:P
February 9, 2012 9:26 AM   Subscribe

"Viewer’s movement and expressions are mimicked by an animal’s head which is overlaid on the viewer’s reflection."
posted by griphus (20 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
All my nightmares are becoming reality.
posted by dave78981 at 9:37 AM on February 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


I want to swipe this idea and hang it at a furry con.
posted by egypturnash at 9:42 AM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh, someone help me remember the name of the computer game that does something similar! It uses your computer camera to cast a "reflection" of your face on the screen. The image, though, is wearing a space helmet of some kind, and responds to game action like explosions, and, ultimately, death. Not an important game element, just something the designers did to be really creepy.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:42 AM on February 9, 2012


The resulting effect invites inquiry into issues of self-awareness, empathy and non-verbal communication.

That sounds a bit like overstating the case, to say the least.

One feels compelled to in turn enact those animal expressions, lip licking and snarling, fully inhabiting the role, following while being followed.

Now THAT sounds more like it. 'The user will giggle and try and make silly animal faces'. Not everything needs to be an introspective art experience, but be happy it's making people smile.
posted by Brockles at 9:43 AM on February 9, 2012 [4 favorites]


Not everything needs to be an introspective art experience...

Unless, of course, you want an art grant, in which case your velvet Elvises are a commentary on the juxtaposition of a historically "royal" fabric with formerly transgressive/now traditional pop-culture iconography.
posted by griphus at 9:54 AM on February 9, 2012 [10 favorites]


I used to know a guy named Art Grant.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:58 AM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Unless, of course, you want an art grant
Yup, its the thing that upsets me the most about the contemporary art world. Its basically been taken over by academics that feel the need to justify their own existence, unfortunately this often comes at the expense of being able to relate to the general public.

I am going to guess that this project came out of the "I want to make something cool" (which is a total success) reasoning, with a tacked on statement after the fact. A model that I do often myself, unfortunately the art world considers this cheating despite the fact that the bulk of people operate this way.
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 10:20 AM on February 9, 2012


The resulting effect invites inquiry into issues of self-awareness, empathy and non-verbal communication.
That sounds a bit like overstating the case, to say the least.


Interestingly enough before I started reading the thread I had already sent the link off to a couple of Jungian friends who will find it fascinating for those exact reasons.

Animal masks appear in every human society. They are one of the constants of mankind.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:34 AM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Seriously, someone needs to take this tech and integrate it into Second Life in parallel with the voice chat. Maybe with a Kinect for large-scale body language.
posted by NMcCoy at 10:48 AM on February 9, 2012


Not quite the holodeck yet, but cute.
posted by Theta States at 11:06 AM on February 9, 2012


Captain Forever! "C - TOGGLE REMOTE PILOT PROJECTION"
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:21 AM on February 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Hmm. This would work better IMO with a flat screen monitor and camera rather than a mirror, so the software can substitute the heads rather than overlaying them. Although it would probably need to be done with two cameras at either side of the frame and software interpolation, unless a way of putting a tiny camera mid-screen without ruining the picture could be developed.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:10 PM on February 9, 2012


also this.
posted by Theta States at 12:13 PM on February 9, 2012


Reminds me of my wish that we could do the genetic engineering thing to give humans large, expressive ears, like dogs, cats, kangaroos, etc.
Such a waste that our ears are so tiny, and so nearly-immobile.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:14 PM on February 9, 2012


Previously...
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:17 PM on February 9, 2012


And a tail, Moofoo!
posted by BlueHorse at 3:17 PM on February 9, 2012


This would work better IMO with a flat screen monitor and camera ...

It would lose some of the specialness of an installation if it was all running on the same hardware you might have at home. And this is combining a purely analog reflection with the digital image. While turning everything into a digital image would make it more seamless, it would lose something there, too.
posted by RobotHero at 3:51 PM on February 9, 2012


Prehensile tail, BlueHorse. I want that spare-limb utility, otherwise, not really interested.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:29 PM on February 9, 2012


I used to know a guy named Art Grant.

There's a bit of that about.
posted by flabdablet at 12:33 AM on February 10, 2012


Don't stick a camera on your head, or even just stand in the same position as the first pictures, and show us what it looks like for the viewer. No, that would ruin everything. Best to just stand off to one side and let us use our imagination.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:07 AM on February 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


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