I’m back with a rant!

Check out this article:

Another misleading article… argh!

First thing, right in the headline: “…how human eyes process 3D motion…” Ok guys, here’s a newsflash– the eyes don’t process anything. The eyes provide sensory input to the brain along with touch, sound, taste, smell and perhaps many other things we are just starting to learn about. Unlike researchers, human beings don’t process anything in isolation. We use all of the senses simultaneously to make sense of the world. Our senses along with previous experience help us to confirm our perceptions and thoughts about what is real and what isn’t real. The brain processes spatial information/depth information in a myriad of complex ways that relate to a combination of factors. I get so annoyed when research focuses on one small thing and infers all sorts of “breakthrough” information.

Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

Now, having gotten that off my chest — I am thrilled about ongoing research into how our [brains] process the input from our senses to make sense out of the perceived “real” world. That can be extraordinarily helpful in understanding how we work and how we can measure and treat our sensory performance should there be a desire or need to improve it (which really should be the case, whether or not there is disease caused impairment).

The brain is particularly adept at growing or diminishing capabilities such as mentioned in the above article, based upon how, and how often, we use that capability. That’s called neuroplasticity. Learning about some of the ways our brain is wired to perceive the space between things and how things occupy space along with interpreting motion of things within that space can be very fascinating for some of us.

Here’s my “breakthrough” comment: the eye/brain connection is bi-directional. Observing the eyes can give us great insight into the workings of the brain. Micro eye saccades (movements) I believe are the manifestation of specific brain activity. It’s like the needles of a polygraph moving to show information about respiration, galvanic skin response, heart rate, etc. to determine if someone is telling the truth. The eyes are a window into the brain’s processing. There might be a direct correlation between where we look when we are trying to recall something, the direction we are looking… these things are probably related to where the information is physically in our brain.

I will end on this note. There is a tremendous disparity amoung people when it comes to each person’s ability to perceive depth. Improving that ability could likely, in my humble opinion, be extremely therapeutic in ways nobody currently imagines. #lookbeyondtheeyes

Is there a secret problem with depth maps?

It sounds like a great idea to utilize a depth map to extract information and control the depth depicted in an image or series of images. It sounds great for converting a 2D image into a 3D image. It sounds like a great tool for plenoptic cameras to interpolate the data into imagery with depth. Alpha channels are great to use for transparency mapping – so a depth map should be equally useful, shouldn’t it?

Take a look at this depth map:

This is a depth map created from a plenoptic camera shot of a bunch of ice bits. It is a grayscale image with 256 shades of gray to depict the parts of the ice that are closer to the camera and the parts of the ice that are farther away from the camera. This information is used to adjust the depth of those bits that are closer and farther away by stretching or compressing pixels.

Now check out a rocking animation that uses motion parallax to depict the depth (items closer to you appear to move differently than items that are farther away).

Right away you can notice a few errors in the depth map, and for complex images this is typical and can be edited and “corrected”. But there is something else. Take a close look at the parts of the image where the depth map is seemingly correct. Sure, you can see the depth but does it really look like ice? If you are like me, the answer is no. Ice reflects and scatters light in a way that is unique for each perspective. Indeed, there IS binocular rivalry where one eye sees light reflection and distortion that is not present in the other eye’s perspective. This disparity tells us something about the texture and makeup of what we are looking at. Stretching or compressing pixels eliminates this information and only provides depth cues relating to the spatial position of things. For most people, I suspect it is reasonable to assume that this creates a perception conflict in their brains. There is something perceptually wrong with the image above. It does not look like ice because the light coming off of the two perspectives looks the same. A depth map does not provide information regarding binocular rivalry and creates errors as a result. Errors that can’t be fixed. Herein you see the flaw in using a depth map. It throws away all of the binocular rivalry information. In other words, it throws away the information between perspectives that is different.

In my opinion, depth maps take the life out of an image. It removes important texture information which, I believe, is gleaned from how light shifts and changes and appears and disappears as you alter perspective.

This is the secret fundamental flaw with depth maps. Now you can subjectively look at the image above and deem it to be cool and otherwise amazing. That is all good and well, but the truth is that, compared with looking at the real ice, it is fundamentally lacking and does not depict what is seen when you look at the ice in real life.

So, people ask themselves if this is important and some will say yes and some will say no. And there are many examples where you could argue both points of view. I don’t have an argument with that. My position is only to point out that this flaw exists and it should not be ignored.

Concept > Prototype > Manufacturing

Serial numbers 1, 2 and 3. A completely new way to think about signs, presentation, information portals and public access interactivity. I believe the digital signage industry mindset is wrong. A poster is a thoughtful artistic creation of photographer, art director, graphic designer, copy writer, production staff and marketing specialist. Current digital signage is a bad PowerPoint presentation combined with useless information and no thought given to its purpose and what it should accomplish.

New theory about stereo vision, 3D, stereopsis, binocular vision and depth perception

It might be time to expand the way we think of human visual perception.  What we “see” is a construct of our brain and how it processes the stream of data that is input from our senses. The vast amount of raw data that our brains receive from our eyes, set aside the data from our other senses for now, is not something that we typically think about. We open our eyes and see stuff.  We’ve spent a lot of time learning about the parts of the eye and the mechanics, but I’m not sure that teaches us very much about “seeing”.

