Thursday, 26 May 2016

ARTWORK PROGRESS: The chair


Chair restoration form final artwork

Rationale : To modify a chair so that it compliments the VR headset.


Step 1:Finding an appropriate chair
 The chair was aquired during the local coucil cleanup. I searched for a similar chair to what I currently use on an almost daily basis. For me this connection to the object is important on deciding. Its a 'cheap' readily accessible design that used cost effective materials. A possible alternative would be to use a chair from ikea. The timber of the seat was in horrible condition so it had to have the covering stripped and the timber sanded 


Step 2:Priming
 Once the timber was stripped a coat of laquer was applied BUT due to its the tin being too old the layer became sticky and bubbled off. It was scraped off then sanded clean again ready for painting 
















Step 3:Painting the seat
 Two types of paint were tested on the underside of the chair top ( note the damage of the timber, this is what the top use to look like). A mat finish enamel paint seemed to be a successful undercoat.















































Step 4: Spraying the base of the chair
The base of the chair was cleaned and rust sprayed with converter/sealant. Three coats of mat black enamel spray was then applied to give an even finish.


Step 5: Reattach the seat to the base of the chair



ARTWORK PROGRESS completed walking track

Below are two videos of the completed walking track which were uploaded to youtube. The later of the two has had an anti-shake filter, a feature of youtube, applied to it.

ABOVE:Standard video of artwork

ABOVE:Video with stabilisation

ARTWORK PROGRESS recording the video


Step 1: Recording
The video was originally recorded on a samsung galaxy s5 at 4k resolution. This was done by holding the camera at head height and walking the entire artwork

Step 2: Uploading
The raw video footage was approximately 1GIG in size (1000MB). Before using in the VR environment the footage needed to be compressed to approx 200MB
The video was transfered from the device to a laptop then uploaded to youtube and had the anti shake filter applied.



Step 3: Downloading and compressing
By using the Catchvid.net website I was able to download the video in the desired resolution and file format.



There is an issue with the new VR device not playing the video format from a website
Samsung Galaxy S5 is restricted in playing many video files such as WTV, MPEG, DivX, MXF, MTS, MOD, TOD, etc. Even the formats are listed in the supported video formats by Galaxy S5, such as some MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV, due to codec issue, some videos will not be transferred and played by Galaxy S5.
According to the video specs listed on the official Samsung Galaxy S5 page, Galaxy S5 supports playing video in the formats of MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM up to 30fps coded with H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8. If your video files are encoded with other codecs that are not supported by Galaxy S5, such as if your MKV is codec with DTS audio, your MP4 video is encoded in 60fps, etc. your files will not be played on Galaxy S5.

basically the only solution to this issue is to convert the video files into a readable file format

Sunday, 22 May 2016

ARTWORK PROGRESS didactic panel notes

So what is this artwork really about?
It is not longer about the spiritual journey that the walking track talks about. But instead has become a critique of the issues of personal participatory experience. One filtered through technology 

The more I work in recording the walking track the more I realise the issues and short fall of trying to record an experience. In particular trying to record a spiritual experience. In a sence it parallels the televised church services, as opposed to actually going to one. The purpose of church, fellowship, "when two or more come together" is lost and the experience muted.  And if we look it from a secular point of view, the experience of life itself in the digital age.
This use of technology is designed to block out the surrounding world, to create a personal experience. But one that is highly orchestrated.  

Choosing a title.
For this particular artwork, a title is key to understanding the work. The title must provide enough to 
prompt the viewer to contemplate

Title : our needs (of artwork) 
I want you to think about the line
Its edge
Its formal elements
its disconnection from the natural enviroment
its symbolism for the human touch

our need for the straight edge... the path... for safety (as the line provides a barrier) ...for the beginning and 

the end, for the destination
the line is inviting, 

   Title : walking in christ     
 Title : faith walk


in my work i am critiqing contemporary society through the lense of faith... i am not interested in 
contemporary events, they are irrelevant in the grand scheme.. will it matter in a month, a year, ten years, fifty years, a hundred, how about a thousand. A good example is gerhard richters, october series(the one with the woman) for many of us the event has been forgotten, it is out of your time. What I am intersted in is the key elements of the human condition, and their current state within our culture. In this work I am interested in our needs, and I am using line as an artistic tool for dialogue. Inviting the viewer to question what their needs are   

