Euphörium nominated at the Europrix '08!

I am delighted to announce that Euphörium has been nominated for an award at the prestigious Europrix Top Talent Awards 2008. Out of 338 entries from 28 countries evaluated by the jury team of the EUROPRIX Multimedia Awards, Euphörium has been chosen to be one of the 23 best!

This secures us:

An invitation to the Europrix Multimedia Festival from November 27 - 29, 2008 in Graz, Austria courtesy of Europrix, a presentation of Euphörium in the Europrix yearbook, a presentation of Euphörium in a special exhibition at the Technical Museum in Vienna and a sustained showcasing and promotion of the project in 2008 and 2009 all around Europe (the Europrix Roadshow).

So, thanks again to everyone for your help and support throughout this project.

Wish us luck in Graz!

Síle, Stephen & Philly.

Euphörium - Video Presentation

A 7 minute DVD presentation giving a insight in to the development, design and production of Euphorium.

User Testing

A big thanks to all those who took part in Euphörium's user testing which took place on 16th April. 

All the feedback we collected has proven to be an invaluable contribution to the project, so thanks again to all those who took the time out to come down, helping us to make Euphörium better.

Euphörium welcomes Nomad on board

Nomad is an innovative design company in the UK who have kindly teamed up with Euphörium in making our vision possible through sponsorship.

"We offer a full range of design services from interiors to graphics and we have particular expertise in public sector projects that comprise a number of functions. Our philosophy places people at the heart of the design experience." Nomad.

www.Nomad-rdc.com

Thanks to Woodies DIY

Many thanks to Woodies DIY, Glasnevin who kindly sponsored the materials need to construct the dome framework, further aiding in making Euphörium a reality not just our vision.

Energy Mass VVVV

Wireframe ball connections with audio

Creating a flow of information between objects - VVVV

Creating a flow of information between objects, both aurally and visually in VVVV using mtion tracking to allow users to select and join objects to create dynamic, audio compositions/sound scapes unique to the individual user. 

3d headtracking

3d headtracking

Using face tracking to create 3D perspective, to add realism and further immerse the user in the interactive experience. The user can look up, down and side to side to increase their visual as  the camera angle orbits the objects. 

Sourcing Equipment

This week we have been continuing with experimentation in VVVV which we will conclude by the end of the week, before moving into concrete production next week.

We have also spent a lot of time sourcing equipment from material, framework and the mirror for the Dome, as well as cameras, PC's and other equipment we need to run the installation.

Sponsorship's have been going well, with many reputable companies expressing serious interest. 

We have secured two venues to exhibit Euphorium in April/May, with the potential of a number of other promising venues too, as well as plans to take part in a number of high profile competitions around Europe.

Infrared Lighting

Flooding a completely dark room with infrared lighting using red and blue gels over a standard light. Then capturing it on a webcam that has been taken apart and the infrared filter removed.

Fluid Motion Tracking

Dynamic audio and visuals using motion tracking.

Early Stage Integration

Today is the first day we have properly began integrating audio, visuals and motion detection. While it is still very early days we are starting to get a good idea of how well elements will work in conjunction with each other.

Using VVVV we are still experimenting with interactive elements such as avoidance (seen above) and other 2D elements, which hopefully we will eventually apply to 3D graphics.

Stephen has continued refining and isolating the highest point of movement, but lighting conditions change so frequently we have concluded that not much more refining can take place until we begin working in the controlled environment using infrared lighting.

Today was exciting as audio and visuals were combined for the first time. It's a work in progress but it's still a little closer to our vision.

Heightened Sense of Immersion

   
Many installations/interactive environments create a higher sense of immersion, making the user feel part of the environment, by projecting elements onto a surface individually, rather than with a black/coloured background (i.e. rather than projecting a ready made environment onto a surface) which can elicit the feeling of detachment by just viewing a screen.

The Lightwave Festival - Dublin

     
This week Dublin hosted the Lightwave Festival in various locations around the city. We went in to the new Science Museum in Trinity college, which had a couple of interesting installations such as Pong and another that used light as a drawing tool.

The most relevant installation in relation to what we are trying to achieve was an installation by KMA at The Hive, Grand Canal Square. Above are some images:

YouTube Channel

We set up a YouTube Channel where we'll be uploading all of our Work-in-Progress Videos.

You can find the channel here: http://www.youtube.com/Euphoriumdome

Subscribe to us or visit here to stay updated.

Motion Detection Boxing

Motion Tracking

Design Structure

We have devised that by using two axis (x,y) to manipulate visuals and audio we can create a cube structure comprised of 16x16 cells. 

By isolating the individual cells we can determine the amount of activity/movement in any given cell by incoming values, and in turn manipulate various elements.

Production Areas

This week we will progress with the following:
Stephen continued development of motion detection in VVVV.
Philly focused on audio (creating dynamic sounds) in Max/Live.
Sile worked on bringing wireframes into VVVV/C4D.
Kieran worked on image manipulation in VVVV.

Early Stage Production & Research

This week we will progress with the following:
Stephen continued development of motion detection in VVVV.
Philly focused on audio (creating dynamic sounds) in Max/Live.
Sile worked on bringing wireframes into VVVV/C4D.
Kieran worked on image manipulation in VVVV.

Face Tracking Break Through

Major development - got face tracking working in VVVV (yey! Stephen)
Perspective is now an area we can definately incorporate, will begin applying face tracking to other elements

Xml files for detecting different shapes etc:
Haar cascades- http://alereimondo.no-ip.org/OpenCV/34

VVVV

First meeting back after christmas, discussed VVVV and face tracking potential to be used to create realistic perspective.

http://www.vvvv.org

Archway Studios Not Suitable

Went to see artist studio @ Archway, but was not suitable for our needs:
Too small - not enough space for 4 people and Dome Structure
Open Space - one large room with partitions, so wouldn't be able to work with sound without affecting other artists
180euro/month

Made good contact as Antoine is prepared to help us get the installation exhibited etc...