"This paper describes the beginnings of an exploratory design project: its aim is to sketch out a starting point for the design of a 3-D spatial interface to a large, internet-based information system, and to capture some of the initial design rationale. After this, we intend to refine the design, implement it, make it freely available over the internet, and observe the reactions to and usage of the interface. "
"Puteko is a spin–off company from the HIT Lab NZ and proudly presents colAR – a computer program that brings colouring book pages to life with the magic of Augmented Reality!
You can colour in the book pages and then see them come to life as they pop out of the page as three dimensional models on your computer screen."
"We want everyone on earth to be able to design & make their own things, we dream in an universal access to the production means, and we believe in the popularization of design tools & 3D–Printing to make ideas real.
cunicode is a design studio for 3DPrint & creative fabrication; the way things are made is changing, so, the way things are designed will change as well.
Founded in early 2011 to explore the business opportunities of Additive Manufacturing through design. We design inspiring objects and services to be produced digitally."
"The Virtual Reef is a life–sized marine ecosystem expanding across two levels of the new Science and Engineering Centre. Multi–touch technologies enable the user to manipulate, intimately explore and interact with the reef world, specific behaviours and relationships.
Australia's leading marine science and interactive and visual design organisations, QUT and the Queensland Museum, bring knowledge and research of the underwater world to your fingertips through multi–touch screens and projectors.
Users will have the opportunity to go beyond the cinematic experience and interact with the marine world. Each interaction has associated content designed to complement the aims of the National Curriculum and provide an exploratory learning experience."
(Jeff Jones, the Cube, QUT)
Fig.1 "The Virtual Reef" project team: Professor Jeff Jones (Cube Project Leader), Associate Professor Michael Docherty (Project Leader), Warwick Mellow (Principal Animator/Art Director), Joti Carroll, Paul Gaze, Sean Gobey, Ben Alldridge, Sophia Carroll, Sherwin Huang, Bryce Christensen.
"RKCR/Y&R, Red Bee Media and Passion Pictures' director Pete Candeland turn the UK into a giant sporting venue for the BBC's Olympics marketing trail and title sequences
Super–stylised athletes are seen competing in Scottish lochs, terraced streets and around London in the film which will be used across all the BBC's TV and digital Olympics content. The film also features Five Steps, the Olympics 'theme tune' written by Elbow.
RKCR/Y&R developed the concept, the animation was by Passion and the sequence was produced by Red Bee Media. It will be used for the BBC's 2012 title sequences and on desktop, mobile tablets and 'connected' TV content. A full two–minute, 40 second version will be premiered on BBC ONe on July 3. 60, 40, 30 and five second versions will be used throughout the Games."
(Creative Review, 2 July 2012, 10:12)
Fig.1 BBC "Stadium UK" created by Agency: RKCR/Y&R; ECD: Damon Collins; Creatives: Jules Chalkley, Nick Simons, Ted Heath, Paul Angus; Production company: Passion Pictures/Red Bee Media; Animation production company: Passion Pictures; Director: Pete Candeland.
Fig.2 Published on 24 Jul 2012 by "london2012", the London 2012 Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville.
"I mentioned the New York Photo Festival in an earlier post on the Altfotonet blog. I've since discovered the 3D coverage project by Martin Lenclos. The 3D coverage, gives website visitors the chance to experience the festival 'virtually' by offering photos and video interviews of the NYPH's curators, attendees and exhibitors in an evocative rendering the festival's actual environment."
(Gary Sauer–Thompson, Altfotonet blog, 26 May 2010)
"Since 1987 IRC researchers and students have been exploring the rapidly developing landscape of visual technology. Initial research involved high–end 3D computer animation to create rich worlds and characters. Visualizations of the otherwise invisible, ranging from biology to long–gone or unrealized architecture continue to be created at the IRC for national broadcast and current feature films.
As digital media tools became more powerful, the IRC began developing interactive, real–time virtual worlds that could respond to the decisions of an involved viewer. Researching and utilizing current game–art technologies, the IRC has created internationally recognized interactive visualizations for museums and other institutions. Additionally, pure research in real–time visualization has involved UMBC students in immersive projects that have attracted national attention.
Today, visualization capabilities have become all but limitless. At the same time, the role imagery plays in contemporary culture is of rising importance. Research at the IRC has expanded to include multidisciplinary research projects to better understand and realize an effective use of imagery to help culture process its most profound ideas. Understanding social media, online communities, and interactive collaborative virtual spaces are basic aspects of this research."
(Imaging Research Center, University of Maryland Baltimore County)
"To celebrate the Red Bull Academy World Tour, the Academy produced a music film that encompasses musical styles from around the world.
Berlin: The soundtrack for this clip is inspired by one of Hansa's iconic album's Iggy Pop's Lust for Life. Like the creation of the music in the studio, the cityscape is built from the many organic, analogue musical artifacts used in the recording studio. Tape creatures climb across the concrete city jungle towards the Berlin Wall–a nod to the studio's physical location.
