Z[ink] is the creation of Johnny Dixon and Robin Carlisle, it’s an installation involving a series of interactions that enable people to paint 3D paintings which can be mapped anywhere in the room. It looks something like a Minority Report Etch A Sketch, and is proving very popular, with people already fighting over the 3D glasses and utensils to create their own pieces. We spoke to one third of DSP, Johnny Dixon (the other two are Robin Carlisle and Thomas Zhao), about the work.The Creators Project: So what was your goal for this project?
Johnny Dixon: The project is all about exploration into 3D space using affordable stereoscopic monitors. 3D and CG graphics are usually used with such precise and meticulous processes. What we try to do here is take the simplicity and reality of 3D and put it into stereoscopic space, simply using people's movements to paint.So it is 3D at its most bare?
There's definitely an element of stripping away all the difficulty and hardness, and all the programming, so people can interact with a 3D space. It was built to be simple. That was the idea.How does the technology you use tell you what people are doing?
Vector information is collected, like Battleships but with a Z depth, so in this 3D matrix in this room, [Z]ink knows exactly where you are. It doesn't matter where the cube is, or what part of space you are in, it allows you to see the grid you've been walking through.So how will this project progress from where it is now?
We are working on a collaboration with Paul B. Davis, in which wherever you are in this 3D matrix, it will equate to you triggering sound as well. The project will go on and on; we are going to change the textures, so you aren't just painting with tubes, you can paint with all kinds of different shapes. We are going to move away from this tracking system and use a gun, so you can turn it on and off, draw straight lines and add texture throughout the 3D space. It hasn't moved on too much since the New York event, but back in the studio there has been quite a lot of progress and development.
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Johnny Dixon: The project is all about exploration into 3D space using affordable stereoscopic monitors. 3D and CG graphics are usually used with such precise and meticulous processes. What we try to do here is take the simplicity and reality of 3D and put it into stereoscopic space, simply using people's movements to paint.So it is 3D at its most bare?
There's definitely an element of stripping away all the difficulty and hardness, and all the programming, so people can interact with a 3D space. It was built to be simple. That was the idea.How does the technology you use tell you what people are doing?
Vector information is collected, like Battleships but with a Z depth, so in this 3D matrix in this room, [Z]ink knows exactly where you are. It doesn't matter where the cube is, or what part of space you are in, it allows you to see the grid you've been walking through.So how will this project progress from where it is now?
We are working on a collaboration with Paul B. Davis, in which wherever you are in this 3D matrix, it will equate to you triggering sound as well. The project will go on and on; we are going to change the textures, so you aren't just painting with tubes, you can paint with all kinds of different shapes. We are going to move away from this tracking system and use a gun, so you can turn it on and off, draw straight lines and add texture throughout the 3D space. It hasn't moved on too much since the New York event, but back in the studio there has been quite a lot of progress and development.