[Yann Seznec / Wii Loop Machine] Making art on computers is nothing new, and generally based on software development. If we want to get to the root of something considered "Device Art" from that point of view, we have to take a look at (artful) software development and the rise of mobile devices. One might suspect the first programmable devices were mobile phones, but gaming handhelds, like the Nintendo Game Boy are probably a good platform with which to start this discussion. This is where the homebrew movement kicks in. People tried to modify games and get their own software running on the hardware plugged into televisions and portable handhelds. Second, programmers created tools in order to make developing and running their own software on these platforms easier. Once these tools were completed and distributed, a new generation of users was given the opportunity to run (and maybe create) their own software. Devices like mobile phones, handheld gaming units and vintage hardware activate new developers. Homebrew on Handhelds As time went by games, hacks and tools were made for "old gaming consoles" that were not the latest on the market. Hackers and enthusiasts celebrated the unique aura and the spirit of (relatively) antiquated hardware with all their clonks, bleeps, crackles, substandard components, limitations and constraints. Most homebrewed things that evolved alongside handheld gaming consoles came many years after the hardware was "hot" on the mass-market. Coders and freaks responsible for interesting and sophisticated work came from the demoscene, the art world, were game coders or were technical engineers - a wild mixture of technologically enabled people with a creative mindset. The first ancestors of art on portable devices would be developed communally by homebrew programmers: They sought new experiences and searched for new ways to "demo" new platforms, as well as simple means to use portable devices as vehicles of artistic expression. Nanoloop - Game Boy Classic One of the first software tools that showed the amazing qualities of homebrew software for portable gaming consoles was the Nanoloop by Oliver Wittchow, an experimental synthesizer and sequencer for the Nintendo Game Boy. It is a mixture of an innovative user-interface with a advanced sound generator and sequencer that kicks takes full advantage of the GameBoy's soundchip. With Nanoloop you can modify and manipulate every sound source the Game Boy is able to output and mix it into techno-driven loops. Its very unique sound quality is often heard in productions of the chip- and micromusic scene. New connectivity features Within the last few years new connectivity features emerged on portable devices, at the same time that sensor technology made its way into the mass market. Once again Nintendo pushed the front line on the hardware side and introduced the Nintendo Wii and a completely new kind of game controller: the Wiimote. With infrared, Bluetooth and a bunch of buttons and motion sensors, the way to control games was reinvented. At the same time, other manufacturers explored the same space and invested in GPS tracking, touchpad technologies and similar sorts of features for mobile phones. Homebrewers that were already familiar with software development and hardware hacking on gaming consoles had no problems investing and developing tools for the Wiimote. Since the Wiimote is also cheap and does not necessarily have to be used with the Wii console it quickly became an interesting controller interface available for everyone. With basic hacking skills you even can make use of the Wiimote on your PC or Mac system, and write applications for it. Wii Loop Machine for the Nintendo Wiimote Controller Yann Seznec, created an entire music application for the Nintendo Wiimote controller that he called the Wii Loop Machine. It provides an excellent example of changes in electronic hardware - you do not necessarily have to push buttons anymore in this new era of gesture-interface. For this reason Seznec decided to develop a full-blown music-application specifically for the Wiimote. It is also suitable for playing music live. He described his creation and initial motivation in an interview from 2007 as follows 'I learned about the Wiimote in December of last year, and the motion detection aspect of it really appealed to me and so it seems to like most other people, too. I always felt that electronic music creation and performance is missing a gestural interface. Still this is one of the major things that separates computer-based music from non computer-based music. Making music with computers is amazing and powerful and fun, but I wanted to add an aspect of movement to that.' This is the technological shift we are experiencing at the moment - sensor technologies and connectivity features that lead to new degrees of freedom that have yet to be explored. Smartphones Mobile phones are highly distributed and have grown more and more powerful over the last several years. Until the arrival of the iPhone not many sophisticated projects (ones we could consider "art") were developed for mobiles. The mobile phone platform was very much dictated by the commercial sector and media was primarily