Firmata is a library which allows environments like Processing and MaxMSP/Jitter to communicate with the Arduino microcontroller over USB. More specifically, Firmata allows these environments to treat the tethered Arduino as a transparent interface board for communicating with sensors and actuators. This means that students learning MaxMSP or Processing can execute a reasonable subset of […]

Many computer vision projects require a camera which blocks visible light and exclusively sees infrared light. Unless you have money to spend on optical glass units, such filters generally take the form of a thin sliver of black gelatine or polyester sheet, inserted between your camera’s sensor chip and your lens. Representative products include the […]

Image Retouching: A Critical Approach for Media Arts Educators I developed the following course unit on image tampering, retouching and manipulation for my Introduction to the Electronic Media Studio (EMS1) class at Carnegie Mellon. The semester course is intended for first-year students with little or no computer experience, and serves the purpose of introducing students […]

As an occasional emissary for new-media arts, I increasingly find myself pointing out how some of today’s most commonplace and widely-appreciated technologies were initially conceived and prototyped, years ago, by new-media artists. In some instances, we can pick out the unmistakable signature of a single person’s original artistic idea, released into the world decades ahead […]

Below are some resources about the “Chinese Painting Village” phenomenon, such as Dafen or Wushipu in Shenzhen, which employ about 10,000 artists and produce more than 60% of the world’s oil paintings. The information below may be ‘of interest’ to arts educators and/or students, particularly those studying painting. I am grateful to Clement Valla for […]