For my midterm proposal, I want to make an eyeball chasing at people, it’s called “ I am watching you.” I started to develop the code from Dan Shiffman’s average point tracking patch, using the the threshold to control the depth and tracking location. The main subject in the project is the eyeball movement; therefore, I saved 9 images with a black eyeball on white background, and each image of the eyeball at different location. The tracking area is divided into 9 grids, and each cell assigned one image to it. Once the threshold is located in one of the grids, the image will switch to the assigned cell.

Right now, my eyeball movement is working well on my mac. I am at the stage of setting it up for projector and see if it can map well on the eyeball sculpture.
If I have enough time, i want to make a physical moving eyeball controlled by servo motor. Eyeball moves with the body movement.

(note: more videos to come)

The video sketch is showing the face, object and movement being mirrored by line pixels.

Emerging technology used in a retail environment. LEGO exhibits, linking augmented reality and digital signage opens the door to a plethora of creative opportunities.

With a built-in camera and display screen, the interactive kiosk lets LEGO packaging reveal its contents fully assembled within live 3D animated scenes. Consumers only need to hold each Lego box in front of the screen to see the pieces inside rendered as an interactive 3D image. Not only does this technology create an unforgettable experience for a store visitor, it is a powerful assisted-selling tool that makes the image on the side of a box come to life.

2. Cosmetic Mirror Offers Virtual Makeovers

The Digital Cosmetic Mirror can apply eye shadow and lipstick as well as recommend different products and makeup techniques.

Users simply stand in front of the computer’s camera and let it scan your face. The image is then loaded into the computer and it gives you a number of colors to try out. Users then select a color via touch screen and the computer applies the makeup to the virtual image. If you like what you see, you can print out the photo and pick up your new cosmetics.

3. Augmented reality Business Card

A live self introduce business card let visitors know more of your true style.

4. Super Bowl augmented reality

USA Today Super Bowl Coverage

No matter where you are, you can still experience the game like you are in the stadium.

Viewer finds himself right in the middle of the Cowboys Stadium enjoying a 360 degree view as he moves the camera around his own position. Clicking on the screen lets the user jump to where the players enter the stadium, down into the locker rooms or to view some of the famous murals of contemporary art decorating the interior of this fabulous stadium.

5. Augmented Reality for Maintenance and Repair

The use of augmented reality to aid in the execution of procedural tasks in the maintenance and repair domain, which it can improve the productivity, accuracy, and safety of maintenance personnel.

6. AR T-shirt by Cassette Playa

Augmented reality T-shirts with symbols that, when viewed via a webcam, triggered different animations and projections, adding headgear, masks, and virtual mirages on and around the models.

7. WWF Tiger Tshirt

8. AUDI AR Calendar

A car calendar without cars images in it.

9. AR Kid’s Clothing: Magic Tee

Brights & Stripes’ Magic Tee for children that incorporates augmented reality technology.

No-one likes getting dressed in the morning. It’s boring. So imagine if your clothes came to life. Now with our Magic Tee, you can make getting dressed fun. Pull on this special shirt and you could make it come to life around you.

10. Bring Prints Ad to Life

Interactive magazine that brings advertising to the next level.

11. AR Building

The building is a commercial structure can operate like a billboard, without losing the building identity or being covered up by large signage. With your mobile device you will be taken to a site which includes up to date shop information. This will allow a cityscape to not be overwhelmed with signage and also will be an improvement to the quality and accuracy of the information itself.

**My AR test: Rabbit Finding Food

I drew the patt pattern on the regular paper like a sketch drawing and wanted to see if the pattern can still be detected; and it works! However, I got an error said OPENGL at render-triangles:in stack overflow, can’t figure out what does this mean.

2. Flip or scroll page by detecting the right to left or up to down head movement.

3. Head movement detection for rhythm.

4. I am not looking at you: the virtual eyes would only look at you when you are not looking at him. Eyes tracking.

5. Flower garden members: face detection to become one of the member in flower garden.

6. Moody camera: smile detection, only turns on the shutter when you are smiling.

7. Reface [Portrait Sequencer] is a surreal video mash-up that composes endless combinations of its visitors’ faces. Reface uses face-tracking techniques to allow automatic alignment and segmentation of its participants’ faces. (http://thesystemis.com/projects/reface/)

8. Whenever a face is being detected on an image, the face will be replace by a hand drawing face image.

9. Google’s street view system blurs faces.

10. Eyes and mouth detection to make eyes and mouth flip up side down.

The Dream Train is an exhibition in New York City Subway.

Mission: Dream is a magical moment that is uncatchable and uncontrollable. I want to create a physical experience to capture this essence of ultra reality. This experience will be inserted into the subway of New York City. I want to alter the daily urban routine by creating this experience inside the subway car. It should exist between real and unreal, while it is somewhat ambiguous with no beginning or end. Through this dream experience, I want New Yorkers to get inspired and register a different way of seeing New York City.

Please find the final PDF proposal in the link: The dream train

Society can easily pull us away from our true self. It is necessary for us to reevaluate ourselves once in a while in order to improve our life quality. By finding the balance between outside appearance and inside character, I want to send inspirational messages to remind ourselves who we are and what we do.

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Designer:  Amy Chien

Model: Xiao Guang Zui

Photographer: YiMeng Bai

This project has been exhibited in 2010 Re-new Digital Art Festival in Copenhagen and 2010 NIME in Sydney.

Space: Creating a Chinese calligraphy opera house in any large volume of space.

Context: Space is dimensionally defined by physical objects, like wall, floor and ceiling. However, the perception of a space often changes with the quality of humansenses. Even though our senses will not alter the physical dimension of a space, but their various qualities can always affect our perception in size, shape and density. This perceptual relationship between senses and physical space is the underlying principle of my research.

Concept: We are proposing to use Chinese calligraphy and music to give space a new definition. The practice of Chinese calligraphy shares a lot of characteristic with architecture and music composing. The beauty of Chinese calligraphy is expressed by its figurative lines. The technique of calligraphy possesses the same principle as in the study of architecture and musical instrument. In the research, we are creating a set of rules that will translate the quality of calligraphy into music which in turn changes our perception of space. Hé is therefore a multi-sensational experience that attempt to merge the boundary of sight, hearing and space.

Content: We are proposing to use print with Chinese calligraphy to cover all surfaces of an indoor environment. A glass bridge will be required to take us in and out of this environment. The print will be rotating in the environment to feed itself into a scanner that would turn Chinese calligraphy into music, which in turn affect the space.
Please see diagram below for a set of rules on translation.

Idea Rendering

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Collaborators:  Amy Chien, Laewoo Kang

BigBook from Amy Chien on Vimeo.

Exhibition Floor Plan Overview

5 Activities:

TriMags

• Purpose: TriMags are triangular building blocks with each side assigned a magnetic pole. This allows the principles of attraction and repulsion to be explored. By attempting to adhere like and unlike poles together to create different structures, the dynamics of magnetic attraction between opposite poles becomes apparent. Also, the concepts of North and South as assignments to magnetic poles are introduced.
• Description: Colorful triangular pyramids are dispersed on a surface. Each side has magnets that are assigned to a pole. Compasses placed on the table will be used to demonstrate that the magnetic north of the compass should be attracted to the south fields on the TriMags. There will be design guides as well as opportunity for open-ended construction. Participants may also draw fields on a paper surface between structures using the compasses as guides.
• Interaction Expectation: TriMags can be a group activity or be used for individual exploration. Younger participants or those seeking guidance may reference illustrations provided by the signage. These illustrations will also provide design challenges for older participants. Others may simply use their imagination, creativity, and design skills to make their own creations.

Magnetic Propellers

• Purpose: The Magnetic Propellers create opportunities for experimentation and participation using magnetic repulsion in a physically, dynamic system. The propulsion of these propellers are often considered a dynamical system that may appear chaotic. For older participants, the ability to explore complex dynamics can encourage thought and discussions about scientific theory and systems. For younger participants, this will aid the discovery of the stimulating, open-ended aspects of science. The challenge of apparent chaos or unpredictability presents opportunity for further exploration and imagination.[Corno et al 2003] [Dubois 2005].
• Summary: The propellers are two rotors, each with three arms, lined up equidistantly on a board. The propellers must also be lined up perfectly in height. Each arm has a magnet with its North Pole oriented away from the rotor center. As the propellers spin the magnetic fields interact witheach other and transfer momentum from one propeller to another. Since dipoles are subject to forces due to external magnetic fields. The field produced by the magnets on one rotor affect the rotation of the opposite rotor and vice versa.

The SandTable

• Purpose: An open-ended activity that encourages participants to stretch their imagination using magnetic attraction to create sand designs or play collaborative games.
• Description: A large table with a recessed box containing magnets and sand. Underneath the box are magnetic handles that attract the magnets inside the sandbox. When moved by the user, the handles may be used to create designs or play games in the sandbox.
• Interaction Expectation: Sand is a versatile material that invites participation and provides a potentially comforting sensory experience. The sand also creates an inherent physical challenge as the magnetic force and friction between the moving magnets and sand work against one another. The sandbox is a captivating activity that may be enjoyed by one or many people of all ages; it can become an interactive game or a design challenge for a group, as well as a quiet time for observation and play by one. It is an excellent opportunity for participants to learn about the properties of and physical differences between magnetic and non-magnetic objects. They will be able to observe how magnetic forces can penetrate through different materials.
• References: http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Magnets_Gravity

Magnetic Wall

• Purpose: Participants create imaginative patterns and sculpt scenic topographies using magnets and iron filings. They discover that gravity will work against their designs, but with a bit of cleverness and ingenuity, they can attract filings to the side of a plexi wall by increasing the magnetic force by using multiple magnets.
• Description: A large shallow plexi-glass container holds a pile of iron filings. The filings stand much like a topographic hill at the bottom of the container. On the walls are small, strong magnets adhered to different shape cutouts. By pulling the cutouts up and down the walls, the bottom topography is altered and the fillings attach to the wall to become uniquely shaped bunches. The user may combine magnets on the wall to create larger bunches of iron filings and different patterns.
• Interaction Expectation: The Wall is an open-ended activity that invites both group activity and individual exploration. Much like sand, iron filings is a provocative material that invites play and exploration. The multi-sided nature of the shallow box also invites play.

Levitation Rings

• Purpose: Maglev Rings offers a simple structural view and experience of attraction, repulsion, and propulsion when the magnetic rings are arranged to either stack or levitate. When the rings are restacked by participants, they experience hands-on physical and visual constructs of both attraction and repulsion.
• Summary: Magnetic rings are placed on a wooden dowel with like poles facing each other. By restacking the magnets, principles of magnetism and physical games can be played, such as: the order and pattern of pole directions and the effected structural integrity of a stack by the amount of magnets stacked in variation with pole direction

Prototyping Test in New York Hall of Science, May 2010

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Credits

Collaborators:  Amy Chien, Melissa Clarke, and Joshua Kleiner

Role:  Conceptual Design, Content Development, Fabrication, and Graphic Design.

Illustrations:  Amy Chien

Photographs:  Shimpei Takeda