User:Martin/Final presentation

Background + Special Issues + Extra Contributions

Incidences médiatiques (optional):
the GUI (graphic user interface) as an elastic reading context
[WEB]

Incidences médiatiques is an online reissue of Raymond Queneau's book called Exercices de Style. In the original book from 1947, we can read an identical story, written in 99 differents writing styles. In order to increase this publication towards a more open form of literature, the project is presented here as its hypertextual version. This first plastic work, wanted to highlight the unpredictable nature of the devices by which we receive the online content.... They then appear to us in very different forms and aspects depending on the reading context. Factors such as the type of media used, the size of the screen, thesize of the digital window, the position of the cursor or our finger on the screen, are then suggesting us an infinity of possible reading directions.

Media Spaces (optional):
the Web, the print and the physical space as a series of browsing/reading experiences
[WEB TO PRINT + INSTALLATION]

Media Spaces deals with the question of representation through the different media, supports and spaces of representation. I primarily reflected on the status of networked writing and reading, by programming his dissertation in the form of an online Website. Subsequently, I wished to question the effects of the process of transposition from the Web to print, by printing my thesis publication on different physical supports, from espacesmediatiques.martinfoucaut.com (currently offline). Finally, it is about designing a scenography wishing to put in space this text and these images from the Web. It is then embodied in the form of an exhibition interface directly inspired by the network of Web pages of the online publication. We find there a series of interactive installations wishing to give to see, to read, but also to make a physical experience of the new media.

Special Issue 13:
Making the <invisible> visible
Questions the physicality of the Web [WEB to PRINT]

For the Special Issue 13, I interpreted the essay TENSE (2018) by Simon(e) van Saarloos. With my interpretation, I amplified the author’s discourse on descriptive language by exagerating the use of meta-descriptions through the form of HTMLtags. Normally, a HTML <tag> acts as a descriptive container, it is invisible from the Web-user point of view as it is only made to be read and interpreted by the computer in order to arrange the structure of the Web-page. By looking for ways to make these meta tags visible and readable from a Web-user’s point of view, I affect the reader’s interpretaion of the essay. Additionally to the Web, I made my three HTML documents (essay, artistic response and map) printable from the Web and included them in the Special Issue 13 book. As part of the design team of the Special Issue 13, I collaborated with two XPUB1 students to make the project’s visual identity, including the making of Web-to-print documents such as the blank map; bookcover and colophon.

Tense main page Screeshot

WFTF Book Final Shot 01

Tense Button Display 1

Square screencapture TENSE 01

TENSE MOTION Initial Screen Capture 1

Special issue 13 - Wor(l)ds for the Future
Tense screen recording montage of Tense

Special Issue 14:
Playing around with hidden Web events
Designing a game that operates both on the Web and in the physical world
[WEB + GEOCACHING]

For the Special Issue 14, I wished to explore, detect, and implement unconsidered Web events and situations in my own pinball game. Later on, this work evolved into a city-based pinball game, eventually becoming the publication’s launcher page. This launcher page allows the user to find coordinates of local Wi-Fi networks located within the city of The Hague.In addition to the launcher, I created a series of pinball inspired folder interfaces. Each of them allow visitors, who are connected to one of the local Wi-Fi network locations, to access content created and shared by XPUB1 students. This content can be games, texts or codes embedded within compositions of clickable pinball bumpers. In order to connect the launcher page with a total of five folder interfaces as part of a more unified navigation and visual system, I was working in the design team of the Special Issue 14 with three other students and together we assembled the project’s visual identity.

SI14 communication GIF

Player is encouraged to play with screen display size to influence ball direction and speed in order to catch or avoid various elements.

Launcher Running at PNF 01

Intro slides on phone

Folder interface design

The booklet, hand-guide for the Special Issue 14

Special Issue 15: Civil Entertainment Sirens:
The GUI (graphic user interface) as a Web oscillator
[WEB + SOUND]

Civil Entertainment Sirens® is a Web-oscillator develloped during the Special Issue 15, and which was performed briefly during the XPUB event window.open at Page Not Found. The instrument allows to explore different combinations of sound frequencies, echoed in time, which can sound quiet similar to sirens. It consists of a series of polyphonic textures (drone) which sound differently depending on your screen size (developped with P5.sound.js).

