Schedule MAT251 01F
Refs: Garrin, Fujihata, Rokeby, Courschene
We know that a computer processes data, that an output is the screen, or speakers but what is a controller?
The controller is the means by which the user feeds the input into the computer!
Some interfaces, such as the mouse and menus, or the hypertextual one of Netspace have become so familiar that we pay them no attention. But they are specific and codified modes of interaction which have their own analogies and exclude many possibilities.(From Simon Penny Class Notes)
Most controllers are basically on/off switches (keyboard, etc.) or x,y coordinate locators (mouse). You can invent any number of ways by which to feed data and get data out of digital mechanisms. (Paul de Marinis, a SF artist, controls raindrop patterns falling on an umbrella by which to play digitally recorded sound. He takes the digital structure of CD recording/playback, uses the on/off timing info to control water coming out of a hose and reads the sound off the umbrella surface which is then translated back to "sound")
Another form of controller is through video image digitizing and image processing. A surveillance camera is connected to a computer which digitizes the image every .5 seconds. It saves the color values of each pixel into a list, then digitizes the screen again and subtracts the new screen from the previous. If any movement were to occur the computer would know based on the subtracting of one screen from the other.
How does the work address the user? Is it friendly, instructive, dominating, seductive, perverse? Is the user: playing a game, researching, reacting, exploring? What is the goal? How does the user perceive the responses of the system. Is it easy to understand, is it random? How does the user know where they are in the structure, relative to where they started, or where they want to go? Should they know this, will they feel lost if they dont?
2 Make notes about your observations: about actions, body movement, distance changes, changes in nervous behavior.
3 Imagine the computer or the space you are in sense your presence. Identify possible events that could result in a simple interactive work.
4 Sketch out a machine-to-body play of expectations. Consider timing, movement in space, imagine a simultaneous multiple mouse input. Plan for multiple users, passers-by, etc. This project could be changes in sounds, changes in focus of an image, changes in the sections of an image, etc.
5 Present a concept or proposal to the class. It should be a simple attempt that reveals a problem-solving approach on your part.
_ the director interface: stage, score, cast libraries, message window
_ how to read the Lingo code
_ identify differences between sprite scripts (behaviors), score and movie scripts.
_ Global, local variables, lists, properties
Conceptual Questions
What makes interactive artworks meaningful? What are some of the key methods that work for narrative plot development? Is technological complexity necessary for a meaningful interactive experience? What are the basic implementations of video frame comparison tracking methods? These issues are to be addressed through viewing and discussion of the following projects:
WHITE PATROL - Paul Garrin (Lyon Biennale, 1995)
FUGITIVE - Simon Penny's zkm camera tracking project (1997)
http://www-art.cfa.cmu.edu/Penny/works/fugitive/fugitive.html
http://www-art.cfa.cmu.edu/Penny/works/fugitive/fugitive.html
GLOBAL INTERIOR PROJECT - Masaki Fujihata
http://www.kah-bonn.de/1/18/1e.htm
http://www.kah-bonn.de/1/18/1e.htm
VNS (very nervous system) - David Rokeby
http://www.interlog.com/~drokeby/vnsII.html
BORDER PATROL (Rokeby/ Garrin)
http://prixars.aec.at/history/index_e.html
http://prixars.aec.at/history/index_e.html
Some images of other installations: Luc Courschene, etc.
http://www.din.umontreal.ca/courchesne/
Some tests with Trackthemcolors Xtra
Answer to question
October 8 - Proposal for an interactive action
October 15 - Student presentations of a trackthemcolors application
