Taubman College Thün and Velikov publish work in Leonardo Journal, and present at SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver
Associate Professor Geoffrey Thün and Assistant Professor Kathy Velikov will present a paper on research entitled “Nervous Ether: Soft Aggregates, Interactive Skins,” as part of the Art Papers at SIGGRAPH 2014, the 41st International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Vancouver, Canada, August 10-13. The paper is also being published in the current issue of Leonardo, Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology.
The paper describes the authors’ exploration and experimentation with cellular pneumatic aggregates for kinetic, environmentally-responsive envelope systems. It elaborates on the physical and computational development of novel pneumatic systems, experimentation with their interactive capabilities, and on a recently completed installation. Nervous Ether is a prototype pneumatic spatial envelope that operates as an instrument to register and communicate remote environmental information, while also developing effective interaction with inhabitants. The paper is co-authored with Mary O’Malley (M.Arch.’10) and Wiltrud Simebuerger (M.Arch.’10, Ph.D. candidate).
The project has been developed with seed funding support through a 2013 Taubman College Research Through Making Grant and a Small Projects Grant from the University of Michigan Office of Research.
Visit the Leonardo Journal website for the most recent issue. For more information the SIGGRAPH 2014 Art Papers visit the 2014 SIGGRAPH conference website.
Image caption: Thün and Velikov,‘PneuSystems’ Detail (photo: Christina Kull 2014).