Civil Entertainment Sirens Capture

Caution Weird Floor - XPUB Geocatching Game with Federico Poni:
Designing a game that operates both on the Web and in the physical world
[WEB + GEOCACHING]

Federico and I developed a Web app allowing the visitiors of The Hague Contemporary Art Weekend 2021 to compose and generate custom routes across the different contemporary art locations of the city. These routes are generated from a series of combined words picked by the player, creating speculative poetry and offering many ways to explore the diverse manifestations from the 23 partners of the festival. During the festival, visitors could derive through The Hague catching the Weird Yellow Signboards around the locations and generate Weird Slippery Poems based on the imput description of each events. The yellow signs are the result of a (Webto) printing of the game interface.

XPUB Geocatching game Visual

User Interface

Reading Practice

Best of readings

→ Seymour, R., (2019). The Twittering Machine

When interacting, we are collectively writing to the machines
Social media platforms as "rigged lottery systems" where a post is a gamble
Why do we persist using tools and platforms that exploit us

→ Kholeif, O., (2018). Goodbye, World! — Looking at Art in the Digital Age

Data diary
Normalizarion of data centered marketing strategies/advertisments / Aesthetization of data

→ Zuboff, S., (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism

Introduce the term surveillance capitalism, which differs from governmental surveillance
Desillusions on the future of the Internet

→ Morozov, E., (2019). Capitalism's New Clothes. The Baffler

Critic of Zuboff, S., (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism
It is possible to imagine and build a society with the Internet without this logic of surveillance

→ Debord, G., (1967). The Society of the Spectacle

Post-War consumerism leaded to a "Celebrity Culture", "Society of the spectacle" or society of self-performance.

→ Foucault, M., (1982). Technologies of the Self

Form of power that is not necessarily only applied from one subject to another subject but also by the subject toward himself.

→ Foucault, M., (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

The panopticon metaphor

→ Wu, T., (2016). The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads.

The rise of the attention economy of the Web

→ Fritsch, K., (2018). Towards an emancipatory understanding of widespread datafication

Dismantle the technological mysticism of these systems and propose artistic works that speak to everyone.

Prototyping Practice

October 2021

In October 2021, I started using Arduino for the first time, during a workshop with Dennis de Bel. During a workshop, we started with a very basic unoficial arduino kit, a led, a motor, and a sensor. After making a few connections, we got to understand a bit how it works. It was from that point that I started getting more and more familiar with Arduino and work with ultrasonic sensors.

How to make a sensor work
Credits: Dennis de Bel
Sensortest during workshop
Splitscreen Arduino + Sensor + Serial Plotter + Responsive Space
Sketch 1: Arduino Uno + Sensor
Sketch 2: Arduino Uno + Sensor + LCD
Sketch 3: Arduino Uno + Sensor + LCD + LED
Sensor Test VS Elastic Space
Upgrade - Using a larger board

November 2021

During the month of November, I started working with multiple sensors at the same time in order to map the position of an obstacle on a wider detection range.

ArduinoExtraDigitalPins
SensorMediaQueries
Physical Space Mapping
ArduinoMegaSensorBuzzerLCD
left
Sensor Wall 01
PhysicalMapping2

December 2021

In December, after getting a lot more confortable with Arduino, I investigated the possibilty to transmit the values detected by the sensors and Arduino to P5.js, by making a serial communication (with P5.serialcontrol). By doing so, I could gain more freedom in terms of visual/sound feedbacks. However, the serial communication between Arduino and P5.js was in stand by for a very long time, because I didn't know (yet) how to send the values of more than one sensor.
During the Window exhibition at Buitenboel, I created micro-installation composed of a LCD screen and sensor(s) inviting users/visitors to change the color of the screen and displayed messages by getting closer from the window.

P5.js and ultrasonic sensor
LCD Arduino Variable poster
ScreenPortalFront
ScreenPortalback
LCDScreenTest

Assesment

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

January 2021

In January 2021, I simulated scenarios with an updated version of my graduation project.

Visitor arrives in space
Visitor gets encourage to get a reward by staying on a specific location
Visitor is encouraged to move to the left
Visitor earns a badge
Visitor is about to leave the detection range
Visitor left the detection range for too long, a receipt in printed

Re-Assesment

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

February 2022

In February, we created a small hybrid reality quest with Louisa. For this occasion, I created a mini-game with a sensor setup, allowing players to unlock a secret password by taking the good positions in space.

