Gesture Painter
The Gesture Painter is a software instrument for video synthesis. It translates manual gesture into abstract video paintings. It is designed for play and performance, and is particularly well-suited for accompanying audio.
Current State
The Gesture Painter is coded in Processing / Java and runs on a computer. It transforms gesture via the mouse into digital brush strokes. It provides many options and brush qualities to manipulate via the keyboard, and interprets the speed of the mouse stroke as an additional control. Connecting a projector shares the video for live performances.
All four images above are stills from live videos created using the Gesture Painter.
Web browsers no longer play nicely with Java, so it is regrettably now impractical to share a working instance of a Gesture Painter here on the internet.
Next Steps
The mouse and computer display will be unified via a touch-enabled LCD. This will put users in direct contact with the visuals as they create them, for more intuitive gestural control. The hardware interface will be accomplished via a new custom enclosure for the Sandbox Project platform.
The GP01 Controller will provide an additional interface for navigating preset scenes and manipulating parameters within them.
The goal for interaction with a Gesture Painter is to be simple enough to delight the novice who casually encounters one in an installation setting, yet sophisticated enough for the artist who wishes to exploit it as a performance instrument. Gesture Painter as art. Gesture Painter for the artist.
Long Term Goals
The Sound Canvas audio instrument generates sound through a similar paradigm. Gesture Painters and Sound Canvases will unite via the Sandbox Network into a system for performing simultaneous sight and sound.
The Sandbox Network will also enable Gesture Painters to join other devices: Sandboxes, Sand Clocks, and more &emdash; to further explore the networked expression of gesture.
The GP02 Controller (shown accompanying a Gesture Painter above) will be a more advanced hardware interface for the virtuoso. It will provide step sequencing and sophisticated real-time control over a much broader range of software parameters.