Media Lab demo day 16.5.2002

13.00 : Welcome
Philip Dean

13.10 : Net Composition
coord. Antti Ikonen, Shinji Kanki
A joint study project with Media Lab UIAH and CM&T Sibelius Academy. "Networks, we are told, give us new possibilities. They change the way we communicate, the way we work. It is currently changing the way we make music. But does it change the music itself?" (See on the demo floor as well.)

http://cmt.siba.fi/skanki/net_composition/projects.html

13.20 : FLE3, ITCOLE
Ilkka Kekkonen, Giedre Kligyte, Teemu Leinonen, Samu Mielonen, Janne Pietarila, Tarmo Toikkanen
What's new in Fle3 1.1 beta
New Fle3 - New Tools for Collaborative Knowledge Building
http://fle3.uiah.fi/release_fle3_b_1_1.html
On 3rd May 2002 UIAH Media Lab, University of Art and Design Helsinki released a new version of Fle3 computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) software.

Context: Research projects
http://fle3.uiah.fi
http://www.euro-cscl.org/site/itcole/

13.35 : Affective Interactivities
Heidi Tikka, Jukka Ylitalo
Affective Interactivities study project provided a contextual framework for those students interested in developing media art projects. We chose the notion of affectivity as a working hypothesis for various approaches addressing the corporeal, emotional and social aspects of interation design.

http://mlab.uiah.fi/affectiveinteractivities

Vesitila - Aquatic
Marianne Decoster-Taivalkoski
Aquatic is an interactive light and sound installation involving participant's whole body. The interaction in Aquatic invites to explore body memories of the element water, a situation enhancing movement creativity. (See on the demo floor as well.)

Context: Affective Interactivities Study Project, Experimental Interactions Studio

The bench that became confused
Lotta Partanen (Mlab), Vilja Roihu (ETO)
At times people are confusing and at times the things that people create can be confusing. Through this installation I want to study the possibilities of interaction between the physical presence of a human being and a rigid piece of furniture. (See on the demo floor as well.)

Context: Affective Interactivities Study Project

13.45 : DUMAS + Athos radio station; Interact
Kristiina Jokinen
The DUMAS (Dynamic Universal Mobility for Adaptive Speech Interfaces) project develops multi-lingual speech-based applications, focusing on intelligent and ambient interaction management with a special emphasis on naturalness that takes into account the user's personalised needs.

Context: DUMAS project group
http://www.sics.se/dumas/

14.00 : Lilja
Director Anna Maria Joakimsdottir, producer Satu Lavinen
"Lilja" is a shortfilm of 7,25 minutes. It's a story about loyalty towards the ones you love the most. Liljas parents are divorced. She is pushed by her mother to reject the father if he comes to the door. One afternoon when she is home alone, he is there again.

Context: DV-basics "Selfportrait", Raimo Lång
http://www.mlab.uiah.fi/~ajoakims/LiljFLYER.html

14.10 : Pause

Refreshments and mingling

14.30 : 3D6B
Kiia Kallio, Media Lab/UIAH
Simona Schimanovich, Media Lab/UIAH
Shang Zhidi, Dept. of Graphic Design/UIAH
Tuomas Siitonen, Dept. of Graphic Design/UIAH
Duncan Lamb, Dept. of Industrial Design/UIAH
Akio Wada, Dept. of Computer Science/HUT
Jaakko Latikka, Dept. of Photogrammetry/HUT;
instructors and coordinators: Lily Díaz, Janne Pietarila

A Design Community Environment. This environment has the following features:
1. A Sketching Tool that allows designers to work collaboratively and share ideas at an early stage in the design process.
2. An Environment that supports the Sketching Tool and which has Navigation, Visualization, and Database features. The Environment allow designers to work together, exhibit, and archive their work.
(See on the demo floor as well.)

Context: Visualization and 3D design study project
http://ml-project.uiah.fi/Visualization3D/

15.05 : Design Thinking
Asta Raami, Sanna Marttila, Marianne Decoster-Taivalkoski, Vesa Puhakka, Miikka Poutiainen, Tuomas Siitonen
The Design Thinking course discusses designers creative processes from various points of view. The focus is on the models and methods for managing the design processes in personal, interdiscilplinary and collaborative levels.