Understanding computers gives us a new way to think about this, specifically the converting of data (the signals our eyes send to the brain) into conscious perception. We aren’t born with all of the “software” needed to perceive the signals coming from our eyes. “Software” is created over time as the brain interprets and learns cause and effect through experience. I believe the brain never stops tweaking that processing and makes all sorts of modifications in the same way that computer software has upgrades that provide desirable new features and ease of use functions and performance enhancements and so on.

What we see and how we perceive what we see is a function of the snapshot in time of the current version of our vision “software”. Maybe that’s a radical idea, but there is anecdotal evidence that this might be true. I became aware of it when I noticed that each time I looked at a 3D image of an African tribal mask that it looked different from what I remembered. It was the same picture, it had not changed but how I perceived the image did change.

The weird thing about the image of the mask was that I did not have the same reaction to a 2D image of it. The 2D image always looked the same. The 3D image always looked slightly different. In my experience, my brain seems to be much more aggressive at tweaking how I perceive images with depth than it is when I look at flat images.

Having said that, it isn’t noticeable for all 3D images. Images that are life size or larger than life size and ones that I have some level of interest in seem to change in a more noticeable way. I’m curious if other 3D enthusiasts have experienced this.

I think it might be more pronounced with a 3D image because it is an illusion with perception conflicts that the brain must reconcile in some way.

We don’t see with our eyes? What?

Ladies and gentlemen, we do not see with our eyes. Indeed, humans can see without eyes.

That sounds pretty idiotic doesn’t it?

But it is a true and proven fact as compared with opinion. Some elaboration: Our brains are responsible for our perception of vision. Our eyes are only data collection devices that transmit information to our brain for interpretation. Without a conscious brain, we see nothing. With a conscious brain, amazing things are possible. Take a look at this:

Scientists are currently hard at work finding ways to interface data collection devices to the brain. I could site numerous examples of people perceiving vision where electrical impulses activate regions of the brain. One experiment had a profoundly blind person “see” braille patterns. Other experiments using cameras as eyes are currently under way. Another experiment made it possible for a person to see color using audio stimulus from a resonating implanted chip to bone interface.  We can extend our ability to perceive things beyond the limitations of the data collection devices we are born with.

There are human instincts motivating us to extend our perceptions as they relate to self-preservation, pro creation and nutrition. Without those instincts we would surely be extinct by now. Our ability to perceive the space between things is extremely useful. Eyes spaced apart facilitate increased recognition of motion, useful to determine potential threats. It widens field of view and aids in our ability to reduce near field of view obstructions like leaves and vines by having two eyes horizontally spaced apart. Ever notice how the brain automatically prioritizes the eye that has a less obstructed view?

An important point is that the brain adapts to the data collection devices that we have. Where they deviate from the norm the brain adapts and we resist naturally anything that challenges our perception of the world, even if it differs from that norm. That’s why you hear people with compromised stereovision say that there is something wrong with 3D motion pictures. Their norm could be that they can’t easily fixate both eyes on a single point in space. Perhaps they have compromised accommodation adaptation. Most will argue strongly against any suggestion that their perception of the world is compromised (ego/emotion).

What’s this have to do with 3D glasses? 3D glasses facilitate data collection for those with the ability to process the data (which is most of us). Of course, there will be push back from those without this capability and the bias will be to say there is something wrong with the glasses or 3D and not something deficient with the person! That’s one part of the push back and it is significant. The second part is related, and it has to do with the benefit and reward associated with going to the trouble of putting the glasses on. Movies that force the eyes to splay apart or remain crossed for extended periods over the course of a 90 minute movie will create discomfort because the brain doesn’t like that. It deviates from the norm. Eyestrain is brain induced in the same way stress creates back pain. The brain likes to tell us when things aren’t right. It’s called self-preservation and has helped to keep us from going extinct. Last, but not least, going to the trouble of putting on 3D glasses must offer a return on that investment in the same way any other add on device to our data collection apparatus would do. The benefit must be strong enough, or we will push back against it.

What are the signs of a low return on investment? If you hear: “wow that was cool” don’t be suckered into thinking you have a success. Anyone can have a “wow” reaction the first time they experience it. After some repetition, “wow” can quickly become boring. “Wow” does not equal long term value. “Wow” is fleeting. This is a partial explanation why 3D gains popularity and then wanes and then gains popularity and then wanes.

But getting back to the issue of the glasses… If there are superior data collection devices that are less cumbersome and provide greater accuracy and provide superior brain engagement then glasses will eventually be replaced by that method. Could it be hologram technology? Sure! Could it be something else? Absolutely! Predicting the future is a tricky thing. The superiority of any given enhancement for our perception data collection devices can be highly subjective and not always predictable. I read somewhere that Benjamin Franklin talked about the superiority of contact lenses and that someday everyone would wear them. Contacts have been perfected and perfected and are quite amazing. Why would anyone still choose to wear glasses when contacts are clearly superior?

Guess what? Most of the time we use emotion to decide things. Emotion can be irrational and go counter to logic. Ego and emotion are extremely powerful determiners of behavior. Emotion explains unexpected behavior and stereovision is tied to emotion in a different way than when we look at flat imagery. Generally speaking, the human brain has not fully adapted the illusion of motion picture 3D as it differentiates from everyday 3D perception. It is similar and dissimilar at the same time which can create perception conflict.

To the extent that, as artists, we can exploit human data collection devices, we can create art that engages in amazing ways. If it is compelling enough, people will find a way to pursue it!

