I added a depth of field shader to Rivers, an effect I’ve wanted for a long time, since I really love how it looks in miniature / close-up photography. Here’s a test run with some blocks:

and applied to the usual scenery it lends a hazy atmosphere:

The technique records distance-to-camera values for each pixel (smuggle them in the alpha channel) and then interpolates between a sharp version of the scene and a blurred one as outlined in this nVidia paper and this post.

I found lots of nice wood pieces and these perfect translucent acrylic panels at SCRAP for just a few bucks. Highly recommend the place!

The light’s handled by the aforementioned green LEDs wrapped around a wooden core, and controlled through an Arduino and my laptop.

Where to go next?

• cut silhouette patterns for the shade with Ponoko
• carve designs into the wooden frame
• use a BlinkM RGB module (or a MaxM – 445,000mcd?!)
• going wireless with an XBee is really tempting for when I have multiple objects around
• the next one won’t be a box. It’ll be… something else.

Links on mathematically & artistically modeling cities! Mostly videos!

World Builder – a great short film with dreamy immersive interface ideas

The making of Telematics City. Also:

• MxR Architecture, a tangible augmented reality interface
• Pixel City, procedurally generated nighttime cityscape
• TED talk on fractal patterns in African villages
• NY Times on how cities are like organisms mathematically

Projection mapping is a method of painting light onto 3D objects rather than a rectangular screen to give them more life and depth. Create Digital Motion has been covering a lot of recent work, collected under their projection mapping tag. The technique has been taking off like crazy this year thanks to software like the Video projection tools project and patches for vvvv. One of my favorite uses is in the gorgeous film SCINTILLATION created with stop-motion and projection mapping onto orchids.

Back to buildings. I’m digging these because it’s a different kind of augmented reality, one which doesn’t require looking through a video feed. I mentioned previously using decaying cities as canvas; here pictures and information can be superimposed onto large-scale scenery for any number of viewers, and the hardware is becoming increasingly accessible. I’ve seen several light graffiti projects. This performance uses giant arrays of LEDs sequenced and synced with music to turn museum windows into pixels for a light show:

This rendered animation superimposes volumes of digital color onto gray, concrete urban environments (and here’s another).

I love kinetic sculpture. Here’s a collection of my favorite work; Wikipedia has much more.

• MAKE filmed a wonderful artist profile on Reuben Margolin, who builds these floating wooden waves with an amazing sense of lightness. Watch full screen! 
  
• Hoberman Transformable Design creates expanding domes and architectural shells and originally turned me onto transformable (or deployable) structures. Here’s an interview.
• Daniel Piker’s Space Symmetry Structure blog covers, among various spatial curiosities, computer-simulated foldables and rigid origami. 
  
• The Hyposurface – a mesmerizing, undulating, triangulated wall
• Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests – creatures whose wind-powered frames majestically roam the beaches. His mechanics have inspired many others: e.g. cross it with a Segway for the creepy crawler, a car for the mondo spider, and the Arduino for this walker.
• Arthur Ganson – wires, cranks, walking chairs
• Tim Prentice – like blankets, wind, or wiggling microorganisms
• Ben Hopson studies movement in industrial design to give objects personality