Contact Details

If you would like to contact any of the Obsurveillance Team our email address' are as follows;


Blaine Rennicks: rennicks@gmail.com


Ben Ryan: benryan51@gmail.com


Baptiste Madeuf: baptiste.madeuf@gmail.com


Keith Way: keitho300@gmail.com

Obsurveillance at the Fís

Dont forget that you can come and see Obsurveillance for yourself at this years Fís Exhibition in Dunalk IT.

Dundalk IT’s Fís Exhibition runs from June 1st to 3rd in the newly refurbished PJ Carrolls facility on the college campus. Admission is free and all are welcome to witness a showcase of the student’s finest multimedia, film and computer games work.

Exhibition times are as follows:
Wednesday 1st June: 18:30 - 20:30
Thursday 2nd June: 12 Noon - 21:00
Friday 3rd June: 14:00 - 19:00

To learn more about the topics brought up at the Obsurveillance exhibit, such as the level of information gathering which takes place online as well as what simple steps you can take to protect your information, simply click on some of the links below:

Adjusting your privacy settings on facebook:

http://personalweb.about.com/od/makefriendsonfacebook/a/faceprivsetting.htm

The dangers of Tracking Cookies

http://www.ehow.com/list_6914475_dangers-tracking-cookies_.html

9 'Friend-Finder' apps that essentially turn your phone into a tracking device:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/finding-your-friends-via-gps-9-free-mobile-apps/

Big Brother watching you could become a reality very soon

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23391081-george-orwell-big-brother-is-watching-your-house.do

What is spyware?

http://www.spychecker.com/spyware.html

Gmail's intimate targeted advertisements

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10453226-71.html

What can you do about Gmail Target Advertising?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2009/nov/19/gmail-adverts-privacy-scanning

What is Wikileaks?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10757263

What are the dangers of Data Mining?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/technology/10pri

vacy.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=83281de60f5340aa&ex=1362801600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Article on Data Mining agency 'Double-Click'

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996366,00.html

Ghostery - Protection from spyware and information gathering.

http://www.ghostery.com/

Obsurveillance Trailer Online

Check out the new trailer for Obsurveillance, just posted today.

http://vimeo.com/24257606

The Evolution of our 3D Background

The interface will feature a 3D animation playing behind the video clips to give it a more floating feel. Here's a look at how the concept for this animation has evolved over the last few months:

Version 4: May 2011

Version 3

Version 2

Version 1

Working on Final Video Sequence in Motion, and General Updates

Is it as complicated as it looks? Yes.

In other news, we had our Demo with all the lecturers of the department yesterday, where we had to present our progress 3 weeks ahead of the deadline. They seemed quite happy with the fact that we now have a fully functional application, with all video clips loading and unloading as needed. They also seemed impressed with the GUI and interactive hardware (we presented the video which was posted here on this blog earlier).

Most importantly for us at this stage, they seemed to be on board with our two main requests ahead of the exhibition; supplying us with a power-house Mac Pro with Flash CS5 installed, and also with our own room some distance from the centre of the exhibition. We await confirmation of either though, so stay posted.

Our 30x40 " Screen

Our Prototype Interface

We hope to have our interface animations completed by the 6th May (for the demo), they will each correspond to users actions. Will keep you posted! Laters

Our test Screen

We have been testing over the past few days with various types of glass and we have come to a decision to go with class1 frosted glass. Here are our results; Our 40 inch glass panel will be ready on tuesday and we will post up more pictures. Until then, here are our test examples.

Messing about with Different Graphics

The first version of our working app with conceptual interface

A Clean Up

In the spirit of Spring, we've cleaned up our Actionscript code very nicely... With a new video construct function we no longer have 43 lines of code for each of out many video feeds, so that our total code came down from 1400 lines to just under 300! Slightly more managable... We hope to have a fully functioning App ready for the end of this week. It will be a mountain to climb, but we have our hiking boots on! We will keep logging progress...

The bones of how Obsurveillance works... Flash CS5 cue points

TESTING

Currently getting our screen working with the wiimote, here are a few pictures of the 'testing' stages!!

More to come very soon! :D

Laters'

Bansky CCTV graffiti; done under CCTV!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-559547/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-pulls-audacious-stunt-date--despite-watched-CCTV.html

We are still working... Updates to follow soon!

