Category: DDB DMAD

The Intervention is the final step for defining the Digital Media Art Project (PMAD) within the a/r/cographic methodology (da Veiga, 2019). As so, it closes the DDB (digital logbook), which aims to testify, research and explore the full creative process of the PMAD, from its ideation until its materialisation. My DDB contains the following entries:  Inspiration: here and here Trigger Intention Concept: here and here Prototype Testing and corrections And this entry: Intervention Therefore, as a corollary of the DDB, I introduce in this entry the second edition of the artefact I’m Watching You/Me (IMWYM 2). This new version introduces strong improvements and novelties after considering the live testing of the artefact, methodological definitions, feedback from the public, recent articles and research, etc. (see the full list here). Furthermore, I also give final specs considering that the presentation will take place at the Santo Espírito Convent of Loulé, Portugal. Introducing IMWYM 2 Front-end Interface Media + DDB Components and functioning Distribution Loulé and the Santo Espírito Convent Logistics and transport Conclusion References https://lufo.art/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/fragment_AdobeExpress-0180_AdobeExpress.mp4 Figure 1 – IMWYM 2 (almost) ready for the exhibition Introducing IMWYM 2 The second version of IMWYM will be presented within the DMAD Retiro between 12 and 15 of July, 2022. It is not just part of a shared exhibition, but the corollary of a full academic year of work following the PhD course DMAD. IMWYM 2 focuses its application on the field digital arts. Furthermore, it solves several issues considering the already presented list of problems and improvements: Concept: [IN]musicality (Critical issue 1). The concept allows an exploration of the artefact from an artistic point of view. In detail, it focuses on the visitor’s experience while interacting with a special set of media made by Hybrid Immersive Models. Thus, the artefact has the goal of understanding how visitors relate a visual artwork with a musical expression (Figure 2, left). If you want to read more about the concept check this entry. Narrative: [IN]tangibilidades digitais (Critical issue 2). The narrative was composed in collaboration with a collective of 9 artists. It invites participants to come across matters inherent to working with digital art through the exploration of the tangible / intangible binomial (Figure 2, centre and right). Full description of the narrative here: [IN]tangibilidades digitais. [IN]Musicality: the second edition of IMWYM The narrative of [IN]Tangibilidades Digitais Concept of [IN]Tangibilidades Digitais and presentation of the collective of artists  Figure 2 – Narrative, Concept, and artists’ collective of [IN]Tangibilidades Digitais Front-end interface (Critical issues 3 and 5). Using the visual programming of TouchDesigner and basic programming with Python, I created a front-end interface for a better fruition of the artefact (Figure 3). I am particularly satisfied with the result since this was a very critical issue for the previous edition. Indeed, in the interviews conducted to visitors was one of the most recurrent points: what is the artefact for? What does it do? Another critical point of having an interface was the necessity of gathering data from the public, so to then use if for studying the sociological reading and understanding of the concept. Figure 3 – New front-end interface of IMWYM Interaction with the new interface The visitor chooses a drawing from the 5 available spherical perspectives. We choose a song representative of each of the 5 musicians that I was listening while drawing. The visitor picks the most representative keywords both for the drawing and for the song. If the visitor adds a choice, it will remain in screen for the next visitor. Once the user confirms the match between artist and song, the program saves the pair matched in an external file, the previous elections become inactive, and the user can start a new cycle for another drawing and artist.  Screens IMWYM 2 has: A splash screen for welcoming visitors (Figure 4, left). A credit screen telling what is the artefact about and a mini biography of the artist. (Figure 4, centre) A help screen (still in process but securely ready for the exhibition ????). A navigation screen, where we can see only the 360 navigation (Figure 4, right). A menú screen, where we can choose the drawings and songs, and interact with the rest of the screens (Figure 4, right). Splash screen for welcoming visitors In a future version I could add some background videos as well Credit screen, describing the concept, the artefact and the artist Navigation and menú screens Figure 4 – Splash and credits’ screen  Media + DDB (Critical issue 5). The graphic material has the purpose of disseminating the functioning of IMWYM in anticipation, so to give the user the possibility of learning more about it before the visit. This material was produced and gathered as part of the production for the DMAD project, as part of the collective curatorship, and individually. Currently, IMWYM 2 has: Exhibition’s sheet in English and Portuguese to be distributed in place (Figure 2). Narrative of the shared exhibition, posters (A2) and   fold-out room sheets. A dedicated entry within the CIAC’s website. Two videos, one introducing IMWYM 1, and the second one promoting IMWYM 2 (Figure 6). Figure 5 – Promotional video of IMWYM 2 Components IMWYM 2 will have the following components:  IN-1: a physical drawing (a paper on a transparent structure, with a rear camera) IN-2: a digital drawing (either from a drawing pad or a table, or from a drawing software such as Eq A Sketch 360) IN-3: a pre existing equirectangular media (in this case, five drawings from the same collection) IN-4: a mobile phone with movement and location sensors IN-5: a high-resolution camera OU-1: a projector OU-2: an external monitor Complete functioning artist A first artist or visitor (AR-1) chooses one medium between IN-1, 2 or 3 based on a personal preference. Through the artefact’s interface (IN-3) it is possible to use up to two parallel inputs, meaning that the drawing can be composed interactively along with another artist or visitor (check more about this here).  If the artist chooses IN-1, then camera IN-5 captures the drawing on-the-fly. Thus, the software directly converts and mixes the inputs and streams it in VR modality through OU-1. If IN-2 or IN-3 are chosen, the artist has visual feedback both in equirectangular mode through OU-2 and in VR modality thought OU-1. OU-1 shows the…
Read more

On the definition of the digital media art project, the testing of the artefact is the sixth step within the a/r/cographic methodology. As I previously did, I leave a recap for those who are not familiarised with what I am talking about. Inspiration: here and here Trigger Intention Concept: here and here Prototype This entry has the goal of listing the improvements and modifications for IMWYM 2. The list gathers the experience of live testing the artefact I’m Watching You/Me during the congress ARTECH (Olivero & Araújo, 2021). In addition, it also considers what I have researched since then, current research goals, published articles, methodological requirements, etc. IMWYM 1st edition Current requirements and new features Narrative/development Interaction/evolution Experience/fruition Conclusion: IMWYM 2nd edition References https://lufo.art/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_0171_AdobeExpress.mp4 Figure 1 – Testing the artefact the night before the exhibition IMWYM 1 I introduced the functioning of IWMYM 1 on my previous entry:  This first version of IMWYM introduced the innovation of allowing live spherical drawing (IN-1, IN-3) and its parallel VR visualisation (OU-1). Through a mobile phone (IN-4), the user interacted with the visual sphere either while I was performing a live drawing session or while an already existing drawing was selected as input. Hence, the artist draws in equirectangular projection using either traditional (IN-1) or digital techniques (IN-2, IN-3) while visitors interact with the camera’s position (IN-4). Both artists and visitors watch the VR results through OU-1. Previously, I explained that IMWYM 1 was more a prototype than a fully developed artefact. Indeed, within this first installation many things resulted rudimentary and clumsy, there was a total lack of artistic concept and narrative, and a certain distance from a wide methodological approach for art-practice-based research due to IMWYM 1’s technical focus. Therefore, I will develop now those issues and problems, which were mainly found during the exhibition. Furthermore, I will give a possible solution for each issue, aiming to implement them on IMWYM 2. Figure 2 – I’m Watching You/Me. 1st edition. Aveiro, Portugal, Congress ARTECH, 2021 Current requirements and new features During the intention stage, I mentioned two versions of the artefact to be considered, where the first one is:  V1 will be the MVP (minimal viable product), thus the functional version for the Retiro 2022. In detail, this version focuses on the subjective reading, i.e., the phenomenological social reading (Lee, 1991, pp. 347–348, Olivero, 2022, p. 8) (…) the artefact has the goal of understanding how visitors relate a visual artwork with a musical expression. Hence, for defining a new version for the digital media art project, I will consider the live testing of the artefact during the congress ARTECH 2021. In such an opportunity, I had the occasion for testing the artefact which helped me to find many issues, such as functional, aesthetic, interaction, concept, etc. Furthermore, since I started with IMWYM in 2021 I have developed plenty of new research, specially for the Digital Media Art Program DMAD. For example, I have explored new topics such as specific methodologies for art-practice based research. Based on that, I narrowed some methodological definitions for the current research (see this article). Finally, I also published two peer-reviewed articles about IMWYM (Olivero & Araújo, 2021, 2022).  Hence, considering: the experience with the live testing of the artefact, methodological definitions, articles’ reviewers notes, articles’ developments, the current state of the art, research goals, visitors’ feedback, I do a list of critical points for improving the first prototype and for focusing its use within the field of digital art.  