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Take my heartrate data live from a fitbit. Find some things in my house that tick. Have the house tick in sync with my heartbeat.

Expanding:

I already have a fitbit, I am already in progress getting the API to work. Pretty sure I can get data at the rate I’d want. Can also give up use other heartrate monitor arduino whatever.

Heartrate can also be breathing.

“Tick” means like: clock hand, beep, water drip, quick power on/off.

I will have to experiment to find out what I can make tick. I am allowed to be selective about what household appliances/subjects are incorporated. The end result does not have to be “my house, 100% accurate to how it is everyday”, it can be staged.

The end result of this is an experience for me to be in. That will probably manifest into a video documentation for class. I imagine I would be in the ticking space, because I imagine I would respond to hearing my own heartrate. An alt (not for class) version would be an actual of an installation of a room ticking, and that runs constantly, and I’m not there.

Original idea involved sleep/REM date, and dreamwalking.

Alt: Getting a UV light & Sunbleaching my shadow into a piece of paper for like a hundred something hours. Just I think it’d be fun to make that much time translate into something really stupidly subtle.

Alt alt: Grid of office cubicles. In each cubicle is one chair, a controller to pan/zoom/tilt a ceiling-mounted camera, and a monitor displaying that camera’s feed. IDK office-core panopticon.

For this assignment, I’d like to create a website selling some kind of stereoscopic footage or other “micro-media” I’ve captured about micro worlds/worlds happening at timescales other than ours–with a bit of a twist.

When users buy, they are taken through several steps that highlight non-human (including what we consider living and non-living under non-animist frameworks) and human labor processes. As a simple example:

This is a clip of a video of a small worm wriggling in some kind of soil substrate. The final price might include

1 min x $20/60 min worm acting fee = $0.33 (fee is arbitrary at the moment, but I will justify it somehow for the completed project, though there are obvious complications/tensions around the determination of this “price”)

1 min x $20/60 min soil modeling fee = $0.33

5 min x $20/60 min computer runtime fee = $1.65

5 min x $20/60 min artist labor fee

…

Etc

The calculation of costs will help bring attention to aspects of the capture process that people might not normally think about (e.g. are we mindlessly stepping into another’s world?), but I think care needs to be taken with the tone taken.

Since some of the “participants” can’t be “paid” directly, we mention to buyers that this portion of the cost will be allocated to e.g. some organization that does work related to the area. For instance, the worm/soil might link to a conservation organization in the area. The computer runtime step might link to an organization that relates to the kinds of materials extracted to make computers and the human laborers involved in that process (e.g. Anatomy of an AI). There will also be information about the different paid participants (e.g. information about the ecosystem/life in the ecosystem the video was filmed in, something of an artist bio for myself in relation to the artist labor).

I will aim for final prices that make sense for actual purchase–as a way of potentially actually raising money for these organizations. If the final totaled labor costs result in something too high, I will probably provide a coupon/sale.

To avoid spamming these organizations with small payments, the payments will be allocated into a fund that gets donated periodically.

Besides the nature of the footage/materials sold, a large part of this project would be thinking/researching about how I actually derive some of these prices, which organizations to donate to, and the different types of labor that have gone into the production of the media I’m offering for sale.

Background from “existing work” and design inspirations:

Certain websites mention “transparent pricing”

Source: Everlane 

Other websites mention that X amount is donated to some cause:

I’m also thinking of spoofing some kind of well-known commerce platform (e.g. Amazon). One goal is to challenge the way these platforms promote a race to the bottom in pricing in ways completely detached from the original materials and labor. If spoofing Amazon, for instance, instead of “Buy Now,” there will be a sign that says “Buy Slowly.”  

Nica had mentioned the possible adjacencies to sites selling pornography (where else do you buy and collect little clips like that) and NFTs. And in considering this project, I’m also reminded of the cabinet of curiosities. Ultimately, all of these (including stereoscopy) touch on a voyeuristic desire to look at and own.

What I initially had in mind for this project was a kiosk in an exhibition space where visitors can buy art/merchandise. I’m still thinking about how to make the content of the media more relevant to the way in which I want to present it, so open to suggestions/critical feedback!! I think there are a couple core threads I want to offer for reflection:

1. desire to look and own, especially in a more “art world” context (goal would be to actually offer the website/art objects in an exhibition context to generate sales for donations). What would generate value/sales? Would something physical be better (e.g. Golan had mentioned View-master disks)

2. Unacknowledged labor, including of the non-human

3. Building in the possibility for fundraising and general education. Thanks!

TLDR: Using the UArm 5, capture photos to make an animated, interactive 3D splat of a mound of kinetic sand/play doh that is manipulated by a person or group of people.

The above video has the qualities of interactivity and animation that I’d like to achieve with this project.

Current workflow draft:

1. Connect camera to robot arm and laptop.
2. Write a Python script that moves the robot arm in a set path (recording the coordinates of the camera/end effector) that loops at set time interval. Every execution of the path results in ~200 photos (3 angles, photo taken every 6 degrees; 180 photos per new mound) that will then be turned into a splat.
3. Conduct first test animation/training data by pinching some sand/playdoh, collecting images for 5 splats. Write a Python Script to automatically run all 5 splats overnight.
4. Come back the next morning, check for failure. If no failure and I have 5 splats, (here’s the hard part) align all splats and create a viewer that would loop these “3D frames” and allow for audience to interact with the camera POV. Ways I think I can align each “3D frame” and have a viewer that plays all the frames
   1. Unity?
   2. Writing code to do this (idk how tho)
   3. Ask for help from someone with more experience
5. If the above step successful, ask people to swing by the SoCI to participate in a group stop motion project. I’ll probably put up constraints as to what people can do to the mound, most likely restricting the change to a single-digit number of pinches, flattening, etc.

I’m am very very very open to ways to simplify this workflow. Basically, distilling this idea even further while preserving the core ideas of time flow in 3D work (aka a 4D result).

Slightly less open to changes in concept. I’m kinda set on attempting to figuring out how to use the robot and piecing together splats to make a stop motion animation, so process and result is kinda set. I’m a little unsure on if this concept of “people manipulating a mound” even fits this “person in time” theme, but I’m open to ideas/thoughts/opinions/concepts that aren’t too difficult.

edit: should I capture people’s nails? like shiny sparkly nail art?

Smalling/being smalled…title is a WIP – the way the body contorts when centered on itself. This is to say, there’s a focus on the motion of making oneself physically small, and that motion as one that can only occur when one is very much aware of their own body.

Capturing people (or myself) while physically making oneself small — either naturally (due to environment needs or lack of awareness), or artificially (forcing oneself into a small space intentionally.) 

Not sure what output is here, have a few ideas:

• smallness as form and a formal quality of an object or person. Would probably be me shoving myself into tight corners and with a nicer camera setup.
• smallness as a kind of game? I don’t think I want it to be too game-y, but image segmentation is an interesting option and I talked very briefly to Leo and Golan about attempting to live-time measure how small someone has made themselves or how much their form has reduced. I would prefer not having to solely photograph myself so leaning towards this.

Some semi-successful and mostly not great or all that pretty examples of both of the above options:

Detection of small body on goofy prefabbed segmentation thing Leo sent me:

That, but in video: SORRY I DONT KNOW WHY MY NORMAL GIF SITES AREN’T WORKING

Ok. Now photos: