transmote speaks…

Jonathan Harris, creator of We Feel Fine and the lovely I Want You To Want Me (shown in MoMA’s Design and the Elastic Mind show last year) sent out an invitation today to his latest piece, the Sputnik Observatory for the Study of Contemporary Culture.

The Sputnik Observatory collects video interviews of many leading thinkers on a broad range of topics, and enables viewers to follow a stream-of-consciouness path through the themes that link the conversations together.
Read on… »

i’m pleased to announce the release of a new-and-improved version of FLARManager! this one has been a while in the works, due in part to general busy-ness, in part to my laptop threatening death, and in part to the fact that there are SO MANY NEW FEATURES.

download here:
http://words.transmote.com/wp/flarmanager/
(NOTE, this is now pointing to version 0.41, which is required for the new tutorials.)

quick description of FLARManager:
FLARManager is a small framework that makes building FLARToolkit applications easier. it also decouples the marker-tracking functionality from Papervision3D, and provides a more robust event-based system for managing marker addition, update, and removal. it supports detection and management of multiple patterns, and multiple markers of a given pattern.

 
here’s a rundown on the most interesting new stuff:
 
[matrix-level smoothing]
FLARManager now applies smoothing to the matrix values reported by FLARToolkit for detected markers; this helps to clear up jitter in rotation, scaling, and position. developers can set the amount of smoothing, and easily implement their own smoothing algorithms.

[external configuration]
devs now have the option to specify many configuration settings via an xml file that does not require app recompilation. among the settable features are capture and display width/height, display mirroring, matrix smoothing, and pattern and camera param file paths.

[easier access to detected marker data]
FLARMarker instances, accessible via FLARMarkerEvents, now expose (x,y,z) location (via a Flash Player 10 Vector3D object), rotation on the x, y, and z axes, and the (x,y) coordinate of the marker’s centerpoint. this opens the door to applications that use FLARToolkit to create new user interfaces and controllers, in addition to its ability to produce traditional augmented reality applications.

[documentation! (just a start...)]
i finally got around to generating ASDocs for FLARManager; this Javadoc-style documentation is similar in format to Adobe’s Flex Language Reference. i still have a ways to go to make these docs more useful, but…it’s a start. you can find the docs in the html_docs folder; just open index.html in a browser. i’ll be putting them online in the near future.

[commercial license]
ARToolworks, the group managing the commercial license for FLARToolkit, will be offering a commercial license for FLARManager very shortly. we are just wrapping up logistics now, and i’ll post more about this shortly; in the meantime, please contact me via the link at the right of the titlebar above for more information.
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i’m showing a new version of elastotron at pecha kucha tonight, and then all summer as part of the exploratorium’s “reflections” show, from 19 june through 20 september.

we’re having a small opening friday night from 5:30-8:30pm. let me know if you want to come by, as the doors are not open to the public.

see you there!

ps, here’s the full description:

We’d like to invite you to spend some time at a new exhibition: Reflections, opening in the Seeing area one week from today. This special summer collection combines new and reimagined exhibits, art installations, and programs and special events. But more than a simple celebration of mirrors, Reflections was designed to present a range of perspectives on that most familiar and yet most provocative of images: our own visages—abstracted, distorted, fragmented, and multiplied. In addition to highlighting the science of bouncing beams of light, Reflections is about identity, expectation, technology, and our complex relationship with ourselves.

Reflections includes new takes on classic Exploratorium exhibits, but the project team has also created several unique and powerful experiences especially for this exhibition. In addition, the Seeing Gallery will house a set of intriguing interactive works from visiting artist Daniel Rozin. These experiences will be complemented by a series of programs and events exploring mirrors, optics, and the ephemeral nature of light. To learn more about the exhibition, visit www.exploratorium.edu/reflections.