Glitchbooth by Brad Bouse

[doolittle]

Glitchbooth is a photobooth that creates realtime glitched selfies. The project uses Javascript-based computer vision (like Headtrackr and JSFeat) to identify faces and objects in the frame, and then distorts the image realtime using webGL pixelshaders.

This project is a play on the ever-popular photobooths at weddings and events. Instead of crisply capturing the subjects, their images will be distorted using a number of filters like glitch, polygons, 8-bit, phase-delay, and face-replacement. With some filters, the images will simply be distorted (shifted, sliced, blurred, or glitched)--in others, the subject will only be the seed for an abstract, generative image (i.e. a polygonal pattern or sequence of intersecting lines).

Glitchbooth will be open source with a plugin system for the filters. I'll provide the base set of filters and instructions for creating more--and anyone will be able to submit additional filters. Ambitious folks could even create them at Cascadia.

The installation will be controlled by a Powermate knob on a pedestal--simply rotating the knob will change the filter. Pushing the knob will create a screencapture and allow the user to tweet the image from the @glitchbooth account, tagged with #CJS14. The images will
also be available on glitchbooth.com.

(Almost) everyone enjoys seeing themselves on screen. This is a simple, participatory project that would work well in a common space where people mingle on breaks.

Hardware requirements:

• Webcam
• Projector
• Mac Mini (or comparable machine-- anything with a reasonable GPU)
• Griffin Powermate USB knob

The installation will depend on the space at the venue. Ideally it's located somewhere most people will pass by and projected life-size. I can provide all of the hardware, assuming the venue is secured.

How the heck do I deliver this by 7/31?

This project comes from prototypes for Whispering Galleries, a project I recently made with Amaranth Borsuk. It is a Leap-and-webcam project commissioned by Site Projects and currently installed in the New Haven Public Libraries. In the installation, the reader sees a distorted image of herself behind an entry from an 1858 diary. When she moves her hand, the text breaks up to reveal a poem within the diary entry (an erasure). The reader can manipulate the text and particles with her hand (using data from the Leap Motion). The result looks like:

For Whispering Galleries, we experimented with a number of different distortions of the webcam image, which will be the basis for Glitchbooth. I'll pull the code out of the abandoned branches and abstract the processing pipeline from Whispering Galleries for reuse in Glitchbooth.

Who the heck am I?

I gave a talk at Cascadia 2013 about creative code (Make Art Not Money) and am a co-organizer of Seattle.js. In addition to the aforementioned Whispering Galleries, I made Between Page and Screen, also with Amaranth Borsuk. It's an augmented-reality book of poetry, published by Siglio Press, that has been exhibited internationally. Professionally, I'm a front-end engineer and product lead, and have done a bunch of startup-y stuff.

contact email: bradbouse / gmail

[hackygolucky]

@doolittle GO GO GO!

If/When you're ready for reimbursement, just email the receipts(can be photos if need be) and the email address we can refund you via PayPal to [email protected]

We're going to have an email list for Makers that will probably have an email or two go out regarding logistics of setup and what we can do to help make this process better for you. Thanks!!!

[davidmfoley]

+1