Light based communication networks

I attended the talk by the Talking Lights company at the MIT Media Lab. They work on light based communication networks associating information with specific locations in a building and then use that information to guide, monitor and get information to people as they move from place to place. I was fascinated by their inexpensive way to enable context aware computing and the idea of associating information in a building directly through the components already existing in the building, in this case a common light source.

So for instance, a person wears a box-link (basically a photodyode with Bluetooth) so that the system knows precisely where this person is located. The communication between the box-link and the building is created by modulating the light from an ordinary light fixture to encode information. Where GPS technology does not operate accurately and Wifi triangulation does not “detect” walls, the signal in Talking Light is constrained by walls, offering a more precise indoor localization. As the user moves in the building there is a discrimination between light sources in the area. It takes the maximum amplitude, e.g. last light, last amplitude. The light can also transmit radio quality audio, even thought this is can be done through power lines.

Also the company offers researchers the possibility to outfit lights with the communication capability or to create multi-light network for application -> here <-

Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure

The future of lasers

A laser, acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, emits a sharp light source. We find lasers now everywhere from optical storage, printers (2D printers), to cut & print in metal; they can be pretty dangerous so have to be handled carefully! The light is emitted in a narrow, low-divergence beam, with a narrow wavelength spectrum (usually monochromatic).



Jean Michel Jarre playing the laser harp, harp designed by Bernard Szajner in 1980.

This invention by Theodore Maiman in 1960 allows many applications. Designers integrate it widely, and now it become very common and unimpressive to use a laser as a mean of interaction. The laser has more interestingly leaded to some copy-cat applications. Getting the sense that a sharp light can easily be distinguished within the wavelength spectrum, designers use it as a tracking device. In the military, sophisticated lasers are used for range finding. In medicine for internal surgery. You can find sophisticated Green Laser Pointer through specialized companies. The usual 15mW laser is the one used to accompany a slide presentation, but lasers can remain portable while keeping intense power up to 500mW (thanks to heat sinking! ).

Wikipedia offers an extensive explanation on the differences between the continuous wave operation and the pulsed operation of a laser, thus offering quite a different use for the laser. Here we are working with visible wavelength, but creative applications using invisible wavelength are quite unexplored and are endless! As part of my PhD general exams, I am currently researching on how to use electro magnetic field and modulated light in background signals for adding context or helping localization in smart systems. More about this soon!

A little bubble and a little LED

Tri-Color LED, Tilt sensors, 1.5" diameter sphere

Bubble Bobbles by James Clar are water-resistant floating globes each embedded with a tri-color LED. Tilt sensors are placed in each Bubble causing it to change colors depending on which direction it's tilted. Used in multitudes Bubble Bobbles can be placed in a pool or lake, causing ripples of colors with each splash and wave.



-> Movie <-

Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure
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Blow and light!

Wind to light: when the wind blows, the turbines produce light. Sweet!

Mylight lamp by lars spuybroek

"we can now ‘print’ an object directly from digital information – molds will just disappear. people have no idea yet what an incredible change in technology that is. and what that means for design. all design will become meta-design: objects can now be a range-of-objects like in a family or a species. not one is the same, but they are similar enough to be recognised. they can be big on top, big in the middle, or big below. they can have many holes or just a few. but they will always be private, each lamp you buy is different from the other, it’s unique.” – lars spuybroek

more information

This commercial work reminds me the impressive and comprehensive research of my previous professor at the Graduate School of Design, Dr Kostas Terzidis, whose "research work focuses on creative experimentation within the threshold between arts, architecture, and computer science. As a professional computer programmer he is the author of many computer applications on form-making, morphing, virtual reality, and self-organization. (...) His latest book, Algorithmic Architecture, provides an ontological investigation into the terms, concepts, and processes of algorithmic architecture and provides a theoretical framework for design implementations. -GSD"

My past projects for his course on Kinetic Architecture
My first assignment for his course on Advanced Studies in Architectural Computing.

Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2 from his works.

wireless power transfer

In last few years, our society experienced a silent, but quite dramatic, revolution in terms of the number of autonomous electronic devices (e.g. laptops, palm pilots, digatal cameras, household robots, etc.) that we use in our everyday lives. Currently, most of these devices are powered by batteries, which need to be recharged very often.

This fact motivated us to think whether there exist physical principles that could enable wireless powering of these and similar devices. Results of our research on the feasibility of using resonant objects, strongly coupled through the tails of their non-radiative modes, for mid-range (i.e. a few meters: e.g. within a room, or a factory pavillion) wireless power transfer applications seem to be quite encouraging.

Research by Marin Soljačić at MIT

A recent article mentions his work on "how to wirelessly illuminate an unplugged light bulb from seven feet away" which reminds me of the beautiful wireless lightbulb of Jeff Lieberman.

Glass fabric lamps

Santa maria della Luce

Intriging angel-like lamps made of glass fabric and aluminium by designer Ingo Maurer.

Robotic furniture design

Woojuin


Woojuin magazine table

Designer Victor Vetterlein works on robotic furniture. His Woojuin (2007) is a light fixture inspired by pod architecture & robotics. In the Woojuin magazine table, the reference to robotic is clear, and proposes a critique on automated lives in a digital age.



More pictures on Moco Loco and Archinect

The shadows of objects

Playing with light and shadows, artist can give sens to a magma of clothing, metal, clouds and so forth.
Simple elements of design, yet strong impact. Playing with our expectations of what an object can and/or cannot do, artists can impress us. I discovered the work of Fred Eerdekens on the blog of Etienne Mineur.


Life itself is not enough, 1999, Clothing, glass, steel, light projectors, 700 x 120 x 90 cm by Fred Eerdekens

Volume and Light

Three states

This semester I follow a sculpture class taught by Helen Mirra at Harvard University, VES.
I am a big fan of light, from perceptive to illusory, such as in the work of James Turell. For my second assignment I integrated the playful intervention of light within my sculpture. It also integrates the three numbers that define my volume as stated in the assignment.

scenario





I calculated my volume to determine the number of boxes and shadows.

I installed light boxes made out of brown paper in a cubic room. I controlled the direction of the light sources to build consistent shadows around the boxes and bring the light in and out of the boxes.
Out of the three boxes, the third box moves to create different cubic light patterns on the walls, e.g. from three to two patterns.



Material: brown paper, wooden sticks, strings.

In volume, light and sculpture

Auto-Vision

p
A still picture made out of the Texture of Light system

Today at Siggraph I presented my second research poster session on 'The Texture of Light' which is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials.

My poster


I chatted with Kenneth Brecher, professor of Astronomy and Physics, Director, Science and Mathematics Education Center at Boston University.
He is the author of Project Lite that is about light inquiry through experiments. We discussed longely my Texture of Light project and we shared some exciting experiment results.
He mentioned the work of Karl Gerstner «Auto-Vision» who experimented with plexiglas sheets and images coming from TV.

Between 1962 and 1963, Gerstner made his first attempts at optically distorting television images with lenses made of Plexiglas. In 1964, he exhibited his results for the first time in an installation that used 12 television sets, each one shown wearing a different pair of so-called «glasses». ( Exhibition: «Crazy Berlin» at Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin) Also from 1964 comes the oldest existing version of «Auto-Vision» for a single television set. A new housing for the black-and-white TV set closes at the front, with a square television, and can accommodate six differently formed Plexiglas lenses, with everything meticulously packed in a crate for its transport. In this form, the perfection of design and presentation makes Gerstner’s «Auto-Vision» function as the prototype for a possible serial production. (...) «The name identifies the difference from television. The aim is not to broadcast programs, but to create programs directly. For this we use daily television programs that are abstracted through a ‹pair of spectacles,› and alienated to the point of being non-representational,» is Gerstner's comment on the process(1) These Perspex ‹spectacles› have something in common with Op Art. They can be swapped around, and each pair creates a different effect.

