Interactive Artistic Applications in the Programming Languages and Runtime Systems Group

The Artistic Applications are developed in our group as a proof of concept for our own languages and modular system software development and they provide a playful yet real motivation for the projects teams. All our media arts projects are thus intimately coupled with our deeply ambitious computer-scientific goals. They provide the true scientific challenge as well as an interdisciplinary project training field for the involved students, researchers and for the respective artists. Some of the artists in the group working here have higher computer science degrees, building optimally on their advanced multidisciplinary knowledge. Other professional artists are usually involved with the team as external resp. culturally funded project partners - nevertheless, some untraditionally direct collaborations could be established in our lab within specific national art&technology funding programs.

Panorama Project (2007)

Prof. Juerg Gutknecht and Philipp Bonhoef

Head movement tracking coordinated with the psychedelic panorama perspective. You virtually immerse into the landscape inside the head(set)

Tai Chi Project (2006/2007)

Dr. Dennis Majoe (researcher) and Michel -- and --

A lightweight healthy trance-inducing Tai Chi hometrainer system - tuning Tai Chi practitioners into the rhythm of breathing, imagination, consciousness, proprioception and motion. The system facilitates the integration of the whole human potential here. Consists of wearable sensor network and PC based real-time VR feedback. We can gradually build up the issues of the training-feedback, reflecting some of the complexity of a Tai Chi master's skills. Be sane enought to get addicted...

'China Gates' (2005-2006)

Art Clay and Dennis Majoe

GPS controlled rhythmic score for a distributed gong and bell orchestra. The future heavenly dance to the satellite Gamelan beat.

Interactive Score for Distributed Orchestra 'Going Public'

'Going Public' (2004-2006)

Art Clay, Mazda Mortasawi, Dr. Thomas Frey, Dr. Dennis Majoe and Prof. Gerhard Troester' Q-BIC team, Stein Ossevoort

Wearable Sensor and GPS based controls of a interactive score for a distributed orchestra. The performers wear motion sensors, GPS receivers and wearable displays integrated with the Q-BIC wearable computer belt. The system combines the structure of the musical score with the 'choreography' of the performers spatial interactions.

'Instant Gain in Grace' (2003-2005)

Dr. Irena Kulka, Sven Stauber, Fabian Nart and Dr. Thomas Frey

Wearable Motion Tracking with Pattern Recognition and Emotion Recognition. The tracked Motion features as well the Motion Recognition Output yield two different levels of control for an interactive System for Graphical Animations. The Graphics can display interactively generated graphical patterns combined with categories of personally shaped images. The Graphics software has been custom-designed in our lab in collaboration with the dancer and the features of the graphics can be edited by artistic users. A dancer (butoh dancer) interacts with the visual feedback of animated images which have been mapped to the motion patterns. The mapping is such that it relates expressive motion content and expressive visual content through abstract aesthetic features. This can be seen as a prototype work in representation and mapping of 'synesthetic' categories. Instant Gain in Grace project description

'Was geschah am 6. Tag' (2004)

Tom Lang and Sven Stauber

A versatile Nonlinear Storytelling System controlling 4 parallel Video Projection Screens in an Interactive Performance Stage setting.

Undivisionary Illumination Product

Peter Grenacher and Prof. Juerg Gutknecht

'Sakkara and Artwork Code' (1998)

Peter Schweri and Prof. Juerg Gutknecht A lightweight programming language for interactive notation i.e. for 'writing' concrete pictures. The artist draws from a waste pool of computer generated pictures actually realizing his original concrete art system idea. While the computer scientist provided an optimal solution for a combinatory and recursive visal art system vision, he artist's job was to conceptualize, recolt, select and fine-tune the pictures in detail for their form-transcending expressivity.

Fonts Design Project

Prof Meyer Prof. Juerg Gutknecht