Updates

Some limited progress on the hardware side... Finally figured out why all the work trying to get the kinect to work with AS3 was going nowhere; we need to be on CS5, not CS4 as have been testing on for weeks.. Frustrating to find such a core problem but it improves the chances of getting it working all the same.
Audio recording has also been delayed due to equipment issues, but we will be recording next week for sure and are using this week to record test clips to try out different effects and have a comprehensive recording list for next week.
Shooting our final video clips; those of the commander figure giving orders to the User, has also been delayed for the same reasons, but it works out well actually as now we have an extra week to review the just completed rough cut non-interactive edit of the previously shot footage from the Marshes. It looks good, but we have found plenty of holes that can be filled with our foster shoot next week. So glad we had these discoveries.
We have a meetig with the supervisor today, for which we have plenty to show; A new improved interactive application, new interface designs including 3d background animations, and the previously mentioned fixed cut of the video elements.
We will keep you updated right here.

Interaction Hardware/Programming Update

Keith and I have been doing yet more research on utilizing the Kinect for our interactive exhibit, but progress is admittedly slow... It seems most of the work being done (and made available through open source libraries) by online collaborative efforts to hack the hardware has been done through C or C++, both programming languages which we have no experience of. Because the tech is so new, the SDK is only just available, and even this doesn't help us much as we are limited almost entirely to developing in Flash and AS3. The hunt is on for an easily editable library of open-source Flash files available online that work with TiuoKinect... We wont give up until we are sure they are not out there! It seems the online community, although plenty in numbers, is limited to coders and developers, and not many multimedia artists like us.
In light of the difficulties, we are continuing to look at using multitouch touch-screen interface options by publishing from Flash as an Air app. Since we have the backup of the wiiMote/IR lights touch-screen, now the mission on that side is to get this working with multiple IR lights.

General Updates - Pre-Rag Week Deadlines are on Schedule

So with Rag Week around the corner, we have only a few precious days to reach our pre-Rag milestones. But big progress has been made on all fronts.
The video footage has finally all been organized and converted and is now completely ready to go through and make a plan of which takes to use. Then they go straight to compression to into the application. Casting ads go up this evening for our final shooting to take place in 2 weeks, that of our commander figure in the narrative, Foster.
We have a working prototype app with 3D backgrounds and test video clips within. And it looks sweet.
We are compiling a list of all audio to be recorded the week after Rag Week so that we will have all assets needed for the final piece with 3 weeks from now.
And finally we have reached that point of progress with the Kinect that we were hoping for: We have a basic Flash Air program working with Kinect inputs. We also discovered the possibilities in working in Air for multitouch elements, so that even if, for any reason, the Kinect was to fall through, this provides more concrete confirmation that we can utilise multitouch with the alternative interaction method: the touchscreen using wiiMotes.
All looks good...

1st Adobe AIR application

Hello Again!

We are almost 100% going ahead with using Flash/ Adobe AIR as the platform for our project, reason being; it supports multi-touch functionality and we can make our .fla into an .app to run on any desktop. We are at the early stages at the moment but the AIR programme doesn't seem to be much different to Flash CS4, just publishing settings but it seems easily manageable.

***UPDATE***

Just create

d first Adobe AIR application and is available for download by public. Cannot seem to post on blog but its there anyway! Its merely just a link to our blog but getting there. Now to get the multi-touch functionality working...

We keep you posted with anymore updates.

hmmm...wonder what our project would look like as a phone app???

Flash and Adobe AIR

Hey All...

While we are still experimenting with the Xbox Kinect we're not forgetting about our tactile interaction method with the wiiMote and Flash. However we have recently found out that our two finger tactile interaction may only be compatible with Adobe AIR. Moderately new software that allows flash developers to make phone applications compatible with apple and android operating systems. We have not worked with Adobe AIR so we are relatively new to the programme. However. . . .

We are in contact with a newly formed company/business, consisting of a 3d Animator, Sound Engineer, and a highly skilled programmer who have received an investment for their skills, from entrepreneurs to develop phone applications. We will hopefully be meeting up with this team later on in the week to see if they can give us a step in the right direction in regard to Adobe AIR and our application.

We will keep you guys posted of any advances with out project.

Laters...

Video Capture and Conversion...

Oh I knew it was going to be a pain but but I didn't really consider the total extent... Between converting the h.264 compressed footage from the 7D and 5D to ProRes using a custom Compressor droplet and having to recapture the DV footage without timecode auto-cuts (oh and not to forget converting and de-interlacing the HDV 1080i stuff), it has been far from fun sorting our multi-cam, multi-format footage issues. But almost there now, capturing the last DV tape as I type... Now all I have to do is name and sort haha! Oh fun. At least all camera formats are converted and tested in FCP and looking good!