Since I have already divided the intentions for this project within the sets of narrative/development, interaction/evolution and experience/fruition (see this article), I will focus the issues within the same axes. Figure 3 – Testing and setting up the artefact Narrative / Development issue / problem Missing concept. The 1st edition of IMWYM was fully aimed to show a technical advancement. Indeed, there was neither a clear artistic concept nor a definition of a certain narrative. As seen during the previous entries, the new edition should hardly focus in the artfulness of the hybrid immersive models. Therefore, both concept and narrative are critical improvements this time for integrating IMWYM with the goals of my art-practice-based research. draft solution Critical issue. IMWYM 2 would not have any sense without this definition. Therefore, I have developed [IN]musicality for solving it. The concept allows an exploration of the artefact from an artistic point of view. In detail, it focuses on the visitor’s experience while interacting with a special set of media made by Hybrid Immersive Models. Thus, the artefact has the goal of understanding how visitors relate a visual artwork with a musical expression. Missing narrative. The exhibition of ARTECH 2021 followed the narrative within the curatorship “Contingency”, by M. M. Lopes (Lopes et al., 2021, p. VII). However, the artefact was simply “included” within it, yet neither limited nor oriented towards any kind of specific direction by the narrative of the curatorship. Note, that this lack of narrative was both in relation with the general exhibition, and within the use of the prototype. Meaning with the latter that there was no evolution during the interaction with the artefact. Critical issue. IMWYM 2 will be presented as part of the shared exhibition [IN]tangibilidades digitais. The narrative invites participants to come across matters inherent to working with digital art through the exploration of the tangible / intangible binomial: near / remote; palpable / impalpable; probable / imaginary; in / out. The game of digital intangibilities challenges the “definition of things through their perception” (Borges, 2017), and instead, it proposes to perceive what is not perceived: the intangible. [IN]musicality will be part of the collective exhibition [IN]Tangibilidades Digitais Exhibition sheet (EN) [IN]musicality will be part of the collective exhibition [IN]Tangibilidades Digitais Exhibition sheet (PT) Figure 4 – The narrative of the exhibition [IN]Tangibilidades Digitais has been defined in collaboration with a collective of nine artist Interaction / Evolution issue / problem Not available front-ed interface. This is necessary for a more efficient and simplified operation, for example, for switching or adding inputs. In particular, the requirements for v1 is an interface for: Giving access to drawings and musical inputs. Interacting with the VR drawings while listening to music. Pairing a certain music with a certain drawing. Conducting a survey to determine the socio-phenomenological conditions of the reading. draft solution Critical issue. The interface is the connection…
Read more

On the definition of my digital media art project, and aiming to complete the a/r/cographic methodology, I will develop the prototype. For those who are not familiarised with what I am doing and talking here, you can follow the recap that follows. A/r/cographic methodology for the definition of a Digital Media Art Project: Inspiration: here and here Trigger Intention Concept: here and here For writing this entry, I switch back in time to October 2021 when I presented the artefact I’m Watching You/Me or IMWYM for short (Olivero & Araújo, 2021). Understanding and documenting this 1st prototype with the current knowledge and methodology, will be the base for the development of a 2nd edition. Hence, I intend to present IMWYM 2 at the Retiro DMAD 2022, as the corolary of this PMAD.  IMWYM 1 Components Functioning Mixing inputs Interaction Innovation Conclusion References Figure 1 – First prototype of the digital media art project IMWYM 1 IMWYM is an artefact for enhancing the use of Hybrid Immersive Models within the field of digital arts. The aim of IMWYM is to stimulate the under-explored form of expression that spherical perspectives represent by facilitating, demonstrating, opening, and extending their use both with general applications and in particular with digital art live presentations. The first version that I present today, focused on the live execution of spherical drawings for an audience. Within this first prototype many things resulted a bit rudimentary, due that some parts were not fully developed for many different reasons. However, this 1st edition also achieved great goals, such as the effective demonstration of one possible way to achieve spherical drawings for an audience in a performative setting with concurrent interactive live feed of the VR visualization. Components The components of IMWYM 1 were: IN-1: a physical drawing (a paper on the wall) IN-2: a digital drawing (either from a drawing pad or a tablet*, or from a drawing software such as Eq A Sketch 360) IN-3: a pre existing equirectangular media (drawing, picture, or video) IN-4: a mobile phone with movement and location sensors IN-5: a high-resolution camera OU-1: a projector OU-2: an external monitor* * These components were not used during ARTECH 2021 due to logistical issues. However, they were both available and functioning, as it can be seen within the video below. Figure 2 – I’m Watching You/Me. 1st edition. Aveiro, Portugal, Congress ARTECH, 2021 Functioning The basic functioning of this first prototype is divided in three parts: The artist (AR-1) chooses one medium between IN-1, 2 or 3 based on a personal preference.  