Paris: The visual inspiration for the Parisian leg of the tour is an collision between the flesh and blood textures of the African soul and funk that comprised the concert, and the architectural backdrop of Paris–the home of the Afrobeat Picks event. Musically, the rhythm builds and the acoustics echo and bounce off the city walls as we travel across the avenues.
Detroit: Inspired by the Detroit automotive industry, from the start the viewer is immersed inside the iconic TR 909 drummachine–a nod to the intersection of man and machine central to the city's musical innovation. As we travel through a CG circuit board city, the cyclical nature of the assembly line process is increasingly apparent transitioning us from the hey days of Motown R&B to the minimal stylings of techno. The theme of repetition was also carried through to the construction of the musical score.
Toronto: The animation style here is directly referenced from the iconic soundclash album Scientists meets the Space Invaders. The four superhero characters battle it out across the streets of Toronto–each one representative of one of the four soundclash crews competing in this event, Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation, Mad Decent, LuckyMe and Toronto All Star. The beginning of the battle is marked by the sound of the airhorn, a nod to the dancehall musical score underpinning this piece.
Melbourne: The bright, visually rich palette of this section is inspired by the coastal location of Melbourne city. Like the experimental nature of the event itself, the narrative of this film explores the relationship between sound and space. The audio of the Melbourne tram chimes set off a wave of fluid illustrated animations that bounce around the screen, visually inspired by traditional aboriginal paintings.
New York: When hip–hop first emerged in the 70s it was the ghetto blaster that amplified the sound of New York streets to the world. To pay hommage, the setting of this film was built from the original tape deck devices. We see a Hudson River constructed of unwound mixtapes. The trains all disappear to one of the five boroughs, a nod to the albums and boroughs celebrated in this event.
Rome: Italy and the Cinecitta studios are credited for producing some of the most influential cinematic masterpieces ever. To celebrate this we created a film that paid tribute to the different genres, from comedy to spaghetti western, 70s cop films & blood–filled horror flicks to psychedelic animations, in one narrative mash–up. A Spaghetti Western inspired track provides the aural backdrop as we pan across the scene culminating in a classic Sergio Leone shot. Along the way we reveal a chaotic assortment of villains, ghouls and policeman all participating in one comedic battle conducted to the tunes of a dead Mexican mariachi band.
London: Inspired by the event theme, Revolutions in Sound, we wanted to create a dominating creature that visually embodies the innovative qualities of the event itself. As the camera cuts around the robot's CG body we see it is inspired by components of modern London architecture. His head is a pulsating subwoofer, an iconic musical artifact central to London's influential bass music scenes and inside his chest we see the magnificent London Eye, the heart of the event itself."
(Red Bull)
Fig.1 'Red Bull Academy World Tour' (2011). Passion Pictures
"As in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's magic–realist novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, Niebla's precise setting is uncertain–somewhere in rural Latin America–and the story's narrator is El Pep, an old man being interviewed in his living room by a documentary film crew about the mysterious fog of the title and the resulting visitation by a strange flock of flying sheep. 'The character is strongly based on my grandmother,' Ramos says. 'She was a very complex person, with many frustrations in life. She was born during the Mexican Revolution, so she experienced a lack of material possessions all her life. But she was also very kind and loving with her family (well..., most of the time). She was a combination of marked strenghs and weaknesses. At the end of her life, she suffered from dementia. 'My mind is leaving me,' she used to say, distressed, when she noticed. The only moments we could communicate with her were when we asked her about her past life. Those memories were the last to vanish.'"
(Emilio Ramos)
Fig.1 Emilio Ramos (2006). 'Niebla (Fog)', Short Film | México–Spain | 8 min. | 2d/3d digital
"An intragame is a game within the game, e.g. the Pachinko machine in Duke Nukem 3D [or a Pac–Man level in Wolfenstein 3D]. Since computer games are based on simulator technology that could mix or include any other game in addition to the main game, the main game will be the only one classified."
(Aarseth, Smedstad and Sunnanå, 2003, p.49)
1). Video capture of secret Pac–Man level within Episode 3 of Wolfenstein 3D.
2). Table of Contents for Level Up: Digital Games Research Conference Proceedings, DiGRA and Utrecht University
3). Espen Aarseth, Solveig Marie Smedstad and Lise Sunnanå (2003). 'A multi–dimensional typology of games', in Copier, Marinka; Raessens, Joost, Level Up: Digital Games Research Conference Proceedings, DiGRA and Utrecht University
"AI's first half–century produced great accomplishments, but many of the field's successes have remained unsung beyond the AI community. AI's integration into the fabric of everyday life has had tremendous impact, but the public may not recognize its many roles or understand its fundamental goals. In response, AI Magazine has developed a poster to help educate students, faculty, and the public about AI and to spur them to find out more about the field.
