Pratt Institute Digital Arts and Humanities Research Center

ROLLIN SAFARI: Motion, Humor, and Reality

Rolling Safari is a series of animations produced to use as trailers for Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film / Internationales Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart 2013. This work exemplifies creators’ sense of humor, sensibility for motion, and knowledge of a particular digital technology in deforming virtual objects into spherical forms. DAHRC Researcher MJ Truong produced a sketch of the puffy animals in class upon being introduced to the work. Her blog features her 5-minute 3D sketch. What happens if similar motion of rolling occurs to real living animals?

Compared to the animation, rolling motion of the real animals offer mixture of cute, sad, and funny emotions. Knowing that the animals are real and not the idealized cartoon characters triggers viewer’s concerns for their well being.

Reality is much more complex than idealized cartoon figures. Perhaps this is the reason the phenomenon of Uncanny Valley occurs.

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OVAL OFFICE 21st CENTURY – To Help the U.S. President Listen to the Voice of the People Better

The Oval Office for the 21st Century is a design concept study to help the U.S. President hear and feel the voice of the People in the most engaging manner. This study was done to investigate the way in which design can serve as a vehicle to empower the role of the voice of the(…)
AUGMENTED REALITY: DAHRC AR Initiatve with the Microsoft HoloLens

Pratt DAHRC has received the Microsoft HoloLens Wave 1 Developers’s status. There will be a number of applications to be developed in the category of art, design, medical, entertainment, and fashion. One thing about the holograms: THEY STICK! Once the holograms are placed, they do not shake or jitter. The tracking capability of the HoloLens(…)
e-NABLE + DAHRC: Initiative for 3-D Printed Prosthetics and Beyond

Jon Schull, the founder of e-NABLE, has joined forces with Pratt DAHRC for an initiative. e-NABLE is a global network of volunteers using 3D printing technology to provide mechanically articulating 3-D printed prosthetic hands to those who need but cannot afford them, mostly children. The hands are provided free of charge. e-NABLE founder Jon Schull has(…)
DANCE + DESIGN: Beauty of Form, Body, and Movement

Pratt DAHRC retains an ongoing research initiative involving design, dance, and, technology, founded upon the belief there is value in learning with your body, regardless of the subject matter at hand. DAHRC Researcher Chanel Shi has recently completed her Master of Industrial Design degree with her thesis focusing on the Pattern Language of Dance. As part(…)
UNDERSTANDING MUSIC: Can it Make You Smarter?

Music is universal, yet many are afraid to discuss it if one is not a musician. This experimental animation about music summarizes most of the parts and bits of music with each of the terminology accompanied by respective visual manifestations: Interview with Jad Abumrad on the function of music: If you would like to understand music,(…)
MUSIC + VR: Exploration of Creative Methods and Experiences in Music Using Virtual Reality

Music + VR As part of the ongoing Better Music + Music Better initiative, Pratt DAHRC is carrying out the investigation on new creative methods and experiences in Music using the Virtual Reality technology. This study will attempt to integrate live music and dance performers into VR experience. The musical content, as well as visual appearances of the(…)
Super VR: When Objects Gain Superpowers in Virtual and Augmented Reality

DAHRC VR-riors and AR-riors Pratt DAHRC is pleased to announce the Super VR initiative. Having created the first Virtrual Reality and Augmented Reality lab in the Institute, DAHRC group has taken on a series research projects to exemplify explorations and investigation of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality experiences and applications. Through a deep & wide investigation and thorough analysis,(…)
BETTER MUSIC | MUSIC BETTER INITIATIVE: Music + Design Research to Empower Musicians, Enhance Music Experience, and Expand the Boundary for Music Industry

Pratt DAHRC has launched an initiative to cater to the needs of the musicians and the society. This introduction article has been prepared for the purpose of sharing ideas, references, and examples in order to facilitate discussion among the researchers. Please provide thoughts and comments as the initiative and the article develops. Teaching at Spotify 2016(…)
IBEIS + DAHRC: Design, Visualization and Storytelling Meets Computational Ecology, Wildlife Conservation and Citizen Science

Pratt DAHRC has commenced an initiative to collaborate with the IBEIS research group. IBEIS stands for Image-Based Ecological Information System. With this technology, it is possible for each animal in the wild to be uniquely identified, named, followed, and observed over time. Because this technology utilizes the power of computer vision and data science,(…)
CARNEGIE HALL Performance by THE CHARM: with Pratt DAHRC Research Fellows

DAHRC Research fellows Feifei Yang and Jiaju Shen performed at Carnegie Hall along with the talented Chinese music group THE CHARM. The event was produced by the cultural production company FJ International Culture Communications ran by the DAHRC Research Fellows Feifei Yang and Jiaju Shen. Feifei is a renowned performing musician of the Chinese Huquin music and the instruments. Jiaju is(…)