by Kevin Walker
1999
Updated 8/19/99 Changes are this color
Teddy
A common theme of the show seemed to be: simple ideas, finally (and elegantly) implemented. A big hit of the show was Teddy -- a simple 3D modeling program, meant for kids, in which your simple mouse- or pen-strokes translate into 3D models. It's simple -- you draw any shape, however organic, and Teddy generates a wireframe model. You can easily extrude, slice, an draw on the model. Like Alice, big hit of last year, it's simple, elegant, and free! It's still a prototype, ridden with bugs, but go to alice.org and play with it now!
Projection Interfaces
Another simple idea, used in various projects, was to project information onto a surface, and to use physical objects or controls on the surface as an interface. An artistic implementation of this, and one of the big hits of the show, was Toshio Iwai's four "Compositions on the Table." Four simple, white tables were affixed with buttons, or knobs, or spinning disks, or sliding slats, and onto each was projected a colorful, simple, interactive animation, from above. The projections were so responsive, and integrated into the physical design, that the distinction between real and virtual didn' t matter. And interacting didn't significantly obscure the projection, as you might think. Plus, these were made for group interaction -- various people around each table affected each animation and its musical composition. Apparently each was running off of an O2, programmed with TcL. In addition to being simple, elegant, intuitive, and sturdy, this was one of the rare digital projects that engaged people in an emotional and visceral way -- like a good toy or musical instrument, it was simply fun to play with, and in a group, no less. No mean feat. [Toshio Iwai, Mixed Reality Systems, Japan]
A more practical application was the "Luminous Room" by John Underkoffler, Brygg Ullmer, and Hiroshi Ishii OF M.I.T.'S Tangible Media Group. It's basically a collaborative work surface (or networked series of surfaces) onto which you place objects. There are various applications -- architects can place models of buildings to see how they will cast shadows and reflections during various times of day; Physicists can create virtual lasers, with a digital beam reflected and refracted with objects representing mirrors and lenses; engineers can test fluid dynamics by placing any object on top, and seeing a representation of its aero- or hydro-dynamic properties. [Full paper is available here.] Ishii was part of the best panel I've ever attended. And this was also shown at the Mixed Reality panel I attended.
Interactive Art
I saw a nice art project by Joanna Maria Berzowska of M.I.T. It is true interactive art, where you draw some strokes, and the computer adds its own touches. See it here.
Image-based modeling and rendering
Take this, combine it with Teddy (see above), and Canoma, and you've got something.
A big hit of the last two years was Paul Debevec's work in image-based modeling. You may have seen his fly-around model of the U.C. Berkeley campanile, made from a few photos. This year he has a prominent place in the film "The History of Computer Graphics," with a photorealistic piece called "Fiat Lux." At first glance, merely another step in the quest for complete photorealism, but what Debevec and his colleagues has done is pretty impressive. They've mapped a series of photos onto a model of the interior of a cathedral, then added artificial 3D elements to the space. Then they sampled the actual lighting conditions in the cathedral, and applied them to the artificial models. So the artificial elements really look like they're in the cathedral.
New hardware