Body as Reservoir of Secrets, DEMS Cycle 1

I see the body as a reservoir of ancestral secrets. I have been coaxing out /imaging these secrets as an abstract painter, through gestures and paint. However, gesture is only one vector in this exploration. The body generates streams of data in addition to gesture that can be harnessed and imaged- such as breath, heartbeat, voice.

I am devising a system that extracts these features and maps them accordingly to the movement/color/scale of visual elements, triggering video or image files. These visual elements come together in compositions that will then have video and print outputs, via the capture stage to image and video actors.

In Cycle 1, I mostly concentrated on figuring out isadora-OSC/gyroscope communications and tuning hardware like webcams and lavalier microphones for feature extraction. The outcome was somewhat successful, but I have generated too many input data streams and are lacking variables to plug these inputs. Feature extraction for hearbeat is not very effective using a lavalier microphone.

For Cycle 2, I intend to:

• Focus on creating more variables to plug the generated inputs into.
• Develop greater flexibility in the visuals generated, so that there is more variance in the composition- composition can range from very simple and very complex.
• Include a contact microphone for heartbeat extraction
• Start to integrate costume into mix.

For Cycle 3, I intend to:

• Develop a clarified live performance dimension to the work
• Figure out how to feed the captured jpegs to a printer

Reflection on Cycle 1

I set up my goal in this class at the end of the semester as “connecting Isadora and Arduino” and “using a webcam as a sensor to operate a motorized object”.

The first step=my goal of Cycle 1 was just simply connecting Arduino to Isadora.
I researched on the web (there are some helpful articles and forums) and found that an application called “Firmata” can play a role to connect Arduino to many kinds of software including Isadora.
This article explains what Firmata is and how to get/use it.
https://www.instructables.com/Arduino-Installing-Standard-Firmata/

We normally need to write a code to operate Arduino, but with Firmata, I can send output signals to or receiving inputs from Arduino without coding process.
I downloaded a protocol code called “StandardFirmata” and uploaded on my Arduino.
Here’s the test of Firmata; by clicking High/Low on Firmata window, I can turn on/off a LED connected to Arduino.

Then, I downloaded “Arduino Firmata Actor” which is an Isadora plugin to Arduino.
https://community.troikatronix.com/topic/7176/arduino-firmata-actor


Now I’m ready to connect the two.
I opened Isadora and set up Arduino Firmata Actor (and also some port connection settings) to connect to my Arduino.
Here, I can turn on/off LEDs on Isadora window (so I’m sending output signals from Isadora to Arduino).

Another test; an input signal from a photoresistor (a sensor detects brightness of light) connected to Arduino is being received by Isadora (sending signals from Arduino to Isadora).
I connected this input to a width of a square, so it’s interacting with light.

This very simple connection test was a very big step for me. The two big magics (Isadora and Arduino) are now syncing!
The next step (Cycle 2) will be connecting a servo motor (and/or a stepper motor??) and trying to operate it from Isadora. Then, I can connect it to a webcam as a sensor, just like we did in PP2 and 3.

Pressure Project 3

Pressure project 3 was a continuation of pressure project 2. We were given an additional 8 hours to iterate on pressure project 2 in preparation for the Chuck Csuri open house at ACCAD.

For pp3 I changed the third scene of my project to transition from the spinning ball into a color-changing “light show”.

The ball slowly changing to a black screen is not triggered by motion, but is just a series of timers that are triggered when the scene starts. The background and all four elements of the circle are connected to their own timer, with the first triggering at 10 seconds and the next triggering a second after the first, and so on until the ball is gone. To change the color, I connected each Timed Trigger to a Colorizer so that when each went off, the Colorizer would turn on.

The “light show” scene I added after the spinning ball is motion controlled and uses the Video In Watcher and Eyes++ actors to track the users motion. I used a TT Psycho Colors actor, with the brightness output from the Eyes++ actor controlling the bands and the first blob output controlling the width and height of the shape, with both passing through a smoother in an attempt to get the color changes to be more of a gradual change. This works unless there is lots of rapid movement by the user, in which case the colors shift more suddenly, which could negatively impact users with photosensitivity.

The last thing I added in PP3 was sound playing through the whole experience. To do this I placed my sound file (MP3) connected to a projector in a separate scene, then in each of the scenes I wanted to play music in, I placed a listener actor connected to a projector. This approach did not work with a WAV file.

Reflection on PP3

For PP3, I focused more on “interactive-ness” and built a very simple structure which viewers can feel how a projection interacting with them easily.
In PP2, I made a big spiral shape in a monitor in which colors interacting viewers’ motion run through. While I liked it, I felt that a huge static spiral made a sort of a psychological barrier against viewers just like a big abstract painting standing in front of them.
So, for this project, I stepped back to my original inspiration from Charles Csuri’s Hummingbird—joy of seeing transition of shape through digital computation on a monitor—and just put a single transforming shape.
Changes of form and color is the same feature as my PP2 idea, but I also added a sound interactive (alpha value changes along with sound) to make it more playful.

As my interest is building the interactive relationship between an object and viewers, working with a webcam through PP2 & 3, and also watching everyone’s joyful projects, were really meaningful for me.