limited to cheap games and expensive ringtones (there are exceptions to this rule). With the arrival of the first iPhone things began to change. First, a crowd of curious early adopters sensed the potential of this upcoming technology and the changes that were about to happen. Second, and most important, significant changes on connectivity, usability, CPU-processing power, storage space and RAM yielded an epic shift in the capability and promising future of mobile devices. Also, with new technologies like GPS tracking, motion sensors, multipoint-touchpads and microphones, phones and headsets made completely new experiences available to users. Third, new development tools for these smartphones were created - Apple rushed to get their iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) out for developers. Apple especially wanted to support developers in order to get their App Store running. Apple was not the only company creating new possibilities and platforms. At the moment we are facing an increasing dynamic range of opportunities for mobile development from Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, Java for Mobiles and Flash lite to open-source Android, Apple SDK as well as the upcoming Flash 10 for mobiles. These are not only new tools, this is a significant technological change that begins to unleash the real power of smartphones. These new tools support rapid prototyping and quick application development in combination with the new "toys", like sensors, tracking, CPU and storage power, local awareness, online modes and databases. RjDj for iPhone An application that shows the potential of smartphones for artmaking is the RjDj. The application combines connectivity and experimental music composition. RjDj enables phones to play music, but unlike simply playing songs, the RjDj plays "scenes". This is something like an experimental, interactive music score, that can be modified and influenced by every kind of sensor that the iPhone contains such as motion sensors, the microphone, the touchpad and so on. The "scenes" create a completely new music experience on the go, by mixing the music coming out of the iPhone with microphone input and the motion of the phone. It generates audio that is not "music" in any classical sense - it is a complex interactive experience, a mix of the composer's intention, combined with real-time data from the surroundings. Each "scene" can react to the modifications of the listener. The RjDj is very ambitious, and surely just the beginning of a new era of art that is only possible on emerging portable devices. Do-it-yourself Kits and Homescientist-Engineered Stuff - The Silent Microcontoller Revolution Another development that is important to discuss. A spin-off of the culture of the Processing community were two hardware-platforms, that enabled easy programming on microcontroller boards. The first was the Wiring project, closely followed by the Arduino. Both projects enabled mostly students to get into the art of microcontroller-programming without concerning themselves with technological overhead. The microcontrollers can be (relatively) easily programmed in the traditional "Processing style" enabling tangible experiences, as well as connectivity to Java, maxMSP, PureData or Flash (and of course, Processing). You can easily compile simple scripts for these boards and get impressive results quickly. At the same time a new culture of do-it-yourself technology "hacking at home" was popularized. Key resources like the Instructables website and the Makezine inspired interested and talented new tinkerers. One of the best known examples is the Evil Mad Scientist group who established low-level technology hacking as their very own form of artistic expression. This collective loves to release work at a rapid rate, most of which is rooted in the beauty of self-developed technology and gadgetry.
[photo: oskay] Mignonette The Mignonette (pictured above) is one of the explorations that was developed by the Evil Mad Scientist. The original creation is from Rolf van Widenfelt and Mitch Altman, they call "a do-it-yourself electronic game console to learn about soldering, microcontrollers and game programming." The Migonette is a microcontroller with lights and switches, that consist of the microcontroller board and a 5x7 bi-color LED display. This is a playground meant for making abstract and minimal gaming experiences. Besides the learning of soldering and building, coding and swapping games (from Pong to Arkanoid-clones) is the domain of the Mignonette. The LEDs on the board can flash at different speeds in order to simulate "greyscales" with the two LED-colors. You also can mix the colors together at different ratios. This is where the constraints of the hardware lead to creative inventions and more sophisticated uses and interaction patterns that can be realized on this limited piece of hardware. The Mignonette is a pure homebrew artistic creation, combining low-level technologies with clever design wisdom. A user has 70 bi-color LEDs to create gaming fun. The Evil Mad Scientist recently developed this concept further with a new creation called Meggy Jr RGB. |
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