@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ Wondering who would buy an automated mechanical pet to assist and live in their
For this work, I collaborated with Simone C Niquille as a Creative Technologist. In the process of creating Beauty and The Beep, the chair was trained using reinforcement learning alogrthims in the Unity game engine. The training process took inspiration from Boston Dynamic's approach in the training of their SpotMini, as well as tradiontional (DeepMimic)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppFvq2quQ0] environments for Reinforcement Learning research. We chose to use Unity for this project, as it allowed us to work with the (ML-Agents Package)[https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/ml-agents] - an experimental Reinforcement Learning framework, which wraps complex reinforcement learning algorithms/methods into components which are more acessible for developers. Even though this package has been forgotten by Unity, for the most part, working with a user-friendly game engine was key in creating simuated environments for the 🪑 to explore.
For this work, I collaborated with Simone C Niquille as a Creative Technologist. In the process of creating Beauty and The Beep, the chair was trained using reinforcement learning alogrthims in the Unity game engine. The training process took inspiration from Boston Dynamic's approach in the training of their SpotMini, as well as tradiontional (DeepMimic)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppFvq2quQ0] environments for Reinforcement Learning research. We chose to use Unity for this project, as it allowed us to work with the (ML-Agents Package)[https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/ml-agents] - an experimental Reinforcement Learning framework, which wraps complex reinforcement learning algorithms/methods into components which are more acessible for developers. Even though this package has been forgotten by Unity, for the most part, working with a user-friendly game engine was key in creating simuated environments for the 🪑 to explore.
Supported by Stimuleringsfonds Digital Culture Grant Scheme & the Canadaian Centre For Architecture.
@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ Dwelling is a dynamic live performance and theatre installation created by (Pete
The virtual world was created entirely within Unity. Data was captured from Robyn's movement through various methods, such as the Perception Neuron mo-cap suit, as well as emerging monocular 3d human pose detection models. Unity's particle system was used extensively in the project, converting point cloud and positional data into emergent movement, and ethereal landscapes.
The virtual world was created entirely within Unity. Data was captured from Robyn's movement through various methods, such as the Perception Neuron mo-cap suit, as well as emerging monocular 3d human pose detection models. Unity's particle system was used extensively in the project, converting point cloud and positional data into emergent movement, and ethereal landscapes.
Supported by the Arts Council. Presented by Sparsile Collective and Once Off Productions. In association with Beta Festival, Cork Midsummer Festival and Carlow Arts Festival.
@ -17,7 +17,11 @@ In a simulation sculpted by algorithms, Moloch emerges – a digital artefact cr
The sculpture contemplates the algorithm’s hidden desires that drive the agent to optimise endlessly in pursuit of a flawless policy - examining the computational sacrifice made in service to its inscrutable objectives. By examining Moloch’s influence, the work reflects on the irrational and self-destructive behaviours born from our digital entanglement with such relentless forces where the boundaries between human and machine desires converge.
The sculpture contemplates the algorithm’s hidden desires that drive the agent to optimise endlessly in pursuit of a flawless policy - examining the computational sacrifice made in service to its inscrutable objectives. By examining Moloch’s influence, the work reflects on the irrational and self-destructive behaviours born from our digital entanglement with such relentless forces where the boundaries between human and machine desires converge.
The simulation runs in real-time and was created in the Unity game-engine. The simulation observes an agent while it trains to walk using various reinforcement learning algorithms commonly employed in early physically-based animation research. The script includes extracts from Howl (1955) by Allen Ginsberg, with the sound design by (Inwoo Jung)[https://www.instagram.com/_inwoo.j/].
The simulation runs in real-time and was created in the Unity game-engine. The simulation observes an agent while it trains to walk using various reinforcement learning algorithms commonly employed in early physically-based animation research. The script includes extracts from Howl (1955) by Allen Ginsberg.
Sound design by (Inwoo Jung)[https://www.instagram.com/_inwoo.j/].
Supported by the Arts Council, University College Dublin, Sample-studios, & Artlinks.