The poster's design was based on input from experts on how to convey key aspects of AI and to capture the imagination of a broad audience. The design does not attempt the impossible feat of summarizing all of AI–or even a substantial part–in a single poster. Nor does it present a list of new advances, which would soon become obsolete. Instead, it presents a snapshot of a few aspects of AI selected to catalyze interest and to prompt viewers to find out more by exploring AAAI Web resources. The resulting poster, The AI Landscape, is inserted in this issue of the magazine. The AI Landscape provides a glimpse of AI's multifaceted role in service of society, an illustration of the types of questions being addressed by the field, and a pointer to Web resources including a timeline tracing the field's history."
"The Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping enables manufacturing workgroups to create a single digital model in Inventor for use at every stage of production – bridging the gaps that typically exist among conceptual design, engineering, and manufacturing teams. With Digital Prototyping, you can get more innovative products to market faster and increase your competitive advantage."
(Autodesk, Inc.)
3). Raymond Kurland (August 2010). 'Comparing the Capabilities of Autodesk Inventor Professional 2011 and SolidWorks Premium 2010 Using TechniCom's Delphi Expert Technique', A TechniCom Group LLC whitepaper.
"With a technology called MotionScan, an actor's complete performance––their facial expressions, how they talk, when they blink––are captured for use in a video game. We spoke to Brendan McNamara, the head of the team behind the detective game using this tech, 'L.A. Noire.' ...
Made by Team Bondi and Rockstar––the AAA developer behind the violent and cinematic Grand Theft Auto series––L.A. Noire is set in post–WWII Los Angeles, giving the player the role of Cole Phelps (Mad Men's Aaron Staton), a war–hero turned police detective."
(Kevin Ohannessian, Fast Company, 4 February 2011)
"In this work I begin with an existing book and seal its edges, creating an enclosed vessel full of unearthed potential. I cut into the surface of the book and dissect through it from the front. I work with knives, tweezers and other surgical tools to carve one page at a time, exposing each page while cutting around ideas and images of interest. Nothing inside the books is relocated or implanted, only removed. Images and ideas are revealed to expose a book's hidden, fragmented memory. The completed pieces expose new relationships of a book's internal elements exactly where they have been since their original conception."
"The Second City is a 1930's Chicago inspired street scene. This was created for a client who was looking for a proof of concept, with a view to presenting it to games publishers. All assets were modelled and textured by myself, from an extensive catalogue of reference photography. ...
This is a fly–through video recorded in Fraps straight from the UDK viewpoint. Breakdowns of meshes and lighting can be seen. Thanks to Robert Antill for the work he did in After Effects on this."
"Making 3D models should be an easy and intuitive task like Free–hand sketching. This paper presents iSphere, a 24 degree of freedom 3D input device. iSphere is a dodecahedron embedded with 12 capacitive sensors for pulling–out and pressing–in manipulation on 12 control points of 3D geometries. iSphere exhibits the top–down 3D modeling approach for saving mental loads of low–level machineries. Using analog inputs of 3D manipulation, designers are able to have high–level modeling concepts like push or pull the 3D surfaces. Our experiment shows that iSphere saved steps of selecting control points and going through menus and make subjects more focus on what they want to build instead of how they can build. Novices saved significant time for learning 3D manipulation and making conceptual models, but lacking of fidelity is an issue of analog input device."
(Jackie Lee, Yuchang Hu, Ted Selker, 2006, MIT Media Lab)
"You have probably seen several times in the past, those immersive digital photographs in which you can easily look up and down and turn your vision all around in full 360° glory. The 360° panoramic new year's eve of 2003 in Times Square, New York, has been one of my first memorable favorites, as it captures so well the thousands of emotions and different people celebrating on the street at once.
But video technology is now surpassing even these spectacular capabilities, by delivering navigable 3D, immersive video which as good or better than the 360° navigable images you and I have seen until now.
Check this video out. Once it starts rolling, click and move your mouse in different directions. You will be surprised to see that you can now fully navigate also inside moving video images.
The visual impact is really quite shocking, especially if, this is the very first time you are in front of a 3D, immersive and fully navigable video.
This spectacular feat is achieved by utilizing eleven video streams arranged according in a geodesic fashion. By doing so it is possible to capture an almost complete spherical image; a high–resolution 360 degree view of surroundings that is seamlessly stitched together.
Immersive navigable 3D movies can integrate GIS coordinates and other metadata to create highly informative, educational or life–saving emergency and assistance video guides.
The company behind this impressive new media technology is Immersive Media Corp., based in Calgary, Canada. The company also owns the wholly–owned subsidiary Immersive Media Company, based in Portland, Oregon.
The dodecahedron, with its twelve symmetrical pentagonal facets, is the most natural geometric division of a sphere for immersive image capture. It offers symmetrical, standardized divisions of the sphere that make the most of the image produced by each lens, and produces even resolution in every direction, better blending of the images, and more even illumination of the overall scene.
