VizWorld.com

Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” is of the most important, and controversial, scientific texts of all time, but many people don’t realize that Darwin spent his entire life refining and updating it.  In fact, the six versions of the text printed during his lifetime grew from 150,000 words to 190,000, with many changes:

The second edition, for instance, adds a notable “by the Creator” to the closing paragraph, giving greater attribution to a higher power. In another example, the phrase “survival of the fittest” — usually considered central to the theory and often attributed to Darwin — instead came from British philosopher Herbert Spencer, and didn’t appear until the fifth edition of the text. Using the six editions as a guide, we can see the unfolding and clarification of Darwin’s ideas as he sought to further develop his theory during his lifetime.

Ben Fry has chronicled the changes in the text over these 6 editions in a web-based Java applet caled “The Preservation of Favored Traces” where you can see edits, insertions, and deletions throughout the six texts.

via the preservation of favoured traces | ben fry.

Science darwin, history, infographic, text

A new Music Video for Crystal Method’s “Drown in the Now” is up on Vimeo with  fun use of anaglyphic stereoscopic 3D.  Done by Scott Sindorf and Damijan Saccio of UVPhactory.com, it’s fun if you can find some red/cyan glasses laying around.

See it after the break.

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Graphics 3d, anaglyphic, music video, stereoscopic, vfx

Over at the Red User Forums, Brent Craig found some information on the big 56-RED Camera rig we talked about back in June.

Chris Parker from Bling Digital did the video assist and managed, with the support of Sim’s fibre optic gear and several other suppliers, to get all 57 cameras displayed and recorded on 50″ plasmas for the director. The PM told me that the video assist budget alone was more than most commercial budgets!

See the video & all the details on the original post.

via 56 RED Camera mobile Data Lab | VizWorld.com.

Graphics, Hardware commercial, red

An article from Jodi McDermott re-introduced me to something I haven’t heard of in years, Anscombe’s Quartet.  For the unknowing, it’s a collection of 4 small datasets that when analyzed statistically are identical (same min, max, mean, and variance).

What’s my point, you might ask? When each one of these datasets is plotted out visually, they have completely different appearances (just click on the link above and you’ll see what I mean). There are outliers where one would not expect to see them — identifying both opportunities and risks in your data depending on what you are analyzing. However, one would never see the variance in data patterns if it was not plotted in a chart or graph (or analyzed data point by data point).

via MediaPost Publications Visualizing Data 09/04/2009.

Science anscombe, data, statistics

If you missed the glasses-free stereoscopic monitor from Alioscopy at SIGGRAPH then make sure you check it out in the Autodesk booth at IBC next week.

“We’re excited to bring Alioscopy technology to IBC 2009 with Autodesk, and present the next way stereoscopic 3D entertainment, digital signage and visualizations will be created and viewed—without glasses,” said Philippe Roche, CEO of Alioscopy USA. “With the dizzying growth and popularity of 3D stereo films, we are witnessing an unprecedented interest in stereoscopic 3D.  Using Autodesk 3D content creation software and compositing tools with Alioscopy technology and hardware, 3D artists and compositors will be able realize vast new business-to-business (B2B) opportunities in new markets,” added Roche.

They’ll be in booth #7.D21 at the RAI Amsterdam, and are scheduling demonstrations.  See the full press release after the break.

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Hardware 3d, alioscopy, display, lcd, stereoscopic

Two groups called ‘raster-noton’ and “Derivative inc” have joined up to create an interesting AV experience for the club-scene resulting in some interesting techno-music/audio-visualization work.

this collaboration has resulted in performances that are nothing short of devastating as the td interface pulses 30 frames per second on a long stretch of screen behind alva noto punctuating the avantgarde artist’s every conjured move and expression in real time. audience response to the spectacle makes clear that this event is precedentsetting if not altogether mystifying.

It’s difficult to describe (and difficult to read thanks to the press release’s complete lack of capitalization), and much easier to explain through video.  Click after the break for a pair of videos and the full press release.

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Graphics art, derivative, music, raster-noton

NVidia has just announced a new toolsuite named “Nexus” that allows debugging of GPU code (like CUDA or OpenCL) directly within Visual Studio 2009.

NEXUS introduces native GPU debugging and platform-wide performance analysis tools for both computing and graphics developers, fully integrated into Visual Studio 2008.

More information about NEXUS will be available at the GPU Technology Conference, Sept 30th – Oct 2nd, 2009.

They have a demonstration video showing interactive breakpoints, watches, memory analysis, profiling, and more.  In addition to debugging GPU-computing code, they also show using it to debug rendering via texture and frame analysis.  See the video after the break.

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Hardware, Science conference, cuda, debug, nexus, nvidia, opencl, visual studio

The State of California has produced an impressive interactive tool for viewing ARRA expenditures for various counties in the state, separated by boundy and type of expense.

This page provides information about projects known to have been awarded Recovery funding within the geographic boundaries of California, by County. The California Recovery Task Force continues to receive federal guidelines and information regarding additional projects awarded Recovery funding. This map will be updated as additional information becomes available.

This representation does not satisfy federal reporting requirements and is not the state’s official, comprehensive reporting mechanism for Recovery Act funding. It has been created and displayed as a service to the citizens of California.

The interactive tool gives a great glimpse into how the money has been spent.  Even if you don’t live in California, you might want to check this out.

via California Economic Recovery Portal – Stimulus Map.

Science arra, government, interactive

engadget has the scoop from Sony that they plan to release a firmware upgrade for the PS3 in 2010 that will enable support for 3D television in all existing games. Of course, you’ll need the special 3D glasses and a TV with a high refresh rate (probably 120hz minimum).

In many ways, 3D just seems to make more sense in a video game than for a movie, and the whole problem of finding content to deliver in the format has already been solved: a software update for the PS3 sometime in 2010 will enable it to provide a 3D viewing experience to “all” existing games on the system. We’re sure there will be some exceptions, but it sounds very promising. The console itself pumps out a quite regular signal over HDMI, which the TV syncs up with your 3D glasses. A 200Hz TV, for instance, alternates 1080p frames, with 100Hz for each eye.

Could this finally be what brings 3D into the home?

via PS3′s new 3D mode captured on video, coming in 2010 to all existing games.

Hardware 3d, ps3, sony, stereoscopic

CGCon has announced the dates and locations their upcoming North American roadshow.

Building on the overwhelming success CG CON 2009 received in Los Angeles in July 2009, we now bring an exciting array of educational, inspirational and fun conferences to some of North-America’s hottest Computer Graphics hubs.

Featuring world leading experts in their respective fields, we will be teaching cutting edge techniques in Animation, Modeling and Digital Painting to digital artists in their home-town

The full schedule is available on their site.

via CG CON 2009.

Graphics cgcon, conference, workshop