Regular graffiti not doing it for you? Looking for something a little more up-to-date than spraycans and brick walls? Perhaps you should direct your attention to the artist known as DAIM and his recent project creating real-time graffiti in 3D. By utilizing a multi-camera scheme, DAIM is able to smear virtual paint across an empty gallery space using special handheld markers which are tracked by proprietary (we assume) software, calling the project "Tagged in Motion." A picture says a thousand words, and in this case, a video says about a million -- so hit the clip after the break and see the work in action.
Update: The software in use is not proprietary, rather it's the ARToolKit (or Augmented Reality Toolkit), which is an open source project. Thanks for the info Kenijo!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Brian @ Jan 28th 2008 2:22PM
Doesn't get any better than that...
John @ Jan 28th 2008 2:25PM
3D tv?
E71 @ Jan 29th 2008 4:05AM
As long as it keeps him off the streets, taggin' everythin' -- yeah, sure, whatever..
MearWolf @ Jan 28th 2008 2:23PM
ok, no offence, but what is the point? so you can spray offence words on your pc screen?
John @ Jan 28th 2008 2:26PM
Since when does art have to make sense?
Theboss @ Jan 28th 2008 2:36PM
Who said graffiti is offensive words???
Mr.Tech @ Jan 28th 2008 2:46PM
The point is when next time you have a stroke attack. Your doctors can map out your heart in real 3D Virtual Time to see where the blockage occur.
Shawin @ Jan 28th 2008 2:48PM
look up daim's graffiti.
what he does is art. nothing offensive.
unless art offends you.
MearWolf @ Jan 28th 2008 3:09PM
sorry, that's what we usually think of graffiti as being over here in the UK. although the artistic and tasteful stuff can be very nice. this also looks very nice when you actaully see it. wouldn't it be cool to rig it up in a public place and somehow get it to track everyone with a different colour
Jarhead2012 @ Jan 28th 2008 4:26PM
Okay, was "Clapton Is God" Offensive?
Andreas @ Jan 28th 2008 2:24PM
i dont get it
William @ Jan 28th 2008 2:34PM
Wow...that looks utterly ridiculous, and a big, big waste of time.
eric @ Jan 28th 2008 2:41PM
Sorry, I'll tell them to get back to database administration and other important things.
Many of the readers of Engadget seem to have a general lack of appreciation for things that aren't the ultimate in utility.
CaptSaltyJack @ Jan 28th 2008 2:46PM
I suppose you think people like Van Gogh and Picasso also wasted their lives. I feel sorry for you.
Joe @ Jan 28th 2008 3:02PM
Please explain how complaining about it on a website would be a better use of time.
Oh, and stop watching TV, movies, and any internet video that isn't a demo of installing Linux on a leaf blower.
William @ Jan 28th 2008 3:03PM
Just not blown away....sorry! :D
Rocketboy @ Jan 28th 2008 2:36PM
Well, it's better than defacing things that you don't own. I'm all for it.
ReggieXuk @ Jan 28th 2008 2:37PM
this video had more text than action... its a good idea but it was poorly presented
Jeff @ Jan 28th 2008 6:25PM
totally. the little scribble they finally showed wasn't even interesting *for a scribble*
... i thought we were going to see some *design* or at least SOMETHING visually interesting.
It's like they said "Now that it's 3D, we can abandon any and all artistic or aesthetic qualities!"
Rocketboy @ Jan 28th 2008 2:38PM
Well, it's better than defacing things that you don't own. I'm all for it.
Rocketboy @ Jan 28th 2008 2:46PM
I so did not that do that.
MearWolf @ Jan 28th 2008 2:40PM
sorry, that's what we usually think of graffiti as being over here in the UK. although the artistic and tasteful stuff can be very nice. this also looks very nice when you actaully see it. wouldn't it be cool to rig it up in a public place and somehow get it to track everyone with a different colour
The General @ Jan 28th 2008 3:03PM
Don't use the fact that you're from another country to justify utter ignorance.
StrangeBum @ Jan 28th 2008 3:05PM
What about the artist, Banksy, who is definitely more prominent over on your side of the pond? Not only is his work generally visually appealing, but he also has a great messages and statements that he makes in his work.
Sure there is always the general, trashy, offensive graffiti that truly defaces whatever it is on. But there is, and I will be one of the first people to stand up for it, great graffiti that truly is artistic in it's own sense.