Perfectly equal and parallel faces, edges and corner angles, and divisions according to the Golden Ratio: A/B=(A+B)/A
It is the most natural geometric division of a sphere for immersive video image capture. It produces:
The enormous number of pixels recorded enables the highest image quality in every direction. The result is consistent image resolution across the entire spherical frame, with photographic realism and full motion.
Over 100 million pixels per second are recorded, resulting in spherical frames of 2400x1200 pixels, 30 frames per second. With the Telemmersion System, software is not required to correct sub–standard image resolution.
Images may be viewed spherically using the IMViewer software for looking around, or in an overall panoramic sphere movie format utilizing standard video playback platforms such as Windows Media® Player or QuickTime®."
"I use V–Ray. Illumination has fascinated me since as long as I can remember: Years ago, it was quite difficult to simulate global ilumination by traditional techniques. So after trying several GI engines, I found V–Ray to be the best solution by far to suit all my needs in these terms."
"Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object–oriented programming. It allows students to learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games. In Alice, 3–D objects (e.g., people, animals, and vehicles) populate a virtual world and students create a program to animate the objects.
In Alice's interactive interface, students drag and drop graphic tiles to create a program, where the instructions correspond to standard statements in a production oriented programming language, such as Java, C++, and C#. Alice allows students to immediately see how their animation programs run, enabling them to easily understand the relationship between the programming statements and the behavior of objects in their animation. By manipulating the objects in their virtual world, students gain experience with all the programming constructs typically taught in an introductory programming course."
"As he sought collaborators to help him realize his ambitious vision for 'Avatar,' director James Cameron found kindred spirits at Weta Digital, the effects company co–founded by Peter Jackson.
The partnership goes back years, to when Cameron and Jackson met to talk shop after the latter's 'Lord of the Rings' wrapped. Senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri was also at that meeting, and told Cameron about the computer–animation techniques Weta was developing for Jackson's 'King Kong.'
'Jim was interested in what we were doing with 'Kong,' says Letteri, via phone from Weta headquarters in Wellington, New Zealand. 'He knew we were about to embark on something where we had a lead actor who was a digital creation. Plus we were getting into building these big jungles. I think Jim, in the back of his mind, that's the kind of thing he had in his head for 'Avatar.' '
Based upon an original idea that Cameron dreamed up more than a decade ago, 'Avatar,' which opens Friday [December 2009], is set 4.4 light–years away on a moon called Pandora. The moon is home to an alien species known as Na'vi, blue humanoids towering 10 feet. Colonists from Earth can only explore the hostile habitat as avatars –– remote–controlled replicants modelled after the Na'vi.
'The idea is that you're seeing this whole world through new eyes,' explains Letteri, a three–time Oscar–winner. 'It's unfolding before you, the idea that you get to this planet and you think it's this hellhole but as you gradually start to learn what it's all about, you realize that there's this amazing and beautiful but still quite harsh world out there. It seemed like it had all kinds of possibilities.'
Weta was responsible for turning Cameron's sketches of Pandora into 3–D panoramas and also transforming stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana into alien figures convincing enough to carry a love story"
(Lisa Rose/The Star–Ledger, 17 December 2009, NJ.com)
"I am an 80 year old retired photographer who has been shooting stereo slides since 1952 with the same Stereo Realist camera. I would like to make a few comments on the current 3D controversy...
The same question applies to most reporter's erroneous belief that the 3D movies of the fifties were anaglyphic and presented through red and blue pieces of cellophane. I cannot think of one first run 3D feature film of the fifties that was presented that way. They were all presented with a two projector system through polarizing filters shown on a silverized screen so as not to depolarize the images. The glasses were also polarizing filters that separated the left and right image. And, when the projectionist did his job properly (which seldom was the case) the 3D image was superb. Cardboard red and blue cellophane filters were usually reserved for cheap 3D ads and comic books. And, it saddens my heart that there are greedy fools around now, ready to present that anaglyphic garbage to young people today who are not familiar with 3D, and suggest that this is what 3D on television is all about. This kind of greedy stupidity will set 3D back several years in the minds of those who are unfamiliar with sterescopic principles. This is what happened in the fifties. Email me and I'll tell you that story."
"Stereo projection throughout the 1980s and 1990s has often been accomplished with large format film projectors, especially Imax. But because of the high cost and complexity of stereo projection and of 65mm film prints, stereo projection was a niche product. And 35mm stereo projection equipment is just as complicated and unappealing to the average theatre owner as is 65mm stereo.
Digital stereo projection is different. The Real D system works with very little modification to the existing Texas Instruments DLP digital projectors that are becoming increasingly common even in neighbourhood theatres. And because these digital DLP projectors already have a beautiful image similar to film prints (minus film print cost and wear and tear), the combination of Real D stereo and the TI DLP digital projector makes lots of artistic and financial sense for the Hollywood studios and exhibitors. Real D uses circular polarizers instead of the older linear glasses, so the stereo effect isn't lost if the audience member tilts their head. Problems with colour casts from the polarizing glasses have also been improved.
