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MIT project turns spray paint into a functional user interface
Scientists from MIT have developed a way to create interactive surfaces using airbrushed inks -- or in other words, graffiti that actually does stuff. The SprayableTech system lets users create room-sized interactive graphics with sensors and displays that can be applied to everything from walls to furniture. Spray-painted art on walls can be used to turn lights on and off, for example, while designs airbrushed onto the arm of a couch can be used to control a TV. After designing the interactive artwork with a 3D editor, the system generates stencils for airbrushing the layout onto a surface. Then a series of inks are applied -- conductive copper ink, paint, dielectric, phosphor, copper bus and a clear conductor -- and then a microcontroller is attached, connecting the interface to a board that runs the code for sensing and output. The system hinges largely on the stencil design phase, to ensure the inks are placed in the right places and can connect to the microcontroller properly, so at this stage there's not much opportunity for spontaneous exploration -- you couldn't just spray a design on the wall and expect it to control your lights, for example. But the team is now working on creating modular stencils, potentially allowing users to try the system at home without needing to use a 3D editor or cut out stencils themselves. And looking ahead, the team has even bigger plans. Michael Wessely, lead author on the paper about SprayableTech, says, "We view this as a tool that will allow humans to interact with and use their environment in newfound ways. In the future, we aim to collaborate with graffiti artists and architects to explore the future potential for large-scale user interfaces in enabling the internet of things for smart cities and interactive homes."
‘Vandals’ combines street art and 'stealth noir' on your iPad
Paris-based indie developer Théo Le Du Fuentes goes by the name of Cosmografik, a fitting pseudonym for the creator of Vandals, a turn-based puzzle game that focuses on street art. Arriving on iOS, Android, Mac and PC on April 12th, it's being co-produced and published by ARTE, a public European TV and digital network founded in 1992.
Recommended Reading: Netflix has a dud in Marvel's 'Iron Fist'
'Iron Fist' Isn't Just Racially Uncomfortable, It's Also a Boring Show Kwame Opam, The Verge Netflix's run of generating buzz with its Marvel original series has come to an end. The fourth show, Iron Fist, debuts next week and the reviews are already here. The prevailing sentiment is that the show suffers not only from appropriation and a lack of diversity, but that it's also just plain boring to watch. The Verge details the show's storytelling failures along the way. And yes, you should expect spoilers.
Tell this robot to graffiti a wall for you
We've seen our fair share of weird things at CES this week, but there was one thing outside the Las Vegas Convention Center that surprised even us Engadget editors. As we were walking toward the building, we came across an unattended (and seemingly unnamed) robot that takes voice commands to show off its spray painting skills. While it's obviously no Banksy, it's yet another example of how Bluetooth devices are being used to control stuff around you. Sure, this isn't the most practical use for voice commands, but you can't deny how neat the project is.
Reddit users helped bust a national park graffiti artist
Graffiti artist Casey Nocket is learning first-hand about the consequences of sharing illegal acts online. She's facing a US-wide national park ban and 200 hours of community service after Modern Hiker and Reddit users identified her as the vandal who painted faces in six parks, including Colorado National Monument and Death Valley. A Reddit hiker drew the earliest known attention to the vandalism, but things really snowballed when MH's Casey Schreiner posted a story detailing Nocket's identity and social networking accounts. That led to a further Reddit discussion, which caught the eye of a National Parks Service investigator... you can guess what happened next.
Motorola hired a graffiti legend to tag the Moto X Pure (update)
Legendary graffiti artist Futura has teamed up with everyone from The Clash, Nike, streetwear clothing company Supreme and even the 2000s trip-hop group UNKLE -- now he can add one more name to that list: Motorola. In the video below you'll hear Leonard McGurr wax poetic about his decade-spanning career, and talk about how street art speaks to an innate desire for people to stick out from the crowd "It's getting harder and harder to maintain your individualism," he says. This is a pretty logical extension of Motorola's focus on customization with things like the Moto Maker, and it looks really cool.
Researchers use criminal profiling to unmask Banksy
Researchers have turned to profiling techniques often used on criminals in an attempt to confirm the identity of London street artist Banksy. The team from Queen Mary University of London believes its geographic mapping technique, combined with statistical analysis, helps prove the artist is a man named Robin Gunningham. The theory that Gunningham and Banksy are one and the same was first put foward by the Daily Mail in 2008. According to the research paper, comparing the known homes or frequented places of Gunningham with art locations around London "support[s] his identification as Banksy."
ICYMI: Bendy batteries, spray-painting drones and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-895750{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-895750, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-895750{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-895750").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: The flexible battery that takes its style notes from kirigami (origami's hipper cousin); a VR musical visualizer that will have you tripping like it's 1998; and a tutorial for a DIY spray-painting drone that may not fly so well now — but try and diss it when it's painting your 11-foot ceilings. One of the collaborators on that last project is the graffiti artist who defaced Kendall Jenner's billboard using a drone—so you know, I'm a fan.
