“Conscious = Camera” by Quennesson
Conference:
- SIGGRAPH 2005
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More from SIGGRAPH 2005:
Type(s):
E-Tech Type(s):
- Animation
- Computer Vision
- Displays & Projection
- Interfaces & HCI
Entry Number: 03
Title:
- Conscious = Camera
Presenter(s):
Project Affiliation:
- Georgia Institute of Technology
Description:
Jean-Paul Sartre, in lʼImaginaire, says that “the image is not a state, a solid and opaque residue, it is a consciousness”.
The reality we are perceiving is indeed not a flow of flat images as a digital camera or video camera would output, but a consciousness “of things” — which is made of a completely different material. This project attempts at “representing” this consciousness, by detecting in a video stream the face and the hands of a person using statistical body-tracking, and analyzing his/her movement. If the movement is slow, only the face and hands are shown: this is the consciousness of a static person. If the movement becomes more important, the face and hands disappear and the body begins to appear: this is the consciousness of a less distinguishable body in motion. A trailing effect makes each image integrate the “before” and “after” moments, parts of the consciousness of movement. Each consciousness shown leaves a mark on the background, which will very slowly vanish. This represents the memory.
Acknowledgements:
This project was completed in the context of Diane Gromalaʼs Experimental Media/Biomedia Lab. In particular, I would like to thank Prof. Gromala for her consistently good advice and ideas, as well as the faculty of the IDT program, Prof. Irfan Essa for their availibility, and the students of the IDT progran who patiently helped me while I was struggling with English grammar.