Not to be out done, Imax and Dolby are introducing their own digital stereoscopic projection systems for the general public. And Imax stereo analogue film projection continues to be very popular."
(Michael Karp, Student Filmmaker Magazine v.1.1)
Fig.1 Making of documentary about T2 3–D: Battle Across Time, 1996;
Fig.2 Using twin 65mm Showscan/Panavision cameras to film T2 3–D: Battle Across Time.
The following are 2 recent examples of NTU Multimedia animation work. 'iDOG' was created as a 2nd year project by Troy Browne and 'Don't be a Klaus: Anti–Piracy Ad' was created as a 3rd year project by Kane Pickerill.
Fig.1 Troy Browne 2009. 'iDOG'; Fig.2 Kane Pickerill 2009. 'Don't be a Klaus: Anti–Piracy Ad'.
"This article briefly describes the current status of R&D on the 'Super Hi–Vision' television system in Japan. The R&D efforts on Super Hi–Vision are intended to explore the next–generation television system to succeed HDTV at some point in the future, and it consists of ultra–HD images and three–dimensional multichannel sound. The conceptual ideas behind the research project and the status of the technological developments are described. The collaboration between various EBU Members and NHK is also mentioned."
"Epic Games, Inc. announces the launch of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides community access to the award–winning toolset like never before. This software release is available to anyone interested in using 3D game engine technology, including game developers, students, hobbyists, researchers, creators of 3D visualizations and simulations, and digital filmmakers. Anyone can start working with the industry–leading Unreal Engine 3 toolset by downloading UDK at www.udk.com, where detailed product features, technical documentation, commercial licensing terms, support resources and more are also available.
An unprecedented milestone in game development, the release of UDK awards free access to the same world–class tools and technology used by many of the world's best video game developers and publishers. Unreal Engine 3 is a constantly evolving game engine, and UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free."
"the Pacific Science Center of Seattle, Washington, commissioned [Ugo Adriano Graziotti] to undertake a research on the plane partition of Euclidean space. The result was a series of publications (including the very beautiful Historical Chart of Polyhedra of 1966), and the design and execution of several balsa–wood models of polyhedra. Upon his return to Italy in 1970, Graziotti established his residence in Rome. There he became a member of the A.I.A.M., Accademia Internazionale dell'Arte Moderna and President of its Co.S.P.A., or Commissione di Studi per la Programmazione Artistica."
"When considering the relevance of Kant's transcendental position on Euclidean space, one widespread complaint goes something like this: In what concerns the transcendental validity of mathematics in experience, Kant failed to distinguish between pure and applied geometry the way we do today. Pure geometry, as Hilbert showed, is a mere mathematical multiplicity, an axiomatic system interwoven by means of formal relationships where a priori intuition plays no role at all. Its claims have no empirical content whatsoever. Applied geometry, on the other hand, as exemplified by the use of non–Euclidean geometries by Einstein, has to do with the application of a formal geometrical structure as a means of depicting the empirical world. This application is done under certain theoretical assumptions and the postulation of an empirical spatial congruence. Once the coordination of the geometrical structure with the empirical phenomena is established, it can be empirically tested. There is no place for the idea that Euclidean geometry is a priori and synthetic, a transcendental constitutive of experience. Euclidean geometry is just a possible 'mathematical multiplicity', a formal structure whose correspondence with the physical world is not imposed. Thus, the transcendental a priori validity of geometry for all possible experience as implicitly ascertained in the mathematical principles of the pure understanding appears to have been refuted."
(José Ruiz Fernández, 2003)
Essays in Celebration of the Founding of the Organization of Phenomenological Organizations. Ed. CHEUNG, Chan–Fai, Ivan Chvatik, Ion Copoeru, Lester Embree, Julia Iribarne, & Hans Rainer Sepp. Web– Published at www.o–p–o.net, 2003
"Radiohead just released a new video for its song 'House of Cards' from the album 'In Rainbows'.
No cameras or lights were used. Instead two technologies were used to capture 3D images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes."
(Google)
[In the search for new ways of 'telling the same story' Radiohead have managed to provide the necessary spectacle through their redeployment of surveying technology in their 'House of Cards' music video.]
"This Way Up presents the work of graduating students from the Bachelor of Creative Industries, Communication Design and the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Animation degrees in the Creative Industries Faculty at QUT. The exhibition features final year projects, including experimental tangible media installations, virtual environments and animation. The tangible media projects by communication design students build on years of knowledge acquisition in visual and interactive media design and are a site of innovation in embodied interfaces. The animation show–reel features progressive and major new works in motion graphics, character animation, visual effects, computer graphics, visualisation and 3D animation. And the virtual environments projects combine the forces of the two cohorts in an exploration of the design potential of interactive 3D space."
(Jillian Hamilton, Queensland University of Technology)
"The Unity game engine is happily married to the Unity development environment. This tight integration allows the Editor to do everything a published game can do. The simple, visual, and intuitive nature of the Editor makes building games fun again."
