August 24, 2008 at 8:49 am· Filed under Play, Novel Ideas, Recommended, code stimulus
Here’s another inspirational video, straight to you from the deep end of the genius gene pool…
Take a dodgy old video and spice it up with some high-res photos using this revolutionary software.
From the site:
The work presents a system for automatically producing a wide variety of video enhancements and visual effects. Unlike traditional visual effects software (e.g., After Effects, Shake, Boujou, etc), the system is completely automatic and no manual labor is required from the user.
The demos that really made an impact on me were the last couple where he experiments with synthesising alternative textures within the 3D scenes.
Something in this for everyone:
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August 22, 2008 at 8:36 am· Filed under Misc
There’s something about seeing a regular video visualised in three dimensions, stretched across space and time, to make sure you never forget that we are only ever a few clicks away from absolute genius.
From the site:
The work presents an interactive system for quickly creating alpha mattes for objects in a video. Unlike previous techniques commonly employed in the visual-fx industry (e.g., rotoscoping) our system can help novice users create professional quality mattes with very little manual effort.
These alpha mattes can then be used to cut out objects from one video and composite them into another video. Alpha mattes can also be used to apply image filters selectively to objects in a video.
Even if you’re not into video, you’ve got to check this out.
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August 21, 2008 at 8:44 am· Filed under Design Stimulus, Play, Novel Ideas, code stimulus, Visualisation
Thanks to my friend, Rob “Finger on the Pulse” Barnett, today has started off on an inspirational note.
Italian group, “TODO, interaction & media design” have created an installation that is the Pavlovian bell to my salivating dog. We’re talking boids, Processing, intelligent agents, simple vector creatures and classic architecture as a canvas.
I’ve got two videos for you. The first shows the installation from the perspective of the viewer, the second is a behind-the-scenes synopsis of the software and flocking methodologies.
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August 21, 2008 at 6:39 am· Filed under Play, Tutorials, Recommended, Flex
About a year ago, a friend of mine foretold that, in his opinion, Flex would be dead in about 5 years! (No, I haven’t forgotten!!!). So, it is with a barely concealed rippling undercurrent of ulterior motives that I’m making sure you all know about The Adobe Developer Connection’s “Flex in a Week” site.
I admit, I haven’t really bothered with Flex yet. The crazy thing is that I’m really interested and keep wanting to dive in - I guess I just needed a hand… and an excuse. If you end up having a go, let me know and we’ll keep the world updated with your progress and comments.
They’ve only got 3 days worth of videos to wade through (so far), but these are punctuated by exercises to help cement your knowledge.
I sincerely think…. nay, predict…. that Flex, along with Flash and AIR will take over the world. Not exactly a bold prediction, I know. Help me to help you… to help me…. get started now: the first video is embedded after the jump - “Comparing Flash, Flex, Flash Player and AIR”.
Newbies, start your engines.
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August 15, 2008 at 3:08 pm· Filed under Design Stimulus, Play, Novel Ideas, code stimulus
Like you, I found the experience of playing Portal to be a digital highlight of last year. The game itself was such a welcome diversion from the usual zombie fodder.
Similarly, I’ve enjoyed the spin-off ideas and implementations that have emerged. One of the more clever examples is the following AR Portal experiment. Watch the following video for a scenario in which two cameras can copy and paste content in real-time. Technically this is an Augmented Reality experiment… but let’s just pretend that it’s real.
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August 5, 2008 at 9:48 pm· Filed under Play, Novel Ideas, Automata, code stimulus, Visualisation
Well, Mozart it aint… but, you know what, Mozart was never this pretty.
There’s something quite hypnotic about watching a flocking simulation. The pseudo-intelligent behaviour that we witness so often in nature, which can be mimicked with just a few simple rules, is really quite compelling regardless of the canvas on which it is presented.
From the site:
Phlock is an interactive installation that allows viewers to sequence sounds and create music using the emergent behavior of digital creatures.
Enough said. Now watch:
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July 17, 2008 at 5:31 pm· Filed under Design Stimulus, Play, Novel Ideas, code stimulus, Visualisation
For the fellow Twitterholics out there, here’s a quick look at a visualisation concept that does justice to each and every one of your 140 characters.