15.20 : ARKI research group
Andrea Botero, Iina Oilinki, Kari-Hans Kommonen, Maria Koskijoki, Matti Arvilommi, Hanna Tornivuori, Susanna Koskinen, Mariana Salgado
Update 2002: We have been busy expanding our network of collaborations and advancing in our current projects. Join us to hear about CHIPS, 4G design, Cost 269 and the future plans.

http://arki.uiah.fi

15.25 : Cycles
Simona Schimanovich
CYCLES introduces different calendar systems and systems of calendrical divination in various cultures. It visualizes different cultural approaches to the concept of time in a playful and poetic way allowing the audience to explore.

Context: Systems of Representation course
http://www.uiah.fi/~sschiman/cycles

15.30 : Shift, Hys Hys and Three Words for You
Mika Tuomola, Teemu Kivikangas, Patrik Pehkonen

The Myth and Digital Media seminar (http://ml-project.uiah.fi/Myth/) and Character-Driven Interactive Narrative study project (http://mlab.uiah.fi/2studies/21.html#project) lead by Mika Tuomola (http://crucible.lume.fi/ref_tuomola.html) have produced the experimental generative moving image installation Shift as a CD-ROM movie and inspired two new moving image productions for digital television and DVD. Shift was created by Aki Suzuki, Ville Eerikäinen, Hanna Harris, Kari Kanto, Sami Haartemo, Minna Nurminen, Niina Saarelainen, Markus Norrena, Egon Randlepp, Simona Schimanovich, Petri Kola, Sari Aaltonen, Arttu Peltomaa, Mika Tarvainen, Juhani Tenhunen and Mika Tuomola. Shift was presented first time January 26, 2002, as a gallery installation at the ArcArt02: Art on the Edge symposium and exhibition (http://arcart.no/).
Continuing from the experiments with generative dialogue and moving image in Shift, the Hys Hys tv-program will consist of themes, which are based on Finnish phrases and proverbs. Text messages sent by audience will trigger the themes of the program. Hys Hys is currently developed by Hanna Harris, Markus Norrena, Riikka Puustinen and Juhani Tenhunen.
The purpose of the Three Words for You, on the other hand, is to explore the possibilities of interactive drama in DVD-format. The protagonist (Aapo Vasamo) is struggling in the aftermath of his son's death. He and the spectator face three challenges that result from the problematic relationships with his wife, lover, daughter and the dead son. The narration consists of cinematic episodes in "the real world" and inside Aapo 's mind. The spectator's role is to contribute to the dialogue of Aapo's socio-psychological roles that takes place in his mind during the challenges, and this way influence on the unfolding of the story. The Three Words script is under development by Teemu Kivikangas, Oskari Pastila and Patrik Pehkonen.

15.45 : Pause

Refreshments and mingling

16.00 : Doctoral programme
Mauri Kaipainen

http://www.mlab.uiah.fi/~mkaipain/study/

16.10 : WebSYNK
Patrik Pehkonen, Vesa Puhakka, Kati Åberg, Jussi Lehtisalo; Art Director: Ilkka Niemeläinen, Audio tutor: Antti Ikonen, Director tutor: Rasmus Vuori, special thanks to Jori Pölkki
WebSynk is an audiovisual internet piece on the metamorphosis of water.
The starting point for WebSynk was to investigate innovative ways of moulding existing audio and video material into an independent interactive and non-linear work for the internet. The material used was from an experimental linear piece called "MetaSYNK" using orchestra, acoustic and sensor instruments, industrial robot and video.

Context: Advanced Audio course, in co-operation with CARTES
http://www.mlab.uiah.fi/websynk

16.25 : But who takes the dog out
Koray Tahiroglu, Teriina Lindblom, Päivi Puntila; coord. Teijo Pellinen, Pipsa Asiala
"Mutta kuka vie koiran ulos / But Who Takes the Dog Out?" is a format for interactive drama. The show aims at being entertaining and it offers a possibility to participate in everyday urban encounters through the means of collective role playing. In "Mutta kuka vie koiran ulos / But Who Takes the Dog Out?" the TV screen is divided in three for the three characters simultaneously present in a limited space, the bar. The viewer/user controls the main character, the one in the middle. The main character is active and contacts the other two characters who then react to these actions. The task is to control the actions of the main character and thus to define the development of the story by selecting his/her favourite action from the pre-defined actions via mobile phone. The result of this voting is decisive for the development of the story as the most voted action and the reactions resulting from it are performed by the characters.
"Mutta kuka vie koiran ulos / But Who Takes the Dog Out?" aims at transforming passive viewers to active and voting users by offering ease of participation. But the show can be viewed even without participation: during the moments of interaction character interviews presenting the characters more in detail are shown.

