ofxSpeech
https://github.com/latrokles/ofxSpeech

Speech recognition and synthesis is touted as the next-generation of user interfaces due to the fact that it can be hands-free and could potentially adapt to the high multitasking demands of today’s world.

ofxLibWebSockets
https://github.com/labatrockwell/ofxLibwebsockets

WebSockets is a relatively new and amazing way to open a socket over the internet. This allows for real-time communication with another application over the web, rather than polling for information. Primarily, WebSockets have been used only in web applications, but this add-on gives us the capability to extend it into rich processor-intensive applications.

ofxLeapMotion
https://github.com/ofTheo/ofxLeapMotion

This addon allows you to take tracking information from the LeapMotion controller to interact with your sketch. This is really interesting for the development of Natural User Interfaces similar to Minority Report.

ofxTransparentWindow
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/15765520]
http://forum.openframeworks.cc/t/ofxtransparentwindow-osx-only/4811

This addon is rather old (4 years as of writing) but unlocks some really interesting possible interactions with other instances of OFapps. For example, it may be possible to push windows and objects on to a transparent layer on other computers. Instances of this are seen in science fiction movies and shows all the time, where digital collaboration happens seamlessly by swiping windows on to a colleague’s display. With the combination of ofxLeapMotion, this type of interaction would be possible

ofxARDrone
https://github.com/memo/ofxARDrone

I’m really excited about this add-on simply because I just recently purchased an AR.Drone 2.0 and I’m eager to control it programmatically. Using some of OF’s openCV or face tracking add-ons, this could be used to control a quad to track and follow people.

ofxCamaraLucida
https://github.com/chparsons/ofxCamaraLucida

I found this add-on interesting because Austin McCasland and I created a very primitive version of this to dynamically project flames on to objects on the floor of a fire pit last semester for a project. Had we known about this library, we could have avoided the hassle of building it ourselves. In either case, this add-on is very robust and could be used all sorts of interesting projection mapping such as using the RGB camera image to detect heart rate and projecting it directly on the person.

I was told that this was done in penFrameworks by one of the guys from FAKELOVE when he was here during a RasberryPi Workshop. This video is not only a great example of OF, but also of how to make a gorgeous documentation video. They stitched together a ridiculous dollar amount of projectors to get this to work, and I think the project turned out great. Here’s to corporate sponsorship!

I want to know what exactly this is and how I can get there. Maybe the fact that I don’t understand the characters is making it a little more mysterious to me, but I feel like it is such an odd collection of interactive pieces. I am a sucker for CV/Motion tracking projects, and I quite like how successful this one is at looking almost cheesily futuristic. It looks like a scifi movie.

Quick Sketch

What I like about this is that it seems like a “I just got it compiling, let’s test it” video, but the concept is so nice that it still sucks me in. I love how rather than doing something super energetic with the motion tracking, the grid just sort of squeezes in on the point where someone is moving on it. It feels very organic.

http://urbanhonking.com/ideasfordozens/2012/01/14/machine-pareidolia-hello-little-fella-meets-facetracker/

In this project Matt Jones explored the phenomenon of pareidolia, the ‘natural human inclination to see faces everywhere around us.’ In which he uses ofxfacetracker to detect faces in everyday objects.

There are many more examples on the sight. I enjoy this project because of how it takes face tracking into new and usual contexts. It also brings humor the the imperfections of computer algorithms and helps to give intuitions into their workings.

A Journey – Dublin

http://www.kimchiandchips.com/journey_dublin.php

Combining the virtual and physical int one experience, this project animates hand made drawing. Transparant slides are drawn on and entered, a light traces them which then paints and generates and animation which is projected onto the drawing slides.

Simple Harmonic Motion

Simple Harmonic Motion is a series of pieces around the effects of simple sinusoidal and harmonics. Of the 9 pieces I chose two which I particularly enjoyed for their deceptive simplicity and hypnotic nature. The first is the most simple and is simply dots osculating in some passageway. However, much is accomplished with very little and the audio effects are complementary to the visual patterns. The latter videos pull some 3d magic to create more elaborate representations of the notes.

Useful: Duration by James George

Description this is a data visualization tool that tracks data and generates a graph to communicate data summaries in meaningful ways

Purpose visualization tools are always beneficial to give meaning to the large amount of data that current technological devices record on a daily basis about our lifestyles, habits and behaviors

Useable: BalletFont by Weiden + Kennedy’s WK12

Description this software captures ballet dancers’ movements and transforms them into an interesting readable and elegant typeface

Purpose designers look for creative ways to put together font styles, but also to give them an exceptional human trait, in opposition to geometrical boring typefaces

Desirable: Flowerium by Makoto Hirahara

Description this application designed for mobile devices demonstrates an interactive way to plant seeds and observe flowers grow and blossom.

Purpose the developer aims to entertain the audience

Visual techniques the designer uses an algorithm that displays flowers that are visually appealing and adds a sound effect to their growth and death

Improvement the sound generated with the growth of the flowers doesn’t go well with the animation

Exploring ofx

Capacitive touch sensing: ofxTouche

ofxTouche made at resonate.io 2013 by Brett Renfer, Bjorn Staal, Thijs Bernolet

Touché caught my attention. This OF plugin provides functionality for the Disney Research capacitive touch sensing project.

