{ Brain } – beta version

Brain <beta version>

Brain is an automata that shows how the brain works when you think. Composed of handmade steel wires and knotted rope as pulley system. Brain functions in two ways:

1) Conscious –> Hand cranking the steel wheel to fluctuate the shells, and also rotating the wheels on the other face of brain.

2) Subconscious –> Using ultrasonic sensor to measure the distance, part of the brain will function automatically once the user is in position / wearing the helmet.

Exposing yourself & Taking in the unknown

The most exciting/weird experience of this project is the moment you stick your head into it. The motor above you starts moving; the vibration and sounds of the pulley system; the view you see through the wood cubes, knotted ropes, and steel wheels. It’s the mixture feelling of exposing yourself to undergo the vulnerability, and taking in the unknown to activate all your senses in the narrow space.

2D/paper –> 3D/physical

Inspired by renowned kinetic sculptor Arthur Ganson, I decided to use steel wire as the means for my Automata final project. Based on the photos and videos collecting from internet, I sketched out the shape first, and then tried to figure out how to bend the steel wire into wheel.

It’s a trial and error process, but thanks to magical Zoe Logan, I learned different pliers and jigs to make proper(at least better than free style) steel wheel. The whole journey is a little bit pain in the ass, but the result is satisfying. Beside boosting my stamina with heavy laboring, I’m glad the efforts somehow accumulating into something weird and terrifying looking.

I learned a lot from this transforming 2d ideas into 3d physical form process: the pros and cons of wire bending compare to the thick steel connected by welding; the limit of series connection the wheels with knotted ropes; the necessity of middleware of two big wheels to increase the tension.

gamma version

Multiple motors to fully construct the node system of brain on all the faces. Pill the paper off the acrylic sheets so it’d be totally transparent. Could have multiple hand crank nodes as well so it will become a cooperative “thinking” system.

Related posts

Concept Sketch, Process of Making.

Triangulation!

Triangulation.. Finally! Want it so bad for a semester. Luckily having a winter break to do it. Have a lot of rooms for improvement but still, one step further!

*UPDATE*(in the middle of writing this post UGH)

New version. Normal speed!

In the middle of documentation, the ill performance, both low speed running and wrong color picking bothered me a lot, so I went through the whole codes again and making adjustment around. And then I found out what the problem is! It’s the random plotting of points for triangles! It not only slows down the process, but also causes the ill performance of choosing the right color for the triangle. OH YEAH SO HAPPY. It’s the similar “bitter yet sweet moment” I usually will have when coding… I think I’m ready for the new semester!

Old version. x3 speed! Slow and chaos.

Old Line version. Slow but it seems to have better outcome with the random plotting points methods!!

Image Gallery

Basic idea of code

1. capture image from webcam and save as PImage source
2. iterate through source, pick up every pixel, compare either a) colors or b) brightness difference(I found comparing by colors will be more accurate).
3. if the difference is bigger than certain threshold, plant a point in class Voronoi. Voronoi does all the calculation to transform points into triangles.
4. for each triangle gotten out from Voronoi, using getCentroid() to pickup the color to fill the triangle built up with beginShape(), endShape() and vertex().
5. wipe out Voronoi and build a new one every 10 frames to speed up the performance.

References

• from Robbie Tilton. ITP alumnus! This is where my base came from! Clear description made me not afraid of trying the code out! From him, I got the idea of using Cols and Rows to boost up the performance, and plotting points for triangles with a random deviation of 5 pixels to make it look less grid-like(BUT randomness is not good for picking color, and it also slows down the performance).
• from Jan Vantomme. Very well documentation! From him, I learned the difference between getCentroid() and getSites(), and also learned that, since getCentroid() and getSites() don’t return the voronoi regions and points in same order, to fill the right color for right position it has to be looped to iterate through, picking and filling up the color at the same time.

Inspiration & Further

• amazing algorithmic portraits by Diana Lange.
• triangulation tools done by Bezalel workshop, so complicated yet the outcomes are so gorgeous.
• hemesh –> being able to make 3D triangulation mesh(printable too)

Code, as below: Read The Rest

ICM_Glitchtchtchitch

ICM Final– Glitchtchtchitch.

