HOW CAN I DESIGN DATA TO HELP YOU DESIGN?

This tacky promotional videos serves as an introduction to the algorithm I’ve been developing over the summer called DATA VISION. The test demos included in the videos are running in real time via webcam. the development process is monitored with the changes and refinement done to the object tracking and detection.

Restricted countries use social media to target data driven free speech which can get you imprisoned or killed. My rebuttal is to humanize data and decompartmentalize the mentality that data can only revoke your humanity. It also has capability to express a narrative. In this example each car represents a soul, this data aims to acknowledge the humanity found at an overpass. This is my attempt at using Data Vision as an assistive tool in expressing creativity.

This demo was conducted in Al Mursalat, Riyadh (24.75210° N, 46.69910° E) whilst scouting locations to test DATA VISION’S object detection capabilities for tracking moving objects. The video was shot on iPhone at 60fps then descaled to fit into the algorithms parameter requirements. This final edit had to be fast forwarded 8x as the initial rendering outputs the video at a painful 3fps. I will now investigate methods of using the GPU as main processor, in hopes of a smoother and faster final rendering.

August 10th, 2024

László Moholy-Nagy was a visionary artist who bridged the gap between art and technology at the BAUHAUS, He believed that technology could be a powerful tool for artists, His artwork Black-red equilibrium (1922) —stripped an artwork down to its fundamental elements of shape, color, and form. The shapes are perfectly coordinated to the colour light spectrum evoking the feeling of a canvas that was transported from a perfected utopian world.

This perspective and intention parallels the way computer vision algorithms analyze and interpret visual data. Just as Moholy used photograms to reduce objects to their essence, my developed DATA VISION aims to continue this legacy by simplifying and refining the world through its data . In essence, Moholy-Nagy refers to photography as the mechanical process of representation, DATA VISION is the mechanical process of detection and conceptualism.

review: 5/5 – necessary read for the zeitgeist conceptualist and gives new insight into modernist movement.

(IMAGE ABOVE SHOWS PRELIMINARY DEMO OF DATA VISION OBJECT DETECTION CODE RUNNING IN REAL TIME VIA WEBCAM)

During this weeks research and development of the DATA VISION tool i began to write scripts that connect a user to a third party rendering software (VIZCOM.AI) this software allows users to upload a conceptual drawing or design (Left) followed by a short description of their desired rending parameters and outputted is a hyper-realistic render of the conceptual design(Right). How can I incorporate this script into my final user interface? my DATA VISION tool can benefit from a small interactive ui which displays a rendered version of a users design alongside information and references. (image above is my design and render of a retro futurist lounge chair using Viacom.ai )

May 21st 2024

The video above is a data visualization stemming from a NeRF lidar scan of my friend Jo. Neural Radiance fields is a neural network method of creating 3D environments from 2D images. The algorithm works by compositing dozens of 2D images and stitching them into a 3D Landscape. Jo was filmed and scanned outside Chelsea College of Arts. I used touch designer to create a point cloud environment with the goal of demonstration it the potential for data to be used in expressive ways, this is also a precursor to the type of data in intend to feed a design detection algorithm.

Today, I want to reflect on an intervention I conducted recently, which I feel didn’t meet my expectations due to insufficient time to gather meaningful feedback. My objective was to challenge the common misconception that data is merely a collection of numbers. To achieve this, I created two videos illustrating the concept that data can be anything.

Over the weekend, I dedicated a significant amount of time to 3D Lidar scanning a variety of objects. These included natural elements like trees and fountains, as well as more unusual subjects like a sewing machine and even my friend. The scanned objects, alongside their corresponding data visualizations, were displayed to emphasize that data encompasses a broad range of forms and not just numerical values. Ive grown exhausted with the stigma that data has, the idea that data is just Brain rot and anti human page ranking algorithms. Data has the potential to be anything, it becomes information about anything in the most primitive form.

Despite my efforts, the limited time available for the intervention meant that I didn’t receive the depth of feedback I was hoping for. Without substantial feedback, it’s challenging to gauge whether my message resonated with the audience or sparked any change in their perception of data. Did they understand that data can be diverse and dynamic? Or did the concept remain abstract and unconvincing?

This experience has taught me the importance of not just presenting information but also allowing adequate time for audience engagement to elicit meaningful feedback. Moving forward, I need to consider better strategies for ensuring that my efforts in challenging perceptions are effective and impactful, even within constrained timeframes.

Four months into my masters degree have gone by in a breeze however my effort, focus and determination has been consistently distributed. There has been academic fluidity when comparing my research proposal to the current state of my research. Countless endless nights at the library, hazy afternoons learning the umpteenth architecture software in the digital lab or speed sketching around London. My excitement for my research has fully taken over my life. At times this excitement tends to spiral into borderline delusional utopian thinking where Im eager to fix all the problems of the world.

In reality there are specific issues I believe we all face on a daily basis, there exist subconscious stressors all around us and I propose an attempt at minimizing pain points in hopes of an optimistic tomorrow.

The “How” research questions remains in a state of paralysis as its appropriate relation to the research is ever changing which has made this process strenuous.

Balancing between ambiguous conceptualism or a confidently aggressive specificity has proved to be a difficult task.

I don’t want to be limited to the scope of what Im trying to achieve however, in order to begin one must just start.

How can data driven principles of psycho-geography converge with design?

My Journal Entry from January 25th speaks on the various texts I had borrowed from the library, mostly surrounding the topic of psychogeography. To my understanding there exists relational truths that I’d like to include in relation to the principles of psychogeography, however i feel at times that area of study limits the goal and intention of my research, which is to study and improve upon our emotional relation with design. The limits of geography has made it difficult to fully commit to a research on psychogeography. After to attempting to read and listen to Merlin Coverley psychogeography countless times I struggled to feel  immersed enough in the text.