"When a reader follows the passage into a fictional world, the realm of possibilities is recentered around her. For the duration of her immersion, she accepts the sphere created by the narrator as the actual world in the same way that the interlocutor will try to imagine the other as an Inca and the children will take the bucket for a pie. For Ryan, this fictional recentering presupposes three modal systems and three actual worlds. The first is our native system with the actual world (actually actual world) at its center. Textual fiction provides a passage to a second universe with the world projected by the text at its center (textual actual world). The third, then, is the system to which the text refers , a system that contains everything projected by the text, but also everything that is not mentioned and is filled in by the reader (textual reference world). While in fiction the world described by the text is always different from the actual world (as opposed to non–fiction), it will generally be indistinguishable from the world to which it refers (the third system). Only when a narrator lies and this can be inferred, the reader will know that what is described by the text is not what the world it refers to is like. Since this is a marginal case and insignificant for this study, I will focus on two systems when dealing with recentering: the actual world on the one hand, and the textual world on the other. Moreover, I tend to take the poststructuralist stance that the actual world is equally a cultural construct. It should be seen as a representation conforming to the reader's image of the world, not as something that exists anywhere outside of representation. This perspective permits to install a symmetry between two representations: the representation of the actual world present in the head of the reader, and the representation of the textual world built from the text, and it explains why the reader can slip from one world into another so seamlessly."
(Jan Van Looy, August 2005)
Issue 12. Online Magazine of the Visual Narrative – ISSN 1780–678X
"The largest virtual heritage project completed in NZ is the 20 minute 3D film 'The Guns of Motutapu'. It is a story about Motutapu Island and NZ's most important WWII gun battery at the time of an anticipated Japanese attack. As one of the largest 3D heritage projects of its type in the world, it features an intensely detailed simulation of a 6' MK21 counter bombardment battery firing into the Hauraki Gulf. One lucky aspect of the project is that Major Derek Thorburn, who came to Motutapu in 1942 and rose to become commander of the guns, acted as a technical advisor to the project. As an actual eye witness to the history, he worked with the 3D artists to achieve a level of visual accuracy that was in danger of being lost forever. The film has proven hugely effective as a fund raising tool for the Motutapu Restoration Trust and its efforts to restore the island. As a result of this success the trust again contracted with 4D Canvas and a second Motutapu film has just been released."
"This paper examines the role of Virtual Reality technologies (in particular, the Digital Songlines Environment), in the expression of a sustainable Aboriginal landscape knowledge base. The effectiveness of these new kinds of knowledge practice is framed by their sustainability and how they complement existing cultural knowledge practices. These issues of sustainability and complementarity need to be addressed in the design and implementation of the VR product. This paper frames the process and product of Digital Songlines Environment as a performative, cross cultural knowledge space, which has the potential to negotiate the controversies between Western techno–science and Aboriginal knowledges. The twin themes of reflexive design and respectful cross cultural engagement and trust, are seen as imperatives for the process and product to align with the authenticity, ownership and purposes of Aboriginal knowledge traditions."
(Malcolm Pumpa, 2007)
Pumpa, Malcolm R. (2007) Beyond the Map: Issues in the Design of a Virtual 3D Knowledge Space for Aboriginal Knowledge. In: 13th Annual Virtual Systems and Multi–media Conference, 23/9/07, QUT Brisbane, Australia.
"Most modern graphics–based computer games entertain the player in part by presenting him or her with a simulated space, an imaginary two– or three dimensional region whose visual appearance is mapped onto the two dimensional surface of the video screen. The player observes this space and sometimes virtually explores or moves through it in the course of playing the game. As an imaginary space, it is necessarily constructed by human beings, and therefore may be thought of as the product of architectural design processes. In this paper I discuss the psychosensory limitations of perceiving ludic space compared with real–world architectural space, and the primary and secondary functions of ludic space. The primary function is to support the gameplay by providing a context for challenges, and I discuss how this occurs; secondarily, the space informs and entertains in its own right by a variety of means: Familiarity, Allusion, Novelty, Atmosphere, and others, which I illustrate by example"
(Ernest W. Adams, 2003)
"[Thomas] Allen's photographs are inspired by his childhood experiences with pop–up books and View–Masters. He begins his process by cutting figures and images out of illustrated pages of old books and vintage fiction novels. Allen then cleverly rearranges and juxtaposes the forms to create three–dimensional scenes. Next, he carefully lights his subjects and photographs the scenes.
When separated from their original stories, the figures take on fresh roles in entirely new situations. Yet they retain their intended purpose of storytelling. Characters and objects originally created as two–dimensional illustrations are raised from their pages and given new life in three–dimensional space. The figures return back to two–dimensional objects, this time in the form of a photograph."