Titled, “Twitter Conversations Map”, Walter Rafelsberger’s attempt at making your chit-chat pretty is commendable indeed. In his words:
“A visualization showing conversations of about 1500 users from microblogging service Twitter. The arcs link the locations of users who talk to each other.”
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July 17, 2008 at 10:09 am· Filed under Design Stimulus, Play, Novel Ideas, code stimulus, Visualisation
Yeah, this is very cool. It’s difficult to describe why I like this so much. No doubt it has a lot to do with the use of particle effects throughout!
Radiohead’s new music video takes geometric forms and describes them with animated particles which results in a 3D sculpture/silhouette effect. I’m sure you’ll agree that watching their interpretation of real-world data is quite seductive and satisfying.
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June 25, 2008 at 9:50 pm· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas
Yeah, I know this is a repeat… but hey, when your hosting company deletes your last three posts, what’s a man to do?
Sit back and bask in the glory of an experiment that takes an image, applies an algorithm and ends up with something Van Gogh would give his left ear for. Print me out an A1 of this baby, bring me an Asahi and some wasabi peas and join me in the gallery of pseudo impressionism.
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June 23, 2008 at 9:19 pm· Filed under Misc
Well… things are finally starting to look like they used to! For those that have noticed a few bumps over the last three or so weeks, I hope you’re as happy as I am that the blog is finally back in business.
My web host, MD Webhosting (stay far, far away), apparently has their data centre in the U.S of A and approximately three weeks ago there was a massive explosion that took out ~3000 servers. They took a few days to actually get the site back online and then took a few weeks to restore my site database from a backup. In the end I’ve only lost a half dozen or so posts so I guess it’s not as disastrous as it could have been. It’s true that you get what you pay for and hosting is no different.
So - it’s good to see you again and I’m glad that you guys are still listening in for new updates. I’m planning on relaunching the blog in a few weeks time with a visual update and have a number of experiments in the wings that I’m looking forward to showing you. I have to repost an experiment or two over the next few days so I apologise if you experience a little déjà vu.
Now I’ve just got to get the background Firefox 3 compatible!
March 24, 2008 at 10:21 pm· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas
Here’s a quick demo of an image filter that I thought up during one of my last projects though it never managed to find itself in the launch.
Click through to see it in action.
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March 22, 2008 at 11:29 am· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio
There comes a time in every programmer’s career when they are drawn to the Mandelbrot flame. Like the rest of us, I’ve known about it since I was a kid, but never have I really worried about checking it out. I guess I felt that the concept was familiar enough already - what could I gain from touching the code?
It’s hard to explain just how awestruck I am at how wonderful and beautiful the pattern is. In many of my experiments I’m trying to formulate complex patterns from simple rulesets, in hope of tripping over that line where the emergent behavior becomes art. Having played with the code a little, I’ve now realised that the Mandelbrot set is my Mona Lisa.
Check it out for yourself.
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March 15, 2008 at 6:47 am· Filed under Flash, Work, Portfolio
Let me take a moment of your time and tell you about the site we recently developed for the new Honda Accord.
What started as a prototype that saw 3D dots swarm from location to location, has evolved into an interesting microsite that shows off the Accord’s most revolutionary features.
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March 11, 2008 at 1:23 pm· Filed under Play, Novel Ideas, code stimulus
Proving that his finger is well and truly on the pulse, Michael Rees (my supervisor from my beloved university days) has found a interactive gem (I endorse everything of his except the title on the linked blog post!).
Lucid Touch, the brainchild of Patrick Baudisch (Microsoft Research), seeks to solve the occlusive problem found in multi-touch interfaces… that being your fingers getting in the way of the content. Using a concept he calls ‘psuedo-transparency’, the user navigates the interface my touching the back of a mobile device - something that looks quite intuitive and, for some reason, it strikes me as a more personal experience than the common alternative.
Check out the following video for something new.
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February 27, 2008 at 10:52 pm· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas
Here’s a quick proof-of-concept for an idea I had this afternoon.
As you’ll see, the concept has a few flaws and limitations - and to be honest, I’d be surprised if it hadn’t been done somewhere before - but hopefully it will be new to you and perhaps, just perhaps, you’ll think of some way to make it better.
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