todd

Project Project

Here are a few ideas on things to be done with the zml projection system, subejct to change as I gain a better understanding on how the projectors communicate with each other:

#1:
ZML: My first idea is to actually draw attention to the ZML as a room, even as the projectors and screens attempt to proclaim otherwise. The screens, along with whatever environment they depict, will also take pains to show a border between the real world and projected: Portholes, bay windows, even simple large panes of glass complete with company logos in the corner and caulk sealing them. The corners of the room now become part of the illusion. Hopefully verisimilitude can be strengthened by actually including the ZML in the whole system.
The projectors could act as “windows” for a stationary ZML, looking out on whatever the author desires, but I also plan on giving the ZML a joystick, allowing the user control over where the ZML would be located in a virtual landscape. I realize the massive potential for motion sickness, but the possibility of turning the ZML into one huge vehicle, breakout room and all, conjures up some rather funny images.

As for a few ideas of what the projectors might be showing beyond the walls, well, here are a few for starters:

Planetscapes like Mars or the Moon

An expressionist-like black and white world made of drawn graphics (those who remember my game “Panopticon” should have some idea of what I’m getting at). I’d also like to experiment with anaglyph 3-d techniques to further “deepen” the image.

Facsimiles of very realistic scenes, but extended to illogical or impossible ends. Perhaps make the projectors act like mirrors, but change what the “mirror” depicts. Or have an infinitely recurring plane of desks, computers, and of course, projector screens.

#2:
I love landscapes, and so my instincts are telling me to use the projector system for something else. One other idea I had was to create a semi-animated tapestry, similar to the <> tapestry, which tells the tale of William the Conqueror’s life through the Battle of Hastings. The appearance is somewhat sequential, but scenes spatially bleed into one another since the tapestry lacks any explicit dividing lines or cells. A similar work in this context would be Escher’s “Metamorphosis”, a stitching together of several tessellations that, in the end, resembles a very well executed stream of consciousness.

#3.

Direct interaction with the screens could be done using SoftVNS, AR Toolkit, or other, similar application, I would imagine. I’ve a couple of quarter-done ideas that I may flesh out more when I see the projectors in action.

#4.
One particular WINAMP plugin is an oscilloscope. No biggie. You can tell it to refresh slowly, however, while scaling old oscilloscope readings out. This ends up looking for all the world like you’re flying over a landscape. Low frequency sounds turn into rolling hills, speech forms jagged mountains. In essence, you are visualizing sound by turning it into three-dimensional topography. What would be even stranger is to give this “topography” grass, trees, buildings, etc. The result would be a Gondry/Chemical Brothers video generator, I suppose…
However, it could also make an awesome flight simulator…locations would be determined by their soundtracks…

Still have a few problems posting the dice rolling simulation (emphasis on "rolling") in the blog...I'll try to figure it out later tonight.