I have messed around with a plat based sensor (Disney’s Botanicus Interactivus) and would like to explore this concept with more objects. One thought is to attach to device to a person and detect what it touching the person/ where the person is being touched (wikipedia says the human body can be charged to 3kV!). This may work well with dance as different parts of the body could come into contact with ground instead of simply hands and feet.

Capacitive sensing has the potential to add interactivity to a number of inanimate objects. I would curious about measuring frequency responses off of trees and then mapping this to sounds. Threes in the wind have subtle motions that may be detectable. Buildings may also be interesting. In this case detection would focus on material changes throughout the seasons.

Machine Learning: ofxlearn

ofxlearn by genekogan

Machine learning would be a necessary component of the capactivie touch sensing so it would be nice to have alternative machine learning options. This library is built on dlib which contains a number of tools.

I am currently rather excited by the potentials of machine learning. I like the idea that I could spend a little time training a computer and then it can solve stuff on its on (though its not necessarily that easy). This library will hopefully make the process simpler.

ML can be applied in a few projects that I have in mind. On the practical side I would like to implement smart power consumption monitor which has been trained to recognize the various devices drawing power.

I have also been thinking that it would be great to use Amazon Turk to create training data. It might be fun to have Turk identify awkward smiles.

Identifying faces ofxFaceTracker:

ofxFaceTracker by Kyle McDonald

If I am to identify awkward smiles then this face recognition plug-in will be necessary. This module is included because there have been some cool projects in OF using this software.

It would be interesting to map human face features to various animals. An avatar would be controlled by facial gestures. It may also be interesting to create a classification system for face features where images or words could be mapped to responses or speech to the face that produces it.

On a practical note: ofx

ofx by prusnak

This is a plug-in manager so I will install it first. This will likely save many headaches.

Provocative

http://www.pornhub.com/insights/pornhub-2013-year-in-review/ [SFW] although many of the links are not sfw.

So Pornhub has lots of data, specifically data that is not discussed in public and data that has a few interesting trends.  I’m really not sure to make of some of these trends, like breakdown of time on site by state. Or which TV events reduced porn watchage the most (It was the Walking Dead finale). Other interesting facts are that christmas reduces por watching on average by 22 percent, except Japan where it rises by 8. I wish they had more interactive elements and the ability to see the distribution of arbitrary terms.

Well Made

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2013/jan/21/presidential-inauguration-speeches-obama-compared

This is a breakdown of popular words in inaugural speeches from Obamas second to Nixons first. Each word is given a size and position based off of its prevalence. Highlighting a word reveals words use din conjunction to it. Each word can have a color chart showing wither distribution by party, time or category.

Interesting

http://www.chrisharrison.net/index.php/Visualizations/AmazonMap

Chris Harrison (from CMU) used a data set generated by no other than Aaron Swartz of all 735,323 books on Amazon at the time. The books are represented by a giant graph in which edges are similarities. Running a clustering algorithm generates an image of each book colored by amazon category.

An Interesting Sketch/Experiment:

Harmonics::openFrameworks + Leap Motion + Synthesis Toolkit by v1e2ridisQ3u4o
This showcases one of the best looking visually-displayed audio synthesizers I’ve ever come across.  While I really enjoy the minimal synthesizer being used, I don’t think it matches the visual style.  Also, I suspect the Leap Motion might be unnecessary as an interface for the synthesizer.  Despite this, if I have access to a Leap Motion controller I would love to play with this.

Really Promising Work that Needs Something More:

Blind Self Portrait from Kyle McDonald on Vimeo.
I think this is a great toy and a really good introduction into the world of computer vision and art for those who are not familiar.  However, there is nothing that would encourage people to come back to it and experience it again after a first try.  I think it would be improved if there were some sort of element or system added that would encourage participants to add their own hand to the drawing so that users would feel an even greater sense of ownership of the self-portraits created.

Important Contribution:

Starfield from Lab212 on Vimeo.
The manner in a variety components such as a Kinect, a projector, and a swing are used in conjunction with one toolkit shows the power of openFrameworks and its capability of helping to create compelling, imaginative, and polished experiences with code.  The visual display of projected stars, coupled with the simple interaction of using a swing is a fantastic example of analog control of digital substance that conjures a sense of wonder akin to that of a child looking up at the stars.  

1. Starry Night (interactive animation)

This work is like magic! It just stand on the shoulder of  Vincent Van Gogh, and give a new life again to the famous painting. The movement is so natural and beautiful, what’s more, the interactive part add more fun to this project. Finally, the sound design is also make the work perfect.

2. N-3D

This project won at media it used as display. I think the work it self may not very complicated, but it jump out of the flat aesthetic. I saw more potential in the part of interaction  by sound. I think the interaction can be more interesting and more magical. Many application can also start from this idea.

3.  Step sequencer meets projection mapping

I like this project because the mapping is clear and the sound is nice. It is well designed and the virtual part is also impressive. The changing of the blocks is magical just like when sound mixed together there is something great arise from them.