Ticking In Max

I got the ticking working with varying gaps and volume changes :) Just have to get physical component of clock to work and clock component will be completed!

Face Detection Experimenting

I have been attempting all day to get my eye bag max msp patch working to something I like and I feel like I have not made much progress - with my deadline of the 14th of October I am going to focus on the easier components first and get back into eye/face manipulation soon - it is hard to achieve exactly what I want I may have to research and rethink the output of the mirror.

Have tried to do it through CamTwist, through Max MSP, through Quartz Composer and even as an external plugin - my results have not be great, so I am going to write in a forum and leave it till Monday and just get my clock finished by the end the week yay!

Room Booked

I have got the Architecture Lighting Lab for my installation on the 14th of October till the 24th of October :)

Goals For 29th September

Okay so I have made a few breakthroughs this week but I need to set goals in order to keep my achievements up...
I need to still build my clock and film my other hallucinations - I also need to finish my face tracker.. I don't think I can achieve this all by Thursday but I may extend my deadline to Monday next week...

So things to achieve:
- Get physical clock to work with sensor values
- Get ticking sound to play according to clock speed
- Getting mirror setup started
- Getting face tracker fully working with bags under eyes
- Planning and possibly filming two other hallucinations

Two Cameras Working

Yay I have two cameras working in the same patch producing different images using CamTwist - it works a treat :) I need to get usb extension cords in order to have them both running off the same computer and patch.. Now just have to finish off my clock and hallucination filming - oh and face recognition ..

Filming My Cat

Filmed my cat for my hallucinations - have a little clip of him running out of the shot after getting a fright.. Have got him cut out from the green and it's still a bit greeny and I'm going to slow down the clip too - maybe - it could be like a quick fright with a cat meow... 

Proximity Sensor Working

YAY I have got Max getting sensor values from Arduino input - now I just have to work with the clock in order to finish this component.. The values are between 0 - 1 for the Max patch which is easier to work with for my purposes.

Proximity Sensor

Okay so I have got my proximity sensor and seen that the values are between 35 ish and 550 ish so I can see which kinda distances I could use.  I need to figure how to put the sensors together with Max MSP - I have attempted it with different loading settings - and it doesn't seem to work - I'm going to bring this and my clock into my tutor tomorrow to see whats up...

Clock Progress

These are images from the clock I have begun to take apart, I have removed the back of it and figured out how it works - now I just need to slow down the blue cog in order to slow down the seconds hand - using Arduino and a proximity sensor.

Titles Three

In-Some-Nowhere
Physically Awakened
Emotionally Distorted
Shards of the Real
No Rest For The Wicked

Goals for 22nd September

Okay, so this week is going to be rough - I have so much I need to achieve in order to be on track...

I am still waiting for my proximity sensor but I want to get my clock working with Arduino and Max this week.  I want to get two cameras working whether they be USB or Firewire, I want to finalize my face and eye recognition to either be an image capturing picture frame idea or to continue with the moving mirror image (which is proving to be quite challenging) - I need to finalize my hallucinations and organize filming for next week..

In order, I will be doing:
- Camera face and eye recognition finalized with insomnia image of people
- Clock mechanics started and working with Max MSP and Arduino
- Two cameras working together in same patch
- Hallucinations planned to be filmed next week

Discovery USB Cameras

I found today, while searching through forums for something else that there is a possibility to use two usb cameras - I will attempting this program "CamTwist" this week ..

Hopefully we have some success as it will be easier to implement two usb cameras, than firewire cameras

http://cycling74.com/forums/topic.php?id=35007

Been Sick

Been a bit sick and sleeping all weekend so I need to really catch up this week on missed things, hopefully I can achieve last weeks and this weeks list of stuff to do before Thursday.. Going to be a busy week..

Eye Finder Patch

Had a nice discovery today of an Eye Finding patch which now I just need to offset the coordinates in order to darken underneath the eyes, I feel like this is getting me close though..  The mirror won't be entirely accurate but atleast the feeling will be there..

Hallucination Sketches

 This first sketch shows in context what the hallucinations might look like, the woman behind the bed covered in rags lurking in the corner then she climbs under the bed or appears to..  The cat would be in the opposite corner and move a few steps towards the bed - these hallucinations are meant to unsettling but not necessarily a scary, horror attribute to the room..