Technology is a tool to use to achieve a goal. Where technology is lacking, humans will find a way to make it better if it is required to achieve a goal.  Each idea creates a new goal. If the technology isn’t working for you, get off your butt and do something about it! Everyone reading this has the opportunity to make a difference. Life is short – get busy!

INTRODUCING THE AMPED 360 INTERACTIVE DISPLAY!

Finally, after years of work and waiting for technology to catch up with our requirements, the AMPED 360 interactive display system will begin shipping in September, 2014.

The AMPED 360 interactive display can be categorized as fitting between a printed sign or poster and an internet device. Actually, it is suitable as a replacement in many cases for a printed sign because it can perform the same function – only better.

Take a look: 

The system includes a professionally framed 4k high resolution monitor approximately poster sized (24″x36″), (The monitor is 39″ diagonal.) easel, high performance computer, and interactive control panel which has a push button and knob.

The most exciting part is the cost. The system rents for what amounts to less than $5 a day after a two month commitment where the system is loaded with content and programmed. Programming and content creation are priced separately. It is easily updated and can hold an enormous amount of content including graphics, animation, text, and high resolution video all beautifully displayed at 4k resolution (also referred to as ultra HD).

We just finished the last prototype before going into full production and will have video information and kickstarter information soon. We also have a team of video production professionals, graphic designers, photographers and a studio with a 50 camera circular array for taking high end rotational imagery. We are committed to helping people create content that generates results on a system that revolutionizes what digital signage can be.

 

My Response To Affirmative Action For Women.

My friend Arlene recently posted an article she wrote about mandating that 50% of Congress should be women. I don’t normally comment too much politically, but in this case I was inspired to express my opinion and vent some of my growing frustration with the priorities that are being set by our representatives in government. Priorities that I see as highly misguided.  So, what would be my priorities? Here is my comment to her post:

——————

In my opinion, It is the large corporations that hold the purse strings to choose who gets funded to run for political office and it is the media that feeds the populace with who to vote for. I’ve read that the fastest growing religion in the U.S. is Muslim and that religion has a history of not being pro woman as far as I can tell. There seems to be a bias towards money and power, not fairness.That coupled with the dumbing down of the population and the results speak for themselves.

Mandating women is an idea, but there are plenty of examples that women can be as corrupted as men. Perhaps mandating superior state-of-the-art education with a return to massive support for the arts is the answer. Don’t we need smart people, especially women, to solve the growing complexities of the world? If we rise up for better education for all children and enrich the culture with massive support for the arts, wouldn’t that make a more effective difference? What if the highest paid in a society were teachers and artists? Isn’t it these people that make all things possible?

In my opinion, we need the best and brightest to lead, not the person with the right skin color or gender. Those that believe affirmative action has been a success ignore that a disproportionate number of people with a darker skin color are sent to jail in growing numbers, they ignore the disintegration of a stable two parent family, they ignore growing poverty for people with darker skin color, they ignore the highest dropout rate and highest unemployment and on and on in favor of putting all of their emphasis on numbers.

Instead of affirmative action, how about affirmative education from the highest paid most qualified and capable teachers who inspire learning and seeking knowledge in all areas of endeavor? What would happen if we would foster creativity and understanding through massive support of the arts? In the end, I don’t believe that mandates achieve fairness and opportunity – I believe it is education and the expansion of creativity and understanding through artistic expression.

Our ever expanding culture of pornography, violence, conflict, addiction – these are the things that our society supports through the culture of motion pictures and music. What are the most popular TV shows, musicians, actors? It would seem we have not grown as a society to question views on mental illness. We prefer to blame inanimate objects as the cause: guns. But logic tells me that a mentally ill person can get their hands on a bomb, a cross bow, chemical weapons, fire – why focus on guns over a focus on mental illness? Perhaps we are to stupid to focus on the problem of mental illness and the problem of lack of education and the problem of enriching cultural activities through the support of artistic expression and creativity. It is easy to simply blame a gun.Get rid of all the guns and problem fixed. Right? That would also eliminate mental illness wouldn’t it?

No, our priorities are to spend the country’s treasure growing more corn. Spend the country’s treasure buying high tech equipment for the military, spend the country’s treasure funding dictator controlled countries. Let’s spend the country’s treasure having a military presence in Germany and Japan. Let’s spend over a trillion on Iraq and Iran. Let’s ignore fraud and continue to send money to criminals. Let’s spend the country’s treasure propping up corporations so executives can take multi million dollar bonuses. Let’s borrow trillions of dollars so we can pay interest to China. Let’s spend the country’s treasure to spy on it’s citizens and to build drones to kill American citizens in foreign countries without due process. Let’s spend the country’s treasure on an insane system of intrusion at airports that only creates the illusion of security. Let’s spend trillions of dollars on rules and regulations that even the writers of those regulations don’t understand and the politicians don’t even read.

So, when you say [Arlene] the country is out of balance and spinning out of control – I would agree with that opinion. But I don’t believe the problems are skin color or gender solvable. I propose education is the great equalizer. Artistic expression and culture norms guide a society. Seeking the best ideas, the most creativity and well thought out solutions might make more sense than mandating skin color or gender. One never knows where talent, genius and beauty might come from. Shouldn’t we be educated enough to recognize those things? Perhaps we could start with the media. What are the most important stories of the day? Is opinion more important than a presentation of facts?

In my opinion we don’t need to be told what to think, we need to acquire the ability to think for ourselves and make thoughtful choices and priorities that make sense.

But what do I know?