Password unlock with sensors: letter P appears
Password unlock with sensors: letter I appears
Password unlock with sensors: letter G appears
Password unlock with sensors: letter E appears
Password unlock with sensors: letter O appears
Password unlock with sensors: letter N appears
Hybrid reality game with Louisa
photo: Louisa
Hybrid reality game with Louisa
photo: Louisa
Hybrid reality game with Louisa
photo: Louisa
Hybrid reality game with Louisa
photo: Louisa

March 2022

In March 2022, I started designing differents stages/steps for the installation. The installation requires once again the player to hold on on specific position in order to unlock new stages.

Stage 0
The subject is located too far away
Stage 0
The subject is well located and will hold position to reach next stage
Stage 1
The subject unlocked Stage 1 and will hold position to reach next stage
Stage 2
The subject unlocked Stage 2 and is located too close
Stage 3
The subject unlocked Stage 3 and need to get closer
Transition Stage
The subject unlocked all stage and needs to wait the countdown for following steps
Early preview of the values I worked with
P5 serial control (debug)
Data from 5 sensors arrive in one line here (debug)
Serial monitor in Arduino (debug)
Serial plotter in Arduino (debug)
StockTicker_Visual_Reference_01
StockTicker_Visual_Reference_02
StockTicker_Visual_Reference_03
StockTicker_Visual_Reference_04
StockTicker_Visual_Reference_05
StockTicker_Visual_Reference_06
StockTicker_Visual_Reference_07
Checkout Visual Reference_01
Checkout Visual Reference 01
Checkout Visual Reference 03
Slot Machine Visual Reference 01
Captcha Visual Reference_01
Self Tracker Visual Reference 01
Self_Tracker_Visual_Reference_02
Self Tracker Visual Reference 03
Self Tracker Visual Reference 04
Self Tracker Visual Reference 05
Self Tracker Visual Reference 06
Self Tracker Visual Reference 08
Self Tracker Visual Reference_09
Self Tracker Visual Reference 10

April 2022

In April, I started designing the final interfaces for my installation. The idea was to refer to the differents contexts of surveillance and self-surveillance evoked in my thesis.
Luckily, Joseph explained to me how to make the serial communication between Arduino and P5.Js with more than one sensor value, by splitting the data in many parts.

left
center
Captcha:
one action needed moving forward, backward or standing still next stage unlock after action done and short animation
Self Tracking:
no interaction needed visitor must stand still until one of the goal is completed
Self Tracking:
no interaction needed visitor must stand still until one of the goal is completed
Slot Machine:
no interactions needed transition between 2 stages determines randomly the next stage displayed when nobody detected
Social Live:
no interaction needed visitor must stand still until money goal is completed
Stock Ticket:
no interactions needed displayed when nobody detected

May 2022

In May, I started considering to transiting from a small to a bigger screen for the grad show. I also updated the position of the different sensors.
While I spent the previous month designing the different stages interfaces, I spent this one connecting all the displayed values to the sensors.

Sensors array mapping for the installation interface
Stock Ticker Interface on small screen
Calibrating sensors angle to 15°
Drilling and displaying the TV support vertically
TV Screen can now be fixed vertically
Vertical TV Screen 02
Rounded_Sensors_Array_01
Rounded_Sensors_Array_02
Rounded_Sensors_Array_03
Rounded_Sensors_Array_04
Streaming Interface on Vertical Screen
000 Exit
01 Stock Ticker
02 Slot Machine
03 SelfTracker 01
04 SelfTracker 02
05 Livestream 02
07 Self Register

Thesis: Hidden in plain sight

Hidden in plain sight:
Understanding our consent and distrust in the context of capitalist techno-surveillance

1 → Homo Data

We approach here the model of surveillance and attention on which many of the tools and services we use are based and to situate this economy within the broader historical framework of the Internet. We learn how and when this business model emerged, how it evolved, and who we are (as human and users) inside this economy. As a clue of the widespread datafication and the culture of surveillance that emerged from this economy, we also observe how tech firms try to legitimise practices of surveillance and self-surveillance through the promotion of tracking apps and data-driven advertisements.

2 → Addiction machines

We investigate here the effects of the interfaces built to mobilise our attention, stimulate our interactions, obtain our consent, and create addictions. We study the implementation of gamification, gambling and lottery systems in various connected devices and online platforms, as well as question their effects on online users. By closely following these companies' expansionist logic, we also investigate the intrusion of these surveillance tools in our physical environments and our bodies, leading towards an entirely datafied society.