By Media Art Net

(1) Cited in Johannes Gfeller, «Frühes Video in der Schweiz,» in Georges-Bloch Jahrbuch des Kunstgeschichtlichen Seminars der Universität Zürich, 1997, pp. 224f. Gfeller provides a comprehensively researched account of Gerstner's TV works.



In Tangible Vision

The Texture of Light at Siggraph 2006

My research poster The Texture of Light has been accepted at Siggraph 2006. The reviews are very encouraging and I have been recommended to suggest it to a Emergency Technology session . It will be part of the Art and Design tools category.

Abstract : The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. This project employs the simple use of chemistry, Plexiglas, and plastic patterns to form a reconstruction of reality, giving it a texture and expressive form. The transformation of life feed video comes from physical, plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swapped by the public, enabling collective expression. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their 'moving painting' and project them back on different city locations.

I plan to develop it on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panel will be pattern and transparent material specific. Two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water-fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of view. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities ...

More about the project by Regine Debatty.

In tangible video in the public space

Research on Light as a Material

The Texture of Light is research on the lighting principles for life feed video metamorphosis in public space using the reflection of light on transparent materials.

Material Background

Research on light properties on transparent materials.
The first property of light we consider is reflection from a surface, such as that of a mirror. When light is reflected off any surface, the angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection. The angles are always measured with respect to the normal to the surface. This can give us a modification in the geometry of a represented image if the normal is twisted.

I also researched on color transformation and color density of an image through transparent materials. Refraction is the bending of light as it passes between materials of different optical density. The formula of the index of Refraction of a material is the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in that material: n = c/v where v is the speed of light in the material.
The more dense the material, the slower the speed of light in that material. In Texture of Light a extra piece of transparent material on top of the Plexiglas lense makes the speed of light in that material slower, then less bright. That explains the opacity of the final colors. Also the change in speed and wavelength at the boundary between two materials causes light to change direction.

I have looked at the diffraction phenomena to transform light passing through transparent materials. Diffraction is the apparent "bending" of light waves around obstacles in its path.

Diffraction of waves through a slit.

This bending is due to Huygen's principle, which states that all points along a wave front act as if they were point sources. Thus, when a wave comes against a barrier with a small opening, all but one of the effective point sources are blocked, and the light coming through the opening behaves as a single point source, so that the light emerges in all directions, instead of just passing straight through the slit.

Concept
My original idea was to transform a picture by applying different transparent sheets between the captured image and the projected final image.


Inspiring research

Dr Saul Griffith who graduated from the MIT Media Lab has reconstructed magnifying lenses using liquid plastic.

Movie presenting his implementation

This work is used by the Low Cost Eyeglasses enterprise whose goal is to design eyeglass systems that make eyeglasses inexpensive and easy to purchase.
Movie maker Patrick Bokanowski seems to have used water, oil, glass material on his movies experiments as seen in Au Bord du Lac (1993). I believe that cinema offers an interpretation, a point of view of reality. What if this point of view was due to light transformation? Bokanowski experimental cinema work has inspired me to analyze this type of imagery that presents a distortion of light and offers a possible reinterpretation of its meaning.


Screenshot of Au Bord du Lac (1993) by Patrick Bokanowski.

Experimentations with transparent materials
To instantly transform light on life feed video into the public space, I had the choice of applying mathematical formulas onto the captured digital visuals or re-discovering the direct use of light. The tangible potential of direct use of light onto Plexiglas lenses and transparent materials offers two main options that are key in this project. One is the collaboration in the public space facilitated by tangible means. The other one is the improvisation and experimentation space offered by such tangible and mechanical system.I also had to decide if I wanted to work on still or moving visual captures. I have realized that transforming a still image is not as powerful as the moving image metamorphosis. One can easily recompose the still image by understanding its light distortions. However, by applying lighting principles on a moving image, the mental re-composition is difficult thus the re-interpretation of the unknown is very fascinating. The reality becomes a painting, a moving painting.
A series of experiments with transparent materials allows me to analyze video metamorphosis. During these experiments, I have used water on clear plastic, shower gel, polyoptic 1410 clear plastic, crystal clear flex: clear flexible, material that melts on high temperature and dries quickly within average temperature.
The following are screenshots of videos documenting a selection of material tests.

