After communicating with Dr. Asad Khan last week, I began to reflect on my ideas and consider how they could be expanded.

The existence of time made me think about the differences between dimensions, If one dimension is a point, then two dimensions consist of a line made up of countless points, three dimensions form a cube composed of numerous two-dimensional lines. So, what does the fourth dimension look like? Is it also composed of countless stacked three-dimensional objects?

This also reminds me of the last part of the movie “Interstellar,” where the protagonist enters a black hole and arrives in a four-dimensional space, and in this four-dimensional space, he is able to traverse time and communicate with his daughter through gravity.

Then, through Wikipedia, I learned about the existence of the tesseract, and how it might appear in two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds.

 

So, I began to contemplate what I should do.

Can we use LiDAR and installation to achieve the projection of this four-dimensional space?

Can we also use time-lapse photography with LiDAR, thereby not only animating the scanned scenes but also materializing time?(Although the fourth dimension is not time, it can be visualized.)

Perhaps it could be designed as an installation. This installation would consist of four projection screens, not connected to each other, with gaps allowing viewers to enter the cube formed by the four screens. In the center, there would be a cube made of a projectable and translucent material, serving as an interactive area for the audience. The entire setup would create an immersive experience, thus requiring an immersive sound design as well.Visually, the LiDAR-processed images are projected not only on the four screens but also on the material in the interactive area.

Jan 31, 2024

In last week’s seminar with Asad, we discussed some preliminary ideas. After a comprehensive discussion, our main direction is to create an impactful audio-visual interactive installation.

(Pic 1: Our ideas recorded by Asad during the seminar)

I am particularly interested in Ming Du’s idea that “time is distance.” After class, I continued to discuss this idea with him. He wants to use four projectors to construct a “place,” arranged in the front, back, left, and right directions. The vertical axis represents space, which is distance, and the horizontal axis represents the flow of time.

I think sound has great potential in expressing time. Starting from the most direct aspects, we can think of the sounds of clocks and watches from various eras and styles. Extending further, we can also think of the sound of flowing water, as it is always moving in a directional manner, just like time. If we expand our thoughts further, perhaps we can associate it with the auditory memories of time in different regions, cultures, and eras.

What I’ve mainly discussed above is the aspect of timbre, but time also has a very significant characteristic: rhythm. At the most basic level, we can change the sound performance on a one-second basis, like constructing an alternative clock. If this stable rhythm is disrupted, it will lead to a shift from an objective to a subjective perspective. People’s current experiences cause their perception of time to change. Such a transformation is highly emotional and can produce some dramatic sound effects.

Regarding the artistic representation of time, I also want to recommend an independent game I recently played, which lasts about 10 minutes. It allowed me to attentively feel the flow of time.

The Shape of Time: https://yezi.itch.io/time

There was a minor setback this week. The staff responsible for LiDAR training is temporarily unavailable, so we couldn’t borrow the LiDAR equipment. Fortunately, they arranged a training session for us next Monday, and we’re very thankful to the uCreate staff!

After learning about this situation, Asad recommended that we first use Scaniverse on an iPad/iPhone to create miniature point cloud models of target locations. Scanning an entire space with a phone is somewhat challenging, so I tried scanning my York Ghost.

Jan 31, 2024