Trans Plant

1995, Christa SOMMERER & Laurent MIGNONNEAU
Source: 1995, Christa SOMMERER & Laurent MIGNONNEAU

(collective) Sommerer / Mignonneau

Trans Plant ,
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Description
"Trans Plant" is a interactive computer installation, developed by Sommerer & Mignonneau for the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and displayed there for a period of 3 years.

In "Trans Plant" visitors enter a semi-circled room and become part of a virtual jungle which starts to surround them.

As the visitor steps forward into the installation space, he will see himself inside a projection screen in front of him. By walking freely and without any devices , he soon will discover that grass is growing, wherever he walks, following each step and movement he does. When stopping and staying still, trees and bushes will grow on the place where the visitor currently stands. Changing the speed and frequency of his movements, the visitor thus will create a biotope, that is full of different plant species.

The size, color and shape of these plants depends only on the size of the person. Small children usually will create different plants than their parents, but by folding out the arms, the size of the plants can be increased. If moving the body slightly backwards or forwards the color density can be changed as well.

As each visitor will create different plants, he will bring up his/her own personal forest, that is an expression of his personal attention and feeling for the virtual space.

As the growth gets more and more dense and the space more and more full of different plant species ( bamboo, Susuki grass...), the visitor will more and more engulf into this virtual jungle: he will enter deeper and deeper into the growth, and appear as a 3D person in the virtual space.

http://www.iamas.ac.jp/~christa/WORKS/FRAMES/FrameSet.html
Keywords
  • genres
    • bioart
      • genetic art
    • installations
      • interactive installations
      • virtual reality (VR)
  • technology
    • displays
      • electronic displays
        • projectors
    • hardware
      • cameras
    • interfaces
      • camera recordings
Technology & Material
Hardware
2 computers (1995 -)
1 back or front projection screen
1 video projector
1 3D Key interface (1995 -)
2 Cameras
2 Tracking interfaces
Interface
2 Video Cameras
1 Tracking interface (1995 - )
Video signal real-time analysis
Serial communication of found features
1 3D Key hardware interface
Real-time hardware depth merging of video images and 3D computer images
Software
Camera vision:
3D User’s position in the room, hands and head position tracking
3D plant growth algorithm
Gesture recognition
Hardware video and 3D environment depth merging
Exhibitions & Events
Bibliography
  • Sommerer, Christa and Laurent Mignonneau. »Trans Plant II.« In 3D Beyond the Stereography: Images and Technology Gallery Exhibition Theme, edited by T. Moriyama, 76-77. Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum Of Photography, 1996.
  • Sommerer, Christa and Laurent Mignonneau. »Trans Plant.« In Imagination - Images and Technology Gallery Exhibition Theme I, edited by T. MoriyamaTokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum Of Photography, 1995.