Jeff Winkworth's IMM Blog

I find that our open lab periods at school are usually unproductive for me, as I end up spending a lot of time not being able to concentrate. So today, I opted to stay home and work, as Dan the Man informed us of an all day open lab period. So much to my surprise, as I was working in my pajamas and eating my lunch of spaghetti and fries (cold fries from KFC the night before that is), that an msn message from Heather arrived on my desktop at 12:40:

“Hey”

“Hi,” I responded.

“There’s a guest speaker coming at 1pm”

“Really? Who and why?” I inquired.

“Simon someone. To give us our last blog post”

And with that, I changed into a pair of pants, ran down the stairs still chewing on my soon to be cold spaghetti, and got in the car to drive to school.

I made it there for 1pm. I am amazing.

Simon someone turned out to be none other than Simon Conlin. I know, THE Simon Conlin, from Flash in the Can. I know, THE Flash in the Can. He showed us examples of Algorithmic Synthetic Interactive Applications (or I think that’s what the ASIA acronym stands for; he talked kind of fast for that part. That was soon rectified as he stopped talking and began to show us YouTube videos of practical applications of Physical Interactivity:

One that was interesting (and quite long; both Simon and Dan the Man left the room at one point, perhaps thinking that no one would notice) was of Zack Booth Simpson discussing his Interactive Art. I know, THE Zack Booth Simpson. What was interesting was that most of the video was of Talking Heads, and not of the actual art. There were a few examples that I totally missed the visuals for as I was busy taking notes of what he said.

The virtual Calder Mobiles however were neat. Simon also showed us a video of a camouflaged octopus. I am not sure why.

Simon also directed us to webcamtastic, a site which is a very simple demonstration of cameras entering the public’s use for art and for creating an interactive experience.

One amazing application was of a George Michael concert where giant interactive screens and floors were manipulated using movement as well as sound. It makes for a very interesting floor show and I wonder if more artists are going to design stage shows using this technology.

Simon showed us an interactive music wall which appears to be an amazing version of my inferior “Air Guitar Hero” project for MP/AV class. Well at least I can argue great minds think alike. Also, there was a great video of Adobe’s Interactive Wall. That would be something I would like to try and build on a smaller scale. Perhaps next semester.

While there were some interesting videos displayed, overall I was quite disappointed by the speaker; Simon came out all this way to essentially send us links to YouTube. Schoolwork-wise I did not get a chance to accomplish as much as I was hoping to today, and Most of the videos shown were just using similar technology to GestureTek. I understand it was an attempt to inspire us (and for me, mission accomplished) but I felt like Simon came all this way for really no reason whatsoever.

Our story begins on a Friday morning (October 12th, for those keeping score) at 10am. After feeling ill for the past week, Our hero (myself) makes his way to Sheridan College to meet Heather in the parking lot in an attempt to save the environment one day at a time (read: carpooling to downtown T.O.). After a few minutes of “Parking Lot Hide and seek” we eventually meet up and are on are way!

Once we make our way to Adelaide Street (for 10:45, the tour starts at 11), we quickly realize that this is going to require some work to pull off. We circle downtown Toronto for about 10 minutes searching for #317 before deciding to park in a lot and continue our Journey on foot. We find a spot and high five each other in celebration, only to discover that Kilian & her merry band of travelers have decided to pounce on that spot before we can. At least we’re not alone any more.

While finding a spot elsewhere in the lot, “Team (an)Drew” says Hello as they appear, and instantly disappear. We pay the happy man in the booth (I assume he’s happy because he’s making a living charging people $3 per half-hour for parking) and the five of us (Heather, Brook, Karen, Kilian & myself) begin our eastbound trek to GestureTek.

After 5-10 minutes of hiking, we realize that due to the building numbers becoming further and further from 317 we are most likely heading the wrong way. We encounter an unknown passerby who as we pass him says “You appear to be lost!” Not only is he willing to help us out, but he knows exactly where GestureTek is. Indeed, we were traveling in the wrong direction.

