Spatial Design

Posted by min at 02:38 AM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2005

Video Remodelling

Spatial Design Final Project Proposal

Title:
Video Remodelling

Keywords to describe our project:
Abstract reconstruction
Live Video
Perspective
Point of view
Scale
Space
Viewer inclusion

The general scope of ideas:
Increase the visitor’s awareness and enjoyment of the physical space they are in at ITP. We aim to shift perspective and emphasize point of view though the reconstruction of physical spaces using scale models and live video.

We propose to build a small-scale model based on the video image from camera located somewhere in ITP(camera_1). A second camera(camera_2) will be place inside the model to reconstruct the first camera’s point of view. Both camera images will be layered over each other and displayed on a laptop screen next to the model.

The model itself will not be a complete 3 dimensional replication of the physical space, but rather an abstract reconstruction based on camera_1’s point of view. By using flat, 2D pieces, placed at varying distances from camera_2 we will create a perspective that is only representational the original.

Camera_1’s point of view should include the model being displayed. This will also include the viewers in the superimposed image on the laptop display creating the illusion that the viewers’ are within the model they are viewing.

Our intention is to give the visitor a greater awareness of the spatial architecture of ITP, as opposed to only focussing on what is contained within that architecture. We also want to bring their attention to the live aspect of the movement of people through that space, and their presence within it.

This project has similarities to Michael Snow’s white room, but it is different in several ways:
1. We are not using projection
2. We are not using the actual space, but rather a scale reconstruction of the space
3. It invites movement through the space, whereas the illusion of the white room would have been broken by the shadows cast by people in the space.

Resources available to us: 2 laptops, video cameras (personal and from ER), firewire extension cables, firewire hub, Jitter.

Missing elements: Possibly a faster cpu, like a G5, matching cameras and wide angle lenses. Also, we need a team of 3 or 4 to make this happen.

Posted by Leif Mangelsen at 09:40 AM

Final Pitch - Histographical

Keywords - Video, image, touch, sensation, discovery, histogram, remapping color, physical, texture

Zoom out - Discovering hidden layers within a moving image. Dissecting a precise portion of something can yield a novel idea. This was inspired by the concept of slit-scanning and a recent performance by Golan Levin called ‘Scrabble’.

Zoom in - My Idea specifically deals with projecting video onto a moving surface that is driven by the video. Scanning a frame at a time of video reveals histograms that are physically recreated form left to right across an actual surface. This takes video color values and maps them across a grid of small pistons, potentially revealing a new sensory depth within the video medium. This will cause visual imagery to be thought of in a position of our brain more closely related to touch, by crossing senses.

2- How to introduce your project to someone who does not know about it?
This explores a layer of an image normally hidden to the eye. It reveals another possibility of connecting with video imagery through physical space and touch. With the volume of information and video content rising on the Internet a method of taking a deeper look into the medium needs to be explored. A layer of more complex data beneath the obvious surface exists. This forces the viewer to look at images in front of them as a surface that has spatial as well as visual data. I hope to possibly reveal a new visual alphabet based on spatial data from color and luminance data from moving images.

What is the intent for your project?
The intent is to get users to re-evalute their senses and attempt to look at visual information with a heightened awareness. Spatial elements can exist in a medium entrenched in a 2D world.

What is the audience for your project?
The audience for this project is difficult to sum up. Any person curious about the mysterious connections between things in life might be interested in this project. It provides a light sensory experience of touch and visual motion that most people would enjoy.

Describe the starting point for someone experiencing your project?
The viewer would start by walking through a short corridor. On their left would be a projector projecting images across to the right hand wall. The projector would have some type of gel or lens over it to diffuse the light going to the right so the viewer doesn’t get blinded. On the right wall would be a grid of 5x6 pistons, gently oscillating up and down. The representation will look as if it’s flowing from left to right, every column represents one frame of the video. The user will be encouraged to touch the pistons since they will be made of a soft material.

What does your project provide that other similar projects do not provide
or provide differently? I am sure an iteration of this exists but I have been unable to find it online so far. Histograms are a common way of measuring color, saturation, and brightness in an image. This project attempts to reinterpret common values of color into a physical form. It may open up a new meaning to a visual language that lacks any additional layers of metadata.

Technical Summary:
The RGB or HSB values of the video are taken and feed to a 5x6 grid of pistons that are driven up and down by a series of motors. The movement of the pistons up and down will represent a movement of color values within the image. Each column of the grid is a frame of video, with the heights of those five postons in that column representing a simplified version of that video frame’s histogram. The pistons burst up in succession from left to right, the formations of the column of 5 pistons will then be repeated in the row next to it, always moving places from left to right. The histogram reveals a graph of the video that is represented for each frame of the video in physical form. The video that is getting histogram slit scanned to the pistons is getting projected onto the pistons at the same time to give the projection texture that it creates it self. It has a kind of recursive and reciprocal quality to it.

What are the resources available to you today for this project? A projector, existing video content, histogram source code

List some of the elements still missing in order to start creating yourproject?
30 small motors, a wooden box, pistons, surface materials.

How do you plan to provide these element?
I will petition various business for a donation of parts for higher learning purposes using an existing proposal letter. Otherwise, I will purchase all the elements my self.

Posted by Karl Channell at 04:19 AM

Final Project Proposal -- Augmented Reality

What are the keywords to describe your project?
* augmented reality
* social interaction
* hidden connections
* virtual identities
* shared experience

What is the general scope of ideas?

To create a mixed-reality space that encourages interaction between strangers in a physical space by augmenting the interaction in a virtual space that is displayed to all the participants. Each visitor will be given a physical tag (with a 4x4" tracker marker printed on it) that will be used to track their position and interact with other visitors seen by the system. Live video of the visitors will be projected with augmented graphics based off the visitors' positions.

The exact content hasn't been decided yet. Ideas under consideration:

* Each tag corresponds to a character in a play. Lines of dialog between two characters appear between them when they are present in the frame. Scenes with multiple characters require all characters to be in the frame before the dialog is displayed.

* The visitor positions are used as input into a system for generative graphics. E.g. each visitor is an attractor in a particle system (a flock of birds fly between visitors)

* Directions appear over each visitors head telling them what to do. Instructions are generated based off the relative position to other visitors (e.g. "move towards the person on your left")

* A ribbon graphic is created between the visitors

What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?

The project allows visitors to experience augmented reality and explores how their relationship to each other in the physical space is changed by presenting an augmented experience.

How to introduce your project?

"Name tags" will be distributed at the entrance to the show. The name tags will consist of a 5x5" square of foamcore with an AR tag on the front and string so it can be worn around the neck. A small sign will invite visitors to wear the name tag and replace it when they leave the show.

Your intents for the project?

To create a space which is a mixture of real and virtual, and which encourages interaction between visitors in the mixed-reality space. The goal is for visitors who are in the same physical space to interact with each other through the virtual projected space, thus blurring the line between real and virtual.

The starting point for someone experiencing the project?

The starting point will be the kiosk with the name tags at the show entrance. The kiosk will not give away the purpose of the tags -- this will be revealed when the visitors enter the room containing the video projection which reacts to the AR tags.

The audience or users for your project?

The immediate audience is the show visitors. This project could be applied to situations where presenting augmented information about each person would encourage social interaction. Examples include parties and conferences.

What does your project provide that other similar projects do not provide or provide differently?

Many augmented reality projects have been done before. It's all about the content.

What are the resources available to you today for this project?

Materials from ITP (assumed): Projector and projection screen, PC with OpenGL compatible video card, PCI or USB video capture device, MiniDV or composite video camera, 30' S-Video cable, directional lighting.

What are the missing elements for your project?

Materials for the name tags (foamcore), mounting bracket for video camera, frame for projection screen to make it look like a mirror (optional).

How do you plan to provide these element?

