CMU School of Drama


Saturday, November 23, 2013

Digital street artist replaces car headlights with projectors

InAVate: A video artist became the subject of a recent LG viral advertising campaign when he used the electronics manufacturer's Minibeam projectors and a Mini car to stage a series of clever digital street installations. The artist, only known as Jaun, removed the headlights from the car and replaced them with the small, WiFi connected, 500g projection units.

22 comments:

seangroves71 said...

I wonder what the legalities are for causing such a visual distraction on open roads. (i do believe these were filmed on close roads for the sake of the LG commercials)

Its a very creative idea, Im more intrigued to see what other street art projections he has done because I think those are more interesting then the car's projections or at least then the car projections he showed in this video

Nathan Bertone said...

This is absolutely unreal. I love this man's style of thinking! His projections are so clean and flawless. The moment where he had people surrounding the woman playing music was really cool. I'd love to look at these projectors. As it seems, the projectors are not actually connected to a computer or a larger input of any source. I am interested to see how the data is imported to then be projected.

Secondly, as Sean does, I also wonder what the legalities of such a project are. How does one cause distractions like these on an open road? I think that this video was incredibly captivating, but I found it weird that it was an LG commercial.

Akiva said...

I don't know much about traffic law, but I do know that there are may legal cars out there that are/make visual distractions. For example trucks with ads on the sides, or fleets of cars, or fancy sports cars, or cars that have been pimped out to crazy distracting levels. I don't know if that sort of thing falls under the same legal area as this car but that might be possible.

I think that the work this man is doing is pretty cool, but I think we might just be seeing the parts that worked out really well. And we are seeing a bunch of actors who are paid to look like they think the projections are really cool. Most of the effects that we see in the ad would be really very hard to make happen in a live street setting. For example the dog being projected next to the real dog would be super duper hard to get right. These effects may look neat in an ad but in real life i suspect they are underwhelming. I don't think very highly of companies trying to make hip viral marketing projects to make their products look better then they truly are.

Lindsay Coda said...

I agree with Akiva in that LG probably took the best images of the projections and used it in this video. I am interested in knowing what locations work best with these projectors? For example, do specific street lights have any effect on the projection beam? Is the angle of the projections able to change when projecting on different surfaces?I really like having the projections on a street, though, because it makes the art more relatable to the viewers around it. Not only is this art form relatable, but it is also interactive, which really connects audiences with art itself. I must say, I was also very confused at the jet plane projection. I don't know much about cars, but I'm pretty sure headlights are in the front of the car. So how were the wings (on the side of the car) projected onto the street? I'm gonna say there were projectors underneath the car? Anyway, this made me think of some really cool ideas: personal drive-in movies anyone? or what would these projections look like in fog or rain? I would really like to see more of this art form in the future.

Unknown said...

As with Akiva and Lindsay Coda, I believe that this mans work does look visually entertaining however the false sense of interactivity that is given off by the work is not something that is seen in the time and moments of experiencing these projects. In order for his projects to work he would need to be accompanying his works and triggering then to move to simple parts of his videos such as the dog bark and the audience clapping otherwise his videos would only do so on random intervals. This is part of the difficulty of video projection art, although we believe we can interact with the images we can't. So variables and contingencies are created to reach a level where it appears to interact more so than the last level. Although the pop art feel to his videos are neat and are exploring a style that different that here at CMU I think his work is a little simplistic. Projecting people seem to be trying to create a false sense of human presence or bring in the idea of presence and how it would change a situation. His work that are stylized much more like cartoons have a greater impact which bring the viewer into a world of cartoon possibility and I think that by doing so he is unlocking ways to bring views in with the shared experience of the "saturday morning cartoon". I think those styles are much more effective and allow the views to consider reality versus a slapstick reality.

Unknown said...

This is pretty cool, there has been a recent trend of long, very well done videos, that end as an advertisement for something. I thought this one was one of the better ones. I can believe that what everyone else is saying, that we only see his success is true, but I don't think that matters. With art like that there is probably going to be a lot of failure. I think with art in general, not everything the artist does is going to be good. But if the stuff that is good, is really great, then the artist is probably a very good one. Also, side note, I really liked the car taking off at the end, that was pretty cool.

april said...

Ha! That rocket car projection completely sold me. I was not sure how I felt about this guy but after seeing how he seems to really love what he does and how he is able to amaze so many people with his work, I must say that I admire him. I think its great that he is just putting his art out there wherever he can (which is virtually anywhere with his medium) and doing what he loves and trying to get as many people to interact with his work as possible. I am not sure if he will need to jump through any legal hoops or not by replacing the headlights, but whatever he needs to do to make that happen certainly seems to be worth it. Also I thought it was much more exciting the way that he was able to manipulate his projectors to project on all sides of the car instead of only where normal headlights would go. Also i hadn't seen too many video artists that use sound the way he did. It really added and even more immersive feel to his art when people experienced it on the street.

Jenni said...

Wow, that is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. I'm sure that this is completely illegal. There is no way that this wasn't completely staged. Causing that type of distraction of the road way is completely illegal. However, if the projectors can be used as normal headlights then I would be a really cool installation style piece where the car is driven into a specific location and then it is was used as a projector, but not a projector on the road. I must admit that for a commercial it was very interesting.

AnnaAzizzyRosati said...

This is awesome. Regardless of whether they only used the best projections or if the car could legally be driven, it's a really creative concept and holds potential to be manipulated in many ways. The idea in itself of using projections to create street art is really interesting. It's like a more dynamic and less permanent form of graffiti or chalk mural. THEN when you attach it to a car, there's a whole new range of visual illusions you can explore.

