It has been awhile since my last blog entry. To start  I want to mention 2 upcoming events I am participating in. Then an interview with software developer, Ken Maffei. 1. Multi Media for Dance Performance This is the first time I have worked with a dance company, Louise Reichlin and Dancers . I am doing animations to be projected behind and around them while they dance. The choreography and dancing is exciting, an eclectic mix of modern, tap and some historic dance pieces. I am finding it to be something I would like to do more of not only for dance companies but other staged events as well. I have ideas for the future about mapping projected images onto dancers bodies, just as you see mapping done on buildings. The performance is on,  May 20-22 at Miles Memorial Playhouse 1130 Lincoln Blvd. Santa Monica , CA. 90403 for reservations- 213-385.1171 2. Shows at Young Projects Gallery I will be showing a piece in the show,  Mods and Hackers at the Young Projects Gallery at the Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, California . To quote the website, “The show will feature many interactive videos by artists who are looking into video game modification, hacking, patching and other code -based practices as the most appropriate reflection of these new times.”  The show opens Thursday May 26,2011 and runs through August 30. Paul Young the owner and curator has been doing some ground breaking work with the time based work he has been showing.  A lot of it has been digital. Currently he is showing the work of Robert Seidel,  Black Mirror: Video Sculptures and Moving Paintings. I highly recommend the show. It is well laid out and the digitally created organic formations are beautiful to behold. After seeing the projections going through delicate sculptural forms I have been inspired to try creating sculptures and projecting through them, perhaps on stage, perhaps as part of a dance performance. As Paul Young has several gallery spaces in the Pacific Design Center he is able to keep this one up as well until August 22. I hope in the future to interview Paul Young for this blog. Paul Young has asked that the piece I show in the Mods and Hackers show be created for the Allioscopy screen. The screen shows 3d stereoscopic work without requiring glasses.This new technology is called autostereoscopic. This led me to meet Ken Maffei,Ph.D. and is wife Pia Maffei who is the Chief Operating Officer of Allioscopy in the United States. Talking with Ken I found that through his company Applied-Ideas he is developing some very interesting capabilities for the screen, creating software that can be used to create and edit templates for 3d autostereoscopic screens. Ken feels this will be particularly useful for digital signage and educators. I as an artist also find the idea that I can create a template for a stereoscopic environment that I can easily edit, intriguing. Ken has said that interactive controls of the environment using a keyboard are also down the pipeline. Thinking that this might be especially interesting to other software developers I asked Ken if he would kindly answer a few questions. Interview with Ken Maffei, Ph.D. 1. Ken,  What is UGC-3D? UGC stands for User Generated Content. Currently, creating computer generated 3D environments and animations is a difficult task that takes expensive software, specialized training, and practiced art skills. There is an enormous opportunity in providing a mechanism by which people could easily create and edit 3D art. We wanted to empower the mass market with a means to build up 3D scenes in a way that was non-intimidating. This notion is something we’ve believed in for a very long time. Call it 3D for the masses, or democratizing 3D, the idea is that everyone should be able to create and modifiy 3D content. UGC-3D is based on templates. Generally, a user will load a pre-designed template and edit it for customization. They can add their own text, texture objects with provided textures or images of their own, and even texture objects with 2D videos. 2. Why did you think this was a good opportunity? Aside from how much fun it is to do, there are markets where such a system has enormous potential. For example, we are working to develop solutions for the retail digital signage market. People pushing content out to hundreds or thousands of screens need a way to modify that content quickly and at a low cost. There are plenty of 2D editors available for them to do this, but nothing for 3D. UGC-3D fills the gap. 3. What led you to develop UGC-3D software for the Alioscopy screen? Glass-free 3D is an emerging market. I believe that this year you will begin to see many more auto-stereoscopic monitors in public locations. The idea of glasses-free 3D viewing is really taking hold. As difficult as it is to create 3D, that process is compounded when creating 3D for an auto-stereoscopic display. The display puts additional constraints on what you can do. UGC has been adapted to work with auto-stereoscopic displays in such a way that the user does not have to worry about these additional complications. They can create and modify content that will automatically work on the screen, and even edit their work in real-time on the display. Since we believe the autostereoscopic market is poised to grow, we felt that adapting UGC-3D to support it was a great opportunity. 4. What have been the challenges in creating this application? The key to the power of the UGC-3D system is in abstracting the difficult creation and editing tasks into base 3D elements (such as an object or figure, an animation or a background) and sets of parameters. These parameters allow the users, through simple interfaces, to change the characteristics of the 3D element without needing to understand or master the underlying 3D concepts. This means users can reshape existing objects by moving sliders or by choosing colors or textures. Using simple drag and drop techniques they will combine these objects to form complete scenes. The challenge is figuring out what exactly to expose to the user and how to expose it. What level of control do you provide and how do you expose it in in the interface? What things are done automatically behind the scenes? Exposing more options means presenting a more complex interface to the user, so finding that balance is key. 5. What improvements do you envision making? Like any software product, the list of features planned for later versions is fluid. While I cannot discuss specific features that will be added, generally users will see extensions to the way objects can be modified. We also listen carefully to our customers to help drive the design of the user experience and interface. 6. Any other thoughts on immersive technology in general? Consumer 3D technology is experiencing a period of growing pains. A lot of money was spent on developing consumer 3D TVs, and now it is questionable as to how successful that market will be. Lack of content and the fact that people really don’t want to wear those glasses is translating into sluggish sales. So now we are seeing everyone embracing the notion of 3D without glasses. Many consumers are saying they’ll just wait until it’s available. There is an awful lot of R&D happening in both the hardware and software end of autosterescopic technology. However, there is no viable consumer solution for it yet, and no front runners, so the jury is still out. I think though, that we will start to see glasses-free technology in our our stores, malls and other public places as currently it is most suited for those venues. Tweet