Should the above be ignored because I’m not the right skin color or gender? Do you really believe that [Arlene]? If so, I just wasted my time. But at least I made an effort. Most now don’t bother.

Why Stereoscopic 3D Fails

Why doesn’t the world embrace the illusion of S3D?

It is perhaps the most compelling visual effect that exists for cinema. We have many examples of illusions that become giant successful adaptations. What is it about S3D that keeps holding it back and generates considerable negative press and reviews?

In my opinion there isn’t a singular simple explanation. That is probably the reason for varying degrees of failure in a world of elevator pitches and split second decision making.

Two views, while sufficient to create a compelling illusion, do not fully satisfy the confusing foray S3D makes into the blurring of referential imagery and what I call experiential imagery. We are used to seeing multiple perspectives and on being able to converge our eyes and focus on a specific point in space (unless, like this fellow you are crossing your eyes).

We are used to having multiple confirming points of reference substantiating what we are looking at to be what we think we are looking at.

Some of the many simple explanations are:

–when the reason for looking at something isn’t compelling enough to look at it, then it is going to fail to get attention

–many people do not have normal stereovision

–the ability to suppress perception conflicts is not uniform across the population

A more complex explanation:

–requires education in the field of neuroscience.  The following questions must be addressed:
–How does the brain fuse the input from two eyes into a singular image that depicts space?
–Do we perceive the space between things or do we truly experience it with our vision system?

Many scientists argue that our entire visual system is an illusion that the brain creates, and doesn’t represent reality in the way we think that it does.

The mistake of picking a single simple explanation in terms of success or failure is perhaps the reason S3D comes and goes. The saying: “if you build it they will come” does not always hold true.

So, why choose a career in 3D?

Given the above, why would I choose a career creating imagery that depicts the space between things? Because it is possible to create compelling images to view. It is possible to suppress perception conflicts. Many people DO have normal stereovision. Using science and knowledge of neuroscience it is possible to take advantage of the illusions of the brain.

But the main reason I go forward: art.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying: The Earth without art is simply “Eh”.

Think you understand vision? Think again.

This Ted Talk is a must see:

 http://www.ted.com/talks/pawan_sinha_on_how_brains_learn_to_see#t-10188 

The demonstration of how motion makes it possible to parse out shapes and objects out of random blobs of color and why newborn eyes present out of focus content to the early brain to make that easier is incredibly enlightening. It opened the door to making it possible for older children to learn to see when they acquired sight at a later age – totally debunking the dogma that once you reach a certain age, development of the vision system stops. Bullcrap. We simply needed to learn how the brain learns. It turns out that the brain is much more clever than many of the egocentric scientists think.

I find it difficult to understand why humans embrace an all knowing attitude. This is true in religion, medicine, science, art, etc. in that people at the top of their game want to demagogue the way things work with some sort of de-fact-o certainty. Think about that religious guy burning a kids abdomen to get the demons out of a kid with cataracs. I’m sure he was absolutely confident that what he was doing was absolutely the right thing. We see this over and over an all of the disciplines. Doctors will express with certainty how long someone has to live when they acquire a certain disease. Indeed, saying any condition is incurable is the height of egocentric dogma. It is preposterous!

Nobody knows anything with absolute certainty. We can surmise expectation based upon study and observation and anticipate that things will continue to happen a certain way. But when you scale things down to the quantum level, anything is possible. Perhaps not likely – but possible. Theories change as new information becomes available. We’ve barely scratched the surface after years of genetic study.

I’m ranting because the human vision system continues to be viewed in such simplistic terms. We have these biomechanical sensors in our head that send electrochemical signals to our brains for processing. The Ted talk above points out that the signals sent mean nothing without the brain sorting the information coming in in a way that can be interpreted and understood. Our eyes don’t see anything. They present blobs of color in the form of electrochemical impulses that the brain interprets. Think about it! Blobs of color and luminance information coming in from two forward facing sensors that the brain converts into tangible perceptions. With stereopsis vision, we think we see the space between things because our brain converts the data into that perception. What we perceive is not real in my opinion. If we really did see all of the space between things that would be so much information that all of the brains on the planet couldn’t process it.  Our brains employ a sort of data compression that eliminates things that evolution deemed unimportant.

The human vision system is miraculous in its complexity and the more we learn and understand, the more we realize just how much we don’t know. This is my point. Indeed, just as we found out with the Hubble telescope when we pointed it to a tiny part of the darkest part of the sky and exposed the image sensors to gather light over a few days – over 2,000 galaxy’s were observed! We begin to realize that all of human knowledge combined is but a spec compared to all there is to know.

I submit that we should reflect on our ignorance and be humbled along with motivated to seek knowledge with passion while keeping our ego in check. What we discover might be important – but there will always be more to discover. I don’t believe in certainty except that I am certain that there is no certainty.

The Death Of 3D… Really?

What is with the obsession the “media” seems to have with proclaiming 3D is now passe, gone, dead… [fill in the blank]?

I think there is a problem with how content producers promote it. Time and time again you see 3D promoted as a visual effect and that, in my opinion, is severely misguided. It fosters the idea that 3D is something to experience and then move on to the next visual effect. And sure enough, as if on cue we have seen “4D”, “5D”, “HFR 3D” and “HDR HFR 3D” being promoted as new “beyond 3D” and “to be experienced”.

