Luo Yi Tan, Looking Outwards 1

Live 2D

Live 2D is a technology by Cybernoids that enables 3D animation to be applied to 2D images, and allows the user to interact with the image. So far it’s only been used in dialogue based games with limited movement, but I can see this expanding into full rotational movement in the future.  This technology will also make artists and animators think of their works in a different way, because they have to think of how 2D art moves in a 3D plane. This could possibly give rise to a new branch of animation (2.5D?).

The integration of 2D and 3D is really interesting to me because I’ve always loved animation, and this could be a way to bring a fresh new look to 2D animation, which we don’t see very much of in commercial movies anymore, sadly. It would also be funny to watch people bringing in 3D glasses for a 2D movie. This could also bring a different level of realism in video games, as it enables 3D humans to interact with 2D characters.

Generative Jigsaw Puzzles

Nervous System, a design studio founded by Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, used the works of Jonathan McCabe, to create these puzzles. The puzzle pieces themselves are designed based on a process called dendritic solidification, with some pieces specially made to be shaped like small creatures like algae.

It’s a cool mix of biology and art with some engineering and math thrown in. Biology is my favorite science, so it’s really nice seeing it being applied like this. McCabe’s works also give a sense of unity to the puzzle, and they themselves are also created using a generative technique.

One thing they could do is the make the shape of the puzzle itself a dendritic pattern or at least something different other than boring geometric shapes. They could perhaps work with McCabe to create a technique that would be able to create generative patterns from non-uniform shapes. This would also make the puzzle harder to solve and probably harder to make, which could make a great challenge as well.

You can see the documentation of the project here.

The Exquisite Forest

This project is a collaborative online art project by Google and Tate Modern, which allows users to create short animations that are built off from a “seed”. Users can start from any branch on the story tree, creating almost infinite possible ways to tell the story. I find this project interesting because it is a very different way of storytelling, allowing a multitude of possible scenes and endings from just a couple of frames of animation.

The interface is very fluid and easy to use, and I had great fun browsing through the various animations that have been created. However, one thing I’ve noticed is that some of the trees look terribly ugly when users decide to continue the story from a single branch rather than work on the other branches. The designers should perhaps find some way to make lopsided trees look a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Unfortunately, since this project is based on Google App technology, it’s only viewable on Google Chrome. Hopefully in the future something similar can be made that is open to other browsers as well.

You can join in on the fun here.