MearWolf @ Jan 28th 2008 3:09PM
That's his name! yea, I was thinking of Banksy
corystal @ Jan 28th 2008 6:31PM
YAY for Banksy.. and for a little less thoughtful stuff to back up mearwolfs claim --> http://www.picturesofwalls.com/
Stallone @ Jan 28th 2008 2:47PM
Great background music
sulk @ Jan 28th 2008 2:49PM
is it just me, or does that look like a wiimote strap in there?
snazz @ Feb 16th 2008 6:14PM
Yeah, I think that is a Wiimote >_>
Wiimotes are just great for a lot of hacks :D
Kenijo @ Jan 28th 2008 2:49PM
The tracking technology is not proprietary, it is based on an open source project called ARToolKit (stands for Augmented Reality ToolKit, which means virtual things embedded in reality):
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/
http://artoolkit.sourceforge.net/
Ranger_000 @ Jan 28th 2008 2:51PM
Was that a Wii-mote they were using behind that cardboard piece?
CanCar @ Jan 28th 2008 2:54PM
I think that engadget have been able to use this space to post an interesting article.
Tony Bowman @ Jan 28th 2008 3:22PM
Gibson wrote about something similar in his most recent novel, Spook Country.
in it, artists create hi-res 3-d renderings for a real-world location, then stash away a server with wifi in that location. people then interested in the art use GPS to find the locations and view them with VR goggles.
that's a very rough description, but you get the idea.
Emceay @ Jan 28th 2008 3:33PM
That is incredible, and anyone that thinks it's stupid isn't smart enough to separate the graffiti from the equation.
DarCowAlways @ Jan 28th 2008 3:39PM
"A picture says a thousand words, and in this case, a video says about a million..."
Now if only the words were in English...
Lee Gorecki @ Jan 28th 2008 3:42PM
Im from the uk, and I can say there is a problem here with kids spraying there "tag" all over everything but that is "tagging" which is rubbish, and I had my car done about two months ago which was anoying to say the least. But the style that is Grafiti is not anoying. Infact I find it quite pleasnt to see. Some of the artwork these boys can do amazes me. I like it so much that when I move in to my new house I have a very large white wall waiting for some artwork to be applied. The trouble is a lot of people in the UK and maybe the rest of the world dont see the difference between these two very differnt things. Now the main point for my comment what's the name of the track.
stickmanfc73_ @ Jan 28th 2008 4:03PM
Word. That beat was sounding pretty tight.
Brian J King @ Jan 28th 2008 3:56PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLikgptMD98
Here it is in english.
Doomzilla @ Jan 28th 2008 4:24PM
The technology behind this will allow for some very amazing live art. Imagine a room where everyone sits in a circle wearing those glasses. The artist walks in and starts drawing in the middle of the air and you can get up and walk through it and see it from different angles. It would be even cooler if when the artist was done the software would allow it to rotate freely so the audience wouldn't necessarily have to move. You have to be pretty blind to not see the potential for this technology. As the technology becomes more refined the more detailed the artwork will be. I'm impressed.
T-Bone @ Jan 28th 2008 4:55PM
You have to use glasses to see it? I can do 3D graffiti without the glasses. Just paint a corner of a building. 3D and nothing special require to see it. Isn't that the point of graffiti, everyone can see it?
stickmanfc73_ @ Jan 28th 2008 6:16PM
Lol what? That was funny. I mean if it was a joke it was funny.
Ryan @ Jan 28th 2008 5:50PM
For anyone unimpressed by graffiti art.
http://rinpaeshidan.jp/works/index.html
corystal @ Jan 28th 2008 6:47PM
NICE!! Thanks
sergio yamasaki @ Jan 28th 2008 5:52PM
cool! he is using a wiimote.
bobgaede @ Jan 28th 2008 6:18PM
Anyone know what song they used in the video?
trinitron @ Jan 28th 2008 7:17PM
ok thats great, can I get my Wii remote back?
djrome @ Jan 28th 2008 9:31PM
I tested a system similar to this at our Duke VR simulation room. The 3D environment has many applications. One of the simulations was a 3D organizing system that featured a remote to that projected a "light saber" of sorts that could be used to move objects around in the environment. So, real life simulations could be used in such system. Even so, the resolutions displayed are generally pretty bad though.
Felix Ferite @ Jan 28th 2008 10:19PM
If I'm not mistaken, isn't he just using a black/white printed pattern as the tracked object?
Why wouldn't he use an IR tracked object instead, like Johnny Chung Lee's Wiimote/Sensor bar VR tracking?
Yep @ Jan 29th 2008 12:10PM
so it captures from 3 angles.... what if you get a video game from 3 angles and output it to those glassses would that work in 3d or something?
Rocketboy @ Jan 29th 2008 1:50PM
Ah yes, vote me down because I don't like it when you draw all over something that isn't yours. Graffiti style is an artistic style, but defacing other peoples property is flat out criminal.