I often ask myself why it is so difficult for content producers to understand that any visual effect has little to do with how good the movie is? I get that it might be a reason to pick one movie over another of similar interest but, in my opinion, it is misguided to promote visual effects as a reason to go see a movie. Nobody waxes poetic or gushes over the amazing typeface that a book has. I submit that the quality of a book has little to do with the typeface that was used and the quality of a movie has little to do with the visual effects. From a design point of view, making good choices about a typeface and good choices regarding visual effects make sense. It should be a given that design choices should be in the best interest of the story. It does matter how the story is told. But the tools to tell the story play a supporting role. If the story is not good – I don’t care how much design goes into it.  If the story is bad the book will be bad and the movie will be bad and the stage play will be bad.

Many content producers/promoters seem to have a hard time prioritizing what is important. For those who are still confused, I’m trying to say “It’s the story, stupid!”. Everything else is window dressing which can be appreciated and admired, etc., but the story is the single most important thing… that is, if you are seeking something besides mindless entertainment.

It is true that flashing lights are more attention grabbing than darkness or a steady light. Explosions, nude scenes, violence, gore, sex, 3D, thumper sound, and so forth are all attention grabbing elements. They are the lowest common denominator. Like shouting, they get attention. But why is it so hard for content producers to understand that there is a difference between getting attention and creating art through storytelling? Aren’t books, movies, imagery, dance, etc. about storytelling? No? These things are about mindless entertainment? I don’t see it that way. Reading “the death of 3D” bugs me a great deal.

Rather than turn this into an ongoing rant, I suppose it would be better for me to take my own advice and tell the story of 3D in a thoughtful and interesting way. It is a visual effect but more importantly, it is an experiential sense. 3D is fundamental to human perception and when not present because of blindness, amblyopia or something else, there is a perception paradox. In my opinion, a perception conflict is like looking at pieces of a puzzle that don’t fit exactly. Try describing a series of events absent time and space. Stories are more meaningful when we can relate them to our experience. Perhaps when 3D in the movies doesn’t match our human 3D experience the perception conflict is similar to what is experienced when a perception is absent. It is possible to adapt if people are of a mind to adapt. On the other hand, they can push back. The human mind can take different pathways in terms of acceptance or rejection of perceptions and perception conflicts. The differences among us can be very striking. I have written in the past about experiential vs. referential imagery. But all imagery and perception go towards fostering story and life experience. Start with a great story and the tools that are used to tell it become much more powerful.

 

Amped 360: Featured Attraction At Boston Tattoo Convention

COME SEE THE 50 CAMERA AMPED360 ARRAY! 

The standard for tattoo imagery is about to change and Almont Green is out to change it. Coming to the Boston Tattoo Convention, rotational imagery display systems and do it yourself training will be part of a huge AMPED3D exhibit at the show. A fifty camera AMPED 360 array will be set up to capture tattoo images for rotation in addition to information on how rotational images can be created using a single camera and uploaded to the AMPED360ink.com website for display on Facebook and easily embedded within websites. Giant hologram type AMPED3D images will also be on display at the show and available for purchase.  “Right now galleries across the globe are still using photo albums to display 2-dimensional images of their 3 dimensional artwork. With 3D and 360 degree rotational imagery now available, it’s a natural next step in the evolution of tattoo imagery to use smartphones, tablets and display systems to take portfolios to the next level. “– Almont Green, Amped360ink.com

Click and drag to rotate (or swipe with finger) to see the effect! 

One innovative tattoo business, “Visions Tattoo & Piercing” of Medway, MA already understands the importance of this concept and will be displaying their work on a custom designed rotational monitor system at their booth. “We want both new and existing customers to be able to see our work the way it was meant to be viewed.”- Canman, Visions Owner & Artist

During the show rotational image display systems, training programs and rotational image web hosting options will be available for purchase.  Amazing hologram like AMPED 3D images will also be on display at the event and available for sale at special pricing.

 

CONTACT ALMONT GREEN STUDIOS at 508-533-0333

http://amped360ink.com

Like us on Facebook

Amped 3D images are images you can see into. Amped3D photography, created by the artist Almont Green, is accomplished using a unique combination of complex camera hardware, sophisticated proprietary software, materials and painstaking manufacturing techniques. Digital images are precision aligned, processed, and printed with a modified high-resolution printer with each perspective occupying a vertical strip 1/2000th of an inch wide. An amazing, world’s highest resolution 30″x30″ human skull image that comes right out of the frame will be on display and available for purchase.

The result of years of work, Almont Green developed AMPED 3D photography with the help of neuroscientists, brain research centers, vision experts and leading technologists. The images simply must be seen in person to be believed!

The New Standard For Tattoo Imagery

Click and drag your mouse left and right and up and down on this image… Shouldn’t all tattoo imagery be like this? I’m working to change the standard and will be launching a Kickstarter soon to fund it for everybody!

http://6a3d.com/moi/

 

What’s Next From My Friends At MIT?

One of many interim solutions before true holograms become possible. These are all good steps on that road and serve to help pave the way for better and better solutions that are affordable.

Thanks MIT. Nice!

