Tag: Perception

  • Disappearing Architecture: 15 Mirrored Buildings Distort Perception

    [ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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    Dazzling in the most literal sense, architecture clad in mirrored glass or stainless steel almost seem to become part of the sky and landscapes that surround it so you can’t quite tell where the man-made objects end and nature begins. That’s often the point, with architects creating structures that virtually disappear into their surroundings (to the chagrin of more than a few birds.)

    Reflection Field by Phillip K Smith III, Indio, California

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    Reflecting the vast open sky and signature palm trees of Indio, California, where Coachella is held each year, the installation ‘Reflection Field’ by Phillip K. Smith III consists of five monolithic volumes that transform all day along with the environment. At night, colored light is projected from within.

    Refinished French Country House

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    It’s safe to say there’s no French country estate quite as dazzling as this one, now that its facade has been entirely replaced with mirrors. Architecture studio Bona-Lemercier worked with artist Xavier Veilhan and set designer Alexis Bertrand to transform a 1960s home into ‘Le Château de Rentilly,’ a contemporary art gallery.

    Guest Houses by Peter Pichler, South Tyrol, Austria

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    A pair of vacation homes in the South Tyrolean Dolomites by Peter Pichler offer up space for guests without interrupting the property owners’ view of the stunning mountains. Reflective, but coated in a glare-reducing film to prevent bird collisions, the two ‘Mirror Houses’ blend into the property so they don’t compete with the client’s garden and existing 1960s farmhouse.

    Mirrored Ziggurat by Shirin Abedinirad

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    “In this installation I have been inspired by the pyramidal structure of ziggurat, a common form of temple in ancient Mesopotamia, attempting to connect earth and sky, so humans could be nearer to God,” says artist Shirin Abedinirad. “The Mirrored Ziggurat acts as a staircase, which seeks to connect nature with human beings and to create union of ancient history and today’s world. The installation offers a transformative view of the self. The Mirrored Ziggurat has seven levels that represent seven heavens. For me, mirrors amplify this paradise, giving light; an important mystical concept in Persian culture, and a medium creating an optical illusion.”

    Mirrored Auditorium by MVRDV, Tianjin, China

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    It’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s reflection when gazing inside the transparent facade of MVRDV’s beautiful new library at the Binhai Cultural Centre in the Chinese city of Tianjin. A mirrored spherical auditorium inside the main atrium reflects both the interior space around it (including all those books!) and the park outside.

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    [ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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  • Reflection Perception: 12 More Mirrored Art Installations

    [ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

    mirror art main

    Mirrors can disrupt our perception of our environment, especially when they’re positioned to blur the lines between land and sky, up and down, reality and reflection. These 12 (more) mirrored art installations dazzle us with glinting light, confuse us with illusions and invite us to question the difference between what we are shown and what we believe to be true.

    Mirrored Ziggurat by Shirin Abedinirad

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    Slivers of the sky seem to hover in mid-air if you approach this mirrored ziggurat from one of its corners, the steps reflecting the sky while the walls reflect the grass. “In this installation I have been inspired by the pyramidal structure of Ziggurat, a common form of temple in ancient Mesopotamia, attempting to connect earth and sky, so humans could be nearer to god,” says artist Shirin Abedinirad. “The Mirrored Ziggurat acts as a staircase, which seeks to connect nature with human beings and to create union of ancient history and today’s world. The installation offers a transformative view of the self.”

    Dazzling Wolf by Tomoko Konoike

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    Tiny shards of mirrors reflect light all over the surrounding surfaces as they form a silvery fragmented coat for a six-legged wolf. Titled ‘Donning Animal Skins and Braided Grass,’ the sculpture by Tomoko Konoike draws inspiration from both tradition and pop culture in the form of manga and Shinto animism.

    Landscapes Turned Upon Themselves
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    Portions of a three-dimensional landscape are cut out and pasted on top of themselves in a large-scale mirror series called A Moment’s Reflection by Cody William Smith. The effect is most striking at night, when one side of the sky is dramatically different from the other. “My intention is to draw new connections between familiar forms by interdicting specular reflections to environments where none would typically exist. The mirrors serve as a focal point within a given scene and also function as a window to provide an entirely unique perspective on the same location.”

    Maze of Mirrors at Hyde Park

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    Visitors carefully navigate a maze full of mirrors in Sydney’s Hyde Park, as it would be far too easy to just walk right into one of the reflective columns. Architecture firm Out of the Dark installed 81 mirrored posts with 423 reflective surfaces at the park as an interactive exhibit encouraging visitors to question what’s real and what’s an illusion.

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    [ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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  • Think Tank launches Perception and Digital Holster bags for mirrorless systems

    USA bag brand Think Tank Photo has launched a collection of daypacks and a new holster designed specifically for mirrorless camera systems. There will be three new bags in the Perception series of small backpacks, and will be available in sizes that range from the Perception Tablet that is suitable for a body, lenses and a mini tablet, to the Perception Pro which holds a tablet, a 15-inch laptop and a large mirrorless body with a collection of lenses. Read more

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Perception of Dimensions

    If you’re interested in reading Flatland (recommended!) you can read it online for free in a few places, including here www.geom.uiuc.edu My entry into Ars Technica’s Science Video Competition (I got second!) : arstechnica.com
    Video Rating: 4 / 5

    Another Unity3D side project among the ones we are currently developing – lining up next to our anaglyph package and the Kinect experiments – is the Augmented Reality tests we have in progress and which allow us to put another “oooh” in the mouths of people stopping by our offices. Of course we didn’t make the 3D models you can see up there, but Link seemed like a proper character to have some fun. The webcam recognizes special markers printed on paper and assigns a character to them. At the moment we managed to make it recognize 2 distinct ones and, according to distance and orientation (as you can see in the movie), they stand idle or start beating each other up without mercy. I have been asked to write a bit about augmented reality and its applications since a while, especially by my friend Petya Georgieva who will interview me for her blog as soon as I have a free moment (if you read this Petya, this is the prequel to your interview, I am getting there I promise!). I’ll be sure to add more movies as we progress in the development – especially of the iPhone version which is in the works – and keep you updated on the results.