Experimental Visualization Lab, Media Arts and Technology, UC Santa Barbara

Experimental Visualization Lab

Room 2611, Elings Hall
University of California, Santa Barbara
vislab.mat.ucsb.edu, legrady (at) mat.ucsb.edu
Director: George Legrady

The Experimental Visualization Lab in the Media Arts & Technology graduate program at the University of California, Santa Barbara is dedicated to research and experimentation in multi-media based visual/spatial data visualization; arts-engineering collaboration; interactive public installations; and optical-computational visualization processes. Beginning fall 2011, research directions will be focused on data visualization, which integrates data mining, data analysis, and visualization, and computational photography which explores how computers integrated with optical devices can further our ability to see. In addition to artistic experimentation, there is a broad range of applications in engineering and the sciences.

Students in the program come from a broad range of backgrounds that include computational design, architecture, media arts, engineering, computer science and others. There is an emphasis on the synthesis of high-end skills in conceptualization, visualization, and computation. Current PhD researchers: Andres Burbano, Angus Forbes, Solen Kiratli, Syed Reza Ali, Javier Villegas, and Marco Pinter. Current Masters student: Qian Liu.

Current research is funded by the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the UCSB Faculty Senate.

Courses Overview

M200a Case Studies in Arts and Technology - An overview of the digital media arts field with a focus on the processes of interdisciplinary project conceptualization, planning, and publication.

M259 Data Visualization - A studio course dealing with data mining, data aggregation and the visualization of abstract data in various modes that include frequency, spatialization, and 3D interaction.

M594CP Optical-Computational Studio - An experimental studio course where students individually define a research topic that explores new directions in computational photography.

M594CM Fundamentals of Spatial Computing - (Forbes) A foundation course for computing in multidimensional spaces, investigating the synthetic and generative potentials of elementary geometric constructs.

Arts130 Digital Visual Culture - A theory based course that examines the impact of digital technologies on the study and analysis of the image.

Arts102 The Conceptual Art of Photoshop - A studio production courset that explores alternative methods of understanding what a signal processing instrument like Photoshop may be to extend its use in art exploration.

Projects (In conjunction with George Legrady Studio)

Voice of Sisyphus, (2011 ) is a multimedia installation in which an image is analyzed by a custom software which then reads the segments and produces sounds spatialled in a 4 channel system, resulting in a continuously evolving composition through 8 phases. George Legrady's artistic direction, signal processing engineer Ryan McGee realized the image analysis, audio and spatialization software, and electronic composer Joshua Dickinson assisted with the audio composition software.

Pockets Full of Memories, (2001 - 2007) a data visualization installation using artificial neural networks presented in 7 major international museums in Paris, Rotterdam, Linz, Helsinki, Budapest, Manchester, Tapei. With Andreas Schlegel, MSc and PhD candidate August Black.

Making Visible the Invisible, (2005 - 2014) a real-time data visualization exhibition at the Seattle Public Library, that tracks library readership choices to make visible the current topics of interest. With Andreas Schlegel, MSc and PhD candidate Rama Hoetzlein.

Cell Tango, (2007) a continuously evolving archive of cellphone images to study how mobile technologies impact the nature of images. Installation realized in San Jose, Poitiers, Toronto, Irvine, Ypsilanti, and Wellesley. With PhD candidate Angus Forbes.

We Are Stardust, (2008) a commission by the NASA Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in collaboration with the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. This is a two-screen projection installation with infrared camera, that maps the sequence of NASA sky observations from 2003 to the present through the Spitzer Space Telescope, an infra-red temperature sensing instrument that is orbiting the sun, and trailing in the earth's orbit. With PhD candidates Javier Villegas and Andres Burbano.

Data Flow, (2009) an installation at the Corporate Executive Board in Arlington, Virginia, mapping content of semantic data flow. With PhD candidate Angus Forbes.

Goals of the Lab

Goals include a) innovative exploration and implementation of real engineering problems informed by aesthetic knowledge with results of relevance to both artistic and engineering research interests, b) to present results in a broad range of contexts from peer reviewed papers to fine arts museum exhibitions covering the breadth of both disciplines. Examples include: Presentations at engineering conferences (InfoVis, Siggraph, etc.) and at media arts conferences (ISEA, V2, etc.) Publications in conference proceedings, refereed journals, specialized internet journals, fine arts exhibition catalogs. Peer reviewed presentations featured as demonstration models in engineering contexts, and as installations or as artworks in media arts festivals, fine arts galleries, museum institutions, or web based commissions.

Selected Recent Exhibitions, Conferences, Publications Projects and Installations: SOMArts Gallery, SF (2011); Media Biennale, Poznan, Poland (2010); Vancouver Olympics (2010); LHS Museum, Berkeley (2010; Shanghai eArts (2010); Wellesley (2009); Commission by Corporate Executive Board, Arlington, VA (, 2008); National Theater Poitiers Prize (2008), France; Art Center College of Design and CalTech NASA Spitzer Center (2008).

Selected Conference Presentations/Publications: TEDxsv Palo Alto (2011); Net-Sci Budapest (2011); ZKM Karlsruhe (2011); CAA NYC (2011); ISEA Istanbul (2011); IEEE InfoVis (2010); IDEA Festival Louisville (2010); ACM Multimedia Beijing (2009);

Projects funded by: Creative Capital Foundation, New York; NSF IGERT; Daniel Langlois Foundation for the Arts, Science, Technology; Canada Council for the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; Siemens Kultur Programm; University of California Santa Barbara Research Across Disciplines.

Alumni

Enrica Dias Lovaglio (MA 2002) - faculty of architecture, CalPoly State University, San Luis Obispo.
Ayoub Sarouphim (MA 2003 ) - Senior Design Associate, Klai Juba Architects, Las Vegas, Nevada. Practicing architect responsible for a number of designs in Las Vegas (Hard Rock Hotel, Ellis Resort, E Hotel/Casino, Gateway, and others)
Andreas Schlegel (MS 2004) - Faculty of Digital Design, Lasalle University, Singapore. Internationally featured interactive works. Contributor to the processing.org software development. Previously worked with Art + Com, Berlin.
Eunsu Kang (MA 2005) - Assistant professor of New Media, University of Akron, Ohio, PhD from DXARTS, University of Washington. Internationally exhibiting artist in Asia, US and Europe.
August Black (MA 2005) - PhD 2011, Media Arts and Technology, UCSB. Internationally exhibiting artist.
Ethan Kaplan (MFA 2005, Art dept) - Director of Technology, Warner Brothers, Burbank, California.
Aldo Figueroa (MA 2006) - Instructor, 3D Animation, CSU Channel Islands.
Wes Smith (MA 2008) - PhD student, Media Arts and Technology, UCSB. Exhibiting artist, software designer, consultant at cycling74.
Rama Hoetzlein (MA 2008) - PhD 2010, Media Arts and Technology, UCSB. Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark. Exhibited artist and published papers in ACM, SIGGRAPH, Leonardo.
Jeungah Kim (MA 2009) - PhD student in Education, Boston University.
Pehr Hovey (MS 2010) - Media artist/engineer, Los Angeles. Fiber optics suits featured at the Guggenheim Museum.