Fun Concept but what about the Health And Safety Issues?

PicoP

video on your mobile phone and mp3 player is the latest thing; in fact full-length movie downloads from the likes of iTunes are almost common place. Too bad you have to watch all of them on that itty bitty screen. The world's smallest projector technology could change all that.

Microvision has invented PicoP, a laser-based projector that could someday in the not-too-distant future be placed inside portable cell phones, MP3 players, and other handheld devices. That's because the actual projector will be no larger than an Andes thin mint. The company unveiled a working prototype last night at Pepcom Digital Experience, a CES 2007 pre-show event that actually has no official affiliation with CES.

Using three tiny lasers (RGB colors), a combiner (to bring together the laser colors into a unified color pixel), and a tiny one-millimeter mirror, PicoP can project up-to-a 50-inch image in darkened room.

Images are not high-def, but they do appear in a sharp 800x 600 SVGA image at a 60 HZ refresh rate—that's because the combiner is shooting the combined pixels onto the mirror line-by-line. PicoP uses neither a projection bulb nor a focusing lens to produce the image. In fact, it conserves energy by only turning on the lasers when it needs them. So for an all green image, PicoP will turn off the Red and Blue lasers. This all happens in a fraction of a second. Microvision representatives said the technology inside is remarkable simply and actually resembles a DVD player's pickup head.

In the demo at Digital Experience, PicoP cast a vibrant image of Disney's Finding Nemo on a common piece of 8.5-by-11-inch white paper. The image was clear, but the amount of light in the large conference hall did not offer an optimal viewing environment.

Bluetooth Virtual laser Keyboard

Remember when you were promised all those amazing future tech innovations? Just around the corner was supposed to be a shining technology utopia with flying cars, personal space travel to distant galaxies, and bio-implantable cell phones. It's almost disappointing enough to make you sit at home and watch old episodes of "Space 1999".

Don't lose hope! An amazing glimpse of this promised future has just arrived at ThinkGeek in the form of the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard. This tiny device laser-projects a keyboard on any flat surface... you can then type away accompanied by simulated key click sounds. It really is true future magic at its best. You'll be turning heads the moment you pull this baby from your pocket and use it to compose an e-mail on your bluetooth enabled PDA or Cell Phone. With 63 keys and and full size QWERTY layout the Laser Virtual Keyboard can approach typing speeds of a standard keyboard... in a size a little larger than a matchbook.

Future Concept so far

Having researched over the past 3 weeks I am getting closer to my final future concept. I have been thinking about ways that can share and improve vision.
My first idea was to create a projector mobile phone which ables the users to share there videos and images with others, but after carrying out research on this concept I found that it has already been done and is currently in production and is due out next year 2008.
Secondly I came up with a concept which is a laptop that has an extendable screen, which would ultimately improve vision by making the screen larger, this would be ideal for design students etc. The laptop would have an extendable screen, would also be portable and the user can choose when and where to use it. I wanted to capitalize the screen, an extendable screen isn't enough, so i was thinking about the current trends in communication, connectivity and interactivity, social networking etc.
I have been thinking about the possibilities of having multiple interfaces, the extended screen could be used as one single platform or can be split into three screens. I started thinking about video conferencing which ables people to interact from different locations, this laptop would able a three way conversation. I have also thought about touch screen interfaces I came across the new HP TX1000 laptop, the LCD screen has an integrated touchscreen that swivels and folds flat to render the laptop keyboardless, this is an area that I need to research further before I decide to include this in my concept.
Last Thursday I presented my ideas to the class, I received some good feed back. Currently I am thinking about converging my original idea of a projector phone with my extendable laptop screen. I'm looking at the possibilities of integrating a projector in the back of a laptop. A miniature projector has already been fitted into the top of a mobile phone so, I know that small projectors are out there and I think this would be possible .

Dan Mellor

Dan Mellor is a very successful freelancer who specializes in animation and uses 3d and aftereffects, he came in on Monday to talk to us about what he what does for a living and showed us a show reel which contained examples of his work.
He trained as a sculpture and enjoyed fine art before moving to London where he became a prop maker. He became interested in animation and began to experiment with software, he is self taught. He gave us some tips about working in the freelance industry, pitching is a very important aspect of his job this means weather you will get the job or not, you can use templates and textures included with software to pitch and give the client an idea of what angle you are coming from. You have to be able to manage people, you cant be to precious about your work it as it has to get done quickly. In freelance you don't always do jobs you like, he has an agent in London that gets him work when he has hasn't got any on. Organization is very important, always keep up to date with software and include buying your software in your quote if you haven't got it already. Interacting with peers is very important and try and get an office or studio with other creative people for inspiration. Don't ever undersell your self, charge what you think your worth and don't go in with a low price to undercut people.
To become a successfull freelancer you have to be general in your work, if you specialize in something you are better off in a big company in London. ( Double Negative is a large company in London who often takes people straight out of college).
Dan recommends getting a fulltime job in a big company to get work experience before going freelance, in a large company you will begin to specialize in one aspect such as rotoscope etc.
websites. blink.com, comptonskylineproject.com, now.com, game.tv, un.cutmidnight.
Dan also recomends 3d world magazine.

