Architecture Imaginary

October 26, 2006

Bldgblog had an excellent list of creative architectural interpretations and designs recently

And this.

Posted by scribblepop at 01:33 PM| Comments (0)

New Idea for M-Cam Module

October 24, 2006

Maybe I'm ahead of myself here, but I just thought of another idea for a second module for M-Cam last night in studio. I want to make 4 or 5 remote controlled flying cameras the size of ping-pong balls with an adhesive side that the user can place anywhere in a space. There will be a visible LED behind each of these cameras for locative purposes (which can be toggled on-off). The machanism for flying can double up as a grabbing hand for these little chipmunks.

What I would need for this project to fly are:
Small and light pastic board cameras
Shock-absorbing shielding material
Ping-pong balls
Claw/Wing mechanism
Power supply for mechanism and camera
Remote control for movements and lens adjustments (the latter is a second step)
Microcontroller for various motions
Wireless video feed
Monitors

Comments welcome. Thanks.

Posted by scribblepop at 04:39 PM| Comments (1)

The Camcorder Hacking Project Update

October 22, 2006

I successfully hacked the camera this Friday. Since then, I've been playing with its mechanisms. After I realized that it has a fixed focal length, I had been trying to find other 1/3 in CCD lenses that I can replace in order to do a prototype for my Multifocal Camera Module project. However, I was a little frustrated with the pricing of the varifocal lenses I found online. So I thought to myself, oh well, it's a prototype, it's better to put the process out there instead of being stuck on the mechanism, which is obviously doable with a little bit more money.

And then I realized that with some cutting and twisting, I could easily screw off the lens from the imaging board.

And then...I realized that by screwing the lens in at different lengths, I have already adjusted the focal lengths.

Now I can take macro video footages at sharp focus 2cm from my lens, as well as focus it to infinity. All I have to do is screw the lens in at different depth.

Why have I not figured this simple action out earlier? Maybe it was it initial intimidation I had toward this awesome little machine. Maybe it was the fear that I'd get shocked with 120 volts again.

But nontheless, now the possibilities are nearly endless. I'm still going to investigate into purchasing other types of lenses (telephoto, wide, varifocal). But also, I can begin writing a Jitter program that will take care of the image overlapping process. If I can find a way to cheaply connect the lens into a motor that twists and turns very finely, I can program different focii...and control the four depths of fields on four separate lenses. I can build my Multifocal Camera prototype!

Here are some stills to illustrate the various focal lengths achieved by my manual lens alterations:

The lens mounted as-is from the store - In focus from about 20 inches to infinity

Alteration 1: From 15 feet to infinity

Alteration 2: 30 inches

Alteration 3: 12 inches

Alteration 4: 1 inch

The tweaking is very maticulous...which suggests that I should eventually switch to an actual varifocal lens, but for the time being, I can start with this setup. Another aspect this test suggests is how much the imaging quality can improve. The motion clips are actually a lot more clearly resolved then their stills, as expected for DV footage. Right now, the resolution of the image is 382 pixels wide, I did hear of ways to change that to 640. I'll be looking into that once the focus aspect is complete.

I feel happy.

Posted by scribblepop at 10:39 PM| Comments (0)

New York City Map is a Fetus

I responded to an art magazine's open call this weekend - they wanted some illustrations, and one of their prompts is to creatively represent a map of New York City with some random locations. After some thought, I decided to draw a fetus cradled by its mother in a swimming pool, next to Staten Island - another swimmer.

The drawing measures 32" x 42"...took a while. Impossible to scan, which explains where my entire Sunday went.

For a bigger image and closeups, visit here.

Posted by scribblepop at 08:15 PM| Comments (1)