This second sketch shows what it might kind of look like, sort of storyboarding for the sequence of my hallucinations.  The woman will crawl under the bed after appearing in the corner - there could be a reverse of this in order to create a smooth-ish transition if it's triggered constantly.  The cat will more be like a calm cat sitting in the corner and then when a noise or area is triggered the cat jumps and gets a fright then fades away again..

Sleep Paralysis

Watched this doco - found it quite interesting at how the people's accounts had similarities, about an old woman sitting on their chest and stopping them from breathing.. I watched this because I wanted to see what kind of hallucinations people get so I could plan mine.. This doco was quite graphic though with people having sexual encounters as well as lack of breathing.. It became quite scary and could be a side effect of insomnia but obviously extreme cases only..

I want to include a person, a cat and a third object which is yet to be determined - I am going to work on the first two for now and hopefully a third experience will emerge..

Progress for Sept 15th

Received my proximity sensor but I need some more components in order for it to work .. I have ordered them today - so will not be able to complete my clock logistics today - I am going to get my face a bit more refined and my hallucinations planned for tomorrow.. So atleast something will be achieved this week.

Cool Maxuino Project

Found this wicked orchestra project using Arduino output to control the motors of the instruments..
Watch the video here.

I think this cool but it shows multiple inputs and is quite a cool way to utilise this kind of feature and communication between software, it can be used as a live performance instrument of just an installation pre determined..

All Patches Together

I have worked all three components into one patch at the moment, I am just trying to make all the values to work together - I have a sub Arduino patch and Face recognition - I need to make face recognition more about eye and mouth recognition but I will finish off my Arduino work first in order to complete that element by Thursday.

Hallucination Floor Plan

This is my patch progress so far - it shows the floor broken up and gets values from random squares for movement.  I also have embedded the Arduino patch so I can intertwine them all together.  So when component happens it kinda triggers or influences another - I have just realized I need to get two camera inputs so I'm going to have to work out how to that after my Arduino clock is working.

Website For Working With Clock

Found this website, for manipulating and working with an analog clock - going to get my clock this afternoon and try and work with it tonight so I can have it at least attempted by Thursday...

Also found this website, which seems more applicable for my purpose - I think I just need to grab my clock and get started in order to understand it completely...

Goals For 15th September

I have decided to get my Arduino code working with sensor values (a light sensor if my proximity hasn't arrived) - and to understand the workings of a clock to be manipulated...

I need to re-work my Maxuino code for sensors to trigger an action - this will include hallucination triggers...

If I have time I will also set up the floor triggers...

I will see how far I can get...

SUB-GOALS
- To understand and manipulate Max for Arduino output
- To decide on hallucinations
- To create and set up filming for hallucinations
- To understand a clock and how to hack it, in terms of speed
- To fake a ticking sound that correlates with the speed of the clock

Arduino and Max MSP Talking

So I have also been experimenting with Arduino and Max MSP talking - I have got a light working with a code but I need to wait for my sensor to fully implement this.  I will be using Max MSP to run my whole experiment and the clock will be run by Arduino sensor input, so I need to explore this further but intially it can be done and I do know how to work it - I may do some work with a light sensor by Thursday or Monday - just to get values and work with them with my clock.

Face Recognition

Been doing some work in Max today, not as much as I wanted but still have found a tracker that tracks faces except it gets a bit confused when my chest is visible and it thinks it is a face, I will be looking into this further, I also found how to track certain points so now I will be combining these two to track the eyes and the mouth hopefully...

Titles Two

Reverse Dreamland
Awaken Limbo
Chronically Conscious
Minded Containment
Living Dead

Max MSP

So, tomorrow I am allocating a minimum of three hours to work out Max MSP and get all the basic functions down.. This to me is the "ugly" component of my project and I need to address and resolve it quickly.  I will be using Max for face recognition and also movement - I will be hoping to incorporate my Arduino input so then all the components can be easily related to each other.  Today I am just going through online looking for relevant website that I will dive into tomorrow.

Some found websites:
http://cycling74.com/2009/10/26/making-connections-camera-data/
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Interfacing/MaxMSP
http://www.soundplusdesign.com/?p=1305
http://www.cycling74.com/forums/topic.php?id=10717
http://www.maxmspjitter.com/

Goals to achieve:
- Arduino communication with Max MSP
- Max MSP movement triggers from camera
- (And if time) Max MSP hallucination output

Titles One

Going to post a few titles every few days and hopefully something I love will appear

Broken Dreamland
Distorted Slumber
Anti - Coma
Negative Forty-Winks
Rude Awakening
Zero ZZZ's