This concept reminded me a lot of chalk mural illusions! Here's an example: http://www.tracyleestum.com/wp-content/uploads/honda_final-copy.jpg

Alex Frantz said...

The blend between art and technology has been a frequent debate among several artistic circles. Personally, when it comes to theatre, I find that technology is a double edged sword, with the heavier amount of weight placed on the damaging end. Many productions find themselves embroiled in media, “simplifying” other elements that ultimately are simply distracting. Other times, I have seen media steal the show, as the moving pictures pull from the immediate story that is being told. It is a difficult balance to design media that adds to the understanding of the show without pulling attention from the entire picture. That being said, as evidenced here, Media opens a door to create works and tell stories in innovative ways that were simply not possible before, and the results can be simply breathtaking. The idea of mobile art itself is fascinating, and Juan has made an incredible use of it. I feel like we are just at the beginning of the media age, and I am tremendously intrigued to see how it changes the face of art, both within and outside the walls of the theatre.

Hunter said...

This is a very cool use of media technology but like everyone has been saying there is no way this is legal. The projections would be way to distracting for other drivers. But it is nice to see a creative and unique use of media. One thing I noticed is that the projections seem like they were added in in post but maybe that's just because they were well done. Either way they were very cool.

Mariah G said...

Wait, I love this. This seems a little dangerous... I'm not sure it's a good idea to replace headlights with projectors... but it's such a cool idea and a really great way to use technology. I wonder how it all works and were the video feed is that these images are projected from. Are they in the dashboard? does he have his laptop set up?

This is one of the few very not-subtle ways that I've seen media and seen it really WORK. I love how it completely changes the image of the car into something that only a little kid could dream up. I don't think this is the safest or smartest idea, but I definitely love it.

E Young Choi said...

I see so many people are mentioning about legalities of this project, but I think in terms of idea and concept, it is amazing. I wonder who would have thought of replacing car headlights with projectors. When I first saw only the capture of the video, I thought there was an installation on zebra crossing. However, when I figured out that it was a projector in the headlight that was doing all those projection, I was thrilled to see more. I found it interesting that depends on where the car was, there were different projection. I agree that there is certainly practical problem, but I think it is a great art as well as entertainment. With the introduction of new ideas like this, I think we can apply it to do many other things like personal car-movie theater like Lindsay mentioned. I think LG did a good job of attracting people and advertising its product in a creative way.

Unknown said...

What we see in the video is in incredible. The idea of being able to create art like this is exhilarating but then you must remember this is an advertisement by LG to get you to buy their new mini-projector. I would be interested in playing it to see if it's really as powerful as they make it seem. I believe human interaction with media is one of media's most powerful abilities and I'm excited to see it being used here.

Unknown said...

This seems like a really interesting application for media and a great way to get people to open their minds to more creative thoughts where ever they go. I wonder if he just drives up and plays the media and then adjusts the placement digitally while the media is playing, or if he takes the time to move the car into exact position. Either way, I think it's obvious that this requires a lot more work and time than what the commercial shows.

Keith Kelly said...

This takes car decals and interior and exterior car lighting to a whole new level. Imagine driving home from work at night and each person has their own unique projection illuminated onto buildings, roads, and other cars. It would be such a cool experience, but also very distracting. If these projectors were allowed to be installed in cars, then the amount of accidents would sky rocket due to distracted driving. The art that Juan creates is stunning and make the driving experience turn on its feet. It would bring a whole new level of excitement to driving. I don't believe that this technology would work too well when driving at high speeds because the projection would be very blurring and would simply create more distractions. Overal cool art piece, but other than that not practical when driving.

AlexxxGraceee said...

This seems a little unreal. Obviously this guy wasn't driving around real streets. and these images seemed a little too crystal clear and sharp to actually be real. Its a very interesting idea and I could love to see it implemented somewhere that wouldn't be illegal or compromise the safety of others. The idea of this being street art is absolutely an amazing idea though. Its both not permeant and can get a point across extremely effectively. Its something i never would've thought of.

Emily Bordelon said...

Obviously, I'm concerned about the issue of not having headlights when driving at night. Though, putting that all aside, it is a neat idea. The projections that were made could be done without a car, but the last one, the one where the car became a plane, was very cool. I think that, were the conditions safe and perhaps there were more cars doing the same thing, it could become more of a performance that people could see in an arena or something like that. It would be interesting to see projections from other vehicles interact with each other.

Albert Cisneros said...

This is so cool! Its interesting to see how artists are using and incorporating projections into their lives. I think people are beginning to really tap into the full potential of projections and projection mapping now that technology has gotten so much better and projectors are significantly more portable and lightweight. We try to use projection in our shows to add an effect that the actors or set can't give the audience. I love how Juan takes everyday events or places and transforms them using projections.

Becki Liu said...

THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!! Not just with the car, but everything he does! Projections are so cool and what you can do with them is really impressive. I love how he thought of putting the projectors where the headlights are supposed to be. I don't really care about the legality of it all (though I think that might actually be important) I just like that he came up with the idea. Because it's super cool and interactive!

Unknown said...

Although this definitely isn't Dept. of Transportation approved, it is super cool. I'm impressed by how bright the output is from such a small projector that was able to fit into the headlight housing. I wonder what other effects this artist could explore utilizing this concept. The idea of dynamic projections on a moving vehicle is an exciting one indeed!

Unknown said...

Obviously this would never be legal as long as humans are driving cars since these types of distractions are animated vs still ads. But maybe one day with driverless cars, why not? Besides that, this is really cool! It definitely follows the trend of projection/laser art on buildings, public spaces, etc... I think it's awesome how he came up with this, how cool would it be to see/hear a car "take-off". I wonder if all the images were as good as the ones in the ads or if these are just the best of the best?