Archive
carly

Code + Other Stuff

By:
09-12-2012
carly

Technical

Code structure

While I don’t have a perfectly clean and functioning “code” — so to speak — I did create this step by step procedure of how I got to the point I did. That can be viewed here.

I also have that archive of everything else I discovered and found here.

Documentation

Beyond that, my initial (successful) Processing sketch that opened one’s video feed, tracked their face, and transposed Mitt’s hair onto one’s head, also would save screenshots of that every few frames. That worked using the openCV library to use the video and head-tracking.

What I did figure out in translating it to Tumblr utilized Processing.js and Heatrackr.js, but I am yet to successfully combine the two.

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Final Project

By:
03-12-2012
carly

I’ve been continuing to post weekly and archive my process on the Tumblr I created, Votobooth.us. Feel free to jump over there to see what I’ve been working on, but I’ll also post an update here, as I’ve been pretty remiss about that.

As the semester draws to a close, it seems only fitting to write any concluding thoughts on this project and endeavors in this semester as a whole.

When I initially set out, I wanted to create a web-based application that uses your webcam feed to transpose your face onto various presidential candidates. The application would automatically take photos, sending them to a Tumblr, where they would be posted for easy sharing and viewing. While that final product didn’t is yet to materialize, I did glean a much deeper insight into the various elements that go into creating such a project and the tools I need moving forward.

Like my professor Lauren McCarthy said, “It’s not that it’s late, it’s four years early.” So with that timeframe in mind, this is something I might pursue further down the road.

That being said, I’ve learned a lot of *really* cool things and have created some interesting items, as well that I have been archiving here in lieu of that fancy final product. It’s a little messy, and not everything is tied up in a clean little package, but I think it stands as a useful collection of resources and thoughts, nicely compiled all in one place.

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An Update: This Project is a Dismal Series of Failures

By:
12-11-2012
carly

Problems/Unexpected Discoveries

Turns out the main library I’ve been using (openCV) is not compatible with anything beyond Processing itself, rendering it absolutely useless for my purposes.

Chrome recently did a new update that causes my browser to crash after I run the getUserMedia API for more than 5 minutes.

Sometimes, Chrome/my webcam gets confused and doesn’t realize that nothing is using the camera feed, but monopolizes it anyways, refusing to run any other applications using the video feed.

For some magical reason, utterly bewildering to me, a post that previously was able to pull the video feed perfectly using getUserMedia isn’t working. Still trying to troubleshoot that one..

What I accomplished

With Alex’s assistance, I discovered some other snippets of Javascript that can grab the video feed and do facial recognition.

That’s about it.

Goal for next week

Get headtrackr js to work with Tumblr in post format.

Figure out the relevancy or purpose of my project.

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Carly Ayres | Votobooth.us

By:
05-11-2012
carly

FINAL PROJECT

In this project, I will be creating two tools. The first tool, Votobooth, will invite users to interact with it, allowing them to “express” themselves in an individualized, yet controlled, way. Votobooth is a website that, using your video feed, combines your face with that of a presidential candidate, and allows you to take a photo and share it beyond the site.

The secondary tool, and potentially the more important tool, will be the documentation of steps and procedures used to create Votobooth. By providing the steps and citing the resources used, I will create an archive that others can draw upon and save them the horrendous amount of hell I am currently experiencing (just kiddding..).

The user experience is comprised of those two tools, which cater to two different groups of people with a small overlap in between. The user experience will be more important for Votobooth, as I want it to invite people to interact with it and explore all the wonderful features I hope it has. It needs to have the right amount of playfulness, yet stress the seriousness of the election and the weight of the decision taking place two days from now.

TECHNOLOGY


This project will utilize a wide range of technologies and platforms, including, but not exclusive to:

  • Processing
  • Processing.js
  • Opencv library
  • Tumblr
  • CSS/HTML
  • Twitter
  • Add this, maybe IFTTT

Processing.js lends itself to what I’m doing because it’s on the internet. CSS/HTML helps with that dimension of this project as well. Tumblr, I chose, because it’s become one of the easiest ways to share and distribute image-heavy content on the internet, and Twitter for a similar reason, but in 160 characters or less.

TIMELINE

Last Monday: Done
Tomorrow: Done

ASAP: Done

After ASAP: Get friends to take photos of selves and “experiment” with “tool.”

More importantly, though, in the coming weeks I will create that secondary tool and think of future, more timely applications for what I’ve created.

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