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--- projects:g5:start [2014/11/30 20:15] – cse03085
+++ projects:g5:start [2014/12/01 05:20] (current) – cse03085
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-EECS 4700 Digital Media Project
+===== Evolving Mirrors =====
-Lex Moakler - [[http://lexmoakler.com|lexmoakler.com]]
+{{:projects:g5:title.png|Evolving Mirrors: generative video reflections of our mediated selves}}
-{{:projects:g5:title.png|Evolving Mirrors}}
+by **Lex Moakler** ([[http://lexmoakler.com|lexmoakler.com]])
-**Evolving Mirrors: generative video reflections of our mediated selves**
 ==== Introduction ====
-How do we relate to images of ourselves, when the technology we use to do so evolves faster than our biology? How do the ways we create, manipulate, and archive images, which are developing rapidly throughout our lives, shape how we understand visual representations of ourselves and other people?
+How do we relate to images of ourselves, when the technology we use to do so evolves faster than our biology? How do the ways we create, manipulate, and archive images shape our understanding of visual representations of ourselves?
-Evolving Mirrors is an interactive new media installation that invites you to look at yourself, as seen through real-time video ‘mirrors’ that change before your eyes. The artwork uses a //genetic algorithm// to generate transformations of participants’ images and displays them in an evolving ecosystem where each mirror competes for the attention of curious onlookers.
+//Evolving Mirrors// invites you to look at yourself, as seen through en evolving ecosystem of ‘mirrors’ that uses a real-time //genetic algorithm// to transform participants’ images in a virtual competition for the attention of curious onlookers.
 ==== Background ====
-Genetic algorithms are used by //Artificial Life// (A-Life) researchers and artists to generate surprising solutions to complex problems. Such an algorithm encodes possible solutions as genetic sequences, and simulates an evolutionary struggle where only the fittest solutions survive and reproduce. The way this fitness is defined—the //fitness function//—indirectly determines which solutions prevail.
+Genetic algorithms are used by //Artificial Life// (A-Life) researchers and artists to generate surprising solutions to complex problems. Such an algorithm encodes possible solutions as sequences of genetic information called //genomes//, and simulates an evolutionary struggle where only the fittest solutions survive and reproduce. How this fitness is defined—the //fitness function//—will determine which solutions prevail.
+A-Life algorithms are typically designed to be very fast: millions of generations can be created and testing in mere seconds. In contrast, //Evolving Mirrors// is slow enough that participants can see new transformations be generated in real-time.
+=== Figure 1 - System Overview ===
+The artwork exists as a network of ‘mirrors’, each consisting of a camera, a computer, and a monitor. The camera’s video feed is used as input for the mirror’s image transformation as well as for tracking participant interaction. The computer transforms the source video based on the mirror’s genome, and displays it back to the participant via the monitor.
-A-Life algorithms are typically designed to be very fast: millions of generations can be created and testing in mere seconds. In contrast, Evolving Mirrors is slow enough that participants can see new transformations be generated in real-time.
+{{:projects:g5:figure1-small.png|Illustration of the artwork's system overview}}
 ==== Prototypes ====