Beg, borrow or buy.

Posted by Michael Ang at 03:02 AM

Elevator Pitch

Title: WindoWall

Keywords:
Interactive Art
Realization
Seamless Boundary between Physical and Virtual Worlds
Open Space
Wall
Window
Dynamic Lighting
Dynamic Projection

General Theme:
The general scope of ideas is Space Interactivity (Interactive Research) with a strong metaphor on art. How can a static space be interacted to be vividly perceived?

Specific Scope of Theme:
The main elements of this piece will be the elements of a space, a room: Window and Wall. With the relationship between real space and virtual space in mind, different effects, resulting from the use of lighting, of a graphical image’s projection, and of a different drawings and sculptures, will be applied to a wall and a window. The elements of this piece will definitively be interactive among them, but how these interactions are perceived by the audience will constitute another dimension of its interaction.

Statement:
This project is very similar to other interactive art pieces that made use of projection on a wall or on a window to attract audience’s attention, and create diverse variations of the projected images in order to engage them. However, the way the interaction is created will be different. The interaction will be between the real and the virtual elements. How this relationship can be perceived and be further interacted to create a rather transparent impression from audience’s point of view will constitute the main realization this project aims to state.

Background:
Reflecting back to diverse spatial design elements in its long history, many of them created a revolutionary change such as creating a brand new notion of the space itself or as morphing the space to a totally new form. Between them, the notion of theatre, where one of the four surrounding walls is simply destroyed and replaced with various interactive elements, is a perfect example of a space transformation. Taking a physical element and creating a virtual element to fulfill this gap nonetheless describes a seamless transition between physical and virtual worlds.

Wall is a structure, often conceived as something static or a boundary that limits the physical elements of our nature. Wall can simply be made out of bricks, or of plywood, or can be even more complex with different textures applied to it. These modifications were always initiated with the intention of creating an attractive wall that breaks the bored rigidness of a static object. On the other hand, Window is an “Open” element that opens a “Closed” space. It can also be described as the crossing between two different worlds, outside and inside. Similarly, it approaches the transparent boundary that exists been something real and artificial.

Abstract:
A wall and a window will be merged together to form an interactive spatial design piece. With the main emphasis on the different scenarios of various interactions happening within this space, the notion of a wall and of a window will be interactively designed to add another dimensional perception of a seamless transition between physical and virtual worlds.

Description:
The actually physical wall will be perceived as a window, and vice versa. This transition will be made as seamless as possible with the use of various elements such as camera, projector, lightings, mirrors, and different textures. In another possible layout, the window and the floor will be switched. Depending on the possibility of creating a more vivid image that can pulls audience’s attention, the main layout will be left open between these two possibilities. However, the use of projection and different lighting will definitely aim to create the transition between physical and virtual worlds. The camera will record what’s outside, and these images will be dynamically translated into a virtual 3D graphics, reflective of the actual recorded images. The main projection will happen on a window, while the wall will reflect what happens on the window through the usage of various mirrors.

User Scenario:
Like people are walking by or standing face to a wall, or starring at the window, every user present in this semi-open area will be the audience of this piece. Whether it is a quick passage or a little longer pause in front of this wall or window, the audience will perceive the interaction that creates this transparent translation between physical and virtual spaces, and interact with it.

Intent:
-Different vision of a window and a wall with respect to the notion of physical and virtual worlds
-Interaction between two physical elements: Wall and Window
-Interaction between the real and the virtual
-Audience’s realization of this seamless transition through their observation, a form of interaction

Design:
(Sketches Already Made, but not as complete)
There are two options in terms of layout. It will depend on how the projection and lighting will placed within this spatial design.

Technology:

-Available:
 Contents of projection: 2D and 3D Graphics with real-time rendering programs (OpenGL for 3D, QuickTime for Video)
 Camcorder
 Projector (if it can be borrowed from ITP)
 Different elements of analog/digital circuitry to trigger the projection and the lighting.

-Needed:
 Various Source of Lighting
 Window and Wall Design (Glass, Wood, etc.)

Posted by Tae Ho Yoon at 02:21 AM

my portfolio

here is the link to my portfolio.
portfolio
go to the link, and there's the archive for Spatial Design.

I basically put the description for the each projects with pictures.

Posted by Jane Oh at 01:59 AM

Final Project Concept: RED CARPET

Elevator Pitch
Jane Oh, Yonatan Kelib, Sai Sriskandarajah, Angela Pablo

Keywords:
Red material, labyrinth, guide, embracing, pathway, merging of space, vito acconci, welcome

General scope of ideas:
We are interested in merging the separated spaces between ceiling, wall and floor, leading to a more fluid and larger sense of space. Implement some easy to understand visual cues - create an organic flow which unites all the spaces within the floor, instead of separate, isolated rooms.

What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?
Welcome visitors to the ITP space and show a warmer approach to technology. Making use of space that hasn’t been fully utilized (ceiling, walls, floor). Help guide visitors towards projects using visual cues.

How to introduce your project to someone who doesn’t know about it?
Through visual and tactile experience.

Intent?
To give visitors a warm welcome and provide the floor with a more organic flow and presence.

Audience?
Visitors to ITP show

Starting point for experiencing our project?
Entrance and throughout the floor.

What does our project do differently?
We provide visual and tactile cues that are easy to understand and subtle.

Resources available to you today for the project?
The ITP floor (physical space).

Missing elements?
Red material (fabric, carpet, inexpensive material safe and durable enough to be stepped on)
Fasteners
Rods/other structural element for creating shapes with the fabric

How will you provide these?
Research low-cost resources available

Visuals
http://itp.nyu.edu/~jo595/spatial/final/redcarpet.htm
http://www.itp.nyu.edu/~ss3830/itp/spatialdesign/floorplan.jpg

Posted by Angela Pablo at 01:19 AM

November 15, 2005

Lost: Connections proposal

Elevator pitch:

LOST: Connections
Lost: Connections is an interactive exploration of the characters and storylines of the television show Lost. It will provide a new, spatial way to experience the relationships and narrative of the show by mapping the many connections between the characters and allowing the audience to interact with them in a non-linear way. Through both a two-dimensional and three-dimensional cartography of the island, new sensations and a deeper understanding of the show's complex story arc and characters can be revealed. A map of the character's connections will be presented in a two dimensional plane; moving and interacting with the map will reveal the scenes in a three-dimensional environment that is projected in front of the audience.

Technorati Tags: drama, map, depth, entertainment, labyrinth, lost, narrative, story

Keywords

narrative. map. drama. story. depth. labyrinth. entertainment.

General Scope

The general scope is an audience's engagement with a piece of entertainment, and the usually invisible elements that make that work interesting in the first place. By allowing the audience to interact with the story elements themselves (as opposed to, a specific character used as a protagonist as a video game), the appreciation for the structure of the story will be enhanced, as well as the audience's investment in that structure.

Specific Parts

In this case we are looking specifically at the many connections between the characters. For Lost, I have broken these down into the following types:

• coincidental connections: perhaps the most compelling element of this particular show. The many surprising and all-too-perfect ties that we see during flashbacks and personal revelations lead us to appreciate both the other-worldly nature of the island, as well as the skill with which the writers have constructed this world.
• flirtations: the tantalizing and enthralling almost-but-not-quite romantic relationships between some of the characters on the island
• romantic: flirtations that have been physicalized, either on or off the island.
• related: characters who are related, by blood or marriage.
• friendship: natural bonds that have developed between the characters based on their personalities.
• trial-by-island: the traumas and obstacles that are surmounted by the characters as they fight for survival on the island, which sometimes (but not always) bring them much closer together.

The audience chooses which of these types of connections to interact with, and then gets to re-experience (through audio-visual cues in a three-dimensional space) how they have been manifested through the course of the show.

2- How to introduce your project to someone who does not know about it?