Anti-graffiti device nabs taggers by sniffing their fumes
Australian taxpayers spent a whopping $34 million last year to remove graffiti from Sydney's commuter trains. To combat this urban blight, the Australian Department of Transport is rolling out an electronic "nose" that alerts authorities in real-time. This device, dubbed "the mousetrap", activates when it detects paint marker and spray-can aerosols. It then immediately engages a closed circuit recording of the crime before alerting the police, who pick up the perp at the next stop. The program has already undergone viability testing and, according to CBC News, has caught 30 vandals red-handed. Sydney Trains, the government-owned rail company that operates the region's commuter lines, hasn't disclosed how many of the devices will be deployed, only that they'll be swapped between service lines at random intervals. [Image credit: New South Wales Police Force/Australia Broadcasting Corporation]
Graffiti artist sloppily vandalizes massive billboard via drone
Drones, yeah, are now like, so cheap, you know, that you can just, like, use them to do vandalism that's also an artistic statement, right? That's what graffiti artist, hacker and, er, vandal Katsu does with a modified drone that's capable of carrying and using a can of spray paint. The anonymous figure's latest stunt was to attack the new Calvin Klein billboard in New York City, a six-story installation featuring Kendall Jenner. Unfortunately, Katsu's control of the drone wasn't strong enough to do any actual drawing, so the artist had to settle for haphazardly spraying some red lines. But, guys, you have to understand, okay, that it's a statement, right? A statement.
Google's street art collection doubles in size
If you're the sort who's more excited by graffiti and murals than paintings hanging in a museum, today's your lucky day. The Google Art Project has doubled the size of its street art collection to a total of more than 10,000 images, including spruced-up abandoned buildings in Buenos Aires and formal projects from Sweden's Artscape festival. And there's new ways to check out these pieces, to boot -- in addition to the existing mobile and web views, Google has quietly released a Street Art Watch Faces bundle that shuffles through projects on your Android Wear smartwatch. Hit the source links if you're curious about street culture around the world. [Image credit: RUN/Dulwich Outdoor Gallery, Google Art Project]
Graffiti and satellites combine for a massive animated GIF
Look, it isn't easy making GIFs on the computer without the right applications, so it's giving us a headache thinking of the work that goes into each of these graffiti-turned-GIFs by an artist named INSA. Especially the one you see above, because the piece was so large, its pictures were taken by a couple of Pleiades satellites from space. To be exact, the satellites took the snapshots in orbit, 431 miles above the ground -- the ISS, in comparison, is orbiting the Earth at an altitude of around 268 miles. But first, let's go back to how INSA makes these GIFs. See, he doesn't manipulate pictures of his work on the computer to make these "Gif-itis" (that's not a disease, it's GIF + graffiti, get it?): he actually repaints the graffiti over and over, taking pictures of each iteration.
Banksy's latest works tackle technology, surveillance and our crumbling humanity
They say that the best art imitates life, and let's be honest, our lives are increasingly controlled by technology. After tackling war, human rights and censorship, legendary and anonymous street artist Banksy is now turning his critical eye on our digital existence -- and not surprisingly his view is bleak. Two pieces, one confirmed and one suspected, from faceless man who uses the streets of urban Earth as his canvas cropped up in the UK this week. The location of the first and confirmed piece has yet to be identified, but photographs of it have appeared on Banksy's website. It depicts two lovers in an embrace against a darkened doorway. But rather than looking lovingly into each others eyes, the man and woman are glued to their smartphones, the screens casting an inhuman glow over their faces.
German railways hope to fight graffiti with thermal imaging drones
Drones aren't just for war, creating airborne logos or patrolling Aussie beaches. If German railway operators have their way, they'd be used to capture graffiti artists, too. Motivated by the high cost of property damage incurred by spray-painting vandals (around 7.6 million euros / $10 million a year), the Deutsche Bahn will soon begin testing miniature helicopter-style drones in the hopes of identifying those responsible. Each remote-controlled chopper is equipped with an infrared sensor capable of thermal imaging and producing high-resolution photos that would be useful to authorities. The tiny aircraft can also fly up to 150 meters (500 feet) and as fast as 33 mph and would cost about 60,000 euros ($77,550) each. The Bahn assured the public that the mini drones will be restricted to highly targeted areas, which should help allay those privacy concerns. [Image Credit: thierry ehrmann, Flickr]
Google Art Project adds nearly 2,000 works, from street art to prized photos
The Google Art Project could be considered a safeguard for culture when it's preserving work that's not just difficult to see, but may disappear at the drop of a hat. Witness Google's latest addition of 30 partners, and almost 2,000 pieces of art, as proof. The collection includes 100-plus examples of high-profile graffiti and street art from Sao Paulo, some of which aren't guaranteed to survive unscathed; there's also 300-plus photos from Spain's Fundacion MAPFRE and a famous Hungarian poem whose original copy is usually too fragile to show. Although the digital expansion won't replace booking a flight to visit the artwork first-hand, it may prevent some urban masterpieces from fading into obscurity.