The software captures (through IN-5) and converts the equirectangular media into a classical perspective, which is shown on the screen (OU-1). A visitor interacts with the visual sphere by sending position coordinates from the mobile phone (IN-4). The following video shows the functioning and characteristics of the artefact. Furthermore, it also exposes how to interact with the visual sphere using the phone. Finally, there are some drawing examples both my own and from students. Mixing inputs The inputs are media generated either with traditional (IN-1) or digital techniques (IN-2, IN-3). IMWYM 1 focuses on the use of drawings, although we can also use photos and videos as long as they follow the equirectangular projection (Figure 3, left).  A very important feature that IMWYM 1 introduces is the possibility of mixing inputs. Indeed, through TouchDesigner’s interface we can select up to three parallel inputs. Meaning, I can compose an equirectangular drawing interactively and on-the-fly together with another artist or visitor. Finally, the VR environment results a superposition of the different inputs, and it can be seen through the output screen (OU-1).  Some examples of mixed interactive compositions could be:  360 video (IN-3) + Physical drawing (IN-1) Physical drawing (IN-1) + Digital drawing using Eq A Sketch 360 (IN-2) Equirectangular picture (IN-3) + Digital drawing using a drawing pad (IN-2) + Physical drawing (IN-1) 3 different inputs A handmade physical artwork created on-the-fly An existing media A drawing made with software (Eq A Sketch 360) One of the features of IMWYM is the possibility to mix inputs on-the-fly Figure 3 – Selection of inputs Interaction If the artist chooses IN-1, then camera IN-5 captures the drawing on-the-fly. Thus, the software converts and mixes the inputs, and streams the result in VR modality through OU-1 (Figure 4, left). If the artist chooses IN-2 or IN-3, it has visual feedback both in VR modality through OU-1, and in equirectangular mode through OU-2. OU-2 improves the interaction by separating the interface from the software drawing board of IN-2. A visitor VI-1 interacts with the visual sphere through a mobile phone IN-4. Effectively, this can be done either while I perform a live drawing session or while the artefact shows an already existing drawing (Figure 4, right). IN-4 sends OSC data to the software through compass and gravity sensors. Every new position of the phone updates the camera within the virtual sphere, thus discovering a new part of the drawing.  Finally, OU-1 shows the result in VR modality with a Field of View previously set (e.g., at 60º), i.e., the spherical perspective is converted in a moving linear perspective according to the camera’s position. IMWYM allowed live spherical drawing and a parallel VR visualisation The artist draws in equirectangular format, and another user interacts with the mobile phone Interaction The visitor interacts with the visual sphere sending OSC from the mobile phone to the software Figure 4 – Interaction Innovation For producing this prototype, I considered the state of art for different spherical perspectives (equirectangular, azimuthal equidistant, cubical) and the software available for their practice. Within that state of the art, IMWYM highlights its utility introducing the innovation of allowing live spherical drawing and its parallel VR visualisation, a task for which there were almost no software options in October 2021 (Olivero & Araújo, 2021). I composed IMYWM 1 using the free non-commercial version of TouchDesigner. I choose this node-based programming before entering a pude coding stage. This way, I managed to do a general evaluation of the workflow with the great versatility of TD. The exhibition during ARTECH 2021 allowed me to see the reaction of the public, to gather some very important opinions about the artefact’s usability and perception, and certainly, to detect issues and problems. For example, it was a big challenge to migrate the software at the…
Read more