My intention is to create an artwork that brings into question the viewers beliefs of life and death. 
Title:our need
I want you to think about line, its edge. Our need for the straight edge... for the path... for the destination
I am not interested in the trivial concerns of gender politics, the body, colonialism etc... my interests 
instead lie not in the temperal but instead in the eternal and transendental.

Video title: this is your life ?
this is life?
your spiritual journey?       your journey ?
the transendental experience

due to the interactive aspect, each "journey" is unique, but the beginning and destination has been 
predetermined.








RESEARCH stereoscopics

Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. Most stereoscopic methods present two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. These two-dimensional images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3D depth. 

In the 19th Century, it was realized that stereoscopic images provided an opportunity for people to experience places and things far away, and many tour sets were produced, and books were published allowing people to learn about geography, science, history, and other subjects. Such uses continued till the mid 20th Century, with the Keystone View Company producing cards into the 1960s.








ABOVE: Brewster-type portable stereoscopic visor, J. Fleury - Hermagis, 1870. Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan.






ABOVE: View of Boston, c. 1860; an early stereoscopic card for viewing a scene from nature


Google Cardboard is a virtual reality (VR) platform developed by Google for use with a head mount for a smartphone. Named for its fold-out cardboard viewer, the platform is intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR applications.[1][2] Users can either build their own viewer from simple, low-cost components using specifications published by Google, or purchase a pre-manufactured one. The viewer is used by placing a smartphone into the back of it and viewing through the lenses in the front.

The platform was created by David Coz and Damien Henry, Google engineers at the Google Cultural Institute in Paris, in their 20% "Innovation Time Off".[3] It was introduced at the Google I/O 2014 developers conference, where a Cardboard viewer was given away to all attendees. The Cardboard software development kit (SDK) is available for the Android and iOS operating systems; the SDK's VR View allows developers to embed VR content on the web as well as in their mobile apps.[4]

Through January 2016, over 5 million Cardboard viewers had shipped and over 1,000 compatible applications had been published. Following the success of the Cardboard platform, Google announced an enhanced VR platform, Daydream, at Google I/O 2016.

ABOVE: Google cardboard, a phone is incerted (orange object far right) turning it into a virtual reality headset




ABOVE: The VR box headset, just a fancier version of the google cardboard, works the same way. The quality of the lenses is superior tho.

ARTIST RESEARCH Damien Hirst

I suppose I want people to think, mainly. In this instance, I wanted people to think about the combination of science and religion, basically. People tend to think of them as two very separate things, one cold and clinical, the other emotional and loving and warm. I wanted to leap over those boundaries and give you something that looks clinical and cold but has all the religious, metaphysical connotations too. It’s the perfect time now because the church is messing up so badly”  
I’m more interested in religion filling a hole for people. That’s how I look at it now. There’s a hole there in people. In everybody. In me. A hole that needs filling, and religion fills it for some people. And art for others. I don’t think religion is the answer, but it helps. I use art in a similar way to fill that hole. It’s just ways of looking at the world optimistically rather than just as a brutal swamp. Which it is. But, in order to live you have to make more out of it than that. Religion helps, but it’s failed really.”
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists, who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s.
The works are made by placing thousands of different coloured butterflies stripped of their bodies in intricate geometric patterns into household paint on canvas.

ABOVE: Damien Hirst posing with Doorways to the kingdom of heaven

BELOW: Doorways to the kingdom of heaven 
Source: DamienHurst.com


ABOVE: detail from Doorways to the kingdom of heavenSource: DamienHirst.com







Wednesday, 18 May 2016

ARTWORK PROGRESS modification of VR box headset

This post contains information regarding the self containment of the VR headset used in the week 7 presentation. The original model used a low resolution samsung galaxy s3, a samsung galaxy s5 LTE-A has been purchased for the final presentation.  The unit is also now wireless.