Intent

The intent is to provide a viewer with at least 5 or 10 minute journey through these connections and have a chance to experience some of the same satisfaction (and frustration) that occurs when watching the show over the course of the season.

Audience

Fans of the show are the obvious audience, but also anyone who is looking for a non-traditional way to experience popular entertainment.

Starting Point

A viewer would start by looking at a small screen which would be an overhead view of the island and the different characters on the island; a large projection in front of this small screen would suggest in 3D a location on the island. Choosing a type of connection and then a character would reveal a path on the smaller screen; selecting points along that path would cause the camera in the 3D environment to move, revealing audio and/or video that show that particular connection.

Compared to Similar Projects

There are plenty of interactive 'games' that attempt to recreate parts of a games storyline; often they are linear and are forced to invent their own structure and version of events to justify the game. Or they fail to capture the things that make the show interesting in the first place. Even the official's website has a Lost "Survival Game" for instance, which revolves around the user navigating the island while avoiding being attacked by wild boar. People don't watch lost for wild boar, and while survival is an important part of the show, I would argue that the connections that the characters make are a bigger part of their survival than any particular skills they possess.

Resources Available

As far as establishing these connections through audio and video, I have the entire first season and all the episodes of the second season to extract cues from. There are also dozens of websites devoted to the show, and which detail many of the types of connections and plot elements that I'm interested in.

As for the creation of the project itself, I imagine a lot of this could be done with flash. I have done an initial mockup of the 2D portion of the environment, and while my actionscript chops are not that great, I could probably get it all to work.

I don't anticipate much hardware difficulty; really an lcd monitor and a projector with screen, which ITP has several. It might be nice to allow the navigation on the 2D map to take place without a mouse, which would need some sort of touch screen probably, but it's not an absolute necessity.

Resources Missing

The 3D environment is just a dream I have, and one that I don't really have the skills to generate at this point. I'd love to involve someone with 3D experience to help create this environment, and to help make it interact with the 2D space. If that doesn't work, then I could always pare down the concept by faking it with looped audio and video in a browser window or quicktime movie that would change when the 2D flash map called for it.

I also think to make the engagement truly rich, I might need some help with the actionscript/flash side of things, to provide a little more intelligence and automation to creating these connections (i.e., assigning properties to different characters and having the connections generated programatically based on these properties.) I understand how to do this conceptually but might need help in implementing it.

How to get those resources?

Ask the class for the 3D wizards, after-effects gurus and flash-mavens (paging David Bamford!) to join in this endeavor.

technorati tags: narrative, map, drama, story, depth, labyrinth, entertainment, lost

Posted by schwa23 at 11:18 PM

Final Project Idea

First, here's my portfolio.

Here is my elevator pitch (it was 20 lines in my text editor):
The keywords for my project would be Museum Exhibit, Clear Floor, Narrative Layout.

The general idea of my project is a museum exhibit whose floors are clear (perhaps made of plexiglass). The layout would form a narrative to create a specific feeling in the person experiencing it.

Specifically, this exhibit would have three rooms. The first room would be small and introductory, and the floor would not be clear. The second room would be a bit larger and have a clear floor beneath which a small diorama would begin to tell a story. The third room would be massive and the diorama beneath it would also be large and elaborate. The effect would be a narrative space of steadily increasing impact.

The intent of the project is to use physical space in a sequential way to impress upon the person experiencing the enormity of the subject matter. A potential application could be an exhibit about war. Beneath the plexi-glass in the second room could be a band of dissidents and in the next room there could be a massive wave of troops about to overpower them. The experience of entering the last, large room would be frightening - which, in this application - would be the point.

This project is too big to really build, so a model would be built out of foam board and plexiglass. A theme would have to be chosen and items for that would be obtained.

Posted by Andrew Maskin at 09:21 PM

Final Project Proposal

Title: Video Light Box

Keywords:
interactive, light, video projection, light box

General Scope of Ideas:
Interaction with physical object, discovery/ unveiling of imagery (possibly sound?), looking at something plain and seeing (or hearing) what is on the inside

Parts of the general scope specifically covered by this project:
People will be able to interact with a physical object to uncover imagery hidden within a box which, from the outside, looks like an ordinary object. Imagery will be video-taped from within and displayed on screen beside the box.

Project Introduction
The light box is a way to look at ways of viewing things differently. Since the view within the box is closed off, you must use another way of seeing (through use of cameras and screen) to reveal things on the inside.

- Project Intentions
Initiate dialogue on the subject of inner versus outer appearance, also revealing what is hidden using technology.

- The Experience (the audience or users for your project; what project provides that other similar projects do not provide or provide differently) The person would ideally walk up to the square box, approximately 2.5', and see the screen beside it. The box will have handles, or some type of device that suggests movement using hands. The box will be built to allow certain movement but not reveal what is on the inside. A similar project might be the ultra-sound monitor used to see inside a mother's womb. In this project, anyone (not just a doctor) can "look inside" and, depending on how they move the box, the experience varies from person to person. Sort of like looking into a mirror. It is different for everyone.

Currently Available Resources:
Wood, tools for building the box, ideas on the content

Missing Elements for Project:
video screen, imagery/light (or sound) for the inside, technical knowledge on video recording to projection

Providing the Missing Elements:
research resources available/ collaborate with others

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Past Spatial Design project descriptions/ photographs can be found here: Portfolio

Posted by Kate Bauer at 03:00 AM

November 14, 2005

Calatrava at the Met

This past weekend I went and saw the
Calatrava exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The piece I liked best was a wave sculpture consisting of copper beams attached to motors moving in a sinusoidal wave pattern. Very hypnotic and beautiful. Similar to his wave sculpture at SMU. There is also a model of the articulating wall/awning that was mentioned in class (this, like several of the models, didn't seem to be working).

The exhibition runs until March of next year. Entry to the Met runs on a suggested donation, so you don't necessarily have to give them full price.

Posted by Michael Ang at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

Georges Perec, Puzzles

Reading Perec's thoughts on the art of the jigsaw was quite entertaining. As a kid, I never showed much interest in video games. I did like playing Tetrix however; the basic forms in puzzles. Trying to come to quick decision makings as to which edges would fit best. It is true, as he puts, that every move I made counts.

"Puzzling is not a solitary game... each hope and each encouragement have all been designed, calculated, and decided by the other."

Also, when I was young, my parents would buy me these ridiculous puzzles that were up to 5000 pieces. Very intimidating at first but as soon as I'd begin on it, it was soon finished. The end result was very rewarding.

I think that hands on learning is good for both children and adults. The learner is actively involved instead of just being a passive learner. Young children should be actively involved in hands-on activities every day and working puzzles could be the best solution.

Posted by min at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)

Final Project ideas

I met with Aaron Harmon and Kati London to come up with ideas for our final project. There were a lot of ideas that we were interested in but we kept coming back to the same idea of an intimate space that could be created mechanically within a more crowded, public environment. Maybe a cocoon-like, possibly soundproof contraption the walls of which could be formed (pulled down or up) with a system of pulleys reacting to your weight on a seat. Would allow an opportunity to reflect, refresh, or escape. Also possibly allow direct communication with one other person in another part of the room. Singling out two people, maybe strangers, in a crowd and allowing them to interact privately:

Keywords:
intimate, user activated, transient space, private discussions in a
public and semi-public space, isolation, chamber, alone, solitude, reflection, hermitage

What is the general scope of ideas?
User controlled personal space, individual environment from which the
user can make some choices and interact from a quiet environment. Going with that idea we are creating a spontaneous closed space in a crowded area so that individuals can go to be alone and escape from the crowd, reflect, or be entertained by the motion of wall appearing around them. When octogenarians are asked what they wish they had done more of in there life, they almost always say "Reflect more."

