“Being the Machine: Reconfiguring Agency and Control in Hybrid Fabrication” by Laura Devendorf, Kimiko Ryokai. 2015

Great paper about a few ways to automate analog creation. Projectors can map out lines showing where to place objects, anything from candy to grass, to build models. This is a much freer version of prototyping, allowing for a high level of control regarding the materials. The process is limited however in the steps taken, as you have to hit ‘next’ for every next instruction from the application outputting to the projector. Hmm.

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“CreoPop Pen” by CreoPop

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VERSUS

“Lix Pen” by Lix

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Well, this is a tough one, so I’m going to get BOTH! WHY? Because after watching both videos I see they both have imperfections but benefits. You see, the Lix pen is slick and small. Also, the Lix works with 1.75 mm plastic, which incidentally I ordered a lot of last semester and never put to use. So…I kind of need the Lix to make my purchase of a LOT of 1.75 ABS plastic worth it. Also it being smaller makes it an attractive choice as an attachment to the existing pen as to not get in the way of the movements and hurt your hand as you hold it like the 3Doodler is doing to my hand in the current experiments with my project.

On the other hand, the CreoPen oozes “future” for me. UV-drying polymer? Multiple material capability? Glow in the dark? MAGNETIC? Sign me up. Actually, I already signed myself up. For pre-order. The Lix isn’t available for order yet so I’ll get that when it comes out. But I’ve got good feelings about the CreoPen for its new printing method, and I suspect it will have more rigid models than the Lix which seems more suited for very fine drawings on 2D and less refined for wire-frames. The point is, I don’t know enough about either pen, and they’re both enticing enough, and I have the means to get both, so I should. Woohoo!

3d Scanning

Londons Abandoned Underground Mail Rail Network

I dont know if this is as much an innovative project, but the other week UK-Scan ScanLab Project was called to create a 3d scan of the tunnels, which were abandoned in 2003, to help create images of their current state. A museum honoring the postal system is being created, and the tunnels will be trains to gain access to the museum. The resolution is impressive of the scanlabs as the article states you can see the abandons offices, even dart boards that were left. This project can exemplifies information we dont know, but can gain access to. In movies we see intruders scanning the room or using heat maps to see where people may be located, but 3d scanning allows you to understand the spatial relations and even what is in the space and where. With resolution this high it will be impressive to see what is found, or what can be scanned. The only issue is the 3d scan looks as though it x-rays through a building, but people must understand you need to be in the space to 3d scan, it can uncover unknown secrets.

Human Scanning by Marshmallow Laser Feast 

For the Memex music video by Duologue, they utilized a 3d scan of actor Beryl Nesbitt. The entire video is close ups of the 3d scanned body, and the imaging is very realistic. This video begins to blur what is real and what is a scan, how can we tell the difference in the long run when 3d scans are having high quality resolution. What does the future hold, and can 3d scans be used to manipulate other videos or falsify advertisements? What if they used 3d scanning to create false messages in political advertisements?

Novel Views

Novel Views is a series of visualizations of “Les Miserables.”  Characters are listed in order of appearance from top to bottom. The novel’s volumes span the horizontal space, with subdivisions of books and chapters. The height of the colored rectangles indicate how often that particular character is mentioned in a specific chapter. Additionally, color is used to indicate mood – positive associations are indicated in stronger shades of blue, and negative associations are indicated in stronger shades of red. This is an interesting visualization as it combines the display of a character’s appearance frequency with the emotional context in which he or she appears. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the scraped Dilbert transcripts and downloaded comic images for use in my final project, and this view has given me some ideas and inspiration. This visualization is static, and I think it might have been nice to be able to filter specific characters or themes for better visual clarity.

Speech Comparison

This visualization project analyzes words from nine speeches from notable people and then displays the results in an arc. The words — whose associated arcs are divided by colors linked to a particular speaker — are shown on the right, ordered by the number of times they appear in the speeches’ text. This allows one to see what particular words or topics are common to multiple speakers. I find the presentation style to be a clear and appealing way of illustrating what percentage a word or topic is used by a speaker. The creator indicates that graphis diagram books that visualizes abstract data were a source of influence.

Giant Saturn Controller for Death Crimson by Takamasa Sumi, 2005

For my final project in this class, I want to combine my experience in robotics and video games. So, I intend to build an “Action Figure Controller”, where you pose an action figure to play a video game. This is a really weird controller when in comparison to the standard dual-joystick layout. However, not the weirdest, as the project above can attest.  This giant alien cockroach you see above is actually a light gun controller for an rather obscure game called Death Crimson, which made its debut in for the Saturn Game Console in 2000.  This project was showcased at the 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial 2005 at the Fukuoka Asia Art Museum.  I would never see myself playing any game with such a strange and bulky controller, but it is an interesting novelty to see.  I do suppose it will immerse the player a lot more and do much in eliminating suspension of disbelief when actually playing the game.

Project Link here:  https://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?8706-Giant-Saturn-Controller-for-Death-Crimson

 Special Full-action Body Type v.3 by Dolk Station, 2013

Simply put, this is the most detailed art mannequin on the female body you will ever see.  Priced at $300, this is a highly detailed posable figure with 80 moving joints, even the fingers and the eyes.  Like the standard wooden mannequin used for drawing, this one is to be used specifically for sketching in the unique Japanese anime style, hence some exaggerated body parts and stylized eyes.  This object is probably very fragile, so it really isn’t a toy or an action figure.  I like this project since it serves as reference for my final project.  While I don’t intend on mine being as detailed, I do intend on it being electronic, and this project has lots of good information on how to create mechanical joint linkages.

Project Link here: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/10/07/meet-the-artists-model-set-to-improve-accuracy-for-anime-character-illustrators/