WORKSHOPS:
Vimma goes Odradical – Pecap Exercises for Becoming, design workshop
Designing the May workshop together with collaborators (T7/UTA, QUT, Aalto, KTH, Cabaret Electrique,). The project´s performance capture workshops in 2014 are focusing on finding the ableness and restrictions of the marker-based motion capture system and capitalizing on these qualities in a real-time performance. The exercises are designed to explore how several performers are able to control and direct one virtual avatar. The May´s workshop (19.-23.5.) aims at designing an avatar and a virtual environment as well as studying the level of interaction between those two in a performance capture context.
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT:
Mediapolis research collaboration
Roihankorpi and Lenni-Taattola attended in 13.1. Mediapolis University Meet-up, where strategic research and education collaboration between the universities of Tampere region was planned. At the meet-up representatives from Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Tampere University of Technology (3D Media Group, Entertainment and Media Management Lab – EMMi, Intelligent Information Systems Laboratory – IISLab) as well as other units from the University of Tampere (etc. Tampere Unit for Computer- Human Interaction TAUCHI) were also present to plan concrete Mediapolis research projects within the fields of media and new technology.
Reactive residence concept as a part of the Mediapolis initiative
The Reactive residence concept developed by the Vimma project advanced in March when the School of Communication, Media and Theatre CMT and the School of Information Sciences SIS agreed to concentrate parts of their research processes at the Mediapolis campus. The collaboration enables e.g. launching common research projects between the Vimma project and Tampere Unit for Computer- Human Interaction TAUCHI. (http://t7.uta.fi/fi/current/news.php?cat=1&item=342)
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATION:
Roihankorpi´s research exchange at Queensland University of Technology/ University of Queensland 02-05/14
Roihankorpi initiated collaboration with the animation department at the Queensland University of Technology and agreed on their participation on the project´s performance capture workshops. PhD student Joel Bennett and Steven Mohr were assigned to design the virtual avatars to be used in the research conducted at the Vimma goes Odradical PeCap workshops (05,08/14).
Roihankorpi and the Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation/ QUT discussed the possibility to apply the Benchmarker information ecology developed by the latter to the Mediapolis development. As proposed at the Mediapolis University meetup on January 13, the Benchmarker information ecology could be used as a collaboration platform between research institutions and the media companies at the Mediapolis campus. The ecology would base on shared distribution and evaluation system of information.
Roihankorpi wrote together with QUT lecturer Matthew Delbridge a peer reviewed article entitled Intermedial ontologies: strategies of real time PeCap in performing arts preparedness, research and design.
Roihankorpi wrote a chapter entitled Performing (the Subject of) Exteriority: Virtuality, Mimesis, and the Gratuitous ‘One Must’ to the peer reviewed publication Through the Virtual, Towards the Real (edit. Trinity College Dublin/ ATRL, IE).
Roihankorpi wrote together with lecturer Matthew Delbridge a presentation entitled Intermedial Ecologies for the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies ADSA conference(Wellington NZ, June 25-28 2014).
Roihankorpi gave a lecture Towards an Anarchic Ethics of Performance: Artaud and the Non-anthropocentric Thea at QUT on April 30.
Roihankorpi participated in the planning of a joint peer review article concerning the collaboration development between research centres and gaming industry. The article is due on December 2014 and written in collaboration with QUT/ UQ.
Roihankorpi represented T7 in the virtual performance collaboration connected to the upcoming QUT´s new media centre.
Planning of a game performance research network together with City University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology. The related Finnish industry collaboration has been started with game companies by mapping out shared interests. Furthermore this line of development work expands the research network to the University of Tasmania.
Collaboration within the HAPtic network
The Vimma project represents the University of Tampere in an international PhD in Digital Arts network that has been preparing a programme for 15 PhD projects entitled HAPtic (Human Agency in Performance Technology and Interactive Creativity). A funding for the HAPtic programme will be applied from the Horizon 2020/ Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie actions in early 2015. The network consists of University of Tampere, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Greenwich, Trinity College Dublin – ATRL, University of Vilnius and Waag Society (NL).
Roihankorpi and Lenni-Taattola hosted a collaboration meeting for the members of the network in Tampere in 30-31 of January. Doctors Mary Oliver (Manchester Metropolitan University), Gregory Sporton (University of Greenwich) and Renata ŠukaitytÄ— (University of Vilnius) were also present in Tampere. During the meeting the central contents and thematic (interactivity between the user and technology) of HAPtic were agreed upon. The development work on the program´s contents was continued later on with all members of the network as agreed on the meeting in Tampere.
Lenni-Taattola and the development director of T7, Mika Lehtinen presented HAPtic´s central contents to the Open Tampere innovation program´s leader Seppo Haataja on March 14 at T7. The meeting mapped out the possibilities to initiate research projects within the HAPtic program that would enhance the Open Tampere´s main development lines such as urban development and care industry and to create new business.
PRODUCTIONS:
Ornaments
Researchers Teemu Määttänen and Ilkka Niemeläinen conducted Vimma´s subproject Ornaments. In the Ornaments applications that capitalize on user-centred technology in order to combine visuals and sounds together in real-time are produced.
The research work was executed in three parts: survey on the precedent works in visual music (such as the combination of colours and pitches), practical and thematic development work and framing the technology to be applied in the Ornaments. The work in applying sounds and visuals to the spatial logic included mostly programming that aimed e.g. at interactive processes between user and technology created by Leap Motion censor and methods that enable improvisation at the data system level. One of the main objectives of the Ornaments is precisely to create tools for producing similar artefacts combining sounds and visuals. These artefacts can later be generalized and used in various (e.g. artistic and socio-ethical) contexts. The chosen programming environments applied in the project enable the mentioned low-level modular structure that can be generalized after the accomplishment of the Ornaments.
S.A. Andrée
The production planned for 09-12 2014 will be postponed for spring 2015 (information received 5/2014). The research allocated for the production will be completed in the Ornaments subproject within the project´s timeframe. The results will be presented during the reporting period 1-5/ 2015