Papers
A Multi-Touch Multi-Sensor Multi-User Visual and Sound Projection Sphere to Render The Eye of the Sun
​Tim Schneider, Gérard Kubryk, Fayçal Bouiddouh, Matthieu Courgeon, Vincent Hulot, David Poirier-Quinot, Frédéric Auchère, Frédéric Baudin, Éric Buchlin, and Xavier Maître
At La Nuit Blanche 2024, visitors discovered The Eye of the Sun, a giant eye that stared at them and followed them. It was curious about them, inviting them to come closer to touch it and unveil what was hiding inside. The Eye appeared to the visitors as an autonomous agent and naturally invited engagement and interaction. Here, we briefly present the technology and control systems involved in The Eye and open up connections towards user experience studies around immersive, interactive artworks.
When Science and Technology Meet Art and Culture
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Alfredo M. Ronchi
The present contribution will focus on two recent trends impacting cultural sector: immersive environments and artificial intelligence. Both the technologies are tightly connected with the “new normal” associated to Digital Transition. Digital transition is a new global trend that was boosted by the pandemic, this “transition” is sometimes pushing “digitally divided” citizens to go digital. Artificial intelligence and immersive technologies had already their appearance on stage respectively in the 1980s and 1990s. Nowadays both technologies can be accessible in everyday-life and provide a real impact on society giving benefits but even some drawbacks.
Metaverse and shared immersive virtual realities
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Alfredo M. Ronchi
Short introduction on the state of the art
As Ms. Dorothy Gordon, chair of the Bureau of the IFAP Intergovernmental Council outlined on the “World Treasury of Mother Tongues: Nourish and Cherish. National And International Context, Policies and Practices to Preserve Indigenous Languages” July 2022, we are now on the move from the “society” we know since quite a long time to a new society based on a pervasive role of cyber technology mainly based on connectivity and real time communication in the general framework of globalization. Is this a society relevant advance or a nightmare? One of the potential final goals of digital transition is to transfer under the digital domain all the activities and procedures. Who is in charge to “rule” this pervasive digital domain recently termed “Metaverse”?
Machine Learning & Cultural Heritage
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Alfredo M. Ronchi
1. Depicting the scenario
To have a clear vision of the "new reality" and its trend, it is necessary to consider the technological evolution together with some relevant events and the impacts that these aspects have had and will have on society, then carrying out a "future back casting" exercise.…
It is all gold what it glitters? The "new normal"
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Alfredo M. Ronchi
Within the general framework of “Internet for social good” “It is all gold what it glitters” proposes an insight on potential impacts and drawbacks due to the ongoing digital transformation. This paper analyses some of the key facts and events that characterised the recent past and contributed to identify the digital transition as the natural evolution of our society. It looks to cyber technology from the humanities side, considering the mid- and long-term impact on society.…
Heritage and Tourism in the age of digital transition and pandemic
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Alfredo M. Ronchi
Digital transition together with all the related side effects plus the
pandemic imposed a true stress test to tourism and cultural institutions.
Extended lockdowns deeply impacted citizens’ lifestyle, significantly reducing
social life and cultural enjoyment. Following the fil-rouge of the evolution of
tourism indifferent forms up to overtourism impacting both residents and
heritage. The paper explores the key indicators of overtourism and related
causes. From the advent of models based on the number of visitors and the
carrying capacity of tourist locations, to the most recent assessments which also
consider visitor behaviour, time dimensions and concentration phenomena of
people in certain places…
A proposal for an integrated framework for immersive technologies
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Guillem Bacete, Chuan Li, Pau Díaz Solano, Fernando Álvarez Teresa
Recent years have witnessed a fast-growing interest in immersive technology among scholars and practitioners. The term immersive technology originates from the first prototype of human- computer interaction in the mid-20th century (Sutherland, 1964), and today it commonly represents any technology capable of providing computer-generated simulations with physical, spatial and visual dimensions (Suh and Prophet, 2018), such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and others that are considered to lie in the virtuality conô€†Ÿnuum (Milgram and Kishino, 1994).…
The Eye of the Sun — A touch- and motion-sensitive, interactive, audio-visual sculpture combining curiosity and solar physics
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Tim Schneider, Gérard Kubryk, Vincent Hulot, Mathieu Courgeon, David Poirier-Quinot, Frédéric Auchére, Frédéric Baudin, Éric Buchlin, and Xavier Maître
In this paper, we present the Eye of the Sun, a solar composition for visitors, sensors, speakers, computers, lenses, mirrors and video projectors, in aluminium and acrylic. The Eye of the Sun is a motion- and touch-sensitive digital sculpture representing a gigantic human-like eye with a realistic aesthetic…
The L∞p — A 360-degree immersive and interactive stage for collective
space-time experiences
Béatrice Albert, Emmanuelle Frenoux, Gaële Misiak, Gérard Kubryk, Guillaume Junot, Izabela Faguet, Mathieu Courgeon, Michèle Gouiffès, Nicola Lorè, Sami Korhonen, Tim Schneider, Vincent Hulot, and Xavier Maître
Advances in immersive technology continue to enrich the breadth, depth, and intensity of the audience experience. The L∞p is a 360-degree immersive and interactive stage for the creation and dissemination of new augmented forms of live performance and digital installation that engage artists, scientists, and audiences, say experiencers, in an unconstrained multi-sensory collective experience…
Creating and Measuring Immersion in Open Public Spaces with Ariadne's Fibres
Tim Schneider, Céline Clavel, Gérard Kubryk, Michèle Gouiffès, Emmanuelle Frenoux, Mathieu Courgeon, Vincent Hulot, Guillaume Junot, and Xavier Maître
Immersive experiences and art installations are becoming ever more popular. While they are usually developed using specialized technology (such as head-mounted displays) or dedicated, fully controlled environments (often black rooms with video projections on the walls and floor), the implementation of immersive installations in open, public spaces (such as city squares or shopping malls) remains a particularly challenging and interesting task: How to deal with unfavorable conditions on site (noise, stray light etc.)…
Triggering Immersion in Public Spaces: A Comparative Study of Interactive Digital Art Installations
Tim Schneider, Céline Clavel, Gérard Kubryk, Michèle Gouiffès, Emmanuelle Frenoux, Mathieu Courgeon, Gaële Misiak, Vincent Hulot, Xavier Maître
Immersion is part of any human experience, whether it is governed by the surrounding contingent world or by artificial, virtual spaces. In the cultural sector, immersive technologies are increasingly employed in contemporary artworks, installations, exhibitions and live performances.…
After more than thirty years we reopen the folder of immersivity in a social dimension enabling creatives to express themselves in open public spaces. Is “immersivity” an interesting and innovative “communicative experience” to be enjoyed together with other citizens, breaking cyber-isolation. This paper describes a interdisciplinary Horizon Europe research project aimed to design and develop a cost effective, hassle-free, easy to install and tune solution…