Author: aucadmin

Thomas Verbeek, University of Otago Part of CW12

“The Octagon” is both an exhibit and an experiment in cooperation and user interface design. Eight computers provide eight ‘artists’ with a view into a shared virtual room. In the center of the room is a platform on which sculpture may be built. Each participant can add to the sculpture using a very intuitive interface. It ‘feels’ as though you just draw what you want and it appears in 3D. Most users need no instruction. Each user’s 2D view is inherently ambiguous, yet artists do not seem to ask how their 2D gestures are translated. They discover the rules by experimentation and usually don’t even realize that there are rules.

The Octagon can be presented in various forms. The simplest is to set up eight computers in a ring so they surround a real space. But it is possible to put the computers anywhere. Activity can be shared across the room or across the world.
The application was developed in Graphics Research Group at the University of Otago in New Zealand. It was featured in the “Emerging Technologies” exhibition at SIGGRAPH ASIA 2011 Hong Kong.

Prof Paul Draper & Dr Kim Cunio, Griffith University Part of CW12

This presentation is proposed as both ‘presentation’ and ‘performance, comprising a scholarly paper and exemplification though short performances and recorded excerpts:

‘Artistic research’ (AR) is increasingly expanding in the academy, most recently exemplified in the establishment of the EU-funded Journal for Artistic Research. One of the characteristics of AR is that it accepts subjectivity (aka ‘little r’ research) as opposed to traditional scientific methods (or ‘big R’ research). As such, it is similar to the social sciences in using qualitative research and intersubjectivity as tools to apply measurement and critical analysis. AR investigates and tests with the purpose of gaining knowledge within and for artistic disciplines, and through presented documentation and artworks, the insights gained are placed in a context where the research aims to enhance knowledge and understanding in that discipline.

This presentation will present two interwoven components: i) a scholarly research paper complete with artistic research questions, method, analysis and conclusions; and ii) live music performance components that will feature the voice, acoustic instruments and digital arts technologies. This juxtaposition aims to present both highly familiar and unfamiliar thinking about musical practices to answer the following questions: How may musical thinking and preparation be considered ‘research’? In what ways can both the music and the text best serve to answer these questions? In particular, the presentation and performance components will focus on three aspects of this process: in relation to musical improvisation (the beginning of a new work); the formalization of structure, form and repetition (in the composition of the piece); and finally, in the technical production, capture and representation of a ‘final’ work as audio-visual recording.

Cat Hope & Aaron Wyatt, Edith Cowan University Part of CW12

This presentation looks at the work Western Australian group Decibel new music ensemble have been doing with ipads as graphic music score readers in performance. With investment from an industry partner, Decibel have been working toward the realisation a number of scores on networked ipads, some of which they premiered in their September concert at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. An ‘app’ has been developed, that allows any score to be inserted into and put in motion inside a ‘reader’.

In addition, they commissioned new works for the reader, and adapted others – such as the complete John Cage Variations scores. The most recent adoption is a work for 2 concert organs and string orchestra for the International SpaceTimeConcerto competition, where the readers connect with five different orchestras/countries over the Internet. The features of the reader, and the processes of its development will be examined and demonstrated in this presentation.

Mark Galer, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Part of CW12

The presentation will outline how students can quickly and easily create time lapse and stop motion sequences. The workshop will move from basic through intermediate to professional workflows. It will showcase student examples using basic editing workflows (budget stills cameras, a tripod and iMovie) and outline the common difficulties and technical problems students typically encounter when making their first time lapse sequence.

The workshop should inspire photography and media arts educators to think beyond the still image.

The workshop will conclude by showing how time lapse can be integrated with real-time video and slow motion video in the same project to extend the creative possibilities of the story teller.

Ro Bairstow, Auckland University of Technology Part of CW12

I will share ways in which the students use their iPads, the Apps of value and
experiences gained in rolling out a BYOD iPad programme for students.
I will talk about my experiences with the creation of educational Apps and iBooks. I will also cover running e-learning courses, including delivering “live” online lesson with Blackboard Collaborate.

Andrew Bennett, University of Tasmania Part of CW12

This presentation is targeted at artists, it will give a brief overview of Apple’s devices, how an artist and a developer is impacted by supporting each display, and how artists and developers can make things easier for each other.

The presentation will outline some of Apple’s technologies, introduce some apps, and blend in composition technique. All of this aims to make life easier for both art and dev while maintaining a consistent and usable design.

The presentation will then go into real-world challenges of resolution independent art in shipping apps, and as a solution presents a simple art/design workflow.

Hohepa Spooner, Auckland University of Technology Part of CW12

Teachers in tertiary education need strategies to communicate directly and individually with students and engage them with technology advances like iBooks Author to shape and entice educational experiences for them. The Apple iPad with the iBooks Author application and the iPad iBooks app has the potential to make what was previously the preserve of technology-savvy educators, access to effective and efficient pedagogy in an easy and intuitive way. My presentation will cover how the use of the iPad and Apple applications in teaching over the last 10 months is used to enhance engagement with learning for tertiary teaching.

Adrian Stagg & Dr Helen Farley, University of Southern Queensland Part of CW12

Religious and spiritual communities have leveraged the enormous potential of the internet to provide information to worshippers but also bring them together as a faith community. They have used chat rooms, discussion boards and podcasting to create or augment that sense of community generally only experienced at a service or religious festival. Virtual worlds, however, offer a step beyond what is traditionally seen as ‘supplementary’ religious information by creating online sacred spaces. It is within these spaces (be they churches, mosques or henges) that worshippers – through motional avatars –come together and worship. Adherents and participants claim that their worship experience in this space is genuine, yet this raises numerous issues around legitimacy, authority and authenticity.

The virtual world of Second Life is home to many religious buildings and spaces. Communities sometimes overtly, sometimes less so, come together to discuss religion, study scripture and often to participate in rituals, festivals or religious services. While many are undoubtedly genuine in their involvement (using it to augment or replace their real life religious activities), many more are experimenting with new faiths or roleplaying as an intellectual curiosity. This paper will explore the diversity of religious activity in Second Life, while pre-empting how religious practice in this space may evolve with the advent of new technologies such as Microsoft Kinect.

Luke Monsour, Griffith University Part of CW12

This presentation will provide a brief overview of current production options for shooting stereoscopic media (S3D). It will look particularly at camera and stereo rig options, basic S3D workflow, and available post production pathways, with a particular focus on education.

Malcolm Riddoch, Edith Cowan University Part of CW12

The presentation covers teaching and learning problems in the sonic arts sector involving developing a student appreciation of the musicality of environmental sound through an understanding of basic acoustics, psychophysiological and neuronal aspects of sound perception as well as a phenomenological uncovering of sound in itself. Practical aspects of aural training, field recording and multitrack acousmatic composition are also covered in terms of the balance between theoria and praxis in the classroom.