Category: Projects

Draw By Instruction is an instruction set for drawing “Hello” in different contexts. Each set is described in relative terms specific to each context: paces, city blocks, shoulder width, GPS coordinates, Processing code, and so on.

The means determine the outcome. Processing code will be executed the same way each time, while instructions that rely on the body as instrument will never be identical.

Interestingly, as each instruction set produces the same letters, most also have the same number of steps. The patterns for producing an L become evident: start at one point, move in one direction, and then reverse back to the same point.

Technicals

The instructions are based on previous maps, but the expectation for performance is made explicit.

Depth Drawing continues to explore the body as a drawing instrument in the “Hello” series. In this map, dimensions are transposed, where moving in the XZ dimension creates a corresponding drawing in the XY dimension.

In contrast to “Hand Drawn” (042) in which the drawing can be read from the hand movement, the drawn output of this map is more difficult to discern from movement alone.

Physical space constrains the drawing: walls limit the height of each letter, while stepping over a cord creates a bump in the line. Similar to “Watch Where You’re Going” (040), context shapes the drawing.

Technicals

As with previous body-drawing maps, Depth Drawing uses a Kinect to identify a body and track movement. Processing was used to render the video frames and draw the line.

Next Steps

• Place obstacles within the room to change the drawing’s shape.

Body-Context, or The Other, identifies a body from its context to explore how we define body and context. By showing each in isolation, the map underscores their inseparability, but also how each gives meaning to the other.

The figure cannot be understood without context, and without the figure, part of the context is simply missing.

The video is never seen as a whole — rather, mouse position controls which part is masked. As such, viewing one part inevitably means missing activity in the other. Watching one figure conceals someone else carrying in plants in the background.

Technicals

Similar to a number of previous maps, the paired representations are based on evaluating pixel values of a depth image. The greyscale values within the foreground figure are used as a threshold to mask the area in the corresponding RGB image.

Compare To

• Foreground Middleground Background (032)

Next Steps

• Treat the figure in the background as the “body” distinguished from context.

Nine Spaces uses depth to create seemingly discrete spaces. The body cannot be seen in its entirety, but it can occupy multiple spaces simultaneously.

Depth data from a Kinect was partitioned into nine slices, where only objects that intersect each slice are made visible. With the spaces organized as a grid, the partial representation of a fragmented body moves between them. If the nine spaces weren’t ordered and seen at once, would the figure still read as one body? How does having many spaces create the appearance of many bodies?

The black-and-white representation creates ambiguity when two bodies occupy the same space. Which fragments are part of the same figure?

Technical

The map is generated in Processing, using the Open Kinect for Processing library. As detailed in previous posts, gray scale values represents distance from the Kinect sensor, and each space only draws the pixels within a specified range.

Behind the Curtain, or, Off the Wall is the second map in a series exploring the body in space through depth analysis.

While the first only registered change in depth, this map creates a threshold, or curtain, in front of which is seen and in back of which is hidden. As bodies pass through the curtain, parts become disassociated, prompting the viewer to consider if they even belong to the same body.

The curtain is a digital representation — it doesn’t exist in the physical realm — yet it changes how one moves to show and hide different parts of their body.

Two representations were explored. In the first, pixels are unmodified other than showing those in front of the threshold. In the second, visible pixels are modified to exaggerate depth from the curtain. Pixels further from the curtain are brighter, while those closer are reduced in both size and opacity.

Technicals

The map was built using Processing and the Open Kinect for Processing Library. The depth camera and resulting data is explained more in this blog post. To create the curtain effect, a depth threshold is set using the mouse Y position, which is mapped from the height of the window to the gray scale range. Any pixel less than the threshold is drawn to the screen — anything greater is replaced with a black pixel.