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| BioMorphic Typography 2000 - present |
ASCII_DNA | ||
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Biomorphic Type™ BioMorphic Typography is Gromala's term for a family of fonts that respond, in real-time, to a user's changing physical states, as measured by a biofeedback device. Rather than one typeface, it is a postmodern pastiche of many different fonts that are continually morphing. So, for example, the font "throbs" as the user's/writer's heart beats, expands as the user breathes, and "spikes" according to galvanic skin response. In this way, users become aware of their autonomic states -- physiological states that usually remain under our conscious awareness. This project is part of a larger initiative, Design for the Senses. The goal is to develop new approaches to experiential design that focus on the senses and the phenomenological history of the body. |
ASCII_DNA is a bioinformatics project that combines computers, biology, and literature. Each piece of software in the project performs manipulations between DNA, proteins, and English-language text (ASCII). |
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| MeatBook 2002 - present |
BmTP | ||
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A project that provokes users' senses of their visceral responses. A time-based (that is, decaying) slab of meat, constructed as a book, is embedded with various sensors that cause the meat to react and quiver as the viewer approaches it. The reanimated flesh also responds with other movements and sound when users touch it. The next stage of development includes artificial intelligence and explores notions of generative art. |
BmTP stands for Biomolecular Transport Protocol, and is a project that utilizes simple artificial life (a-life) systems to exchange biological data over a network, similar to the Internet protocols of TCP and IP. |
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| Meditation
Chamber 2002 - present |
PbC | ||
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The Meditation Chamber is an immersive VR environment that provides users with real-time feedback. Wearing a head-mounted display and biofeedback device, users are guided through a series of relaxation and meditation techniques. In real-time, the audio and visuals are synced to the users' continually changing physiological states (respiration, pulse rate and sweat gland activity (a measure of calmness)). As users' approach meditative states, the hypnotic visuals dissolve to moving mist and darkness as the user relaxes. Exhibited at SIGGRAPH's Emerging Technologies, and seen on CNN. |
PbC (Personal bioComputing) is a conceptual investigation into the possibility of a PC/personal computer that utilizes biological components. Inspired by earlier experiments involving DNA computers, the PbC project explores the idea of someday using DNA as a PC. |
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| Windows
and Mirrors: Experience Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency
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BIOMEDIA | ||
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Jay Bolter and Diane Gromala. Windows and Mirrors: Experience Design, Digital Art and the Myth of Transparency. Cambridge and London MITPress. 2003. |
Eugene Thacker, BIOMEDIA . University of Minnesota Press, 2004. |
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| UNESCO |
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As Chair of the Research arm of UNESCO's (United Nations' Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) global Electronic Arts Initiative, Diane Gromala is curating a web portal, Art, Science, and Technology. It features emerging technologies, the leading figures in Art and Science who develop them, and the philosophical, cultural, and technical issues they provoke. An emphasis is in the global diversity and confluences of such work. |
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| Viradiant |
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This immersive virtual reality environment is designed as both an educational and therapeutic tool dealing with psychological depression. The environment externalizes states that are generally regarded as being internal, and allows for exploration that gradually transforms the user’s virtual reality experience from one signifying depression, darkness, and constriction to one that embodies relief, light, and openness. This project is an exploration of the affective reactions that this type of VR environment can have on a participant. Its long term goal is to be used as a supplement to the therapy and rehabilitation of a depressed individual; in addition, it can be utilized as a method leading to increased understanding and the lessening of stigmas associated with psychological depression. |
OF TECHNOLOGY