A Copy Of A Recent Post To CML-3D News Group

For non-subscribers to the CML-3D newsgroup, you might find this post I made interesting:

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If people are of the mindset that 3D is a visual effect, then it is easy to accept that conversion is a viable process just as any other visual effect can be “created” with software and processing hardware.  It is absolutely true that content can be processed and made viewable with the perception of depth and that within the context of a visual effect – results can even be quite impressive and evoke ahhs and wows.  3D as a visual effect or add-on seems to be the primary interpretation as it is being used and implemented. It is viewed as a value-add and something which enhances the viewing experience. Marketing even fosters this idea about 3D and attempts have been made to jack it up even more with 4D and 5D. Pretty soon you might see D-Max and Awesome-D. Maybe Beyond-D and infinity-D.In my opinion, motion pictures, and still photographs are interpreted referentially. Since the beginning, I am not aware of anyone looking at a photograph or motion picture that has gotten confused as to whether or not what they are looking at is real. We all understand that the images we are looking at are references to reality. They occupy a different space than we do and require interpretation. Storytelling, by definition, refers to something in the past. A story is something to interpret and relate to based upon life’s experiences. The more we relate to a story or image, typically, the better we like it. Perhaps it embodies our fantasies or teaches us something that we value. Sometimes there are surprises as the story unfolds and certainly we enjoy humor.

My point is that, given the status quo, 3D is something that producers are trying to fit into the existing paradigm as an enhancement. But stereovision is something that most of us use every day to perceive reality. To experience life as it happens and to be in the moment and occupy the same space as the things that we are looking at. This physicality or realness has a much tighter relationship with our emotional self because real things can affect us directly.  The potential of 3D imagery to be transcendent and blur the boundary between referential and experiential is something that I find intriguing. As long as we have a one-size-fits-all approach to 3D, I think it will be very difficult to make this transition. I don’t think artificial stereoscopic constructs can do this effectively because there are too many perception conflicts and specular errors. Binocular rivalry is something that gives our brain information it needs to construct texture information, among other things. And make no mistake, it is our brain that creates an image with the depiction of depth and space based upon our human experience up to that point. Creating dimensional space from flat imagery is not the same as capturing two unique perspectives and the way the light enters each lens and imaging sensor through separate and distinct pathways. In many cases, the creation can be quite good – but in many cases it can be quite bad. Take snow on a sunny day, for example or a waterfall with its infinitely complex optical distortions.  How about heat rising from a fire? You can create imagery with the perception of depth for a single perspective image, but it will not be an exact match to capturing two distinct perspectives. Having the attitude that it is “good enough” doesn’t resonate with me in the same way ophthalmologists saying “amblyopia is no big deal” is absolutely ridiculous. It is a very big deal.

As we continue to monkey around with how we depict depth and space, it is appropriate to think beyond the limits of referential storytelling. Depicting space and depth can take us to new places and experiences that engage emotionally in completely new ways. How we perceive the world and our place in it can change. As content producers, we can do better and, in doing better, make a profound difference. Take a peek outside the box of referential imagery and you’ll see a whole new world open up.

-Almont Green

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G. Almont Green Multi-Perspective Artist Almont Studios 5 Grapevine Way Medway, MA 02053 t. 508-533-0333 / c. 978-853-0084AlmontGreen.com Amped360.com Amped3D.com almontgreen.wordpress.com

Please Listen Pixar, This Is IMPORTANT!!!

Hello Pixar,

I am such a fan because you understand storytelling. You understand that details are important and that quality is more than a phrase or slogan. But you don’t fully understand 3D. Indeed, NOBODY understands 3D.

My point is that there needs to be a strong, thoughtful, purposeful effort devoted to understanding how the depiction of space fundamentally changes things. 3D is not just a visual effect. 3D is a perception created in the brain that gives people with normal vision a way to perceive things emotionally. There is a tangible quality to 3D. A sense of sharing the space with what we are seeing that needs greater understanding. 

It is ironic that the best 3D motion pictures are being created in artificial reality. They look real in an unreal way. I haven’t been yet, but I am sure that the Anaheim Disney Pixar attraction, in all its realness, is different than the artificially raytraced computer imagery that we enjoy at the theater. But unlike some, I am of the opinion that this is a good thing. 3D makes it possible to expand our perceptions beyond personal experience. We could benefit from the “freeing” of our minds to see things in new ways.

Let me be more specific. When I think about Pixar’s “bugs” it is a terrific opportunity to experience space in the same way a bug might experience space – the world and the cosmos. For example, a head and eyes the size of a pinhead provides a perspective that can free the mind to see nanotechnology in incredible ways. What about a head the size of our solar system? What do we see then? In other words, when we escape the limitations of our physical size do we escape the limitations of how we perceive our world and the space we occupy within it? 

This is significant. Spatial imagery is not a trivial visual effect – the possibilities of how it can be used and the technical boundaries pushed are limitless. We are on the cusp of devices coming available like the oculus rift http://oculusvr.com that can broaden our perspectives in unimagined ways. Ways that can be good and bad. We are now entering a transition from a referential “thinking” experience where we refer to our experiences to imagine a story in the context of our reality to something much different. We are transitioning to an experiential storytelling capability where we experience new perspectives and new ways to look at things that we never could have imagined. 

I submit that this transition is perhaps one of the biggest things to happen to mankind’s ability to understand things – period. It could free us from the limitations of our belief systems to think about things from completely new perspectives and gain knowledge that we otherwise could never achieve. 

So, why pick on Pixar?

Because of all the companies out there – Pixar has the capability to understand and see possibilities in a way most other companies can’t. John Lasseter is uniquely qualified to see beyond limitations – a very inspirational man that compels me to push the envelope and never be satisfied or complacent. I’ve never met him, but I understand and appreciate what he is doing. I asked myself: “why not post this blog and give Pixar a tweak?” I know they have read some of my articles, who knows? Maybe they might have me out for a meeting to share some of the things I have learned regarding this amazing thing called stereovision. (Which by the way is a misnomer). It is really the image that our brain cooks up inside our head that enables us to perceive the space that surrounds us as something that we occupy. Two flat images turn into something quite magical in the brain. Our brains fill in a great deal of information that goes far beyond those two flat images. 

