The above images were created by opening the movie, “Brian Eno, The Man Who Fell to Earth 1971-1977″ in VLC then, when paused, skipping about through the timeline. At some points the images resolved correctly, but in a lot of others the images got heavily distorted, creating the chunky artifacts you see above.

The effect is on par with the screenshots I’ve taken of OS X getting glitchy, distorted. And while dissimilar both in production and effect, I’m still wanting to get back to the databending I’d done nearly a year ago.

But before I go…the documentary itself is worth a peek:

A telescope into the past and the future. The Wall timescope lets viewers experience their surroundings in different times and states. Using a combination of binocular optics and web cam, the timescope shows viewers the scene that lies before them as live web cam transmission – and it transports them through time by adding visual content, creating the illusion of the same scene in the past or future. History becomes alive, and the future is only a blink away.

From Wall’s New Perspectives. via Future Perfect

The timing of my finding this work is great, as I’m starting to generate ideas for April’s Sound Noir 3 Year Anniversary.

Because there’s no good place — screen — to project on at The Morgan, I’m again enlisting the balloons I used for the John Roberts / Norm Talley party in November of 2010.

The videos of the piece have opened up my thinking in terms of how the balloons might be arranged. I’m not looking to have them move throughout the space, but hanging them in a more dynamic pattern is definitely a possibility.

Additionally, as Jessica Angel prompted me, I could employ projection mapping onto the arrangement of the balloons. This would definitely be taking things to the next level, and at the moment I’m not at all sure how I’d approach it. I probably shouldn’t have even mentioned it… :)

Below is another perspective on the piece:

via @CJN

I would have loved to have seen this show. Unfortunately I’m about a month late.

Though I couldn’t see it in person, the video has given me still more ideas I can incorporate into the visuals I’ll be doing at Sound Noir on November 19th.

Ubiquitous AI will aid consumers and the brands that target them

With the inclusion of the personal assistant, Siri, in the newly launched iPhone 4S, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has captured the interest of smartphone users. However, this latest iteration of Siri is just one example of what’s possible using today’s technologies. From the navigation system in Google’s autonomous car, the flight assistants in planes, and Canon’s stablized camera lenses, to EKGs and facial recognition systems, AI has been creeping into our culture for some time. It’s just now that these systems are at a point where the general public has begun consciously interacting with them via natural user interfaces—motion, gestures and sounds—rather than through the languages computers have traditionally understood.

Another development essential to the greater adoption of AI has been processing power: for example, IBM’s Watson required a huge amount of data, 90 servers with 2280 processors, and 16 terabytes of RAM to win at Jeopardy! Google’s self-driving car used a similarly large amount of resources in order for it to navigate streets while being mindful of pedestrians and bicyclists. But by storing needed data in the cloud, the more modest devices we carry in our pockets are able to take advantage of AI. As a result, we’re poised to see these technologies permeate a large number of industries.

As with Siri, one application of AI is the “personal assistant.” Eric Horvitz, a scientist at Microsoft Research, has built a digital assistant over the course of eight years, programming to to observe his daily work routines. Now with the understanding it’s gleaned, the assistant is able to interact with him and his coworkers, giving the appropriate responses to various workplace events: it can sense when he can’t be interrupted or when he’s running late, adjusting his schedule and interactions with his coworkers appropriately. In the near future, similar AIs will be able tailor their interactions with people based on their perceived emotional states as understood by users’ tone of voice or spacing of words.

In fact, in the future, if AIs are working properly, we won’t even recognize them. The goal of ubiquitous computing, of which AI is a component, is having information processing integrated into everyday objects and activities. For instance, a domestic system might recognize an individual by their voice or gait, and automatically adjust the room’s lighting and temperature. These developments will not only help make consumers’ lives easier, but also provide more specific, detailed information to brands about consumer behavior. By monitoring and analyzing individual habits, brands will be able to customize offers and reminders to potential customers at the appropriate moment and location. While this will undoubtedly raise privacy concerns, the potential for brands should not be ignored, and we expect that the most forward-thinking companies will begin to capitalize on this technology in the very near future.

Back in school everyone going through the photography department needed to take a class that was all about experimenting with alternative photographic processes. One specific class in the semester had us using unconventional items in place of negatives in enlargers. I don’t really remember where it came from, but I found myself stuffing a hair net into my enlarger.

Today, in the absence of an enlarger, I revived my scanner and started playing with hair nets in it. The results are very much in keeping with what I’d found back in the day. I can’t call the process difficult, but it does take time. Above are a couple examples of what I’ve churned out in the last few hours.

I’ll play with it more, enough to build a small body of work. After these few experiments, I can see a couple avenues I can explore with this subject matter. Outside this individual application of the scanner, I’m looking forward to experimenting with it more. Already, I’ve found myself browsing a couple dollar stores wondering how different things I’d come across might translate when placed on the scanner bed. There’s more fun to be had here.

In the Hungarian countryside in 1999 I was confronted by an image that struck me, and that’s stuck with me since.

Walking through a valley at the festival I’d just arrived at, I saw an incredible display of light projected into nearby trees. The projections were static, but because of their patterns, details were forced throughout the trees, hitting branches and leaves both up front and extending all the way to their backs.

As I said, the slides were static. Additionally, they were simply white in color, and honestly, the patterns projected were fairly primitive. In spite of the simplicity of the elements, the one factor that made monkeys dance was the 3-dimensional nature achieved through the novel application of this light on its “screen.” To add to that, as one moved around the installation, features would be simultaneously heightened and obscured changing the viewer’s perception of, and relationship with, the piece.

Yesterday I described the installation at Cameo that I’m up against this Saturday. Considering my options immediately took me back to 1999.

I’ve spent a decent amount of time today preparing for the event. That time has been spent building JavaScript animations which will then be turned into loops before finally being filtered and controlled by VDMX. The image above is one of a dozen pieces I’ve built.

As I mentioned yesterday, the overarching objective has been to simplify the loops I’ll employ. After putting in the time today, I’m sure it can be done, and done to my satisfaction.

Elements of this video, composed of Cassini photographs of Saturn, are very much in line with what I want to do at Sound Noir come Saturday.