A drop of water onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

The video camera is still, the drop of water is moving

Transparent shower gel onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

The video camera is still, the rigid clear plastic sheet moves, the shower gel stays still

Transparent shower gel onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

The video camera moves with the rigid clear plastic sheet

Polyoptic 1410 clear plastic onto a clear rigid plastic sheet

The video camera moves with the rigid clear plastic sheet

Results
The shower gel has a life on its own: moves, changes texture & density over time. This particularity allows more irregularity in the transformed image thus the final transformed image resembles a painting. Also, the mapping between the original image and its final transformation is harder to perceive. This allows more attempts in interpreting the visuals.The material that melts on high temperature and dries under an average temperature can be sculpted easily and used as silicon. However as it dries, the density of the material is so high that it is difficult to see through.The clear plastic on the other hand is more difficult to sculpt and does not allow much improvisation after being fabricated. To allow more control over light transformation, I have decided to use clear plastic molds and Plexiglas lenses. I have used Crystal Clear & Clear Flex for the patterns and lenses. I used transparent Plexiglas for the structure of the lenses.

Design of the lenses

Laser cut Plexiglas lenses as clear plastic molds
I have designed different lenses sizes, each with different pattern shapes and pattern sizes. In addition, I have used flat lenses on which I have created clear plastic patterns, e.g. drops of clear plastic, rows of lines.


Regular patterns laser cut into transparent Plexiglas


After many chemical attempts, final choice: Crystal Clear & Clear Flex


Plexiglas lenses filled with Crystal Clear & Clear Flex mix (1A:2B)



Lense with irregular patterns positioned at 2cm from the video camera
This is the research conducted to create my final project: The Texture of Lightfor the Smart Materials course taught by Michelle Addington

Paper about the project (12mb)

More links

Very interesting related research Gate Vision, found on we-make-money-not-art (blog that is part of the best european ones). The results of this project are kaleidoscopics and the mechanism is digital rather than mechanical.
I particularly liked the circular metaphor of the visuals and reminded me of one of my favorite experimental movie Lapis by James Whitney (1966)an abstract art film composed of images produced by an analog computer.

The Texture of Light

Description
The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. By reconstructing reality, giving it a texture, an expressive form, this project deploys the simple use of chemistry, plexiglas, and plastic patterns. The transformation of life feed video comes from the physical plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swap by the public enabling collective expressions. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their 'moving painting' and project them back on different city locations.

Model

The final model is composed of a set of lenses, an iSight video camera, a rotary knob and a computer. For the purpose of this project I have conceived and implemented a software piece that links the life feed video to a projection screen. This application is controlled by the rotary knob and by pressing more than two seconds the knob, the software records a video clip coming from the life feed video. By pressing on the knob, the software plays back the recorded clip and projects it onto the screen. By turning the knob, the software returns in life feed mode. The video clips are collected onto a server and can be accessed by other computers from different cities. This instantly creates a canvas of multiple transformed city video clips controlled and created by the dwellers in each city.

Excerpts of life feed video metamorphosis Clic on the picture for a hi-res view

Small-squares large lense


Small-circles small lense


Medium-hexagons large lense


Large-stars small lense

Future outlook for Texture of Light
I envision this project on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panels will be patterns and transparent material specific. For instance, two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of views. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities.

This is my final project for the Smart Materials course taught by Michelle Addington. Some information about the research and tests involved in this project.

More about the project
. Paper about the project (12mb).
. The Texture of Light on We Make Money Not art.
. auto vision
. Publication: The Texture of Light Vaucelle, C. In Art and Design Tools. Published in the Proceedings of SIGGRAPH'06, Boston, USA. Abstract from publisher: ACM Press.
download pdf