3 → Self-empowerment

A specific focus on the self-tracking/monitroing devices, framed in relationship with the discipline of the body and the technology of self from Foucault. How do we sometimes operate to our own surveillance, how can be used the data your provide.

4 → Agree and continue?

We consider here other perspectives on the culture of surveillance and self-surveillance,notably through the exploration of counter-practices, alternative tools, and critical and activist works.

Thesis link

Graduation Work: Count On Me

Description

I am Count on me, an interactive installation speculating on the study and marketisation of human behavioural data in public spaces. When I detect you, your position in space is simultaneously translated into information, interactions and ⇅* earnings/losses. During your journey through 8 different levels, you will be consciously participating to the commodification of your own existence!

In order to maximise “earnings”, you will have to keep letting me detect you, find the most lucrative positions and act accordingly to the instructions displayed on the screen. Each micro-task succesfully performed will allow you to unlock new data-driven interfaces. Once you exit the session for more than 5 seconds, your ⇅ earnings are automatically converted into euros according to the exchange rates.** ***

So, what are you waiting for?
Start counting today and you can count on me!

.* ⇅ = crypto-currency
.** see level 1: Stock ticker
.*** avg.ratio ⇅ 1 ≈ € 0.0001

Stages

Your journey randomly passes through 8 data-driven levels, each of which requires specific interactions from you in order to unlock the next level(s).

Count On me / 01 StockTicker / Martin Foucaut (2022)

Count On me / 02 SlotMachine / Martin Foucaut (2022)

Count On me / 03 Self Tracker V1 / Martin Foucaut (2022)

Count On me / 04 Livestream / Martin Foucaut (2022)

Count On me / 05 Self Tracker V2 / Martin Foucaut (2022)

Captcha / 06 Captcha / Martin Foucaut (2022)

Count On me / 07 Self Register / Martin Foucaut (2022)

Count On me / 08 Street Viewer / Martin Foucaut (2022)

When you leave/exit

When you leave the range of detection of the data collector, a 5 seconds countdown starts. If you don't come back in time, you session will be ended, and you crypto-earning converted into €

Count On me / 00 Exit / Martin Foucaut (2022)

What is it made of?

Material list and assembling of the installation. Note that Arduino, P5.js and P5.serialcontrol should be installed on the computer in use.

Schema Martin 01 Count on Me

How to interact with the device?

You can interact with the installation by taking different positions within the range of detection of the device.
A debug more also exists in order to activate the sensors remotely, you'll have to use an AZERTY (french) keyboard for that.

Instructions Martin 01 Count on Me

How to unlock stages? (Soluce)

Here is a secret guide to unlock all stages

Soluce Martin 01 Count on Me

Soluce Martin 02 Count on Me

Roles & Plans for Graduation Show

My current roles in the graduation show are:

Graphic design copyediting (reviewing design details before final export)
External communication w/Nami (Writting graduation show description, posting in on social media, communicating with WORM
Internal communication w/Camilo (Communicating about the global outcomes of each meetings to XPUB2 students)
Budget team w/Amy (Managing general budget and expenses between individual budget, exhibition budget, performers budget, transport budget, etc.)
Creating radio frequency dedicated to the project's topic

What I aim to fix for the graduation show:

Randomnize and loop the different levels
Make more explicit what can be done or not with the crypto-currency
Finalize the installation setup

Plans for Final Publication

For the final publication, I want to connect my installation work with my writtings.
The visuals bellow will be used to illustrate some examples given in the text.
More to ideas to come about this.

000 Exit
01 Stock Ticker
02 Slot Machine
03 SelfTracker 01
04 SelfTracker 02
05 Livestream 02
06 Captcha
07 Self Register
Schema Martin 01 Count on Me
Schema Martin 01 Count on Me
Schema Martin 01 Count on Me
Schema Martin 04 Count on Me

Upcoming improvments

Added to the improvments mentioned for the graduation show, I would like to improve the project with the following updates:

Make GPS Street Viewer really interactive, based on the real time location of the visitor.
Make Self checkout really interactive, based on the real time informations collected about the visitor.
Implement message when more than one person detected (already programmed but not translated into a visual feedback)
Create 1 more levels:
- Personality test based on the total amount of time spent on each location (A1, A2, etc.)