PP3: Etch-a-Sketch Iterated

For pressure project 3, I used my pressure project 2 patch as a starting point and both added and updated scenes to make them work more intuitively when users interact with them. From the PP2 performance, there were certain errors within the original patch that would cause scenes to skip through before the user had prompted them to change.

Above is a screenshot of part of my “split screen” scene patch. I added most of this part of the patch for PP3 to ensure that the scene only jumped ahead after the user stayed still for around 2 seconds after the text had appeared to explain that as the way to move forward. I added the gate and enter scene values specifically to keep the triggers from enabling.

Below is a screenshot of Csuri’s work I used as inspiration. I wanted to encourage the user to create and draw live, like in some of Csuri’s pieces. This piece specifically relates to the final scene in my project, the “etch-a-sketch,” in which the user draws and is able to create a canvas similar to this one:

Above is Csuri’s piece, and below is an example of my etch-a-sketch after some movement.

I also added music to this version, as I thought that might encourage movement from the user. I used the activate scene actor to activate the music in its separate scene at the end of the sequence. This also inspired a scene early on in which the user interaction doesn’t trigger movement on the screen, rather it’s the music that controls it. Below is a screenshot of the patch containing this scene.

I enjoyed getting to iterate on a past project, especially because I enjoyed the point I got to when working on PP2. I found the performance interesting as well, as the rest of the class already knew what to expect in a way. I think I learned more from the performance of PP2, but I still enjoyed getting to show the class how I implemented and took into account their feedback and interaction with the patch. Below is a .zip file of my entire PP3 patch:

PP3: Living and Alive!

Inspired by Csuri’s use of feedback, duplication and circular repetition, as well as the ‘Nervous Tick’ animation, I continue developing the idea of living typography with an added sound-reactive element.

In addition to the motion sensor in the first scene, there is a sound trigger that leads us into the next scene. This was an idea I had for the first iteration but could not achieve without Alex’s help (thanks Alex!) So, the motion sensor triggers a text that says ‘Clap Clap Clap for me!’ which tells the audience to make sound, which in turn triggers the next scene to enter.

The sound element was an exciting new element to work with. Unlike the motion sensor, a clap is very energetic. Suddenly, the room was filled with life, which fueled the appetite of the creature. In scene 2, claps (or the sound-reactive element) altered the size of the creature, allowing it to emerge from the depths each time sound was detected. After watching it with the class, I had hoped I re-exported the video clip to be on black background and added a fade to the movement so that there was an overlapping effect between each clap and the rectangular edges wasn’t so clear.

In the next scene, I introduced a new sound-reactive only animation. Built using heavy feedback, I wanted to create a portal that also activated based on claps or sound engagements from the audience.

Programming-wise, the new elements in this scene includes an audio-reactive shapes actor and double feedback through ‘Get Stage Image’ using text. I’m not sure exactly how I created this look, so there was a lot of experimenting going on. In this scene, I felt visually creative for the first time using Isadora and would like to explore the combination of these actors further.

To finish off, we use ‘come closer’ through audio detection to return to ‘See you in your dreams’ which goes back to motion detection. Overall, I’m very satisfied by all the rabbit holes I managed to hop into with this project. It felt like a cohesive piece and each experiment was really fun and exciting!

PP2: Living Typography

The inspiration for this project was ‘Nervous Tick,’ an animation by Chuck Csuri. I loved the way the shapes felt ‘alive’ in their movements, almost reacting to those watching them. I also wanted to give the computer presence a voice through the use of typography. The interaction between image and viewer was my impetus for creating this work.

Everything in this first iteration is motion triggered and set off through time delay. Using a webcam, filtered through the ‘Difference’ and then ‘Eyes++’ actor, the motion sensor in it detects movement, which sends triggers for text to appear. One motion sensor actor (above) has a longer delay time and allows for a smoother interaction from human movement to text output. The second motion sensor is set up to be quick and jittery. I did this to give emotion to the creature.

Text in the first scene includes ‘Hey There!’, ‘I’m in here!’, ‘It’s dark..’, ‘Let me out!’

At first, the viewer is not sure whether the character is innocent. From audience reaction, I gathered people thought the creature was the victim. It is revealed in the next scene that it is an unpleasant virus looking thing that has been unleashed and will ‘see you in your dreams.’

A new element in this project is the use of feedback through the ‘Get Stage Image’ Actor plugged into Projector. It creates a melting effect similar to datamosh that really gave it an organic feel.

Pressure Project 1

In this pressure project, I was very much so tinkering with the software, trying to figure on what to plug where.

In Scene One, I was also experimenting with the various sliders the shape actor, combining them with the envelop, wave and pulse generators to create what I deem an interesting animation. I also did some tuning of frequency, amplitude and phase of curves for various generators so as to create an orbital effect in the moving agents. I was mindful to include user actors, to create independent objects on the stage. These user actors make sense for me from the perspective of object oriented programming.

In Scene two, I imported a video I made and experimented with the kaleidoscope actor.

Overall, I was not totally satisfied with this project and what it achieved, but I am ok to treat it more like a “study” piece.

Here’s my patch for sharing:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NSRfCIi78JRKkM_2lV559OdPd70sWCkj/view?usp=sharing