Samsung galaxy s3
Resolution720 x 1280 pixels (~306 ppi pixel density)
 source http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9300_galaxy_s_iii-4238.php

Samsung galaxy s5 LTE-A
Resolution1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density)

The Galaxy S5 LTE-A is the world's first smartphone to feature a QHD (2560x1440) Super AMOLED Display, Snapdragon 805 SoC and impressive download speeds of up to 225 Mbps
The new high resolution and faster processor have made dramatic changes in the quality of the VR experience. Tho I have noticed during recording and playback motion in the VR environment is a little gerky.


The second modification was the permanent attachement of headphone to the over all unit.
Normally earbud headphones would be used for a unit like this as they provide almost 100% noise cancelling BUT due to hygene an Overear headphone model was used (BELOW)




ABOVE: The completed VR headset

figure 1: detail of insertion of elastic into the headbands, note the cuts in the base of the headphone (center left) which allowed the elastic to be thread through.
ABOVE:Audiosonic Harmony Headphone. The name of the headset is a little serendipitous but it was the only model which was suitable for modification. Note the silver portions of the headphones. 


VR headset modification steps

Step 1:  Phones were dismantled to find where wiring was located and to find a suitable method for attaching to the VR headset bands.

Step 2: The silver portion of the headphones were removed, the cavity left by them was a suiable width and size for the threading of the elastic headband of the VR unit

Step 3; using a scroll saw two fine cuts were made in each of the casings for the left and right ear.

Step 4: Thread the elastic through the headphone ear piece, being very careful not to damage the wiring ( it is single strand wire )

Step 5: reassemble the headset and test

Step 6: dismantle VR headset

Step 7: thread wiring into headset

Step 8: conceal wiring into the case of the headset being careful not to damage the lense

Step 9: reassemble VR headset  




Monday, 16 May 2016

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: refinement of sterioscopic gyroscopic videoplayer DRAFT

check back for updates

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="apple-touch-icon.png" />
<title>Tristan griffins's Gyro Demo</title>
<meta name="apple-touch-fullscreen" content="yes" />
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
<style>
#no {
display: none;
}

@media screen {
html, body, div, span {
margin: 0;
 padding: 0;
 border: 0;
 outline: 0;
 font-size: 100%;
 vertical-align: baseline;
}
body {
height: auto;
  -webkit-text-size-adjust:none;
  font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;
  padding:0px;
overflow-x: hidden;
}

.outer {
background: rgba(123, 256, 245, 0.9);
padding: 0px;
min-height: 48px;

}

.box {
position: relative;
float: left;
width: 45%;
padding: 7px;
border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6);
background: rgba(178,215,255,0.75);
min-height: 160px;
}

.box2 {
position: relative;
float: left;
width: 45%;
padding: 7px;
border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6);
background: rgba(178,215,255,0.75);
}

.box span {
display: block;
}

span.head {
font-weight: bold;
}

}
#panobox1 {
position:relative;
width: 400%;
height: 200%;

background-color:green;
}
#panobox2 {
position:relative;
width: 400%;
height: 200%;

background-color:green;
}


.panoramic1 { width:100%; height:100%; position:relative;}
.panoramic2 { width:100%; height:100%; position:relative; left:5%;}
#box1 { width: 50%; height:100%; overflow: hidden; position:absolute;top:0%; left:0%;}
#box2 { width: 50%; height:100%; overflow: hidden; position:absolute; top:0%; left:50%;}
</style>
</head>

<body id="container">
<!-- <div id = "box"><img src="1.jpg" width="100%" height="100%"></div> -->
<script src="fullscreener.js"></script><style> #button {z-index: 3; position:absolute;} </style>
<button onclick="full_screen();" id="button">Fullscreen</button>