What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?
The privacy and solitude that enable reflection. The structural form determines the user's interaction. Cueing the user to place their feet in a defined area and upon the user's sitting down on an inviting seat, will trigger a pulley system that will create an
instant, singularly enclosed space for the user. The user then has the option to crank a lever or pick up the headphones/microphone and speak and listen.

How to introduce your project to someone who does not know about it?
We have all found ourselves excited to experience something but
overwhelmed by the noise and crowds around us. This project provides a
quiet, temporary, isolated spot to sit. Design should be intuitive: a swing-like chair that entices people to sit on it. It is actually a crank that makes the walls go up which also affects the space of others outside of the enclosure. Here they find themselves connected to headphones/mic, have an impromptu conversation with someone they may or may not know.

What is the intent for your project?

Create a surprising, intimate space for people to be quiet and connect
with others.

What is the audience for your project?
the inquisitive person looking for a nice spot to sit, the overwhelmed visitor at an exhibit, the unexpecting curious passerby who picks up the headphones and microphone/or gets instantaneously enclosed in space, an anti-social or quiet person. People who are feeling anonymous or alone in the crowd. They must also be adults, otherwise the chair system will probably not work. People who use our project are more than likely to have a college education and perhaps even an advnanced degree. The project's design should be intuitive, however, so the user does not neccisarly need to be able to read. Depenging on the materials we use, we can create either a masculine or femine space of isolation, or perhaps a unisex space. Urban individuals who live in cities that are vertically designed are also targeted viewers of this project. Rural peoples and indivudals from horizontal cities would more than likely feel trapped in the space rather than relesased from the crowed in such a device.

Describe the starting point for someone experiencing your project?

The person approaches a suspended seat, it looks comfortable, so they choose to sit, or not to sit. Perhaps they have already seen someone use it, so they know what is coming. It would be open, ambiguous, flat, but obvious that they should sit down on the seat or pull a lever to interact with it. Upon sitting down the weight of their body will draw the walls of the structure up/down around them, enclosing the user in a temporary foam coated room or 'pod.'

What does your project provide that other similar projects do not
provide or provide differently?

Vito Acconci did something similar, with pieces of board and a seat, that enclosed the user in a house like structure. However, this was not a private space, and had windows for viewing the outside. It also caused you to have to step over things while our walls will possibly drop down.
Also, the felt nest by Robb in the MOMA Safe exhibit. Except ours will probably let light in, so it is refreshing, not tiring. Also, easier to get into, and promotes conversation.

What are the resources available to you today for this project?
sewing machine, assorted sewing materials, computers

List some of the elements still missing in order to start creating your project?
pulley system, rope, fabric (felt? gauze?), wood to build seat, pillow, foam, (2) headphones/microphones

How do you plan to provide these elements?

Purchase, loot from trash, "borrow"

Posted by Fiona Carswell at 12:22 PM

Repost: Noguchi Museum

When I went into the Noguchi museum, I felt that I entered a different world. Huge tall walls bar me from the outside noisy, subtractive, industrial world. Here I saw big stones; I heard water flowing; I felt calm and peace. See more here...

Posted by Min Weng at 10:33 AM

November 13, 2005

Spatial design portfolio...

Just posting the link to my spatial design portfolio... move along, move along...

Posted by schwa23 at 11:52 AM

November 12, 2005

The Shape of Space

I really liked Minsky's ideas about mapping the outside world and our bodies, and how we work with models we've created in our heads. It reminded me of my grandmother who was blind. When I visited her as a child, she'd often give me a bath in the attic bathroom and then hold me up to the window that overlooked the city of Waterford, Ireland, and I'd describe the view to her. The whole process involved sharing each other's sensory experiences in order that we both could have whole experiences. I would point out each stair on the way to the attic since she couldn't see them, then she would run the water because I was too young to determine the right temperature. Then she'd wash my hair, but I'd tell her when the shampoo suds were getting too close to my eyes. Through this she was mapping out my body and the space around her in her mind. After the baths she'd wrap me in towels and hold me up to the attic window so I could describe the view over the rooftops of the grey, joined buildings. Because I was too young to know better, I always thought that describing the view to her in my words would allow her to see the view exactly as it was. But I remember later when she 'described' the view to my grandad over dinner, she'd always add embellishments based on her interpretation of my description, or how her imagination had expanded the view in her mind.

Posted by Fiona Carswell at 02:30 PM

Smart Slab

Just heard about this. I'm sure this is too expensive, but it's a material to keep in mind when thinking about designing multi screen stuff:

http://www.smartslab.co.uk/index_s.html

Posted by Fiona Carswell at 02:02 PM

November 11, 2005

Christin Roman- elevator pitch

Intro
I would like to design a project that explores the user's perception of tonal dissonance and harmony, or musical coherence and noise, while allowing a constant flow of interaction. Inspired by the labyrinth project, I've been thinking about ways to navigate through a space or to arrange spatial objects in a way that both affects and, through the user's interpretation, is affected by sound.

What are the keywords to describe your project?
aural / spatial / kinetic ineractivity
dissonance vs. consonance
coherence vs. noise
perception of sound
psychological association

What is the general scope of ideas?
I would like to explore the ways in which people perceive and respond to sound. It's been proposed that even self-acknowledged "tone deaf" people will react negatively to dissonance and positively to consonance, due to either the hierarchal structure of a tonal piece (studies have shown) or the spatial relationships between frequencies and their proximity to each other in accordance with the basic harmonic principles of the overtone series (according to Arnold Schoenberg, among others). These musical concepts can be applied to any number of spatial or psychological relationships: comfort vs. anxiety, right vs. wrong, familiarity vs. the unknown, clarity vs. incoherence, etc. Furthermore, by combining concepts like spatial relationships, musical relationships and kinetic relationships this project also touches on Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence, wherein he states that visual-spatial, body-kinesthetic and auditory-musical intelligence are the three types of Sensational learning. While this theory is controversial, it should also be pointed out that many studies conducted on normal, neuro-surgical and brain-damaged individuals have concluded that the right cerebral hemisphere of the brain is dominant in the identification and perception of musical stimuli, non-verbal sounds and the analysis of geomoetric and physical space.

What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?
My project approaches the idea of a spatial-kinetic-musical correlation by placing the user in a situation where he or she can control an auditory stimulus through bodily kinetic movement through a spatial design. The auditory stimulus changes to reflect the user's relative position, either to other users, a pre-determined path, objects in the room or the arrangement of objects in a room. The user can interpret this stimulus as either negative or positive feedback and determine his or her next move accordingly.

Introducing the project:
My intent is for the user to determine spatial relationships in sound and be able to control them through kinetic activity. The interaction among different wave frequencies is in fact a spatial relationship, but it is invisible to the eye and difficult for the imagination. People who are not musically trained are often intimidated by the prospect of controlling and organizing sounds without realizing that they already possess the basic tools necessary for understanding musical organization. By relating such organization to simple concepts like familiarity and the unknown, or proximity and distance, even the most un-musically inclined can begin to see musical organization simply as a series of tension and release, consonance and dissonance, stability and instability. It is when these concepts combine that music is created.

This project would be designed especially for the ITP Winter show, where a large number of potential users will be available. What is most exciting is that it can take up as little or as much space as desired and can be accomplished in any number of ways. At this stage, it is highly adaptable and could be modified to work in conjunction with another student piece, possibly even with all of the students' pieces!

That being said, I'd like to talk first about how I think the project could be best utilized, and go from there. I would love to use this project as a tool to help other students show their artwork by guiding the users to it, using the auditory-kinetic-spatial relationship described above. If we approach the users as a network, we could possibly even control the flow of people in the show, sending each user on a different course, relocating them to a piece that hasn't been looked at or moving them to a less crowded area of the room, all through the auditory stimuli they receive through their headphones. In fact, if the works displayed at the Winter Show were used as nodes on a sonic labyrinth, each work that is on display could have its own auditory stimulus, completely customizable for each student. Not only would this bring a sense of unity to the show by connecting all the students' work, but it would require no designated space, other than the space that is already being taken up by the people who are visiting.