How about it Pixar?

I see the future the way it could be and ask: why not? You guys can make a difference – but you need to expand the way you think about multi perspective imagery. I am compelled to take what I’ve learned and try to do something useful with that knowledge. I owe it to my kids and their future. I don’t have any IP to sell – only to provide to those that will listen and do something with it. 

So, Pixar… want to listen? Join me outside the box ;^) I’ll tell you a story with a beginning where you can finish the middle and the end. You guys are amazing!

Me? I have realized I have a ridiculous amount to learn as I’ve only scratched the air above the surface. I’d like to find out more and inspire change in the way people look at things. I give this blog entry almost a zero chance of having any effect. But you have to start somewhere. 3D is a lot more than rendering two camera ports. Experiential storytelling is something completely new I’d like you to consider.

With great respect,

-Almont

 

AMPED 3D / AMPED360 & Almont Studios – Coming Soon!

Everything always takes longer than you plan. Close to seven years ago, I believed I would be where I am now in about six to eight months. Being years off schedule is certainly reason for companies to go out of business and I’ve been close a few times. But what keeps me going is the incredible results and potential for autostereoscopic multi perspective extended (high) dynamics imagery (aka AMPED 3D).

The recently added rotational aspect of my photography has added yet another exciting component to what is possible. That, and the introduction of nano technology manufacturing techniques in the creation of integral lens material. We are now in striking distance for large high resolution displays with directional lens overlays that offer stunning multi perspective imagery with projected light. A simple knob that makes user controlled rotation possible is simple and at the same time complex in terms of the amount of information a viewer can attain in a very short time. But there is an unexpected twist. The smart phone. Going smaller can be just as compelling as going larger in ways that I am only starting to understand.

But lets back up a second.

Part of the reason this integration can be so easy is that experiential imagery is intuitive. We do it every day in real life. But we have always kept referential imagery (traditional paintings and photographs) separate from experiential imagery. The reasons are easy to understand. It is insanely difficult to recreate what we see in real life in an artificial way.  The good news is that it is becoming easier and affordable.  These facts have literally forced me to not give up and to keep pushing because there is a tremendous future ahead in terms of setting new standards for imagery and viewing possibilities.

A recent breakthrough; The Oculus Rift http://www.oculusvr.com is blowing people away in terms of what is starting to be possible. Experiential imagery is coming on the scene like a tsunami and artists are not prepared. The “rules” for referential imagery simply don’t work for experiential imagery. It isn’t a visual effect, it is completely new  and different in ways that finger out like branches on a tree. Experiential imagery is processed in different parts of the brain, much of which is in the subconscious with instinctual interpretation (emotional).  The closest metaphor or comparison I can think of is watching a Broadway play as compared to watching a movie. You can truly experience a play with live actors on a stage in ways that are impossible within the confines of a motion picture. However, you are constricted. You aren’t part of the play, you are in the audience. New technology changes that in ways that are huge to think about.

The integral lens I mentioned above has slowed me down on the project I’m working on with Alex Grey. However, stay tuned as what I am exploring will certainly be worth the wait. The New York City Tattoo Convention also has given me a huge boost in terms of testing the rotational imaging model. The results met my expectations and now that business can move forward.

These are exciting times. Prepare to enjoy!

Magical Vision – Seeing What Isn’t There

Taking a stroll walking the dog a few evenings ago as the sun was going down I noticed that as it got darker I was experiencing a transition in my human vision processing system. Something that happens all of the time, but we seldom pay attention to it while it is happening. When the light is good, we pick out details and texture information. Edges define boundaries and the space between things. We interpret distance and notice sudden movements of things. But as it gets darker and darker there is a transition to shape based interpretation. There isn’t enough information to identify details and texture, so it would seem that the brain (my brain anyway) transitioned to processing shapes. The mood changed and sounds seemed to take on a different character that directed the direction of my gaze much more so than when it was lighter.  The experience of walking and looking around definitely made a transition as it got darker and darker to something quite different.

This experience got me thinking about all of the different ways that we look at things and experience the space that we occupy. We have vision comfort zones where we are casual observers and don’t pay much attention to what we are looking at. Indeed, we can almost shut off our conscious analysis of the visual data streaming in from our eyes while we engage our attention thinking about something or talking on the phone or listening to music. When it is too dark to make out the informational details, we engage our imagination and try to find shapes and patterns that are familiar in the darkness.

It would seem that there are many modes to seeing. A few of the modes could be described as experiential, referential, interpretive, imaginative, detail, abstract, conscious and subconscious. And each one of those modes are impacted by the type of illumination and amount of illumination. Indeed, it would seem to me that sound, smell and state of mind  equally impact these various modes. Quickly, it becomes obvious that what goes on in the human vision processing system is far more complex than we give it credit for.  What we perceive and what we see are two different things that are dependant upon an exponentially large number of random possibilities. Yet, out of what should be confusing xaos that causes us to lose our minds – we make no special effort to see things and process vision in our brains instantly in ways that we don’t even think about.  It is simple and automatic. We make all of the transitions effortlessly. When you step back for a second, however, and think about how limited our vision processing system is – only two eyes with limited luminance dynamic range, limited frequency bandwidth, distorted optics and field of view, persistence of vision or amount of individual time slices that can be interpreted independently. All of those limitations don’t occur to us because the brain fills in the blanks and we are ignorant of what we are missing.