<p>Exploring the consequences of cohabiting with computer vision, <ahref="https://www.technofle.sh/">Simone Niquille’s</a> ( ᐛ )و Beauty and The Beep follows Bertil, a chair that is trying to find a place to sit. Inspired by the enchanted household objects from the fairy tale Beauty and The Beast, the film is set in a suburban home instead of a castle, and the beast has been replaced by the continuous notification sounds of smart devices. In the film, Bertil navigates through a virtual house — a recreation of the model home built by the robotics company Boston Dynamics in 2016 to showcase their robot dog SpotMini.</p>
<p>Exploring the consequences of cohabiting with computer vision, <ahref="https://www.technofle.sh/">Simone Niquille’s</a> ( ᐛ )و Beauty and The Beep follows Bertil, a chair that is trying to find a place to sit. Inspired by the enchanted household objects from the fairy tale Beauty and The Beast, the film is set in a suburban home instead of a castle, and the beast has been replaced by the continuous notification sounds of smart devices. In the film, Bertil navigates through a virtual house — a recreation of the model home built by the robotics company Boston Dynamics in 2016 to showcase their robot dog SpotMini.</p>
<p>Wondering who would buy an automated mechanical pet to assist and live in their home, the film explores Boston Dynamics' datafied definition of a home or what it takes for such a personal and intimate space to be standardised for computer vision to function. Bertil — a synthetic chair inspired by IKEA’s first 3D rendered image for their print catalogue, which marked their shift to rendered imagery — wanders through this seemingly simple virtual home, interacting with its objects, in search of some answers. Navigating the home for Bertil is no easy task, as they encounter the daily life noise that is littered throughout the home. A banana trips them, they cannot sit, they get stuck on a treadmill and why is there a toy pony on the floor? Revealing how the impossibility of gathering training data in the home has led to the widespread use of synthetic data, Bertil reminds us that the home is private and not for capture.</p>
<p>Wondering who would buy an automated mechanical pet to assist and live in their home, the film explores Boston Dynamics' datafied definition of a home or what it takes for such a personal and intimate space to be standardised for computer vision to function. Bertil — a synthetic chair inspired by IKEA’s first 3D rendered image for their print catalogue, which marked their shift to rendered imagery — wanders through this seemingly simple virtual home, interacting with its objects, in search of some answers. Navigating the home for Bertil is no easy task, as they encounter the daily life noise that is littered throughout the home. A banana trips them, they cannot sit, they get stuck on a treadmill and why is there a toy pony on the floor? Revealing how the impossibility of gathering training data in the home has led to the widespread use of synthetic data, Bertil reminds us that the home is private and not for capture.</p>
<p>For this work, I collaborated with Simone C Niquille as a Creative Technologist. In the process of creating Beauty and The Beep, the chair was trained using reinforcement learning alogrthims in the Unity game engine. The training process took inspiration from Boston Dynamic's approach in the training of their SpotMini, as well as tradiontional <ahref="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppFvq2quQ0">DeepMimic</a> environments for Reinforcement Learning research. We chose to use Unity for this project, as it allowed us to work with the <ahref="https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/ml-agents">ML-Agents Package</a> - an experimental Reinforcement Learning framework, which wraps complex reinforcement learning algorithms/methods into components which are more acessible for developers. Even though this package has been forgotten by Unity, for the most part, working with a user-friendly game engine was key in creating simuated environments for the 🪑 to explore. </p>
<p>For this work, I collaborated with Simone C Niquille as a Creative Technologist. In the process of creating Beauty and The Beep, the chair was trained using reinforcement learning alogrthims in the Unity game engine. The training process took inspiration from Boston Dynamic's approach in the training of their SpotMini, as well as tradiontional <ahref="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppFvq2quQ0">DeepMimic</a> environments for Reinforcement Learning research. We chose to use Unity for this project, as it allowed us to work with the <ahref="https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/ml-agents">ML-Agents Package</a> - an experimental Reinforcement Learning framework, which wraps complex reinforcement learning algorithms/methods into components which are more acessible for developers. Even though this package has been forgotten by Unity, for the most part, working with a user-friendly game engine was key in creating simuated environments for the 🪑 to explore. </p>
<p>Supported by Stimuleringsfonds Digital Culture Grant Scheme & the Canadaian Centre For Architecture.</p>
<p><imgalt="Beauty and the Beep - Treadmill"src="/images/beauty-and-the-beep/d_beep_9.jpg"title="Beauty and the Beep - Treadmill"/></p>
<p><imgalt="Beauty and the Beep - Treadmill"src="/images/beauty-and-the-beep/d_beep_9.jpg"title="Beauty and the Beep - Treadmill"/></p>