But, again, this piece could easily be adapted to work in conjunction with another class project. for example, this could be accomplished through some tangible display, such as Alex's mechanical pixels, which, when arranged by the user, produces sounds that are comparable to the coherence of the image produced. This could even be approached as a type of puzzle which the user can be guided, either by sound or sight or both, to solve. This is just one alternate idea, but I'm sure there are more.

What resources are needed for this project?
To carry this out, I would need an ample supply of headphones, which I imagine I could scrounge up through the ER. As far as how the sounds will be received by the users, we could use anything from shortwave radios or walkie-talkies, to the users' personal cell phones. By passing out sensors or inserting them in one of the devices we supply the users with, we can track how close they are to any one piece on the floor.

Posted by Roman, Christin at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

Cells

Elevator pitch: I would like to create a series of dome-style habitats constructed from discarded cell phone components (i.e. adapters, skincases, beltcases, phoneclips, earpieces, batteries, SIM cards, phone bodies, etc.) These habitats would have small entrances that one or two people could crawl into and sit inside. Inside the fabric of the dome, the viewer would encounter a planetarium-like display of blinking displays, LEDs, and vibrating motors. There is also a possibility for expansion into other recorded elements as well.

Keywords: Technological Detritus, Cellphones, Urban habitats, Sound and Light display

From Danwen Xing's disCONNEXION series, 2003

Left: Electroland's Urban Nomad Shelter Right: Jörg Student's Ha-Ori Shelter

In today's society of communications technology, the speed of advancement and commerce have left a heap of discarded physical materials that have been used and quickly abandoned by our culture of rapid obsolescence. Much of this waste ends up being deposited in parts of the world such as China's Guandong Province, as evidenced here in Danwen Xing's disCONNEXION series of photographs. There are also more and more people considering creative ways to afford people shelter in urban spaces. While this project would not be practically fit for such actual use, I believe it could recall the need for such environments by underscoring how much material gets devoted to eventual waste while people still lack suitable shelter.

What is the intent for your project? The intent of this projcct is to create an intimate sculpural space for people to travel into that will force a dialogue about the use of physical materials for technology and the possibility of diverting this waste. Simultaneously, by using old cell phone parts to create light and sound, a sort of synaesthetic experience would result.

Describe the starting point for someone experiencing your project? The viewer would first be confronted with the exterior texture of the habitat. The overlapping cords and plastics would provide a visceral visual experience that would force the viewer to contemplate the contemporary problem of technological obsolescence and waste. Then the viewer will notice the opening in the habitat and crawl into it to watch the flickering of lights and hear the buzzing of motors. Ideally, two or three people would occupy this space for a while, allowing conversation between people to make the space truly come alive.

What does your project provide that other similar projects do not provide or provide differently? This project addresses simultaneously the need for new types of urban shelters and the problem of our communication technologies leaving negative traces on our environment. I think it could be interesting to include a piece like this in the ITP show to remind us that as we continue to advance in technology, we should strive for socially-wise and eco-friendly ways of production and design.

What are the resources available to you today for this project? The resources necessary for this project could be found in bulk from sidewalk salesman and junk shops on Canal Street as well as by sending a call to the ITP community and our friends for unused cellphone components. A space along a wall on the 4th floor would be ideal for placement of the dome. The project would thrive with a group of 5 or more people. Estimated budget is around $100.

My spatial design project page can be reviewed at http://itp.nyu.edu/~rcc273/spatial/.

Posted by Robert Croft at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)

Reactive Tree

Title: Treective

Elevator Pitch: It would be interesting to create a space that reacts to certain inputs from the viewer. These inputs can be taken from the viewer without their notice (e.g. color of clothing, height, certain position in the room), or the inputs can be location specific (given by the viewer at a certain spot in the space). The idea is to give the viewer the experience of controlling, or having a reactive space. This unique space should be made up of different visual elements. Some real and physical, while some virtual (projections). Since I’ve been researching leaf and tree structures in the past few weeks for my dome as well as my labyrinth projects, I am drawn to recreate an organic space using these natural elements. Moreover, they are found abundantly and have a nice feel when used properly indoors. I think that the way leaves change their colors during the fall is stunningly beautiful. This project will allow people to affect the changing colors of our “living” trees. A few options off my head:

1. Trees throughout all ITP windows on the North side, partially projected and partially real. There will be a certain spot on the floor where a camera will take someone’s shirt color as input, and the projected trees will all change their shade accordingly.
2. One tree in a specific room. It will change colors according to a new person who enters the room. The color changes will be made solely with projections. (We can think of maybe projecting an image of the person, but blurred.
3. Use the ceiling space to create the tree. As if we’re under the tree.

What is the intent for your project? Creating a unique space which will react and change according to certain inputs from the viewers.
I am interested in building this semi-real semi-virtual space for several reasons. Coming from the theatre, it is very useful to create a certain “set” piece that can be used for several different needs. It would be interesting to create this difference with the change of projection image or angle. This is actually the main issue when designing the stage for a show – thinking how to use and reuse the set pieces because of limited space, and because of limited budget. It would also be great to work on adding something organic like a tree to the current ITP space which could possibly stay on the floor.

Keywords:
Reactive space,
Projection with unconventional screens,
Spacial Transformation,
Illusive space,
Inability to tell the real from the virtual.

Who is the audience for your project? Any viewer in the show or any ITP-er who wants to relax a bit with virtual nature before getting back to work on his/her computer.

Describe the starting point for someone experiencing your project? The tree will be seen from far away, so will seduce viewers to come close and to check it out. When reaching a certain point close by, the tree will start reacting according to the input received from the viewer. Once the viewer understands the logic, the back and forth input-output cycle will take place.

Resources for this project? Will need material to build the tree (wooden structure, paper mache or painted canvass). Actual branches. Semi-seethrough plexi glass for the leafs in order for them to hold onto the light from the projection. Two or more projectors. Minor software stuff - can be easily done in C / processing / MAX

Posted by Gilad Lotan at 02:31 AM

fearless sound path

What are the keywords to describe your project?
Labyrinth, sound, location, path, comfort, safety
What is the general scope of ideas?
The general idea is to get the visitor of the winter show, obviously lost in this new world, to follow a guided path through the space and to bring them to a better understanding of this place and a feeling of comfort despite the novelty of the place for them.
What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?
Removing the fear of the unknown, guiding them through ITP, eventually describing the authors of the work presented and or their work.
How to introduce your project?
Sound bells (see picture) hanging from the ceiling will react to people being under them by telling them where to go or what is around them. We might add a visual element to them. Doing so we would take away the fear that we all experiment when entering in an unknown space.
What does your project provide that other similar projects do not provide or provide differently ?
Spatial design is often thought as the objects inside a space where this project is about the space in between the walls underlined by sound, which lives into space but also moves through objects. It also address the inner fear of discovering a new place.
What are the resources available to you today for this project?
I'd need access to the ceiling and Red's approval but other than that there is mostly a Pcomp like project to deal with. The methods to build the sound bells are pretty simple since we can create our own hemisphere with some Buckminster’s theory. I guess a team of at least 3 people should work on it.
What are the missing elements for your project?
A team. Other than that we can order most components for free.
How do you plan to provide these element?
I would work with others in our class.

Posted by Duc, Thomas at 01:03 AM

November 10, 2005

textpretext

nb. 2

REFERENCES:
Michel Gondry music videos, Comme des Garcons store at Chelsea, Alfredo Jaar (http://www.alfredojaar.net/)

Keywords:
Installations.
Work with space, object and sound.
Repetition, modules.
Less is more.

