Life-altering art.(editor's note)

For most new technologies, proof-of-concept presentations are often dry demos of basic research in search of an application. In computer graphics, they can be works of art.

That's clearly the case for the latest graphics research that will be on display in the Emerging Technologies gallery at the upcoming SIGGRAPH 2004 conference. In fact, of the more than 30 installations--which showcase the brightest new technologies to spring from the world's top academic and corporate labs--a third are defined as art.

Does this high percentage of art-related projects suggest a lack of value of these technologies? Not at all, contends Heather Elliott-Famularo, chair of this year's Emerging Technologies exhibit and assistant professor of digital arts at Bowling Green State University. "The art emphasis was deliberately encouraged to demonstrate the potential of the technologies and spark new applications," she says. Here are several examples that illustrate the theme:

Calm Computing: An interactive display called "Lumen" (top image) presents slowly changing organic motions intended to produce an aesthetically pleasing and calming effect on viewers. Users run their fingers over a "smart-skin" surface containing motion sensors, and a series of illuminated cylinders rise and fall accordingly. The system, developed by Ivan Poupyrev and colleagues at Sony's Computer Science Lab in Japan, can be scaled up to create wall-size displays for home or office environments.

Wearable Art: Using sound-activated LEDs and electro-luminescent wires that can be applied to fabric, a novel concept called "HearWear" creates moving light patterns on clothing from noises in the environment. Developed by Younghui Kim and Milena Iossifova of Missing Pixel/Absurdee, the system uses a sound-recognition module to characterize noise patterns and light the LEDs and wires accordingly--in this case, to create flashing patterns on a ladies' skirt (above). The device can also be used in concerts, for example, so that performers' costumes could be illuminated interactively by their music.

Interactive Impressionism: A real-time painting technique, created by Daniel Shiffman at the Tisch School of the Arts, "Swarm" captures a live-video image of a viewer and automatically alters the colors on the screen according to what the camera sees. Based on Craig Reynolds' Boids flocking-behavior model, the painterly rendering algorithm scrambles and smears specific areas of the screen. Swarm can be used to enhance public and private spaces--such as art galleries, lobbies, conference rooms, homes, and so forth--with artwork that lets viewers see themselves inside impressionistic ...