How Papo & Yo takes more than inspiration from South American graffiti
Papo & Yo's gorgeous South American-esque world is punctuated by graffiti – from the cartoonish to the abstract. During a preview at E3, I found myself stopping to gawk at giant birds and other creatures for many moments, often resulting in the game's handler asking if I needed any help. What I should've said was, "Yes. Can you tell me who made these incredible images throughout your imaginary favela?"Thankfully, developer Minority realized that the art is incredibly appealing, and wrote up a post on the US PlayStation Blog detailing the history of the graffiti. As it turns out, rather than using source images and recreating a facsimile of South America's street art, Minority worked with three renowned South American artists to develop images for Papo & Yo's world.Sebastian Navarro (AKA Charquipunk), Simon Paulo Arancibia Gutierrez (AKA La Robot de Madera) and Inti Castro (AKA INTI) are all collaborating on the game. One such example of their contribution is just above, though I saw several different, very impressive pieces in just the 20 minute demo at E3. Of course, we'll all get to take a closer look when the game launches on August 14 on the PlayStation Network.
You did a great job making Jet Set Radio graffiti
There is, strictly speaking, new content to be found in the HD update of Jet Set Radio. It's limited to user-created graffiti designs, but it's new content nonetheless! In the video above, Sega introduces the winning designs in its graffiti contest, all of which look like legitimate graffiti designs and not just Rage Comics and QR codes linking to petitions about Sonic voice actors.We're sure those were submitted – they just didn't win.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Catball Eats It All
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Tyson and Matt Anderson of Broken Compass Studios share the artistic influences of their Kickstarter-funded mobile title, Catball Eats It All. Yes, it stars a cat shaped like a ball. You know you're intrigued. What's your game called and what's it about?Tyson Anderson: Our game is Catball Eats It All. From a story standpoint, it's about a voracious little furball that eats everything in sight, and... that's it! Short and sweet. From a gameplay perspective, it's an action-puzzle game based around navigating and optimizing paths through levels and mastering responsive play controls.As a graffiti artist, how did NoseGo get involved with Broken Compass?Matt Anderson: We all met through a mutual friend Jeff, who is now our very talented producer. Yis Goodwin -- aka NoseGo -- had expressed a desire to make a game featuring his work, and Tyson and I have been working in games for a while. Jeff, in true producer-ly fashion, put the people together, and the magic was there. We clicked, and our visions, both as creators and as a business, quickly solidified.
Capcom behind 'No Hope Left' viral ads (or widespread graffiti, depending on your perspective)
The "No Hope Left" ad campaign spotted in a variety of locations across Europe has been pinned to Capcom. At least that's according to The Sixth Axis, whose intrepid reporter schlepped down to the Vauxhall station in London after seeing an image pop up on the viral ad campaign's website. He spotted an ad company (Primesight) credited for the faux graffiti and emailed them to confirm who had bought said ad. He was told, "Panel number is 2375 03 Parry Street. The company advertising on it is CAPCOM." This makes a lot of sense, given the "O" in "No" looks like a stylized biohazard symbol (the name of the Resident Evil series in Japan). It would also not be surprising at all for a video-game company to post adverts marauding as graffiti, though we doubt this will draw as much ire as previous attempts. Either way, it looks like we'll find out more tomorrow, as the ads all point to a reveal on January 19, 2012. Here's hoping tomorrow doesn't accidentally coincide with the real zombie apocalypse. Boy would that be a lot of egg on Capcom's face, eh? [Image credit: NoHopeLeft.com]
Spotted in Los Angeles: Thank you, Steve
I spotted this great piece of graffiti art on the streets of Hollywood while heading home last night, and thought you TUAW readers would enjoy it. Unfortunately, I have no idea who actually put this up -- there wasn't any tag or signature on it, and it was just on a wall otherwise covered with various other pieces and posters. But in a way, that made it even better -- just one person's anonymous sentiment that echoes what so many of us feel. And I can tell you that the excellent detail and stark spray of the whole thing (if you can't tell, the whole picture was about eight feet tall, and really stood out on the corner) was pretty awesome to see. Thanks, LA artist, and thank you to the late great Steve Jobs as well.