It turns out that GestureTek’s offices were literally on the west side of the parking lot. Our bad. As we enter the building (which appears to be under renovation; similar to the hotel in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York) I expected to be hit by swinging paint cans or trip over strategically placed micro machines. My worries were soon gone once the elevator opened and we journeyed to the ninth floor.

We arrive and are quickly ushered into the back room of the GestureTek offices. It appears that we have arrived late, as Vincent John Vincent (President/Founder) is busy showing off his company’s neat toys.

We start with a videogame, which utilizes green screen technology. As we arrived late, I did not manage to catch all the details, but the camera seems to recognize your image from the green screen and put you right into the game. As you move around (either walking, or by using gestures such as waving your arms) the camera picks up your movements and changes the output of the game. Interestingly, this is similar to technology used by Weather Services International, or more specifically, TV Weather Men/Women.

Vincent also cited some examples of television shows using primitive versions of this technology: One game show for Nickelodeon involved players running through a virtual obstacle course which was nothing more than a 30′x30′ wall, with some platforms, staircases, and ladders (all covered in green), and the difficulties would appear on screen. While he could not remember the name, some quick searching revealed it was Nick Arcade, a 1992 videogame-themed children’s game show. What is interesting about this is that while the technology has been around for that long (and obviously longer in the case of TV weather persons), it is still not readily available to the public, nor has anyone found a popular “personal use” application for this stuff yet.

We got a chance to play with their GestureFX technology, which are different renditions of the same hardware: GroundFX, TableFX & WallFX all work similarly, it just depends on where the cameras are positioned (on the ceiling looking down, on a projector looking at a wall, etc) and what the output device is (a screen facing up, a projected image, etc). The Interactive floor uses IR, and is designed to ignore the projected image and only pick up the differences (such as hand movement, or foot movement). What’s neat is that most of the applications written were used in Flash (see video).

I find it interesting that the main example used for the interactive table is Pong. It appears that civilization peaked in 1972.

GestureTek’s Newest venture is GestureTek Mobile, which incorporates movement detection into cellphone cameras. It allows the movement of the phone to be used similarly to a wii controller. I think this has some great potential for innovation in cell phone applications & games. You could use the phone as a controller instead of a straightforward input device.

We then ended our journey with a trip back to Oakville, where a lunch at Kelseys (where a hero did not have to wait an hour for his food for the first time ever) and Flash ActionScript review and learning was in abundance.

Finally, here are a few more links associated with Gesture Technology:

• Handy future for gesture sensor
• Gesture Glove Not Science Fiction

Today we met Song Ho Ahn and Ian Howatson on the 4th floor. They demonstrated various applications they have developed for the Visualization Design Institute, such as a Skid Mark detector, which can estimate the speed of a car in an accident (complete with an animated visualization). This was developed in flash, and used an XML-driven data set to read information. Additionally, Ian showed us a 3D simulation of the L’anse aux Meadows, for Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History. This was developed using pre-existing engines & APIs, such as OGRE or Lithtech.

Song then demonstrated one of his newer projects, Facial Animation Communication Engine (or F.A.C.E.). This technology can analyze movement of the human face in real time; specifically movement and rotation. Currently he is still working on eye movement and facial inflections, but the general shape of the eyes, mouth and head can become quite similar to the users just by using a webcam. This was developed in C++.

Finally, we went to the 2nd floor and used the Immersion Studios room. Our current setup involves a 3 projector system, and each projects onto a large screen, to make you feel like you are closer to the action. This has practical applications in current day using things like IMAX presentations. Additionally, we watched a branching video which made use of audience members via tablet pcs. During the demonstration video (which looked like a bad episode of Babylon 5 by the way), audience members would play games (some as simple as polling audience members, others as advanced as space invaders), where the results of those games would be reflected on screen – either the video would change based on decisions, or the screen itself would illustrate what was happening during the “mini games.”

Overall I found this experience quite interesting. It will especially be interesting to see how much further the Immersion Studios technology can be taken to create interactive experiences. With new devices such as the Wii motion sensor, or touch screen walls, I could see quite a potential for “Interactive Movie Theatres” in the future.