Musical Agents –
an evolving algorithmic music system
Web Architecture – assist
with the CEMA web design
Self-Organizing Imagery
– self assembling art
Iconic Messenger – a
symbol based chat system.
Virtual Worlds - 3D real-time
support for multimedia software
Please read some general information about these honours projects.
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The Great Learning is an experimental musical work of 7 parts, composed in 1967 by British composer Cornelius Cardew. Each of the seven parts ('paragraphs') of this mammoth work employ different notational methods to describe the music: text, instructions, symbols, but very little traditional music notation.
In Paragraph 7 of the work, a group of singers are each given a series of short phrases to sing and instructions on how to sing them. Each singer is given the same phrases and instructions. You might expect that the chorus would sing in unison, (given the same set of instructions), however a complex musical sequence emerges from such a simple set of instructions to the performers. What is also interesting is that no matter who performs the work it tends to sound the same. Paragraph 7 is an example of algorithmic music composition, where a simple set of instructions define the development and performance of the music (rather than the explicit notation of pitch and duration for each note, as in conventional musical notation). The complexity of the finished composition is several orders of magnitude greater than the instructions used to define it.
Here is an audio recording of a live performance of Paragraph 7 (at First iteration) with about 10 singers (requires MP3 player, e.g. Quicktime )
The aim of this project is to develop a software system that will allow computer-based performances of algorithmic compositions like The Great Learning. The system should consist of a 'general purpose' compositional language that can be run on multiple hosts connected via TCP/IP (i.e. the Internet). Programs (compositions) written in the language consist of a series of instructions along with a collection of sound samples or MIDI instruments that are played by the program. Many copies of the software ('agents') run on multiple computers, connected over a network.
It is not necessary to have a musical background to complete this project, but some knowledge of sample playback and MIDI functionality would be helpful.
Cardew, C. Scratch Music, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1969.
Nyman, M. Experimental Music : Cage and Beyond (Music in the Twentieth Century), Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, 1999.
Roads, C. The Computer Music Tutorial, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1995.
In the early days of Web site development, people would hand author hundreds of web pages to make up a site's 'content'. While this is suitable for simpler sites, there are several problems with this approach. Firstly, there are a number of different browser versions in active use along with different plugins installed, screen sizes, colours and so on. Web sites that make use of certain features such as Flash, Shockwave, Dynamic HTML and so on may be isolating a considerable part of their audience who do not have these features in their current browser configuration. In addition, much of a sites content may be 'dynamic', and relying on manual updates to web pages is both time consuming and easy to neglect. Finally, some of a sites content many be generated 'on the fly' through things like search and database queries.
The aim of this project is to design and construct tools for the CEMA web site's dynamic content. Dynamic content includes things like weekly research seminars, calendar of activities, search queries, references, publications announcements, etc. The project will involve research and understanding of the site's information architecture, information design and graphic elements. You will need to know the basics of HTML, Javascript, Perl, and C++ programming. You will need to devise an intelligent and workable solution that can integrate informational and stylistic elements of the site and present them to web users.
For this project you will also gain hands-on experience with web construction tools such as Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks.
Macromedia
(Dreamweaver, etc.)
Norman, D. A. The Design of Everyday Things, DoubleDay, New York, 1989.
Rosenfield, L. & Morville, P. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, O'Reilly & Associates, Sebastopol, 1998.
Wildbur, P. & Burke, M. Information Graphics: Innovative Solutions in Contemporary Design, Thames and Hudson, London, 1998.
The making of an original image is usually a task achieved by an artist or possibly a computer program with some form of representation of the work as a 'whole'. The purpose of this project is to develop animated and still imagery which is the result of the interactions between many individual agents acting under the instructions of their own internal rules.
A real-world example of such a collaborative work is the construction of an ant nest by a colony's workers. No single ant contains a blueprint for the whole nest, yet when they work together (following their own simple instructions and acting only on the simple input they receive from their immediate environment), they are able to create a nest of considerable intricacy.