Guest Speakers

For the past two weeks we have had guests that have come to speak to us about there professions and have also talked to us about our developing ideas concerning the brief and have given us feedback and ideas which has been of great help.

Week 1. Daniel Pryde-Jarman and Sam Butler

Daniel Pryde Jarman is an independent artists who runs a gallery called the Grey area which is situated in Brighton. He put forward some of his own thoughts about art and culture which led to a discussion about high and low culture, pooterism(self indulgent, mundane), street art and conceptual art. Some very interesting points came out of the discussion. We talked about Banksy's art work which is located outside a pub near Brighton station. Banksy's work is cultural, controversial and taboo,

Robert Smithson (Cultural Confinement 1972)

"When placed in a gallery it loses its charge, and becomes a portable subject or surface disengaged with the outside world".

Sam Butler works for a web technology group in the corporate and public sector, the budget his company has to work with is usually between £100.000 and £1000.000.
The elements of the user experience diagram is an overview of what Sam does.
I found Sam's session very helpful, he gave us some very useful tips about design in general and also specifically for the web, he discussed the language which is used in the web design industry and gave us some very useful websites. del.icio.us.com / www.fwa.com
N.M.A- magazine. Top 100 New Media Age - jobs.

We discussed Web 2.0 styling

• Using a site is more like a piece of software
• Everything should serve a purpose, don't overcrowd a page
• Every graphic should represent something
• Less is more

Mike Blow (Arts Technologist)
evolutionaryart.co.uk
Genetic Artwork
CAT
William Latham
Hardware interfacing
Immersive installation
Computer-controlled Air Pump
Phidgets
Arduino
Physical installation
Infra red sensors
Above are terms and areas which Mike has worked in.

Principles

• The idea is king
• Technology should be transparent
• Technically keep it simple
• Be critical of work, especially your own.
• Be prepared to justify your artistic decisions
• Collaboration (with artist and industry) can enable you to achieve results you could not do on your own.

Rona Inness
Moshimachine.com
Rona Innes is a sole trader, she has her own company and works from her studio in Brighton. Her work is flashed based and designs for the web.
Rona provided us with some useful advice and tips about setting up our own company, she discussed tax issues concerning company's and also the benefits that we would be entitled to.
She gave us advice about the presentation and content of our show reels and some usefull websites to search for jobs.

• Epic
• Wired Sussex
• BANG
• Curb
• Littelab
• Workmedia
• Chinwag.com
• Creative catapult/wiredsussex

Angie Taylor
Angie Taylor's work includes Animation, Illustration, Motion Graphics Design,
Visual Effects for film, Tv and New Media.
She is currently working for Apple as a demo artist. She has a book called creative after effects 7 which is one of the most successful books concerning after effects on the open market today.
Angie has worked with Chris Cunningham on the Aphex Twin video, her job was to morph the characters.
She feels that you should be diverse as a designer to become a successful freelancer and that your show reel should show a range of techniques and styles which would appeal to a range of people, however she does think that you should specialize with one tool such as after effects as its impossible to learn multiple software applications and be able to work to a high standard. She said that you should know your limitations, don't take on a job that you don't think you can do. Always share your ideas, you get what you give.
Angie concluded with a tutorial in after effects which was great, we learnt new skills and tricks of the software. We looked at expressions and adjustment layers.

Angie Taylor's Future Idea
Software to be made modular.
mobstar.com
LSM
Moderntoss

We were also given Some useful sights to look at which include information about expressions after effects.

JJ Gifford.com (good at expressions)
AENHANCERS.com
Other sights:
Zaswerks.com
Creativeaftereffects.com
Bliptv/angietaylor
Creativecommons.org
Book recomendation- How to cheat in photoshop

Future Concepts-Research so far

Over the past couple of weeks I have been thinking about how technology has progressed and developed over the past ten years. In my opinion some of the hightlights of the past ten years include, Increased internet access, Java technology,Usb, Mobile phones and Plasma and LCD Tv's.
I feel that the innovations mentioned above have had a dramatic impact on our lives as electronic consumers.
The Breif is concerned with the development of a concept that addresses the future our concept has to include an element of reality and be informed by any emerging or current trend.

Converged Technology in 2007
Technology as we know it today has come a long way in ten years, technology that we use on a day to day basis is becoming converged. The mobile phone used to be one seperate product in its own right, but now mobile phones are combined with camera's, Video,MP3 players and have access to the internet. Technology is becoming personal. Computers are now becoming a second self, our lives and personal interests are stored inside te machine, we use them to have video chats with freinds and family, watch tv and dvd's, listen to music, pay bills, all these things and more used to be seperate elements or products but are now combined and converged into one product.

Research into designers future visions
I Purchased a book ( ON/OFF New Electronic Products by Mel Byers) which I have found of interest for this breif, the book includes products that are already in mass production but also a number of concept models are included, revealing designers future visions.

Hella Jongerius - 'My Soft Office' Future Concept.
Hella Jongerius has taken technology to an ultimate personal level she combines technology with homely living objects that we use everyday.
Check out her work at www.vividvormgeving.ni

First session (Ba hons) multimedia Top-up

Today is Monday October 1st 2007, I am in the process of writing my first blog.