Intent of the Project:
Using domestic materials, the idea is to build modules to play with widths and heights, also mirrors, for finally, use our own laptops as screens inside this different constructions, so as to built a sort of "tricky space" to the audience.
The use of text in screens (and cube modules, because they'll be wrapped with newspaper), should question the space, or the object on its concept.
Sound is an important tool also, since it gives another dimention of the same space.
...(using sounds as somebody reading text, or a typewritter, or spelling determine words).
to make some writes of different scales inside this room.
Only black and white and abstraction.

Resources:
From street: cardboard, newspapers.
From class: laptops, text, "engrudo" (carmen glue).
From ITP: regular prints, maybe projector, definitely sound equipment.

Audience:
Anyone who is curious.

Posted by carolina pino at 07:57 PM

itpgreengarden

Keywords:
Mariko Mori (http://www.mcachicago.org/MCA/exhibit/past/Mori/), toys, marshmellows, gum, asian look-games-chunxi's video dance...

Intent of the Project:
Using colorful materials (sponges, strings, screens, mashmellows...color balls,apples.......) that integrates the audience through an "outdoors" experience...

Resources:
Using our own laptops, all of them showing grass (artifiacially created----i remember Chunxi's) on a wall.
Dry branches from real dry trees, with red plastic flowers cut on the laser cutter. this can be platic taken from the street.
Plants made of paper, origami, color balls.(i can remember each model of the class, so i chose a garden, as a mixture of different materials and media.........)
Water cascade with image proyected on top (water as a screen) - (Gilad's tree idea, window, box, projection).
Floor-----artificial sound, outdoors.......
so on...

Audience:
Anyone who is curious.

Posted by carolina pino at 06:04 PM

Elevator Pitch

This week's assignment is to create an elevator pitch for our final project. My inspiration is Momento Transmission and being here at ITP. In answer to the questions:

What are the keywords to describe your project?

History, Folksonomy, Tapestry, Continuity, Memory

What is the general scope of ideas?

The general idea is to try to explore the space that is between a museum and a school as it reflects on ITP. ITP is short on space but not short on ideas so this exploration could happened in the space least used, the one above our heads.

What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?

The project would metaphorically push older ideas up while newer ideas would exist on the ground level. The area above our heads would be a physical manifestation of the older blogs and projects on the itp stage web server. Older projects are catalogued in a museum type environment (above our heads) while the oldest projects are pushed out through the roof (disposed).

How to introduce your project?

The project gives a physical volume and dimension for all the work that happens and has happened here at ITP. It creates a concentration on the process allowing for new ideas to be developed from the discarded tentacles of older projects. A person experiencing this project would just have to look up. The audience would be anyone who is interested in what we do here.

What does your project provide that other similar projects do not provide or provide differently ?

There is nothing like this here right now because of the glut of information and lack of space. Stage.itp was hacked last year and all the data was lost. Our spatial projects are thrown out on a weekly basis. Using the (unused) space above our heads, we could create a history of what happens here, we could tell stories.

What are the resources available to you today for this project?

I'd need access to the ceiling and Red's approval but other than that there are plenty of projects here that are never shown. If they are shown, they are shown to a select group of people or are shown very briefly on the floor. People would be happy to give their work to an elevated gallery.

What are the missing elements for your project?

Design. The projects above would have to be visible. It should be clear what is going on up above. The individual project authors' vision should be clear.

How do you plan to provide these element?

I would work with others in our class.

Posted by Bukhin, Mike at 03:37 PM

Points of Reference

Minsky's essay makes me think about how I need points of reference in order to gain orientation and understanding in all areas of my existence. I cannot think and live only in the abstract, I need points that at least have the illusion of being fixed, to which I can compare and contrast.
I need such relative comparisons not only to guage depth and distance, but also to learn behaviour and communication skills.
This also relates to the function of metaphor, which can act as a yardstick by which we can chart the progress of our reality towards something that it has not yet become.

This reading also makes me think about the maps of the body, the interconnected web of mayofascial tissue that holds all of our organs and muscles in place, relative to each other. And it makes me think of mapping with the body - how different an experience of the gradations of an object or landscape, when we track it with our body, not our eyes.

Posted by Ed Purver at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

I am mainly interested in exploring two concepts for the final project: Noise and Networks.

Noise isnt necesarily strictly of an auditory nature. The concept of noise is sharp in information conveyance, a hugely abstract, but vital consideration in any work — be it multimedia, design, literature, etc. The cliches of information overload and signal interference, spam and blanket marketing... All this is directly related to issues of noise. Spatial noise is somewhat more abstract, as it deals with physical objects — which doesn't make it any less valid. In this class we focus on structural implementation of (sometimes abstract) concepts. Our work is often confused, misapropriated, sometimes for good, sometimes not.

A project that would play with this concept of noise could take many forms, vulgar and direct, or subtle — more metaphorical. I was toying with ideas of 4 dimensional mechanical pixels, with light structures, even with sound washes — all of which would define a space, and change over time and react in relation to action from a viewer or viewers. I think the ceiling should be utilized to give us a bigger footprint with less obstruction — possibly a conduit for lighting structures, as well as a housing for speakers or some kind of sound module...

My other great interest is in network visualization. I find many of my projects dealing with communication — both to advance networks, or to map them. This ties directly into the last topic of the labyrinth. Implementing this project could be anything from detecting people in a space and their contact with others, to cell-phone usage, to SMS text-messaging interaction with an object. I DO NOT WANT TO BUILD A DISPLAY... well, a screen at least. It seems that screen displays are too confining, archaic almost. It would be interesting to visualize networks and interaction within a space in some reactionary spatial structure — something that could be accomplished through mechanical pixels (as I mentioned above), or even with structural lighting, since everyone seems to be at least somewhat interested in lights.

Posted by alex at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)

Spatial Final Project Ideas- ROUGH

This being a SPATIAL design class, I am more inclined to make something that really involves space, the ITP 4th floor.

Today, we had a brainstorming session with a few Friday spatial kids. Michael D, Mike B, Christin, Christian and Alex and I sat down and talked about what our interests were, starting with which project we liked the best out of the assignments so far.

Here are some of the things that came up. Thank you Michael D for the notes! :)

Tangible media, bits, pixels and their physical representation
Sound spaces, noise and spatial noise
Lights - Light wall's, light curtains
Deformable walls, deformable structures
Interactive architecture
The connection between museums and schools, history and work
Potentially using the ceiling

Mike D and I are both interested in lights, using them in space and Alex and Christin were interested in the idea of creating space using sound as their source.

We also liked the idea of using the ceiling throughout ITP to install our project. This way, we will not be limited to space.

Personally, I would like to make a light structure that would interact with people on the floor. Whether this be in the form of a wall, or a light fixture on the ceiling, it would be nice to define a space with manipulating lights.

Idealy, if we were to use light, the surroundings would have to be dark to get the right, elegant effect. However, since the floor will be somewhat lit during the show, I can see us working with textures and building a light structure behind it to enhance the lights coming through these textures. Some ideas below.

...source

... source

I got these images just to give me some visuals as to what I'm talking about.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Answers to the questions.

What are the keywords to describe your project?

What is the general scope of ideas?

I'd like to work with differnent lights and materials to create a grand entrance for those that come to see the ITP winter show.

How to introduce your project?

It would be a screen that would lead the people into the ITP show.

Your intents for the project?

I'd like to realize a space with use of different lights and materials.

The starting point for someone experiencing the project? The audience or users for your project? What does your project provide that other similar projects do not provide or provide differently?

The start of this project would start at the entrance of ITP.

Please do some research on this point-
What are the resources available to you today for this project?
What are the missing elements for your project?
How do you plan to provide these element?

I'd like to work with different screen materials and lights. EL wires as JM suggested. The screen material would be of a opaque-like material. I would like to work with projections as well onto the screens.

