Lab Tools

Thanks to generous support from Whitman College and grants from TeachAccess, and the Whitman AITAG Experimental Tech Fund, I have applied my best budget shopping and computer building skills to assemble what is a most unique lab among small liberal arts colleges. The lab welcomes creative, interdisciplinary research, collaborations, and performances. I am happy to share ideas with colleagues from other colleges, especially primarily undergraduate liberal arts colleges, who wish to create similar spaces.

The lab is equipped with immersive floor and wall projections and several DMX pan-tilt-zoom color-changing lights that can dynamically react to the motion of props and performers. Interactive motion effects can be programmed using inputs from one of several tracking technologies including passive markers, infrared active LEDs, and inertial. The overhead Speed Rail grid makes it possible to adjust the configuration of lights, projectors, theatrical fabrics, and roll out a green-screen backdrop.

The lab specializes in collaborations with non-programmers who wish to bring motion-tracking data into applications such as TouchDesigner, Unity Engine, Godot Engine, or custom-developed applications.