Lien vers la description française > > >

Related projects: Transduction and Tontauben
video 2: prototype of the imput sound module at Neutral Ground september 05
image 1: equipment setup sketch

SKIN-PÔ is an interactive environment project integrated in urban space, such as a public square, in which people will be able to interact on its visual and audio elements via physical interfaces that will control video projections and the creation of distributed sound in the space.

SKIN-PÔ is the second phase of the project Transduction, a research and production project that I started in 2003.

SKIN-PÔ’s production will be achieved in 2007.

With Skin-PÔ, I aim at the democratization of the gesture of creation, and at inviting citizens to appropriate their urban space. I also want to take the interactive art out of consecrated presentation spaces (gallery, Museum, etc.). Skin-PÔ wants to be accessible and to address the playful and creative spirit of the general public.

Depending on the time of day, Skin-PÔ will propose different modes of interactivity.

SKIN-PÔ during the day= interactive sound environment
During daytime, passers-by will discover objects lying spread about here and there on the ground. By manipulating these interfaces users will trigger the creation and the distribution of sounds. The characteristics of the sounds will be modulated by the spatial position of each object. The position of the objects will also control the sound distribution through multiple speakers and a subwoofer strategically placed in the square.

SKIN-PÔ by night= interactive sound and visual environment
By night, passers-by will experiment with the same interactive sound scenario, but a visual component will be added. By manipulating the interfaces users will trigger the diffusion of video projections on one or more buildings surrounding the square. I will use the architectural plan of a building and project it onto itself, like a second skin. By moving the interfaces users will manipulate the lines of the building’s architectural elements by creating a 3D video of those elements on the surface of the building. According to the movements imposed on the interfaces, users will be able to “stretch” and “displace ” the windows, the arcs, the doors, the brick rows, and other architectural elements of the building.

Divers means and modes of presentation

SKIN-PÔ will be able to adapt to different urban spaces and to divers means and modes of presentation. SKIN-PÔ will be able to adopt a diffusion structure borrowing from the “urban artistic commando,” meaning that it could be installed rapidly using a single video projection and a light sound system set-up. SKIN-PÔ will also be able to adopt a more complex diffusion structure using a larger number of speakers and video projectors.

The interfaces
SKIN-PÔ will propose 5 objects to the user serving as interfaces. These interfaces will have different shapes and aesthetic characteristics. The two interfaces allowing interaction with the video projections will be spherical. The three interfaces allowing the creation and the distribution of sound will have the shape of scrap objects that are sometimes found in public spaces, such as scrunched up bits of newspaper, half crushed soft drink cans, etc.

The sound architecture
SKIN-PÔ will use three types of sound: sound samples, sound produced by algorithms and, “live “ sound introduced by the interactors.

Sounds of SKIN-PÔ will only be diffused when an interface is being moved. The distribution of the sounds will be determined by the relative position of the interfaces in the square space. The sounds will “follow ” the interactors as they move. The system will also allow users to “throw” sound from one speaker to another by simply making a movement to throw the interfaces toward the chosen speaker. Interactors will also be able to control the volume of the sound according to their position in the space.

Sound will be produced by means of the X, Y, and Z of the spherical interfaces in reel time by using the local positioning system developed by Ubisense. The sound samples associated with each of the interface will be used as the base for the sound algorithms. The X, Y and Z of each of the interfaces will then become parameters the algorithms that will play with the granulation and progressive destruction of the sound, its amplitude, its pitch, the quantity of buffer memory allowed to the sound, its length and its degree of diffusion.

The research and experimentation on sound algorithms carried out during the production of my installation Tontauben will be used for SKIN-PÔ. Since a certain time, I have been interested in the notion of blur logic and evolving algorithms. I want to use these two concepts in the construction of the sound algorithms to create an undetermined sound behavior integrated in a determined general sound structure.

The visual environment, and buildings as flexible elements
Similar to the sound environment, the visual one will metamorphose itself only when one interface capable of modifying it will be moved. The graphical manipulations will allow a unique, collective, and direct architectural reconfiguration. SKIN-PÔ's visual module will put in place an environment allowing the performance of a «projected architectural ballet” whose medium will be the direct elements of our urban space; buildings as flexible elements. The visual in SKIN-PÔ will proceed from non-narrative fiction and will propose a poetic world using revelation, sliding, appearance and disappearance, as well as augmentation and variation of 3D graphical algorithms as visual expression process. The movement of the objects will be the vectors of visual transformation.

Technological tools
-LPS from Ubisense
-Pure Data
-GEM
-OpenGL

Collaborateurs:

Individuals:

Thomas-Ouellet Frederic, artist and programmer, Montreal
Greg Giannis, artist, programmer, and professor, Victoria
Edgar Cooper from Ubisense, electronic engineer, Denver.

Organisations:

Ubisense
AXE NEO 7

Financial support:

Fondation Daniel Langlois pour l'art, la science et la technologie