Posted by min at 01:03 AM | Comments (3)

November 08, 2005

Min's Spatial Design Documentations

See HERE for my documentation of my projects.

Posted by min at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)

Toyland

Jane and I went to ToysRUs this past weekend at Times Square. I went to look for some parts for a possible spatial final project. I recommend this place for some inspiration. Avoid the weekends...
Some very interesting toys. I ended up making a breathing "plushy" for my pcomp midterm and I've come to really appreciate toy designers. It takes a lot of skills to fabricate, design toys and to satisfy little brats.

Here is something that we found that could have helped us with the bucky ball assignment.

Posted by min at 01:26 AM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2005

Perception

I have always been interested in how the world is perceived by the human brain. I used to think that everyone perceived everything completely different from everyone else. For instance, you look at the leaves on a tree and they are a color. The color you see is light hitting the back of your eye. The light is then decoded and translated by your brain. Since we have all been taught that a tree has “green” leaves we then tag the light our brain has translated with the word “green”. But, as with all language translations can take many different paths and arrive at many different outcomes. Just because we both agree that the leaves on a tree are green does that mean all our eyes and brains perceive the light in the same way?

Minsky observed how we learn about the environment through experience. Even though our physiological bodies are all setup differently and usually with countless imperfections our brain is able to learn and compensate and through experience give us a generally acceptable perception of the world around us. The brain can literally rewire itself in order to make sense of the world. This is most interesting when considering the disabled, for instance an amputee who has rerouted the brain actions of using a missing limb to operating a mechanical prosthesis.

Minsky’s observation that we perceive the world through changes not individual events was very interesting. We must have some basis for comparison. A single touch holds very little information, but comparing one touch to another can inform us about location, movement, relative pressure, etc. I find that sense my location in the world mostly through sound, as do most of us unconsciously. A single sound gives us very little bearing, however, with the slightest change, that sound can give us a broad understanding of its location, distance, speed, and direction.

Posted by Leif Mangelsen at 02:55 PM

shape of space

It is jarring to think of the human ‘epicenter of perception’ and thought as having no direct contact with the outside world, to an extent leaving us floating in space.

Minsky talks about how sensory information provides us with the data we need to understand the world around us. The example he cites of the nervous system’s systematic mapping of touch-based input, depicts a structure with breadth and great limitations. Certain types of neurological testing, show the rigidity of this system from the series of perceptible shocks along specific nerve paths. These sensors also function in a small way as a prison of selective information for the body about the world outside.

It seems like there is great potential in the development of medical imaging technology, which can serve as further means to understand the world outside and inside. Wouldn’t it be interesting to offer these tools to individuals to augment their understanding of their world, without the pre-requisite of illness?

Following Minsky’s discourse, I think that we do get to know life in a relational way. Each human has a certain distinct set of experiences, which serve as an interpretational gateway for each new moment. Although we share some common cultural knowledge/experiences and physical attributes, our internal experiences are very much colored by our lived past.

In relation to this week’s 3d mapping project, I found myself frozen trying to use video to convey a multi-sensory experience of my map. How can you convey smell, taste and touch with flat pixels? The medium felt like a prison of sorts.

Posted by Kati London at 07:57 AM

the mind's eye?

I am reminded of a study that was once done in hopes of understanding the brains understanding of visual information. In the experiment, a monkey was shot up with radioactive isotopes.  He was then made to look at a recognizable pattern, I believe a spiral.  Then they cut the monkey's brain open (I know, I know), and 'lit up' the radioactive particles in his blood.  Remarkably, they discovered a spiral pattern embedded in the monkey's brain!

I think these particular researchers (and this was some time ago, 30, 40 years? Maybe more?) used this as evidence to argue that the brain 'saw' information in much the same way that it was presented.  Of course the fallacy of this conclusion is that it requires yet another set of eyes to 'see' the pattern that was revealed through the radioactive injection.  There is no 'little man' in your head who is just looking at smaller version of everything on the screen of your brain. (though wouldn't it be cool if there was?)

It's a bit disappointing, then, Minsky's idea that in fact there is no little man; that our brain is just a constantly-reinforced relational database of perception. I say disappointing because I think it's too easy to be tricked.  And I guess we experience that all the time, our brain being tricked by things we perceive as similar when in fact they are not.  Like when you touch a something you expect is hot, but it's actually cold, but for a split second you react as though it were hot. 

In relation to our study of labyrinths, and the representation of 3 dimensional space, I think this brings up a great difficulty.  When I play 3D games, I have a difficulty navigating the space often because of the similarity of the environments.  Unlike the real world where each and every object has a perceptibly unique texture, these simulated 3D spaces all become so self similar, visually repeating the same colors and textures. Even with the advanced graphics available these days, I still have a hard time differentiating landmarks.  And that's why I suck at Halo.

Posted by schwa23 at 04:46 AM

November 06, 2005

The Truth of Space

Perception of space never can be correct, or there may be no correct perception at all from the beginning. Our five senses perceive the world around us, therefore, our conception are described only in five sensory ways. Of course, there is a spiritual level to see things, but it is always controversial since it can not be proven by our eyes-sensors.

I once tried to doubt the overall perception of the world. It started from color we saw. Why red is red? What if a dog sees red as blue? Could we say a dog is wrong? Why would we want to grow our hair on the head while we shave facial hair or leg hair? Isn't it ridiculous to fabricate hair considering it is mainly to decorate ourselves?

From the experience, I realized that, by seeing the world with a slightly doughtful point of view, the facts that we take for granted could get seemed very wierd and awkward. In other words, we may be used to see the world in a way that we have been taught to see.

Seeking for the truth may be impossible at all, because the whole world has been built on our perception and even on assumptions we've made. Perhaps, it may be clever to take advantage of people's illusion and utilize them as a part of works we do; Unless you can change the whole perception from the bottom.

Posted by Jane Oh at 11:53 PM

Hejduk's Labyrinth

Hejduk's story was a little confusing yet very intriguing at the same time. Story went with a man and a woman, and they took basically the same path with slightly different choices. Hejduk's labyrinth was created from the overlaps and detours of those two people. From the last class, the movie "Touch of Evil" had the similar plot, showing two couples making the coincidential encounters.

If I could apply the story to my life, it must be very interesting to see what kind of labyrinths that I have been builing with how many people without my awareness. In Korea, there is a saying, "Even just touching each others' collars means a fate." Obviously, people are builing their fates without knowing in life, and those who became friends must be those who happened to succeed in getting through the labyrinth. I may become too philosophical, but after spending several weeks thinking about labyrinth certainly gave me a lesson that labyrinth means a lot bigger concept than a simple puzzle that I play with. It may be an entity that embraces the whole cosmo around us.

Posted by Jane Oh at 11:19 PM

A primary idea for final project—a device to hang clothes

Keywords: coat, hang
General scope: the ceiling and ground of a place not far from entrance
Introduction: since it is winter show, the guests need a place to put their coats and bags. I want to build a device that easy and safe to put and get coats and it takes little space.
Audience: all visitors, adults and children
Description: The system consists of two parts. One comes down from the ceiling and the other grows up from the floor. The ceiling part can stretch up and down, controlled by switches/buttons. The ground part can also spread.
Resources available: plastic or steel pipes and wood are not difficult to get. I need to cut them, but I do not know how to do it now. Motors, switches/buttons are also easy to find.

