UNI [THESIS] – DIGITAL MEMORY WITH PROCESSING/OPEN CV

June 3rd, 2009 | Richard Almond

The concept of memory is prominent in the theory behind the thesis project. We know of the obvious contrasts between memory in its human sense [poetical, nostalgic, romantic] and its digital sense [polar, binary], but the aim is to somehow incorporate some of the characteristics of human memory into the digital world. As I explored previously with Data Moshing, there are methods in which software can be used to ‘remember’ previous states of things it records. In the example below, however, I have used Processing with the OpenCV library to achieve an effect similar in concept, yet one which operates in real time.

There is a buffer within the Processing software which can store data. In this case, when a key is pressed, Processing stores a screenshot from the camera and displays it as an overlay onto the live video. It essentially acts as a memory of a previous time, and this methodology could form the basis of the scripting used in my installation.

Could the buffer be used to store video clips in the same way as it can store images from the camera?
Can it store video/images from external sources [user uploads]?
Instead of a button press triggering these clips/stills, could time trigger them?

These are the questions I need to answer to move on with this, and those answers will hopefully determine whether or not Processing/OpenCV is the right software to use…

Open CV/Processing 1 from Richard Almond on Vimeo.

Using the buffer in Processing to store an image [Digital Memory]

[tutorials for the above effects from createdigitalmotion.com]