Plan for assessment

https://vimeo.com/20904879#at=0

With the mid semester assessment coming up I have begun planning what to show so far. Most of this will be the practical elements I have been testing and exploring. The real element I want to get is the feedback which has been delayed from following installation instructions for out of date programs. I will give one more try to getting KinectCoreVision with openFrameworks working on Monday, if I don't I will remake the one I have to fit with what I want even if it's not that accurate. I want to make sure I get that feedback by next week and to see a final focus point before the holidays. I am fairly sure that I can get simple concept (webcam input, simple finger detection, recording of video etc.) ready in the week. The problem lies within the time to set it up in one go and how much CPU it uses. As I can change the quality of the video Isadora records I can make sure they don't require a lot of use.

References

Patricio Gonzalez Vivo. (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2013, from http://patriciogonzalezvivo.com/index.php

Practice progression

I have lately been working on technical tasks related to my project, not that they are the most vital aspects but will give some idea to what is possible as I plan my final result/direction earlier to develop new ideas. The faster I move onto this the more time there is for the revision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeHX5jzHFM4

One of the first issues I had towards the last semesters project was how well the interaction worked. It is vital and needs to be understandable for everyone. I want to know what my options are for this and what is possible to recreate. I have been looking for a stable and accurate way to track the hands or fingers of a person. So far the results vary, but with accuracy comes complexity. Most decent tracking systems point towards using a framework called OpenNI with a lot of other software required to perform. Unfortunately this has led to long read me files and broken links, eventually I was able to find out that even though the official website stated having a Mac beta version available that it is not actually possible because of Kinect SDK being required (Kinect SDK does not work on Mac. Now I am back to finding other solutions or alternatives. Right now I have found some more videos using Processing with the Kinect which look to be promising.

The other, less probable task was looking for a way to rerecord video from the stages in Isadora. What looked almost impossible (because of the dependency of the files loading to the media section in Isadora to be usable in Isadora) actually already included an actor to record files from video input devices connected to the laptop, such as a webcam. Unfortunately there was no plan to capture for stages. A trick around this was to make Isadora think there was a "capture" device connected. Instead using Camtwist it used the laptop display screen (including the stages) as video input for Isadora to detect and allowed for video file to be created. I might switch to something other than Camtwist as there are lots of options out there, but for now it will do. So progress.

In fact here is a video of the Isadora patch in action, using a really bad webcam.

References 

About OpenNI - 3D sensing Technology for depth sensors | OpenNI. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://www.openni.org/about/

CamTwist. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://camtwiststudio.com/

Download the Kinect SDK & Developer Toolkit | Kinect for Windows. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/kinectforwindows/develop/developer-downloads.aspx

Installing OpenNI, NITE  and SensorKinect for Mac OS X. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://developkinect.com/resource/mac-os-x/install-openni-nite-and-sensorkinect-mac-os-x

Kinect Hand Processing - Gestures. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeHX5jzHFM4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

record stage - TroikaTronix Forum. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://troikatronix.com/troikatronixforum/discussion/790/record-stage/p1

Setting up the Kinect on OSX 10.8 (Mountain Lion)- Coding Color. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2013, from http://www.codingcolor.com/featured-articles/set-up-kinect-on-osx-10-8-mountain-lion/

Continue of project

Two weeks into the semester and I'm getting back into the flow of things. So far I have not made groundbreaking development which is why I have not posted recently. I am aware though that reflecting on what is not progressing could lead to positive alternatives. That is partially why I am making this post. The other point is to illustrate the direction I am heading towards. I already have some leeway to getting there and will look to follow through with this.

http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-13/nike-installation-turns-your-body-animated-digital-art

So I am trying to get into the creating aspect fairly quickly. I am doing this by exploring similar works and tutorials to get myself into a practical way of making. From completing the basic Isadora tutorials I understand more on its capabilities and generate ideas through that. So far I am thinking along the lines of live video interactions, heading away from cameras and more towards expressive technology. I want the performers to choose their experience input to the art piece. I will still focus on the art piece being the one with the experience, which is dependant on the performers direction and choice of perspective. The next few days will be about testing live video and the possibility of capturing live video.

I found an article with a different perspective towards how technology is used for experience. Stating technology that is used to express an experience is actually supplementing the real experience (example given was of online social activities strengthens physical social interaction rather than replacing it). As the person gains more knowledge and interest around an experience it will lead to the experience itself being more engaging. In terms of my project constituting around the camera as a way to express a persons experience, it would lead to a better (or different) engagement for the person who was to look at the footage and later then try to replicate the experience. This way of thinking though is becoming more about certain rules I am looking for rather than an idea to express. I have to be wary I do not become one who follows with "This is like this therefore..." statements.

References

Digital Technology and How We Learn, Interact, and Experience Our World. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2013, from http://matthawkhistory.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/digital-technology-and-how-we-learn.html

Nike installation turns your body into animated digital art. (n.d.). DVICE. Retrieved August 6, 2013, from http://www.dvice.com/2013-5-13/nike-installation-turns-your-body-animated-digital-art

Tutorials | TROIKATRONIX. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2013, from http://troikatronix.com/tutorials/