Posted by Jiang, Chunxi at 01:48 PM

Los Alamos

So I meant to psot this awhile ago, but here are some good resources for those of you interestedi n learning more about Los Alamos:

www.lanl.gov - This is the official site of the Los Alamos National labs where they build all sorts of fun gadgets, currently for The Department of Energy, though the contract is up.

www.losalamos.com - This is the virtual los alamos with links to all sorts of bussinesses there, a vacation planner, and a variety of useful maps. My project used a small portion of the map that was equicelent to the downtown area and a bit of the residential area, as well as the place where the park is. Notice when you look at the map that there is really only one way in and out.

www.losalamoschamber.com this is the home page of the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce. An interesting thing about Los Alamos is the lack of any "Big Box" store like a kmart or wal mart. They do have a barnes and noble though...fitting as it also has the highest per capita of PHD's in the country for any city.

Anyhow, those are a few resources, we wouldnt want to include all the possibilities,s o you can find some on your own, right?

Posted by Aaron Harmon at 11:33 AM

November 05, 2005

5 Senses of Space

Whether it is recognized by any of humans’ 5 senses or not, a space does exist, and how it is shaped, totally depend on how these 5 senses reacted to each other to come to a conclusion about the shape of the space. Here, I may sound very abstract or too complex about defining a shape of a space, but when the author of “the shape of the space” touched various areas such as nearnesses, innate geography, sensing similarities, the centered self in relation to our human body, it just made to do this: Shape an unknown space. When did I first experience this? It’s not only during my childhood. It is rather every time I see a new place. Or we can also argue this subject as every time we feel a new feeling. Or, even when we hear a new sound is also an arguable subject. Like he demonstrated with different parts of body, I truly think that it is a possible argument in terms of how to shape a space with different senses, and all senses are equally capable of shaping a space.

It’s not like you can only shape a space by drawing and describing the space. You can simply think about how this space looks like, or further listen how the space sounds like. Whether it may sound too artificial, or oppositely too natural, I feel that the shape of space is open and closed at the same time.

Posted by Tae Ho Yoon at 01:31 AM

Response to Hejduk

The first impression I got from reading this text is that it is very descriptive, very vivid details. After reading couple sentences, it just made me to draw the image described by the text. This text first reminded me of “text expressif.” Everything seems so vivid and expressive. Although he is describing the pathways taken by two different persons, it just seems like more than two different views. It looks like there is another third perspective that just overlooks all, but taking into account both views. However, at one point, near the “Building of Amplified Decibels,” the description seems to be little redundant. The description is a totally new one, but it just gives me a feeling that there are just too much descriptions. The structure, the size of it, the layout, and all the different patterns are all logically described along the pathway taken by the man and the woman. In addition, this description of paths certainly demonstrates the aspect of time.

My overall impression about this text is that it was very interesting from the beginning in terms of vivid descriptions, but at one point, I got lost due to several symbolisms the author was referring to.

Posted by Tae Ho Yoon at 01:00 AM

November 04, 2005

Being Confused in Borges

“The universe, the library, is composed of an indefinite, perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries.” The first part of the story starts very physically descriptive. The association of universe with library, and its infrastructure, although defined as indefinite, give the readers a very detailed sketch about the location. As the stories goes, different references such as “the library is a sphere whose exact center is any hexagon and whose circumference is unattainable” is very philosophic, and also psychological. This is the part that constantly confused me after reading this text over and over. Since then, the story is no longer described in terms of physical aspects, but rather in terms of the minds of these people observing the space. Whether it is true or false, the story just seems going towards infinity without any answer. Then, the story moves on to the different thoughts about the alphabets, the letters, the shapes, the spaces, the punctuations, etc. Here, it is very interesting how he starts to describe the library as an infinite space, and how he further narrows down to the region inside a book, but instead further describes the letters as an infinite labyrinth.

Intended or not, while reading this text, I did not know which part of text I was reading. His description about the library and even the mind of people searching the library are described very philosophically. “Library is so huge that any reduction by human hands must be infinitesimal. That each book is unique and irreplaceable, but since the Library is total, there are always several hundred thousand imperfect facsimiles – books that differ by no more than a single letter or a comma.” It is like saying everything is true, but once you realize, they are all false. It’s like repetition of repetitive things, but in a very abstract way that these repetitions seem random.

I remember his saying that “To speak is to commit tautologies.” Every time he tries to say something, it sounds like a very new thing, but once you hear it, the feeling you get is that you have just heard a repetition of what have been said.

Posted by Tae Ho Yoon at 11:56 PM

What is Really Real

Understanding the fibers of reality is no easy task. Whether it’s attempting to build a sensing machine in Pcomp, an artist illustrating the reality quotient (As exemplified by Clifford Ross) or our own brains interpreting the world around us. The brain is constructed in a specific format, although it is an unexplainably complex system, it does have a specific method of relaying information. This network of nerves and brain tissue does have a method that dictates how we learn and perceive reality on deep almost unnoticeable level. Marvin Minsky’s study of how our mind perceives space reveals some of these hidden connections within us. The majority of human processes exist within Minsky’s framework. Science really only explains the world as connections between things rather than at a single point. “In fact, there’s nothing to be said about a single point, except how it relates to other points.” This is only true because that’s how our mind is constructed to sense. Even within a single point in time or in a space around us, infinitely complex processes are occurring on a molecular level, yet this has no real advantage on the larger human scale and therefore goes unnoticed by human thought and still remains relatively unexplained in modern science. It is really in the connections between a simple point and an infinite array of points where we find the fascinating complexity of life. Our whole frame of reference in life is based on our own sensory limitations.

Artists are the true explorers of what is actually ‘real’ around us. This ‘Reality Quotient’, which Clifford Ross describes, is a measure of how truthful a piece of art is. The closer something is to this almost indescribable truth the closer it lives in the realms of our metaphorical imagination and subconscious, distant from logic, and the closer it comes to truly surpassing our senses and becoming the real truth of reality. Art can create sensations that force us to break free from these obvious relational connections between things, enabling us to expand to other metaphysical realms of
ourselves.

Posted by Karl Channell at 09:06 PM

Friday's class, morning field trip out in Manhattan

Saving every inch...

Great eatery.

Posted by min at 07:31 PM | Comments (1)

Imagination and Sensing the World

I found Marvin Minsky's thoughts on human senses and imagination in "The Shape of Space" to be quite thought provoking. In the closing moments of this piece, he ties human ability to understand that objects remain the same even though they may appear differently from multiple viewpoints with the act of imagining things that are not in view. This is the culmination of his explanation for why human senses are so complex and require certain developmental stages in the evolution from infant to child to adult.

I find it fascinating that for someone who is so often seen as one of the great thinkers behind the development of artificial intelligence technology, Minsky seems to go to great lengths to argue just how difficult, and perhaps ultimately futile, the whole exercise might be. Even to "simply look around" to figure out how spatial relationships work in a world beyond our own bodies is something that Minsky admits would take a very long time to replicate in a machine.

Ultimately, however, just by mere virtue of the fact that Minsky addresses issues such as these, I am convinced that he does truly believe we can one day unravel many of these mysteries and contradictions to create genuine forms of AI, even if others, including myself, remain unsure.

Posted by Fernando Cervantes at 02:55 AM

Space Shaper

Solipsism (from the Latin ipse = "self" and solus = "alone") is the epistemological belief that one's self is the only thing that can be known with certainty and verified [wikipedia.com].

The first section of the reading dealt with a pretty interesting subject. I find it difficult to maintain these thoughts and retain a certain level of realism - but then, whats real anyways? It gives me the same headache as Sartre. But moving on, Minsky's outline of nearness and sensing provided some interesting digressions and extensions. I am intensely interested in networking. The discourse leads to theories in packet dissemination, spatial orientation, mesh networking... The ideas surrounding extensive surface sensing (?) is also very interesting. Reference points are a necesary part of most activity, but often taken for granted.

I have given much thought to individual development. The discussion Minsky promotes in 'the centered self' corresponds with much of the more interesting philosophy. I did find his exposition of the process of learning wanting. I have been reading on the theories of Cybernetics, to which I attribute a great deal of worth.

Posted by alex at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)