I made a quick trip to Berlin last week to catch the exhibition at Martin Gropius Bau before it closed, it´s too bad they couldn´t keep it open until Transmediale opens end of january. The exhibition is curated by Richard Castelli and includes several large scale installations by Ulf Langheinrich (former Granular Synthesis) and Jeffrey Shaw (Place and EVE) as well as some very beautiful small-scale work by dumbtype founder Shiro Takatani, to mention just a few of the works.
I found it interesting, especially after having just read Mark Hansen´s “New Philosophy for New Media” which uses Shaw´s work extensively to support his theory.
Regine at We make money not art has written two posts from the exhibition which I recommend: http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2007/12/i-finally-got-t.php http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2007/12/from-spark-to-p.php
I found the title of this post in one of Michael Naimarks essays, I guess it also could have been called augmented reality, projection of a virtual object onto a physical object, projecting a virtual layer ontop of a physical geometry, masking of projections, etc.
I have been researching different ways of projecting on other things than flat surfaces: projections that project on objects, follow the shape of the room, and projections of virtual 3D shapes onto physical 3D shapes.
In my own work I have used projections as advanced light sources, masking as a way to fit flat projections on objects and surfaces, but also to create the illusion of multiple screens from a single source. Some examples here.
My goal has been to create tools which make it easy to start working with a physical space immediately, being able to make changes in realtime. I have mainly done this by using multiple opengl videoplane layers in max/msp jitter, with one of the layers having a drawing mode so you are able to draw the shape of a particular object after you have placed a opengl layer over it. I made a crude 3 layer tool for the workshop I did at KHIO this summer to enable the participants to immediately start relating to the physical space.
The master of multiple opengl videoplanes in Norway is Piotr Pajchel in his work with Verdensteatret.
I have done some experiments with projecting a 3D shape onto physical objects, but still have a long way to go in terms of having a simple setup for this.
Obviously I have been looking at what other people have been doing, but none of systems I have found seems to be available to the public, and few of them seem to have been used beyond the developing-period of the system, which might be a sign of them not being as flexible as wanted, and maybe also quite timeconsuming to prepare.
Most systems uses a method to track the shape/space they want to project onto in combination with custommade software, to be able to map the projected image correctly onto the physical object, which is related to the lens specifications of the projector, the placement of the projector in relation to the objects to be projected on, etc.
The LightTwist system developed at the University of Montreal (not much seems to have happened after 2004) use “a panoramic (catadioptric) camera to get correspondances between each projector pixel with the camera pixel. This camera represents the viewpoint of our futur observers. Then, from what the observer should see, we can build the projector images from their respective mapping.”
The videobjects from Whitevoid design in Germany is a software for realtime distortion of video to fit physical objects, but using predistorted video, and you calibrate it either with a helpgrid or by importing a model of the realworld setup. So you would need to first create the 3D shapes to project onto, and then decide how the video will map onto the 3D objects, and finally doing the calibration to match up the virtual objects with the physical ones.
I think the most spectacular callibration solution so far is the “automatic projector calibration with embedded light sensors” (pdf), a collaboration between people from Carnegie-Mellon, Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab and Stanford. They use fiberoptics and light sensors built into the objects/surfaces to be projected on, and by projecting a series of grey coded binary patterns, a custom-made software is able to adjust the image in less than a second to perfectly fit the projectionsurface, with a much higher resolution than a camerabased solution. Take a look at the impressive video:
The pdf and video seems to be from 2004, but I found some more information here. They are hoping to make the system fast enough for live tracking of moving objects, and also to make the calibration pattern invisible using infrared light.
If you have a big budget you could always invite Circus of Now to do the video for you (”We build skyscrapers of light”).
At Ars Electronica this year I had the pleasure to see Palbo Valbuena´s Augmented Sculpture (image at top of this post) which consists of a physical structure in the corner of the room, with the exact same virtual shape projected onto it using one projector. By then animating the color and lighting of this virtual shape, some very interesting light/shadowplays happen. Valbuena collaborates with some game developers in Spain who constructed the virtual model and animation in a standard 3D software.
