Thesis I – Project Blog 9

Notes from a Houdini Tutorials that I will be referencing to for the final project.


Studio:

  • Fix weird depth of field issue. I am guessing its just the focus plane that we are seeing needs less compression.
  • Figure out a fix for the constant confidence level. Problem is if someone speaks, it will stay on the same level. I am guessing I might need to make a variable or an api update.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

Intro

The world as we know it is saturated with smart technology. From the moment we wake up to the minute we fall asleep, we interact and coexist with some sort of A.I. every day. As our relationship with technology deepens, our bond strengthens with these synthetic beings. Ask another person about a digital assistant like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa. What would they say about this entity? How would they categorize it? Instinctually, they would give it a human-like characteristics, and traits. Almost humanizing the A.I. that they are interacting with. The term for this phenomenon is called anthropomorphism. To anthropomorphize is to give “human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects or natural phenomena.” (Nauert) This action, to humanize, is a way for humans to comprehend and predict another’s intentions, and behavior. Such as with any piece of technology we interact with, we instinctually humanize it. Inadvertently, leaving a digital fingerprint of ourselves with it. Whether it’s an image or text. we project ourselves on this object. As in my project, I crafted a character that representations what I believe is a piece of my personality. Even as I tried to stay unbiased in creating many different variations, the character within the piece still has properties that speak to me. Every animation, color, model, and sound are part of my psyche that is imprinted within the work. The combination of these elements are what I would call my avatar.

This piece of art is my voice that I am presenting to the audience. As an artist, I like to stand back and observe viewers as they interact with my work. Having the portrait act as my avatar gives me that freedom. It allows me to speak through a different voice as if I put a mask on. Cloaking my actual identity and distancing myself yet allowing me to portray my message to them. I believe anthropomorphizing the portrait painting will influence the viewer intensifying the connection with the character. Even though they know he is a digital being, they will comprehend him as being real. With this belief, the viewer should unconsciously emotionally and curiously explore what he has to say, or rather what I might have to say.