<div id="box1"> <div id = "panobox1"><img src="5.jpg" width="100%" height="100%"></div> </div>
 <div id="box2"> <div id = "panobox2"><img src="5.jpg" width="100%" height="100%"></div> </div>

<div id="yes">
<div class="box" id="accel">
<span class="head">Accelerometer</span>
<span id="xlabel"></span>
<span id="ylabel"></span>
<span id="zlabel"></span>
<span id="ilabel"></span>
<span id="arAlphaLabel"></span>
<span id="arBetaLabel"></span>
<span id="arGammaLabel"></span>
</div>

<div class="box" id="gyro">
<span class="head">Gyroscope</span>
<span id="alphalabel"></span>
<span id="betalabel"></span>
<span id="gammalabel"></span>
</div>

<div class="box2" id="accelcolor">
<span class="head">Color</span>
</div>
<div class="box2" id="gyrocolor">
<span class="head">Color</span>
</div>

</div>



<div id="no">
Your browser does not support Device Orientation and Motion API. Try this sample with iPhone, iPod or iPad with iOS 4.2+.  
</div>

<script>
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// gyroscope controls START /////////////////////
// Position Variables
var x = 0;
var y = 0;
var z = 0;

// Speed - Velocity
var vx = 0;
var vy = 0;
var vz = 0;

// Acceleration
var ax = 0;
var ay = 0;
var az = 0;
var ai = 0;
var arAlpha = 0;
var arBeta = 0;
var arGamma = 0;

var delay = 50;
var vMultiplier = 0.01; var alpha = 0;

var alpha = 0;
var beta = 0;
var gamma = 0;
var lastalpha = 0;
var lastgamma = 0;
var firstalpha = 0;
var maxalpha = 45;
var minalpha = -45;
var truecenter = 0;
var HorizontalMax = 0;
var HorizontalMin = 0;

if (window.DeviceMotionEvent==undefined) {
document.getElementById("no").style.display="block";
document.getElementById("yes").style.display="none";
}
else {
window.ondevicemotion = function(event) {
ax = Math.round(Math.abs(event.accelerationIncludingGravity.x * 1));
ay = Math.round(Math.abs(event.accelerationIncludingGravity.y * 1));
az = Math.round(Math.abs(event.accelerationIncludingGravity.z * 1));
ai = Math.round(event.interval * 100) / 100;
rR = event.rotationRate;
if (rR != null) {
arAlpha = Math.round(rR.alpha);
arBeta = Math.round(rR.beta);
arGamma = Math.round(rR.gamma);
}

/*
ax = Math.abs(event.acceleration.x * 1000);
ay = Math.abs(event.acceleration.y * 1000);
az = Math.abs(event.acceleration.z * 1000);
*/
}

window.ondeviceorientation = function(event) {
alpha = Math.round(event.alpha);
if(firstalpha == 0) { firstalpha = alpha;
//maxalpha += alpha;
//minalpha += alpha;alert("start pos " + firstalpha + " max " + maxalpha + " min " + minalpha);
} // call max and min movement here for the degrees of movement

beta = Math.round(event.beta);
gamma = Math.round(event.gamma);
}

function d2h(d) {return d.toString(16);}
function h2d(h) {return parseInt(h,16);}

function makecolor(a, b, c) {
red = Math.abs(a) % 255;
green = Math.abs(b) % 255;
blue = Math.abs(c) % 255;
return "#" + d2h(red) + d2h(green) + d2h(blue);
}

function makeacceleratedcolor(a, b, c) {
red = Math.round(Math.abs(a + az) % 255);
green = Math.round(Math.abs(b + ay) % 255);
blue = Math.round(Math.abs(c + az) % 255);
return "#" + d2h(red) + d2h(green) + d2h(blue);
}
 

setInterval(function() {


var realalpha = alpha;
alpha -= firstalpha;

// update object position
if( alpha > 180 ) { if ( gamma > 0 ) { alpha -= 360;  }}
if( gamma > 0  && alpha < 180 ){ alpha += 180; }
if( gamma < 0 && alpha < 90 ){alpha -= 180; }


var horizontalpos = alpha - 360;// - firstalpha; // * 5 - 900;