I resorted to researching  articles and studies on emotional based design.

I have made note to a dozen quotes from the various texts I’ve been reading that follow the concept I’m trying to realize.

“psychogeography describes ‘The study of the specific effects of the geo- graphical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals’ ” 

“As I came to understand how symbolic spaces such as the tower, forest, labyrinth, or cave are deeply set in the human psyche, I tried to recreate those experiences in architecture.”  – John M Johansen

“In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that the curvilinear forms/lines in the environment do influence people’s feelings of pleasure in that space.” – S-Dazkir 2009

“Note that the present paper does not intend to cover all theories and all issues to tackle but to offer a useful and robust guide to designing for emotions through an overview of relevant challenges, and a discussion of its opportunities and the way forward in the available literature.” – Yoon, J. et al. (2021)

After the first showcase I had created data driven renders of environments that followed curvilinear paths in the attempt and expressing how data can be manipulated and expressed in a way that follow principles of emotional based design. This renders used a perlin noise algorithm which also used to make a responsive audio visualizer. This was my valid and clear expression at demonstrating the use of data as a design tool. 

The European press prize has a category of innovation where the definition states:

 Innovation – Celebrating Data Journalism, challenging the boundaries of journalism

My goal with the pitch was to encapsulate a project that met this ambitious yet challenging standard.

After the first draft pitch I realized that my project pitch was still very much in the abstraction stage and required further fine tuning. The feedback from my tutor and the nerves from presenting motivated me to create a clearer narrative for the final pitch.

Reflection from the final pitch

The final pitch presentation started at 8am when I managed to get my original pitch down to 2:58 seconds. The process consisted of writing a tightly detailed script and practicing the presentation countless times. I felt ready to present later that afternoon and overall was able to follow the pace i set for my script.

The negatives of the original pitch were that I included too many redundant side projects that felt unnecessary for the quick pitch. I decided to remove these samples to keep a clear vision for the whole piece.

Another complaint I got from group members was that the theory I expressed was too complex and difficult to follow therefore real feedback wasn’t possible, therefore I made sure to explain keywords and topics as best as I can that would allow a wider range of audience (aka press prize) to follow without issue.

My tutor mark provided some great insight after the final pitch presentation. The idea that the algorithms parameters could be customizable depending on a users preference for design, this would make the project outcome the innovative assistive design tool that it’s pitched to be. It will definitely be added to the requirements of the algorithm and I will try my best to implement this idea.  I will begin the next stage of research by gaining insight into multiple perspectives that can aid in giving a more versatile detection algorithm. 

After what felt like a confident positive pitch I felt enticed to contact Georgia Lupi, the artist behind the art piece “Bruises” which I mentioned midway through the pitch. Her work as a data visualizer may prove to be very helpful and opportunities may arise in reaching out. She has also coined the term “data humanism” which is mainly centered around the idea of personifying data and representing numbers in an intelligible and poetic manner. It can also be interpreted as altering data to reflect the complexity of the human experience instead of the current status quo where data is presented as an omnipresent untouchable intelligence

Bibliography

Seda, S. (2009). AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF

 Title: Emotional Effect of Curvilinear vs. Rectilinear Forms of Furniture in Interior Settings.

[online] Available at: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/wp988n19b

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Coverley, M. (2012). Psychogeography. New York: Oldcastle Books.

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Tuan, Y.-F. (1977).  Space and place: the Perspective of Experience. 

[online] Minneapolis, Mn: University of Minnesota Press. 

Available at: https://www.academia.edu/19846369/Yi_Fu_Tuan_Space_and_Place.

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Yoon, J. et al. (2021) ‘Designing for Positive Emotions: Issues and Emerging Research Directions’, The Design Journal, 24(2), pp. 167–187. doi: 10.1080/14606925.2020.1845434.

Herzog, T.R., Colleen, Maguire, P. and Nebel, M.B. (2003). 

Assessing the restorative components of environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 

[online] 23(2), pp.159–170. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(02)00113-5.

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The end of unit 2 had a euphoric ending. i feel immensely proud of the work produced and my group as i feel we completed the task that was asked of us. my group members returned once more to the third floor of csm where the first meeting occurred, we joked that it fit our spiral timeline. Unit 2 has taught me patience and organization, it also showed how efficient a group of hive minded individuals can be on a short deadline. The floors of the CSM library became beds at 4AM on the eve of the presentation but it attest to the importance of delivery this project had to me. The communication and responsiveness team persimmon shared during the QnA portion of the presentation felt that it had gone perfectly. in this perfectly timed 10 min presentation we all became so critical to the nature of the subject that i feel any member of team persimmon could have accurately presented the project alone! Happy Holidays, this one is well deserved.

The shoulders of team persimmon remain relatively light in comparison to the un-ignorable situations occurring between the cohort. it remains the topic of discussion and has even spilled personally into the MAAI cohort. Unfortunately the build up of all these situations has fundamentally ruined what the point of this COLLABORATIVE unit intended. nonetheless I feel thankful that my group have remained ground level and within the same spirit, we have worked hard to create world building in our future scenario and I feel like the work load was properly distributed. an aspect that disheartens me is the possibility that proper communication or lack thereof has been holding us back. At times I feel frustrated with the responsibility of breaking the silence which sometimes causes me to conjure and idea that may not be completely fleshed out. The incubator test day offered great insight into the immediate challenges our scenario encounters, I made sure to stay around our pavilion to see how people reacted and interacted with our world. Being that the final presentation takes place less then a week away I feel motivated to push for the last time and deliver something to be proud off collectively. I look forward to the platform bar reward which will take place immediately after presentation.