CCTV - a threat to freedom?

Yes Because...

The House of Lords have expressed their view that privacy is an "essential prerequisite to the exercise of individual freedom". We can no longer say that we live private lives when every move is being watched by one out of the four million CCTV cameras in Britain. Our every move is being watched. Such surveillance renders our society as equivalent to a large scale big brother. Our every move can be traced and information can be gathered about our daily activities. If this information were to be misplaced, which central government seems to do frequently, then who knows what other breaches our freedoms will endure.

(1)http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/06/surveillance-freedom-peers

No Because

'Freedom of privacy' is a redundant concept. Just as a celebrity cannot claim privacy when they are out walking the streets, neither can we. We accept the high level of protection and we accept the Crown Prosecution Service help in building a case against a magnitude of criminals; just as celebrities accept the magazine deals for photos and money for high exposure. In accepting such protection, such financial reward for the celebrities, we impliedly accept the fact that hand in hand with those positive aspects of society comes the negative side of being watched.

The media have hyped up CCTV's in our society to make it seem like an Orwellian state. It is a fact that CCTV's are a huge aid in catching criminals, for example if not for CCTV's the perpetrators of 7/7 would not have been caught. This is the same for the Jamie Bulger case. New legislation is also being introduced so that the data protection act will protects people' s freedoms and liberties.

So what do you think…

Sorting and Sounds

Now that we have (almost) all the footage we need, we are currently sorting all the takes so that to select the best one for each set-up.

The audio captured in the Marshes was good quality, but we still have to lip-synch one of the actors, because of the impossibility to use some of the mics we borrowed. The good think is that DKIT has everything we need to do that.

We are starting to have all the elements getting in place... All that allow us to already picture what our final project can look like, which is kind of exciting, don't you think?

Keeping our Options Open. . .

Kinect VS Wii:

As you may know from our previous post we have the wiiMote hack working with flash.

We are very excited about that but we are currently ahead of schedule in relation to our interaction research and development. So... we have decided to give the xbox

kinect a go to see if we can get that working too, and if so, how well can we get it to work.

Currently, we are experimenting with various source codes on the internet. We are in plentiful supply, in terms of the software out there so we are really working hard to try and have two

forms of interaction working by the 27th of February. We have Actionscript code for flash, now it is just a

matter of breaking the code up and manipulating it our way to best suit our needs. We will update very shortly with any progress made.

Laters...

File Conversions and a 3D Background

After some concern earlier today about the compatability of using animation created in 3ds max with flash we were slightly worried that we would be unable to use a 3d animation as our interface background. Im happy to say that after a little research and some file conversions it looks like any animation created in 3ds max can be used in flash, and with no loss in quality and in a small file size too. Getting closer to that ideal interface...

Interface Design

The stylistic element to the movie 'Minority Report' was heavily referenced when we were pitching ideas on how we wanted our end product to look. Given the healthy progress of the interaction using motion tracking, it's important that the design of the interface doesn't let us down. While we may not have holographic technology to work with we want to our interface to appear as technologically up to date as possible. In the 'Minority Report' interface one of the key elements to its futuristic appearance is the obvious lack of a monitor, allowing the user to see the surroundings lying behind the interface. In order to try and create a similar feel to our interface we hope to create a constantly moving background to the icons and video clips. We hope that this will create an environment behind what the user sees on the screen in front of them, creating a more modern feel.

The key to a smooth shoot...

Im hardly a pro DOP just yet, but I've a fair bit of experience on shoots at this stage, and I know the value of good homework. So before we headed to the Marshes with our 8 cameras myself and Baptiste did a MASSIVE amount of preproduction. It really paid off in the end because it was easily the most hassle free shoot I've been on, despite the amount of cameras, the lack of radios, and the RAIN! So I thought I'd upload just one example of how much detail we went into, other than pages and pages of storyboards and shotlists... This is what I had on my wall at home; a map of the Marshes, with sat maps printed from Google Maps for the carpark scenes, along with recce shots and a step-by-step walkthru. And ignore the crossed out €2,000,000 figure... it was just too tempting to imagine ourselves planning a heist!!

Major Script and Filming Shoot - all in 2 weeks!