(Joseph Bellows Gallery)
"The CityEngine software provides professional users in entertainment, architecture, urban planning and general 3D content creation with a unique early design and modeling solution for the efficient vizualisation of urban 3D environments. "
(Procedural Inc.)
"Animate Projects Limited is a UK–based, not–for–profit arts organisation, developing initiatives that explore the relationship between art and animation, and the place of animation and its concepts in contemporary art practice. We offer artists a unique space to create work and develop initiatives that allow an international audience to engage with the work via broadcast, gallery, cinema and online.
Animate Projects is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by Channel 4. "
(Abigail Addison, Jacqui Davies, Gary Thomas)
"The Danish toy manufacturer will test launch its "DIGITAL BOX" in selected toyshops and LEGO® stores worldwide. This interactive terminal will utilize innovative technology supplied by metaio. "
"Once upon a time, not long ago, it looked like bedroom coding was dead – at least as a commercial pursuit. The nineties brought in a growing obsession with detailed 3D visuals, requiring ever–larger teams of ever more specialised coders, artists and designers. And while an indie gaming scene continued to flourish online, the fruits of those labours were largely unseen and unappreciated by mainstream gamers.
But a lot has happened over the last three years. Vitally, Microsoft started trawling the indie scene for content to fill its Xbox Live Arcade service. Sony and Nintendo soon followed suit, resulting in the likes of Braid, World of Goo, Mutant Storm and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People becoming key downloadable releases. At the same time, the growing PC casual gaming scene, together with the arrival of the iPod and iPhone as fully–fledged gaming platforms, has built an audience that clamours for graphically simple puzzle and word games. In a sense, casual gaming has legitimised non–naturalistic, often 2D, visuals and intuitive gameplay, reclaiming videogame culture for the masses.
Bedroom coding is back."
(Keith Stuart, 6 January 2009, The Guardian)
[This represents a broadening of the rather narrow trajectory of hyper–realism that has preoccupied the games development industry since its adoption by computer science advocates. This departure can be seen as a strengthening of voices questioning the authority of modes of representation derived (seemingly unquestioningly) from a default Modernist position e.g. favouring authenticity and fidelity over audience and interpretation.]
One Man's Land: contour lines etched into stainless steel
"'One Man's Land' is a precise and accurate map of a young man's face, with contour lines etched into stainless steel. It was produced using 3D mapping technologies usually employed to produce Ordinance Survey maps and height surveys for communication companies.
The image produced represents accurate height information generated from stereo photographs of the sitter."
(Wellcome Collection)
['One Man's Land' by Heather Barnett, 2002, Stainless steel etching]
"Launched by the Australasian CRC [Cooperative Research Centre] for Interaction Design (ACID), Digital Songlines is a project to develop protocols, methodologies, and toolkits to facilitate the collection and sharing of Indigenous cultural heritage knowledge in Australia. The title of Digital Songlines represents the blend of new media technology, simulation technology, and high–end computer visualisation systems to depict Aboriginal culture and heritage. Through the virtual sharing of oral histories, herbarium data, dreamtime myths, legends, and stories, organisers hope to protect, preserve and promote Indigenous cultural practices and their survival techniques in accessible, interactive, creative ways."
Mark Shepard
The Tactical Sound Garden [TSG] Toolkit is an open source software platform for cultivating public "sound gardens" within contemporary cities. ... The Toolkit enables anyone living within dense 802.11 wireless (WiFi) "hot zones" to install a "sound garden" for public use. Using a WiFi enabled mobile device (PDA, laptop, mobile phone), participants "plant" sounds within a positional audio environment. These plantings are mapped onto the coordinates of a physical location by a 3D audio engine common to gaming environments – overlaying a publicly constructed soundscape onto a specific urban space. Wearing headphones connected to a WiFi enabled device, participants drift though virtual sound gardens as they move throughout the city.
Chris Lomaka's Bodymouse concept drawing is an design experiment that plays with biomorphic form. It does this in a manner that seems to suggest a point in time where devices like computer mice may be able to be grown or raised like livestock. The design could be seen to be a comment on our reliance on biomedical science and its inevitable redefinition of boundaries between technology and the body. [view PDF portfolio]
Photography exhibition: "VIRTUAL CITY – PETER MURPHY": 1 April – 31 May, 2006, Ground Floor & Level 2.
"Virtual City was an exhibition of Peter Murphy's vibrant exploration of the cityscapes of Sydney using new imaging technologies in photography and new media. In this series, he captures the relationship between human activity, the city's man–made and natural environments and also the beauty of the city 'resting' at dusk. His use of multiple and exaggerated perspectives reveals a surprising vision of the CBD. The Customs House City Model is also incorporated, showing the artist's fascination for comparisons between the real and simulated versions of the city."
(Sydney Customs House Management team)
Gorillaz: virtual band perform 3D hologram concert [614]
"It must be tough being a cartoon band. For one thing, you don't exist. At a time when concert tickets are what really makes bands profits due to easy online music file sharing, to not exist on stage is a death wish.
