- Metallic Frog - Tim Moss-Mason BCT

Considering Holo-Vision is designed for commercial use, I have decided to scrap my 3D models of the bust and landscapes and create something new that could be considered commercially viable.

Holo-Crunch Cereal is a make-believe brand of cereal designed to encourage the viewer to consider what they themselves could be using Holo-Vision for.

At the start of this semester, I was solely inspired to create this hologram illusion because I saw the amazing installations by Joanie Lemercier. I made contact with him asking for any insight/tips on how to approach the project.

Sadly I received a reply after I had completed 90% of the project.

This being said he managed to help me out by giving me a few tips such as using a 3D ready projector with shutter glasses to get the perfect perspective.

I have got the simulation working through Unity and Kinect via the Unity Kinect V2 examples. I modeled the landscape in Cinema4D using the atom array nurb.

Considering I am trying to create a hologram illusion I realised early on that I would need some sort of mesh fabric to project my models onto. Kim and I had been discussing the different possibilities for a few weeks and we both concluded that I needed a certain fabric called ‘scrim’ which is generally a thin, white mesh. He let me use some of his own scrim to do some play testing. I cut out a 60x30cm rectangle and stapled it onto an old photo frame. I then projected my models onto the frame to get an idea of how well these fabrics work. I was really surprised with how it first turned out, however, both samples were a bit too visible as they are quite reflective.

Last week I took a trip to “Look Sharp” off Queen Street to check out their fabric selections. I found a much wider mesh that seemed ideal for my purpose. I purchased 6 meters so I could experiment with different sized screens. I also got a long wooden dowel so I could roll the fabric up and create a makeshift projection screen.

After getting a basic digital platform working I decided it was time to start creating content. While I still have no specific reasoning behind my idea, I knew at this point that it’s important to make my experience immersive as possible.

This would involve creating models that #1 users can relate to eg. objects/things that we all recognize and #2 models that can be shown in large scale eg. landscapes, buildings, things we recognize.

To further the illusion of the hologram I want to add some sort of transparency to the models as they will give an added sense of depth.

Having used Cinema4D for the last year I have decided to use this as my modeling software as I am familiar with some of the unique tools that could benefit my project such as the atom array.

I created this from a museum marble bust model and then textured it with a luminance diffusion texture. (note this is an artistic interpretation rather than realistic interpretation. The final piece will solely contain the wireframe mesh.)

After learning some super basic features of Unity I decided it was time to try integrate the Kinect sensor. To save myself a lot of unnecessary coding I did some research online and found a Kinect V2 library that was available in the Unity store for around $30 (it can be found here: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/18708)

After spending a couple weeks searching for a Kinect V2 I finally found one that Hayden was willing to let me borrow.Very excited to get it going I order the Windows adapter from PB Tech. The next day I rushed home and plugged it into my Windows PC. My computer would recognize the device, however, it would disconnect and reconnect every few seconds which was obviously a big problem. I made sure I had the right drivers and the Kinect SDK installed but still got the same issue. I could tell the sensor was working as I could see a 3D scan of pissed off Tim, but for only a split second. After researching my issue for a while I was almost at the point of giving up as not many people use KinectV2 Windows version. One of the last posts I read online stated that the Kinect only works on Intel USB3 chipsets. This could be why I’m having an issue. Luckily my dad had a spare USB 3 PCI-E extension card that he gave me. I plugged it in and VIOLA! it works :)

After researching into various project ideas I have decided what I’d like to make. Fascinated by the idea of holograms, I discovered something called a “nologram” loosely translating into “not a hologram”. This was something that merely create the illusion of a hologram. This is something that still ceases to amaze me. The fact that we can use existing technology to create an illusion of something that does not yet exist is what really pushed me to pick this idea. There is very little info on how to create your own nologram online, only a few key principles to follow such as tracking the viewer and projecting an image onto a nearly invisible material. This is when I discovered work by the amazing artist Joanie Lemercier (http://joanielemercier.com) He has managed to create various experiments with this technique and successfully create projections that change perspective based on where the viewer is standing (COOL).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BU2zPniDfFK/?taken-by=joanielemercier

Check out the link above to see some of his best work. 

He gives very little information on how he creates these pieces so that has left me to compile a list of everything I think I’ll need. So far it includes:

A projector, scrim (very fine mesh fabric much like a mosquito net), 3D models that will be projected, A Kinect sensor that will track users and change the perspective based on their position in space, and Unity where I will try simulate a camera based on the Kinect data received. 