This work shows the potential in augmented reality using videoprojection, and I hope to see more of his work soon (He has a big outdoor installation in Madrid at the moment, hopefully there will be some documentation soon.)
update feb 5th 2008: Valbuena has updated his website with documentation of several projects: different versions of the augmented sculpture and the public square installation in Madrid.
I was introduced to Martin Andersen last week, the artist behind the mirror project in Rjukan. Rjukan is in a valley where the sun disappears behind the mountains 5 months a year. Martin wants to construct a heliostat mirror (it follows the position of the sun) to get sunlight to the town square of Rjukan. This is actually an old idea from 1913 supported by Sam Eyde, the director of Norsk Hydro (which basically founded Rjukan for industrial purposes).
Unlike a similar project in Viganella in Italy which uses brushed steel as the reflection surface, the mirror project will use mirrors which focus the sun only to the town square (about 100m2).
This weekend I got the chance to see the two installations “Fortellerorkesteret” and “Louder” by Verdensteatret at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo. Both come out of two theater performances by Verdensteatret. I had the opportunity to be a little bit involved in the production of Fortellerorkesteret so it was nice to see it in this huge beautiful space.
The installations are a mix of sculpture,sound,video,kinetic objects,light and shadows, and are inspiring examples of compositions in space. Fortellerorkesteret has a more theater structure, resemblant of old mechanical puppet theater, while Louder is more of a spatial experience dominated by the huge mechanical spider and the numerous speakers.
Google Earth has implemented a new technology called street view, developed by Immersive Media
This could roughly be seen as a mix of very advanced quicktime VR and a film effect from The Matrix movies. Interesting to me as another example of the interrelation between space,time and motion.
From the Google Earth Blog:
“One of the many secrets behind their technology is a patented 11 lens camera system that simultaneously takes photos in 11 directions based on a dodecahedron geometry. They can capture 30 frames a second of high resolution photography. That’s right - we’re talking high resolution video in digital 360. You can stop, start, back up, single-frame, etc”
I received an email from Tesla that Julien Maire is showing work there this week (exploding camera, may 22nd-may26th), wish I could go. I have had the chance to see his performances with mechanisms in slide-form, Dia-positive and demi-pas at Transmediale, which were great.
The work which really caught my attention though is a old performance he showed a documentation from at a presentation of his work, ordonner: a slow motion performance, described as “The gradual slowing down of the movement of the boxes during a house move”. See a short video from the performance here.
I had the chance to see the Elmgreen & Dragset exhibition “This is the first day of my life” when I was in Malmö last week. A very effective way of transforming the space:
“Upon entering Malmö Konsthall, the spectator is confronted with a long blank white wall and a series of anonymous-looking doors. Some of the doors are dysfunctional and can’t be opened; others will lead the viewer through a complex environment of secret rooms configured in a labyrinthine system.” From the catalogtext.
This reminds me of descriptions of some of Mike Nelson´s work, which I havent had the opportunity to see unfortunately.
I recommend reading an old interview from the Guardian, where his work is described as creating “emotionally charged false buildings within buildings”.
I have added a resources page, accessible from the top right corner (next to bio and about).
This is a list of software and hardware I use or explore, relevant books, articles, and other media, and also some code and schematics from my own project.
The Aleph installation reminded me of the installation Cloud that David Rokeby recently completed.
“Cloud is a monumental kinetic installation hanging suspended in the Great Hall at the Ontario Science Centre. One hundred identical sculptural elements, arranged in ten by ten grid, are rotated at slightly differing speeds by computer-controlled motors. The elements slowly shift in and out of synchronization. When the motors are just out of sync, huge waves ripple across the space. When completely in sync, the work appears almost solid then suddenly almost invisible. When far out of sync, the sculptural elements float in apparent chaos. “