// set horizontal limiters on first pass
if(truecenter == 0) { truecenter = horizontalpos; HorizontalMin = horizontalpos - 75; HorizontalMax = horizontalpos +75; }

if( horizontalpos > HorizontalMax ) {horizontalpos = HorizontalMax;}
if(horizontalpos < HorizontalMin ) {horizontalpos = HorizontalMin;}
var horizontal = horizontalpos + "%"; //alert(horizontalpos + " " + alpha + " "+ maxalpha);


if( lastalpha != alpha)
{
document.getElementById("panobox1").style.left = horizontal;
document.getElementById("panobox2").style.left = horizontal;
lastalpha = alpha;
}



var verticalpos = 0;
if( gamma < 0 ) { verticalpos = gamma +90; }else{ verticalpos =  gamma - 90;}
verticalpos -= 25;
if(verticalpos > 0) {verticalpos = 0;}
if(verticalpos < -100) { verticalpos = -100;}
var vertical = verticalpos + "%";

if(lastgamma != gamma) {
document.getElementById("panobox1").style.top = vertical;
document.getElementById("panobox2").style.top = vertical;
lastgamma = gamma; }

document.getElementById("xlabel").innerHTML = "X: " + ax;
document.getElementById("ylabel").innerHTML = "Y: " + ay;
document.getElementById("zlabel").innerHTML = "Z: " + az;
document.getElementById("ilabel").innerHTML = "I: " + ai;
document.getElementById("arAlphaLabel").innerHTML = "arA: " + arAlpha;
document.getElementById("arBetaLabel").innerHTML = "arB: " + arBeta;
document.getElementById("arGammaLabel").innerHTML = "arG: " + arGamma;
document.getElementById("alphalabel").innerHTML = "Alpha: " + realalpha + " horizontal: " + horizontal ;
document.getElementById("betalabel").innerHTML = "Beta: " + beta + " truecenter: " + truecenter + " min " + HorizontalMin;
document.getElementById("gammalabel").innerHTML = "Gamma: " + gamma + " Vertical: " + vertical;

document.getElementById("accelcolor").innerHTML = "Color: " + makecolor(ax, ay, az);
document.getElementById("accelcolor").style.background = makecolor(ax, ay, az);
document.getElementById("accelcolor").style.color = "#FFFFFF";
document.getElementById("accelcolor").style.fontWeight = "bold";

document.getElementById("gyrocolor").innerHTML = "Color: " + makecolor(alpha, beta, gamma);
document.getElementById("gyrocolor").style.background = makecolor(alpha, beta, gamma);
document.getElementById("gyrocolor").style.color = "#FFFFFF";
document.getElementById("gyrocolor").style.fontWeight = "bold";

document.bgColor = makecolor(arAlpha, arBeta, arGamma);
}, delay);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// gyroscope controls END /////////////////////
</script>
<script>

</script>
</body>
</html>

ARTIST RESEARCH Cecile B Evans



ABOVE: Hyperlinks Installation (2014 )
Source: http://cecilebevans.com/index.php/hyperlinks-i-ii/




ABOVE:Video Discusses Cecile B. Evans body of work
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvOZDF7i2C0





Belgian-American artist Cécile B. Evans is interested in the space between the rational and the emotional, investigating the differences between the ways we think about a subject and how we feel about it. Evans’s practice engages with installation, video and the digital realm, existing where the online world and physical reality intersect and exploring the impact that rapidly developing technologies have on the human condition. Through the creation of fictional, simulated characters that express genuine feelings and authentic human sentiments, Evans examines the value contemporary society places on emotion and the ways we are adapting to live in both digital and physical contexts within the same reality.




ABOVE: Artwork
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDr5VP1OiSw



ABOVE: Animated Japanese chanteuse Yowane Haku is the holographic covergirl for artist Cécile B. Evans’s conceptual ad campaign for Softness
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpSBPqXgO0o