Programming Fundamentals » rafael.vargas@iaac.net

On Computer Vision, body manipulation of digital media.

rafael.vargas@iaac.net — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:57:18 +0000

When looking for examples of computer vision projects I found out of the importance of the human body and the performance it will have interacting with digital media. While computer vision deals greatly with recognizing ‘objects’, the identification of human body could have very interesting applications. For instance, this installation called ‘body paint’ is designed to work with any number of people and is scalable to cover small or large areas. The interaction is very simple – movement creates paint. Hidden in the simplicity, are many layers of subtle details. Different aspects of the motion – size, speed, acceleration, curvature, distance all have an effect on the outcome – strokes, splashes, drips, spirals – and is left up to the users to play and discover.

“Body Paint” performance at “Clicks or Mortar”, March 2009 from Memo Akten on Vimeo.

On the other hand there is this very simple and fun project called ‘Body Swap’. This installation transforms your body movements into control of another person. Dance around, jump in the air, do anything you like to make them look silly.
Two people stand in front of the screen, are captured by the camera and turned into paper cut-out versions of themselves. The images are then swapped, so that you each take control of the other. The aesthetic is of a low polygon 90′s video game. Music plays and prompts you to act out to the audience and each other.

Body Swap from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo.

Time Trace Relations _ clock

rafael.vargas@iaac.net — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:11:49 +0000

In this assignment, the concept was to divert the basic idea of a typical analog clock of having three time units rotating in the same axis. The ‘Time Relations’ between hours and minutes can be visualized both from an hour or a minute point of reference. Lines are used to connect points of the current hour position to the current minute position, making a new line every minute. These rules also apply for the relations of minutes to seconds, but making a new line every second. The connection lines relate the bigger unit with the smaller one in their own relative time frames, leaving a ‘trace’ that can be understood as a unique graphical representation of any current hour in the day.

Flags of the World

rafael.vargas@iaac.net — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:10:55 +0000

These flags were made as a basic introduction to Processing. Each was drawn independently using basic logic of coordinates, colors, shapes, etc. Each flag has it’s own characteristics, therefore every process of writing the code its different for each.

Catalonia

Bahamas

Kuwait

Iceland

Maldives

Guyana

Greece

St. Lucia