This semester I decided that I’d work alone rather than in a group. I want to focus all my energy on a project that I am 100% excited for considering this is my last ever semester. I have had a fair few ideas on what I’d like to make for Space, Image & Sound but my key pillars are to create something that is 1: interactive 2: integrates each area of Space, Image & Sound 3: something that could be used in a commercial setting.

With my three pillars, I started to research possible project ideas. I have had a massive interest in 3D design & rendering over the last year and thought it would be good to incorporate some of those skills into my project.

After starting fresh we decided to try other tools rather than Trello. While Drake and I work well on Trello we wanted to try other techniques for several reasons.

1: Considering the two of us live together it was harder to communicate and keep up to date with each other online when we could just discuss and plan our ideas in person.

2: While Nick was in our Studio group, he wasn’t in the Creative Workflows class so it was a problem having to relay our ideas online to him.

As a test, we decided to use Google Docs to create a larger plan for the Grown project. This has worked out well as we have been able to quickly compare where we should be to where we are in terms of progress. It has allowed us to keep on top of things.

CringeBinge - Project Summary

A project aimed at making the viewer ‘cringe’ could be considered taboo by the larger audience. This kind of repulse is what fascinated us enough to further explore the idea and reasoning behind what makes something ‘cringe’. We set out with the intention of creating an experience that nobody will want to sit through.

 CringeBinge is comprised of audible, visual, and spatial aspects that contribute to the discomfort of the overall experience. We did not create this to target a specific demographic, rather many. With this being our backbone to the project, we split the experience up into three main sections including vicarious embarrassment, vicarious pain, and grotesque.

 The space consists of an old CRT TV, a DVD player, an amplifier, and a broken unhoused speaker. The poor arrangement of the equipment adds a very unaesthetic nature to the setup intended to make the viewer feel uneasy.

 The image element is comprised of a PowerPoint style layout that showcases the numerous clips within each category. Our three sections of cringe are heavily based off of the image aspect. We have included clips of broken bones, unusual surgeries, and public embarrassment. These unusual clips help to create a sense of uneasiness within the viewer.

 The sound element adds an extra layer of contrast and to the image. Oddly sounding clips and bizarre sounds are placed throughout the experience to amplify the viewers disgust.

 Research has been a large factor in this project. We have used many sources including YouTube clips, sounds, and movies to inspire us in our own work. Film’s such as ‘The Room’ (classed as the worst movie of all time) allowed us to understand the awkwardness of the viewer. Poorly laid out scenes and the repetition of clips is something that we ended up using within our own work. While this film was heavily based on presentation, we used films such as “The Holy Mountain” influenced the content we used. Grotesque and unexplainable scenes is what influenced us to add our own gruesome content such as DIY medical videos and bizarre public embarrassment.

 Overall Cringe Binge is an experience that is aimed at making the viewer cringe. Through the use of audio, visual, and spatial aspects we have been able to recreate our own ideas to create a well-rounded experience that has induced all of our group with a long lasting impression.

We have been playing around with the editing of our content for just over a week.

To add to the whole experience we have wanted to make the overall edit very awkward and non-formatted when compared to traditional film. 

This has often meant our mistakes have turned into somewhat final pieces as we really want everything to be as poorly put together as it can be. This has included adding sound into strange parts of the video, slowing down, repeating, and reversing clips.

We have just managed to put together our final edit.

After researching for weeks we are finally in the stages of collecting and editing our content together.

Thinking about our exhibition space, we want to keep things compact and small - almost claustrophobic.

Nick has drawn up a rough sketch of what we are thinking:

We are aiming for quite a basic layout as we want the viewers focus to be drawn to the audible and visual aspects of the experience, rather than too much clutter within the space.

Since this is aimed at being ‘cringe’ we have decided to use several off-putting elements within the space. We are planning on flipping the TV upside down while playing upside down footage, so the preview is correct however the TV is flipped. A bit strange. We also discovered that when the TV is flipped the colour become more distorted - probably because of the weight on the tube inside.

Secondly, we want to use single-channel audio to create an uncomfort when users can only hear the audio aspects in one ear. To top this off we plan on hooking up Drake’s newly broken speaker driver to play the audio. This adds another unnerving aspect to the audio.

This is my canvas:

Drake managed to obtain a free TV for use within our project. Kim was generous enough to donate the TV to us as long as we “never bring it back to AUT”.

We will be using this piece of old tech to display the cringe visual content. 

Since we have the content on our laptops, we firstly looked into an HDMI to AV converter box. We decided against that as it was a $95+ cost, and instead found a DVD player that we will use. The cables for this one cost a whole $9.