Manipulation and surveillance visualization.

Featured in ITP Winter Show 2013(See all the pics!).

Glitchtchtchitch is a live interactive installation showing multiple short-lived fault in a system. By bringing out the imperfection of technology with massive pixels manipulation, sound distortion, and multiple screens display, Glitchtchtchitch visualize the transient fault and the incapability of communication. Although mainly sending serious messages, with the effect of headless illusions, heads displacement, and delay, it leaves audience undergoing an experience without too much pressure.

Glitchtchtchitch is presented by running more than 10 Processing sketches at the same time, and using 2-3 projectors to increase the amount of screen, the variety, and increase the level of distortion.

Main idea –>  In order to cubify heads, instead of just altering pixels, I made an object “Cube” to get, restore, alter, and display the pixels of specific range. Also to achieve the headless effect, besides the library OpenCV, I took a background image beforehand, and display its pixels within certain ranges, once detecting a face. ALL THE SOURCE CODES

Notes

• Speed issue has room for improvement.
• Different scale presentation style(projectors included) looks nice.
• From user test and presentation feedback, people love headless and delay effect the most. Because they’re the most bizarre, unrealistic, and uncommon visual impact.

Problems with solutions

• OutOfBounds —> constrain(xxx, 0, numPixels-1)
• flip horizontal —> video.width-fx-1
• can’t cover image with pixels[ ] —> solved by using pixels for both
• improve the sketch speed —> P2D, PFrame,
• connect to webcam? PS eye? —> camera list, example

References

• scale PImage http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17705781/video-delay-buffer-in-processing-2-0
• Minim noise http://code.compartmental.net/tools/minim/manual-noise/
• hide menu http://processing.org/discourse/beta/num_1224367967.html

Original proposal –> Here.

ICM_Faking multi-window display mode! (update)

black desktop!

(Update_11/25)

Find the way to move menu-hidden sketch window!

import java.awt.MouseInfo;

// do whatever you want

int mX;
int mY;

void mousePressed() {
  mX = mouseX;
  mY = mouseY;
}

void mouseDragged() {
  frame.setLocation(
  MouseInfo.getPointerInfo().getLocation().x-mX,
  MouseInfo.getPointerInfo().getLocation().y-mY);
}

reference from here.

————————————————————————————-

Found the Plan-Z to present my Glitchtchtchitch final– make my desktop all black and  hide the title bar of all my sketches!!! It’s a dumb way I know… but at least it works!

codes for Processing

public void init(){
  frame.removeNotify();
  frame.setUndecorated(true);
  frame.addNotify();
  super.init();
}

The only drawback is… I can’t move the sketch window after doing this! Which means I should run my sketches twice for each one, first time comment the magic codes out and adjust the location, then close it and bring the magic codes back, and then run it again…

Viva la vie.

resources: 1, 2, 3

Ani_Butter

With amazing Kate <3

links: trailer, production post.

Set gallery and our lovely character melty close shot.

Ani_Butter_Trailer

Enjoy the greasy!

Ani_Butter Test Shot

which is totally useable!

Working on Sunday to pull it off. Setting up took the most of the time, and the filming was definitely less than 1 hour… But it’s totally worth it! What a lovely home of a little cube of Butter. And Kate showed magic to knit the rug. UNBELIEVABLE. It’s a magical world of cardboard and bread :D

More to come :)

Ani_StopMotion Storyboard_Butter.

Butter Ani gif made by Kate!

Tried the butter today with Kate, interesting!! The tricky things is that butter melts quite easily, might need to put in back in refrigerator several time.

It’s a story about butter who’s very unsatisfied with his greasy traces, and wants to fly because of the inspiration from the butterfly!

Here’s the sets and props.

And here’s the discussion about our dilemma about choosing whether butter or origami as our character.

Ani_Thaumatrope!

It’s always lovely to be old school. It’s a thaumatrope about one happy human being having peanut butter toast. But I drew the toast on the wrong part so it’s like it’s already in someone’s throat. Still, it’s a lovely way to die by choking to dead/killed by food.