Wow, what a couple of weeks... So much has happened since the last posts but it was for this reason that we never got around to updating the blog! Firstly our 'Script', the single biggest submission before the finished project itself, was due on Wednesday this week. It was almost 100 pages long, and detailed every single aspect including Narrative, Interactivity, Programming, Audio, Application Design, Video Production etc etc... A massive body of work; and my thanks to the rest of the team for putting so much into it (Especially Ben who took the awful job of searching through headings looking for every small 's' and 'r'... long story!).
Secondly we had our major shoot this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, in the Marshes SC down town. We shot with no less than 8 cameras! Fantastic work, and despite many dropouts and struggles with castings, we even managed to finish a whole 9mins ahead of schedule! A big thanks go out (in no particular order) to Leah, Randal, Alan, Roger, Eamonn, Ronan, Gocky, Karl, Peter, Fin in HMV, the Marshes management, Roy for doing CSI Dundalk perfectly, Ben's bro and Keith's Dad for trusting us with their shiny cars, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone else, for all the help during the shoot. And of course to the Obsurveillance lads, well on the way to Best in Show!

Programming and Interaction

Hi everyone, just a small update on the programming and interaction. Currently making great advances with the programming and are very happy with the progress.

Still researching into the interactivity side of it and what form of interactivity our exhibit will have.

At the moment gestural movement seems a great possibility and also tactile interactivity is a definite.

Below are a few links to what we are currently looking at so feels free to have a look to get a better understanding of what were talking about.

More updates soon!

Laters

Gestural Movement

Head Tracking with wiiMote

Finger Tracking with wiiMote

Multi-Touch screen projection

Project Maestro

Time to put the head down... and not up again til June!

Things have been busy over the Xmas period, but unfortunately not all on the Obsurveillance front! It's time to get going again now though, and we have a new (and appropriately condensed) schedule in place to catch up.
We will be shooting in 3 weeks, and we almost have our locations finalised. Talent acquisition is in progress, and preproduction in full swing. Once we get a start on the post-prod before Rag Week we will be back on schedule in terms of the video production. Then we will be ready for the rush to Fis in getting everything working together. Don't worry the schedule also allows appropriate hangover time from Rag Week... Keep posted!

Programming

Just a quick update on the programming. We are currently placing HD video footage into flash to see how much it can take basically. By this testing we can determine what compression has to be done to the footage before importing it into flash. Also by doing this we can determine what processor will be needed to run all our footage without glitches, (more than likely a powerful one). We are recreating cctv footage so the HD aspect of it is not an essential. So for the moment we are just testing, testing, testing.

Will keep you posted with any more progress!

Data Mining

So what is data mining? Data mining is basically advertisers autonomously gathering information about people as they search though the web. The best definition I could find for data mining was actually on wikipedia (not a site I like relying on but how and ever). It defines data mining as "the process of extracting patterns from data. Data mining is becoming an increasingly important tool to transform this data into information. It is commonly used in a wide range of profiling practices, such as marketing, surveillance, fraud detection and scientific discovery". The main goal of advertisers who use data mining is to create a world thats like that scene in Minority Report where every time tom cruise walks by a shop it recognizes him and offers him products based on his previous purchases. So while this might look like an awesome sci-fi way of shopping it actually requires people giving personal information to unknown sources, not something we'd do happily to some randomer on the street. Anyway the article below (which isn't too long) is a good description of data mining and points out its advantages but also its obvious potential pit falls, enjoy.

http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/buffalo-news/mi_8030/is_20100716/growth-data-mining-threat-privacy/ai_n54461179/

Anyone can play detective...

A friend of mine told me about this website www.spokeo.com. It basically markets itself as a kind of online phonebook so if you type in your name or email address it basically searches throught the internet to pull up any data it can find about you. Now it's an american site so typing in your name probably won't do any good, but your email address is worth a shot. When he typed his email address it pulled up some of his facebook photos (his privacy settings shouldn't allow anyone to see his photos though even on facebook). So I typed in my email address but it found nothing on me. Baptiste though typed in looking for info on a friend of his in america and it pulled up family members, phone number etc. the kind of stuff that shouldnt really be made public. Once the site pulls up information about you it then says that you can pay to find out more! Its crazy that search engines like this exist, where their sole purpose is finding out information about you. Obviously it started with great honest intentions but it can lead to your personal details ending up in the wrong hands. The main fear I have with sites like this is that this is just one we only discovered recently, how many more similar sites are online which give anybody the ability to easily determine someones personal information, without having to 'friend' them on social networking sites. Our lives are becomming more and more public and without our knowledge, scary stuff.