Context: ITV project
http://mlab.uiah.fi/~teriina/koira/

16.40 : JooJoo
Karoliina Talvitie-Lamberg, Kate Borcz, Riikka Kevo; coord. Teijo Pellinen, Pipsa Asiala
Joojoo is a webcam based interactive tv-program. It relays on a living webcommunity. Joojoo gives a viewer a possibility to go public and be a filmstar. People are creating the content themselves, communication is the word of today.

Context: ITV project
http://www.joojoo.com

16.55 : Metamorphosis
Mia Dahlmer, Hester Brandsma, Delia Ruiz Malo, Eva Hrönn Gudnadottir; coord. Teijo Pellinen, Pipsa Asiala

Context: ITV project
http://www.brussa.com

17.05 : Sisäinen sankari
Petri Kola & al
Sankari is an ongoing interactive TV-pilot now in post production. It is made in collaboration with YLE.

17.10 : Ezkimo.exe
Petri Kola & al
Ezkimo.exe is a game using interactive video. It was published as an CD-extra on rap artist Ezkimo's second single by BMG.

ALSO ON DEMO FLOOR

Mediaspaces
coord. Susanna Koskinen
Mediaspaces study project looked into aspects in digitalization and convergence of media through individual research and group discussions.

Juna saapuu - A stereographic tribute to the Lumière brothers
Tomi Ilvessalmi, Vesa Puhakka, Lotta Partanen
A stereographic projection of video footage recorded at the Helsinki railway station. An experimental setup of two video cameras was used to capture three-dimensional moving images, with the same subject matter that the pioneers of cinema started with.

Context: Spatial documentary course

Bureacracy of Play
Teemu Kivikangas
Demo-version of an experimental interactive installation. Explores playing as a form and a mean of bureaucracy.

Context: Experimental interaction studio

3D animations
coord. Kai Lappalainen

Antrum - immersive freehand 3d paint program
Wille Mäkelä
My doctoral studies in the Media Lab deal with handwrite-like painting in virtual spaces. That is: painting and drawing by free hand, in real time, into a digital surface. That means alternative visual expression, compared to the somewhat photorealistic tense of digital graphics and animation, specially three dimensional.
Antrum is an interface prototype of my idea about an actual alternative in 3d graphics.
It is uniquely constructed to the virtual space EVE in Otaniemi, http://eve.hut.fi, as a student project of a programming course in the Helsinki University of Technology.
In EVE, with the Antrum program, I can immersively in the virtual space draw colored or transparent, stereoscopic "threads" in real time. I can look behind them while drawing, or walk thru them. I can also rather well move, rotate and edit them. And I can export them. Until this demonstration only one sketch has been exported, and I have it with me here, as a "handprint" of Antrum. Rather ugly face, though...
For the interface of Antrum, I have to demonstrate the palettes and the workspace only with an awkward Windows version on a flat display, without the essential motion tracking sensors and without the stereoscopic effect.
I wouldn't say drawing with Antrum is easy. It brings a pile of new challenges. But the direction makes sense to me. I'm looking forward to continuity both as an artist and as a developer of Antrum.

STEREO EGG
Ville Eerikäinen
Stereo Egg is a series of stereographic egg portraits. My aim was to limit - but not totally flatten - the depth of field of the photographs. By doing so, I wanted to focus attention to the centre object of the series but also remain the nature of stereography. I was also interested in how spatiality occurs in an unsharp environment.
The process was mostly traditional. I used film camera with teleobjective of 75-300mm focal length.

Context: Spatial Documentary

17.15 : The End

More info:
Anna Arsniva, tel 09-756 30 404.

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