Defining the Digital Media Art Project During the definitions of the Digital Media Art Project (PMAD) we were asked to define two important aspects: Inspiration and Intention.  One way of doing this is following the three axis of the a/r/cographic scheme, that is, defining what we expect for our PMAD in terms of function (ranging from conformist to disruptive), skill (ranging from ineptitude to mastery) and aesthetics (ranging from indifferent to passionate). These three axis, let us remember, define a three-dimensional space in which we can position a PMAD according to the a/r/cographic methodology (de Veiga, 2019). Function First of all, I would like my PMAD to represent a different way of doing things. Meaning, that I point to have a disruptive rather than a conformist function. What is this disruption based on?  Ironically (for a digital media art project), this disruption is based on the denial of digital technology. Well, not a full and frontal denial, but a temporary detachment: we take a step side, we reflect, and then we come back to be all our way within the digital medium.  Let me explain myself better: this research is focused on the Hybrid Immersive Models (HIM). A HIM is a mixture of physical and digital media composed of: a spherical perspective drawing (an anamorphosis), a virtual environment, and a physical polyhedron (e.g. a sphere or a cube). Both the virtual environment and the physical polyhedron are created from the original drawing. In turn, the drawing can be physical or digital, but it has the primary characteristic of being created methodically by the draftsman, i.e. not obtained automatically by an algorithm, but thought out and constructed element by element through logical relations and deductions.  Panoramas within the digital In the (purely) digital process, a panoramic picture can be created (for example) by the following workflows:  Creation of a 3D model -> Automated generation of the panorama Collection of points with a laser scanner -> Positioning of the points within a 3D matrix -> Projection to an observation centre -> Automated generation of the panorama In both cases, the artist will most likely not understand how the panoramic image was generated. Although this is not something bad (we do need to know about microelectronics to use the computer!), one implication of this is that by the moment in which the trusted software goes out of circulation, the artist may find himself as a tool-dependent-artist. Panoramas within HIM On the other hand, on a HIM the panoramic image is created element by element, using a different way of thinking: whoever builds a panorama does it thinking about its components, relating, grouping, manipulating and understanding them. A guarantee of this is that what is not understood from a spherical perspective results evident in the virtual product.  A HIM is a process that forces* logical thinking, spatial understanding and the correlation between a certain space and its representation. In other words, a HIM gathers the analogy between the model that the person has in the mind and the immersive visual result of its representation. If you want to learn more about handmade panoramas you can read this entry. This research aims to investigate how a HIM is thought, nurtured and positioned from and among the concepts of digital art itself. The very genesis of a HIM is associated with computer technology, since without the digital it would not be possible to create, visualise, or create the virtual environment or other essential components of a HIM. In other words, we are not dealing with the digitisation of an existing analogue process, but with a model that is native to both the physical and digital domains. *A small note: this “forcing” situation is actually during the first phase, like when one learns to drive a car. After the mechanism has been incorporated, one does not “think” about it as much, and one can release more of one’s “creative libertarian drive”. It is clear that not all of us are obliged to think, but not all of us are obliged not to think either.  Skill As for the skill axis, I aim for the PMAD to cover the full length of the axis. That is to say, I expect to cover the needs and expectations of both those who fully understand how spherical perspectives work, as well as those who are seeing them for the first time. This is an ambitious goal, but a likely one, since what the artefact should have is an interactive form of visualisation that shows the correspondence between what happens in the flat drawing and the virtual environment. Therefore, a new user who “plays” at drawing will begin to understand the basic principles from the practice itself. Instead, the advanced user will know already what to do, and it will go to the maximum of what the PMAD can give. Aesthetics Finally, on the aesthetic axis, I am all fire and passion as artist, but I am also a slow burner one. Therefore, I would like the PMAD to be supported by a striking, colourful, electric, but smoothly paced visual experience, where images flow “at a human pace” (like walking through a forest) rather than “at a breakneck pace” (like trailers).  In this sense, the interaction with the virtual environment will be fundamental, as it stimulates the person to “be within the art”. For this, I draw inspiration from projects that I have already mentioned in this post, such as “Sketching in Space”, which solve excellently well what I have in my head for my PMAD, although they do it with pure digital technology.   Closing The PMAD that we are exploring (and discovering) begins to be less than a nebulous definition. Some objectives and definitions are becoming clearer, such as its function, aesthetic and skill intentions. This, plus the definitions presented at the MIPA (Methodology of Research and Artistic Practice) module, the roadmap to follow is beginning to take shape.  Bibliography da Veiga, P. A. (2019). A/r/Cography: Art, Research and Communication. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts. Association for Computing Machinery.…
Read more