<p><imgalt="Beauty and the Beep - Dumb Objects"src="/images/beauty-and-the-beep/d_beep_8.jpg"title="Beauty and the Beep - Dumb Objects"/></p>
<p><imgalt="Beauty and the Beep - Dumb Objects"src="/images/beauty-and-the-beep/d_beep_8.jpg"title="Beauty and the Beep - Dumb Objects"/></p>
<p><imgalt="Beauty and the Beep - Multiple Agents"src="/images/beauty-and-the-beep/beep_multiple_agents.png"title="Beauty and the Beep - Multiple Agents"/></p>
<p><imgalt="Beauty and the Beep - Multiple Agents"src="/images/beauty-and-the-beep/beep_multiple_agents.png"title="Beauty and the Beep - Multiple Agents"/></p>
<p>Dwelling is a dynamic live performance and theatre installation created by <ahref="https://peterpower.ie/">Peter Power</a> and <ahref="https://bold.ie/">Leon Butler</a>. The performance explores the periphery of cultural isolation, and the dispersal of self across the multimedial, delving into themes of digital mortality, transformation, and rebirth. The performance takes place in the fragments of a home with dance performances by Robyn Byrne and Rosie Stebbing. The characters moves between the digital and real space through motion capture data in conjunction with live tracking. Over the duration of the performance, Rosie starts to form a connection between her physical self, and the digital divide.</p>
<p>Dwelling is a dynamic live performance and theatre installation created by <ahref="https://peterpower.ie/">Peter Power</a> and <ahref="https://bold.ie/">Leon Butler</a>. The performance explores the periphery of cultural isolation, and the dispersal of self across the multimedial, delving into themes of digital mortality, transformation, and rebirth. The performance takes place in the fragments of a home with dance performances by Robyn Byrne and Rosie Stebbing. The characters moves between the digital and real space through motion capture data in conjunction with live tracking. Over the duration of the performance, Rosie starts to form a connection between her physical self, and the digital divide.</p>
<p>The virtual world was created entirely within Unity. Data was captured from Robyn's movement through various methods, such as the Perception Neuron mo-cap suit, as well as emerging monocular 3d human pose detection models. Unity's particle system was used extensively in the project, converting point cloud and positional data into emergent movement, and ethereal landscapes.</p>
<p>The virtual world was created entirely within Unity. Data was captured from Robyn's movement through various methods, such as the Perception Neuron mo-cap suit, as well as emerging monocular 3d human pose detection models. Unity's particle system was used extensively in the project, converting point cloud and positional data into emergent movement, and ethereal landscapes.</p>
<p>Supported by the Arts Council. Presented by Sparsile Collective and Once Off Productions. In association with Beta Festival, Cork Midsummer Festival and Carlow Arts Festival.</p>
<p>In a simulation sculpted by algorithms, Moloch emerges – a digital artefact crafted to explore the ceaseless training process of an <intelligent> agent. Under the guise of reinforcement learning algorithms, the simulation draws parallels between the relentless optimisation of algorithms and the ancient rituals associated with Moloch, a deity synonymous with sacrifice.</p>
<p>In a simulation sculpted by algorithms, Moloch emerges – a digital artefact crafted to explore the ceaseless training process of an <intelligent> agent. Under the guise of reinforcement learning algorithms, the simulation draws parallels between the relentless optimisation of algorithms and the ancient rituals associated with Moloch, a deity synonymous with sacrifice.</p>
<p>The sculpture contemplates the algorithm’s hidden desires that drive the agent to optimise endlessly in pursuit of a flawless policy - examining the computational sacrifice made in service to its inscrutable objectives. By examining Moloch’s influence, the work reflects on the irrational and self-destructive behaviours born from our digital entanglement with such relentless forces where the boundaries between human and machine desires converge.</p>
<p>The sculpture contemplates the algorithm’s hidden desires that drive the agent to optimise endlessly in pursuit of a flawless policy - examining the computational sacrifice made in service to its inscrutable objectives. By examining Moloch’s influence, the work reflects on the irrational and self-destructive behaviours born from our digital entanglement with such relentless forces where the boundaries between human and machine desires converge.</p>
<p>The simulation runs in real-time and was created in the Unity game-engine. The simulation observes an agent while it trains to walk using various reinforcement learning algorithms commonly employed in early physically-based animation research. The script includes extracts from Howl (1955) by Allen Ginsberg, with the sound design by <ahref="https://www.instagram.com/_inwoo.j/">Inwoo Jung</a>.</p>
<p>The simulation runs in real-time and was created in the Unity game-engine. The simulation observes an agent while it trains to walk using various reinforcement learning algorithms commonly employed in early physically-based animation research. The script includes extracts from Howl (1955) by Allen Ginsberg.</p>
<p>Sound design by <ahref="https://www.instagram.com/_inwoo.j/">Inwoo Jung</a>.</p>