The project will require the development of a system for specifying the elements of a picture and the agents responsible for maintaining/manipulating it. The end result will be a series of still images and a short animation demonstrating some results achieved using the new system.
Students wishing to apply for this project will need to have (or develop/research) the following areas: computer graphics & animation, procedural modelling, artificial life, and non-representational art. It is recommended that the student completing this project also take the course: Advanced Topics in Graphics (CSC415).
Watt, A. H. & Watt, M. Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques, Addison-Wesley, New York, 1992
Levy, S. Artificial Life: A Report from the Frontier Where Computers Meet Biology, Vintage Books, 1993
The old UNIX tools talk and write, and the text-based communication they facilitate are the basis of many internet messenger systems. Whilst some messenger systems utilize video and sound, the purpose of this project is to move beyond such modes of communication towards a hybrid visual/textual system. This will blend emoticons, icons, avatars and textual information together seemlessly in a new form of quirky but intelligent messenging system.
Rather than have the computer sit idly by whilst the user sends and receives messages. Important phrases, frequent requests, items or exchanges will be gathered during conversations with individuals and stored locally. These common phrases will be developed into a simple iconic language which will become the means of communication between users.
Many simple messages are questions or requests. They include times, places and events as well as people's names. Standard icons need to be devised amongst a sub-culture of users for communicating these concepts. These might be conventional still bitmaps or they may be simple animated signs. The computer might use the phrasebook it has created to suggest new concepts be iconized.
Standard icons might be 'built in' to the system for things such as: yes and no; for various times of day such as morning and afternoon, evening and night or lunchtime; for places such as the cafe, bookshop and library. Additionally, new icons could be developed by users for inclusion in the messenging system. A bank of down-loadable icons which users have contributed might be stored on the WWW.
To operate the messenger, besides typing text, a user might drag icons into a space designated for communication between individuals. These would appear in a similar space at the other end. If icons are not recognized by a user, simply moving the mouse over the icon or clicking a button could convert individual symbols or whole phrases into their plain-text equivalents.
Students
wishing to complete this project will need to have (or develop/research)
the following areas/skills:
visual communication, TCP/IP client/server protocols, avatars and online
chat systems, netiquette, and a sense of humour.
This project will be implemented using Macromedia's Director multimedia authoring software.
Director
(Authoring Software)
Casa
Electronics (Japanese)
Post
Pet (English site)
Norman, D. A. The Design of Everyday Things, DoubleDay, New York, 1989.
Digital Creativity, Issue on Iconic Communication, Vol. 10, No. 2, Swets & Zeitlinger, 1999.
Bliss, C. Semantography (Blissymbolics), Semantography-Blissymbolics Publications, Sydney, 1965.
This project aims to allow the creation of interactive 3D virtual worlds by building on an existing multimedia authoring tool. The project has two parts.
The first part involves implementing a 3D extension to Macromedia Director (a multimedia authoring tool) to allow 3D elements to be part of Director's 'cast'. This will involve authoring an 'XTRA' (plug-in) for the software. This XTRA will use the OpenGL system to render 3D objects in real-time, hardware permitting of course! OpenGL however, provides only display list processing of objects and doesn't maintain more complex 3D graphics structures such as scene graphs, so it will be necessary to build this functionality into the systems 3D engine.
Once this 3D component has been successfully designed and built, the second part of the project is to demonstrate it's functionality by designing and implementing a 3D game. The design of the game is up to you (in consultation with your supervisor), but should highlight the real-time 3D capabilities you have created for Director.
For this project you will need to know (or learn) Director, plus have a good knowledge of real-time 3D graphics systems and techniques.
It is recommended that the student completing this project also take the course: Advanced Topics in Graphics (CSC415).
Director
(Authoring Software)
3D
Groove (existing 3D xtra for director)
OpenGL Programming Guide and OpenGL Reference Manual, Addison-Wesley, 1992.
Wernecke, J. The Inventor Mentor: Programming Object-Oriented 3D Graphics with Open Inventor, Addison-Wesley, 1994.
