Machine Hallucination - Latent Study II

Speaker(s): Refik Anadol, Refik Anadol Studio, United States of America

Description: Machine Hallucinations - Latent Study II is part of an ongoing synthetic reality collection that explores the relationship between memory and dreams, recognition and perception.

Dream Clanger

Speaker(s): Baden Pailthorpe, ANU School of Art & Design, Australia
Charles Gretton, ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, Australia
Rhys Healy, ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, Australia

Baden Pailthorpe is a contemporary artist who works with emerging and experimental technologies. He is the Convenor of Hybrid Art Practice at the ANU School of Art & Design, Canberra. His artistic practice interrogates the relationship between aesthetics and power, interrogating the politics of technological and economic structures across Sport, Finance and the Military-Industrial Complex. Since 2011, Baden’s practice has integrated performance and installation alongside screen-based interventions. Examples include: a commissioned performance at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2014); video work depicting a hacked military simulator at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012); documentation of a video game performance exhibited at the Triennale di Milano, Milan (2016); a ‘start-up as artwork’ at Sullivan+Strumpf (2017); and an experimental data visualisation of AFL player GPS data at UTS Art, Sydney (2017).

Charles Gretton is a Senior Lecturer convening the TechLauncher program at the Australian National University. From June 2015, he was a founder at HIVERY, and in 2017 also a Catalyst in Residence at the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre at the Univeristy of New South Wales. Working with industry, he developed data-driven systems that optimize by creating retail-AI technologies which coupled industrial optimisation with machine learning. From August of 2011 Charles was at the NICTA (then Data61) Canberra lab and part of CECS at ANU in Canberra. He was working at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research on solutions to fleet logistics problems. Before that, he was a research fellow with the Intelligent Robotics Lab at the University of Birmingham 2008-2011; There he worked on a project investigating cognitive robots that can self-understand and self-extend.

Rhys Healy is a fifth-year undergraduate student at the Australian National University, undertaking a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies and a Bachelor of Advanced Computing (Honours). Through his study, research and industry involvement he has developed an interest in statistical machine learning. In 2018. he worked with Data 61 at CSIRO and led a team of students to develop to design, create and optimise a tool for generative music composition using deep learning. Extending the work, he co-authored 'Computer Assisted Computation in Continuous Time', a paper under consideration for AAAI 2020. This research details the derivation and implementation of a sequential Monte-Carlo algorithm in continuous time, used for sampling music from a generative learning model conditioned on a set of musical constraints. Outside of my studies, Rhys plays cricket and AFL at a semi-professional level and have co-founded a local Indigenous tech firm specialising in automation, artificial intelligence and change management.

Description: 'Dream Clanger' is a hybrid art/computer science project that re-imagines AFL Player GPS data and match video. Building on Baden Pailthorpe's 2017 major exhibition 'Clanger', this work pushes the envelope further by integrating machine learning.

LightWing II

Speaker(s): Uwe Rieger, arc/sec Lab, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Yinan Liu, arc/sec Lab, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Uwe Rieger is founder and head of the arc/sec Lab for Cross Reality Architecture and Interactive Systems. He is Associate Professor for Design and Design Technology at the University of Auckland and has worked as architect and researcher in the field of Reactive Architecture for over 20 years. Uwe has exhibited and developed projects for international institutions such as: the Ars Electronica Centre in Austria, the Museum of Modern Art Barcelona (MACBA) in Spain, the Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy, the World EXPO and the International Building Exhibition IBA in Germany, the National Museum of Indonesia, and Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum of New Zealand.

Yinan Liu received a MArch(Prof)(Hons) degree from the University of Auckland. She is the lead technologist at the arc/sec Lab and coordinator of the Digital Research Hub at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland. Yinan is co-founder of arc/sec Solutions ltd., which develops customised applications for cross-reality environments and interactive systems.

Description: LightWing II creates a mysterious sensation of tactile data. In this interactive installation, a kinetic construction is augmented with stereoscopic 3D projections and spatial sound. A light touch sets the delicate wing-like structure into a rotational oscillation and enables the visitor to navigate through holographic spaces and responsive narratives.

Extraordinary Accident: an immersive metaphor of Hong Kong

Speaker(s):

Tomás Laurenzo is an artist and academic who works with both physical and digital media, exploring meaning, power and politics. With a background in both computer science and art, Laurenzo’s work spans across different practices and interests, including new media art, HCI, machine learning, and VR. His artistic production includes installations, music, performance, and digital lutherie. His artworks and performances have been shown globally. He is assistant professor at the School of Creative Media. City University of Hong Kong.

Alejandro Rodríguez is an architect, artist, and technology developer. His work focuses on the research and combination of new technologies in the creation of new products, services and artworks. Since 2004 his work, as director of Dogrush Studios has centred on VR and mixed realities. His works has been seen by millions of people and includes, video mapping shows, massive public installations, as well as large stage designs both for governments and private institutions.

Tatjana Kudinova is an artist and designer based in Hong Kong. Her work focuses on creating engaging experiences and on exploring artistic tools through art and design, taking the form of interactive installations, interfaces, prints, and videos. Tatjana’s work has been presented at festivals and galleries in cities like Vilnius, Valencia, San Francisco, New York, Sydney, Montevideo, and Hong Kong. Born in Lithuanian SSR, she has lived in Spain, USA, Uruguay and Hong Kong. She holds an MA in Fine Arts, earned by studying at the Art Academy of Vilnius, Polytechnic University of Valencia and California College of the Arts.

Description: This paper presents Extraordinary Accident, an immersive experience exploring how different levels of abstraction can coexist and collaborate in a representation and recreation of urban space. Using Hong Kong as both inspiration and data source, the work attempts to liberate virtual reality compositions from their metaphorical ballast –that is, their recreational onus– and instead, with a temporal amalgamation of poetic representation at different scales, contribute to an alternative, potentially more intimate, understanding of the urban experience.

Hybrid Animation production and the Dream of Flight.

Speaker(s):

Simon Rippingale is an animation director based in Sydney, Australia. His work was nominated for three AACTA awards, twice for short animation and once for visual effects, winning the 2014 AACTA award for best short animation. Simon was a finalist at the Sydney Film Festival and has also won a Gold award at the AEAF awards, Best Animation at The Blue Mountains Film Festival and Silver Award at the App design Awards. Simon is currently a Phd candidate at the UTS Animal Logic Academy - where he was awarded UTS’s Faculty of Engineering and IT research excellence award in 2018.

Andrew Johnston is Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, where he works as the Research Director of the UTS Animal Logic Academy. He also co-directs the Creativity and Cognition Studios, an interdisciplinary research group working at the intersection of performance, art and technology.

Andrew is a researcher, XR creative, digital artist, sound designer and software engineer. His research includes real-time augmentation of live performance in 3D, creating immersive VR/AR playspaces, adding olfactory senses to virtual reality and using machine learning for intuitive user interaction.

Description: Through a detailed account of a recent practice-based research project - a short animation project called Jasper, this paper explores how a hybrid analogue/digital production approach can generate a unique and engaging visual style - one that sits between the tangible, handcrafted feel of miniatures and the cleanness, fluidity and flexibility of computer-generated animation. The author examines the new creative possibilities and challenges that a hybrid animation production approach presents and also outlines various technical platforms encountered during the production of Jasper, including motion-controlled camera systems, 3D printing, game engines, point cloud scans and augmented reality.