I get the feeling that one of the world's first and largest cartoon bands, the Gorillaz, understands their predicament. On one hand, if the artists behind the Gorillaz were to perform live, it would completely undo the novelty of being a cartoon band with made–up personalities. For example, the guitarist is supposedly a ten year old Japanese girl who showed up mysteriously in a Fed–Ex box at the band's doorstep. If the fans were told they were going to see the Gorillaz and instead see Miho Hatori (the real guitarist), they would surely be disappointed to find a more normal–looking band member. On the other hand, not touring would likely mean the end of the band.
Ingeniously, the Gorillaz have come up with a solution. They will tour. Instead of physically being on stage, they will instead be represented by 3D holograms."
(Jacob Heller, 19 September 2005)
Fig.1 Manchester International Festival Presents Gorillaz – Demon Days Live At Manchester Opera House – 01/11/2005
Beatscript: action-centred scripting for shortfilms and animations [475]
"Beats are a unit of action first described by Constantin Stanislavski. Although details about his specific terminology are sketchy, varying between beads, bits and beats, the meaning is consistent. Terence Smith who has published notes on Stanislavski explains that 'identifying actions involves breaking the play into segments (bits or beats). Each bit embodies a single action'.
Accordingly a beatscript is a scripting aid used for describing story ideas. It offers a level of detail not afforded by the standard feature–film screenplay format. This makes it especially useful for describing short–film, animation and short sequence ideas. Its structure is focused on action rather than thought. This allows screenwriters to organise their narrative ideas in a concise manner that is conducive to screen presentation. It prevents authors from describing non–tangible, subjective elements that are unable to be effectively represented in screen form. Beatscripts are used as the starting point for generating storyboards and shootingscripts. While beats are used to describe action, shots are used to describe the visual screen presentation of action. There isn't a direct relationship between individual beats and shots. In situations where an event is significant in a sequence, a single beat might equate to a single shot (and is likely to be framed as a close–up). Whereas where a series of beats might describe a general idea, these beats might collectively equate to a single shot (which is likely to be framed as a long–shot). The specific visual treatment of beatscript ideas is usually determined by the cinematographer or director (which on small projects is usually the same person)."
"Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures, instead of remaining fixed in their places, move freely about, on or in the surface, but without the power of rising above or sinking below it, very much like shadows – only hard and with luminous edges – and you will then have a pretty correct notion of my country and countrymen. Alas, a few years ago, I should have said 'my universe': but now my mind has been opened to higher views of things..."
"Surfaces dominate in the abstract animated film 'Komposition in Blau/ Lichtkonzert Nr.1' (Composition in Blue / Light Concert No. 1). Colorful geometric figures are set in rhythmic motion. The music from Nicolai's 'The Merry Women of Windsor' is impressively visualized through a blending of form and color. Fischinger created wooden cubes and cylinders as three–dimensional animated models, approximately as tall as a cigarette, some of them painted and others covered with fabric. 'At first the set seems to reveal a room. But then the floor begins to reflect the geometric figures. Cubes perfectly–aligned in a row, forming a flat mosaic–like surface, tumble apart to form a stairway. In this perpetually changing universe, a cylinder pounds at the floor and sets off a series of waves, and a decorative, flat circle flies into the empty space. The beauty of the colored, geometric forms–a yellow rectangle descends gracefully into the frame–escalates to the frenzied magic of the impossible.'"
(William Moritz, Media Art Net)
Source: William Moritz: 'Oskar Fischinger', in: Deutsches Filmmuseum Frankfurt am Main, Optische Poesie. Oskar Fischinger Leben und Werk, Kinematograph Nr. 9, 1993, p. 42)
"Our experimental wearable augmented reality system enables users to experience hypermedia presentations that are integrated with the actual outdoor locations to which they are are relevant. The mobile prototype uses a tracked see–through head–worn display to overlay 3D graphics, imagery, and sound on top of the real world, and presents additional, coordinated material on a hand–held pen computer. We have used these facilities to create several situated documentaries that tell the stories of events that took place on our campus."
(Tobias Höllerer, Steven Feiner, and John Pavlik)
New Media Report (8/98)
Virtual communities provide a perfect platform for cooperative work, distributed learning, and for new forms of online shopping and trading.
Active Worlds created by Fire Studios Inc. allows its users to create virtual 3D worlds that others can visit and chat in. AlphaWorld is one of its worlds and is the reportedly the oldest collaborative virtual world on the Internet (started in 1995).
The Visual Thesaurus makes use of the pivoting 3D algorithm made popular by Che Tamahori in the mid 1990's. Tamahori developed an algorithm in Macromedia Director that he published on his Web site for designers to use. The code inspired many followers to develop their own interactive 3D applications, including serveral works in the Turux collection.
Che Tamahori can be credited for the now ubiquitous use of interactive pivoting information diagrams e.g. the Visual Thesaurus. This is due to his effort to create and publish the source code to his Macromedia Director algorithm.