Maybe this explains why we put such a high priority on esthetics and subjective interpretation. We are wired to simplify the complexity down to chunks that are easily absorbed and found useful. Yet, at the same time we are attracted to high levels of detail when we are interested in something. Stereovision helps to bridge the gap between providing a potential exponential increase in information, on demand when needed and a processing system that is simple enough to parse out only the bits of visual information that we need to have to not overwhelm our ability to make sense out of what we are looking at. It would seem that our vision system has evolved into a very carefully balanced high level system of links to different thought processes and interpretations and emotional experiences that instantly trigger response at the subconscious level.  What is interesting is that we have the ability to go far beyond our current capabilities. To see things in new ways with biomechanical appliances and add dramatically to the capabilities of our vision processing system.  Indeed, much will be revealed in the future that shows what we see now isn’t “real” at all. What we see in the year 2013 is magical vision that filters out things that our brains haven’t decided are useful… yet.

Tattoos — The Oriental Rug Effect

We are in the midst of an exploding art renaissance. It has all of the traditional things – apprenticeships, skills and tools of the trade, patrons, collectors, teachers, critics, genius and idiocy… Experimentation with pigments, inks and exploring canvas in a new way- a living canvas with its time-lapse degradation and fading – restoration and cover up. Welcome to the world of tattoos.

The similarities to the art renaissance of Da Vinci’s time are striking. But there is something troubling and that is what I call the oriental rug effect (ORE). When I look at the way tattoos are depicted on the internet and in magazines I am struck by all that is missing in those depictions. Like furniture on an oriental rug, so much is covered up and hidden from view. Indeed, in many cases the tattoo is treated like a design element, again like an oriental rug. To change the feel of the image, but not something that stands alone to be studied and enjoyed. Pleasing visual noise, like jewelry, a nice hair style and well applied makeup.

Is a tattoo just visual noise? Is it worthy of the moniker true art?

Well, I have seen mind blowing tattoo works of art. Stunning detail, color, use of human body topography in ways that are incredibly creative, inventive, thought provoking… Works that deserve detailed study and appreciation like an impressive music performance, work of poetry, painting or sculpture.

The standard for the way we look at tattoo imagery needs to change. A well crafted tattoo deserves a viewing audience, but just like the world famous violinist Joshua Bell who was relatively unnoticed when he played in a New York Subway station (http://www.hoax-slayer.com/joshua-bell-subway.shtml ) people must become educated to appreciate works by skilled artisans.  This can be fostered through the way the art is depicted.

This is one of the reasons why I’ve been working so hard to perfect AMPED 3D and AMPED 360 imagery.

Debut of AMPED360 At Sacred Tattoo/Gallery NYC

I’ve made it my mission to change the standard for the way tattoos are displayed on the web.

While it would be great to have a 3D free view computer display (still a few years off), a rotational image provides motion parallax and depth cues much more than a flat static image. That standard is relatively easy to implement given that javascript is a uniform standard across all computer/mobile browser platforms. So, that’s what I’m doing.

I’m going about it in a few steps.

First, I built a 50 camera array that makes it easy and inexpensive to acquire lots of rotational imagery. I’ve been experimenting with it here in my studio for a few months and I finally have it ready to try out on the road. Sacred Tattoo/Gallery in New York city has been very generous to allow me to bring the rig to their location in Soho (Broadway and Canal street) and I will debut the rig to an audience of tattooers and their clients taking free images for two days. As an added bonus, Almont Studios is having a model search for an AMPED 3D image based upon Facebook likes. Details can be found here: http://amped360.com/models.html If you have a great tattoo, I’d encourage you to come to the event – you might land a job!

Second, I’m offering image programming and hosting so that the images can be easily placed on social media and web pages. Unlimited rotational image hosting starts at less than $10 per month (two plans, $60 for 6 months or $100 for a year). Everyone gets to try it out for one month free.

Third, I’m going to launch a kickstarter project to produce a do it yourself video on how to take multi perspective photographs with one or more cameras. That way ALL tattoo artists can start taking rotational images. Additionally, plans include adding more rigs and taking them to tattoo conventions around the world and acquiring imagery for artists and for AMPED 3D image exhibitions as part of the events.

Come on down to Sacred on March 17 or 18 and see what all of this is about! I’ll be showing AMPED 3D images and a new rotational display that is very cool and perfect for presentation of rotational imagery.

Three Months Later… A New 50 Camera Array: AMPED 360 Is Here!

What I’ve been up to? Testing EVERY camera made to find the right building block for a highly sophisticated 50 perspective imaging system. Building power supplies and cable harnesses and circuits to connect and synchronize a 24 megapixel per camera array. Working with metal fabricators to design and build a perfect mounting system in a circle that facilitates quick and LOW COST acquisition of 360 degree images and AMPED 3D lenticular image data sets.

Writing SOFTWARE to automate and make cross platform compatible so a swipe of a finger on a smartphone turns an image around in the same way it does on a tablet, Mac or PC.

I’m now in the final testing phase and everything is working – which has been no small feat.

Photos to follow. For immediate info, PLEASE like me on Facebook at http://facebook.com/amped3d

Thanks!!!