Immersive Tech Breakfast -- at UNM ARTS Lab

I went to a breakfast gathering-- Immersive Tech Breakfast --  at the UNM ARTS Lab on November 22, 2024, to check out all the fancy digital art toys they have:

Immersive Tech Breakfast

"Calling all AR/VR innovators in New Mexico! Join us at UNM’s ARTSLab on Friday, November 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for the Immersive Tech Breakfast, a unique opportunity to connect with industry leaders, educators, and creatives shaping the future of immersive technology. Explore exciting initiatives like the new Community Immersive Technology Hub, see a live demo of the cutting-edge Varjo XR-4 Headset by Reynaldo Zabala from Channel XR, and share your input on upcoming free training opportunities for 2025."

UNM ARTS LAB

UNM ARTS Lab

VARJO XR-4

The main feature was the high end and expensive Varjo XR-4 Headsets that Reynaldo Zabala was showing off for Channel XR:

A snapshot of the event

Varjo XR-4 Headset

Reynaldo said that these high end VR headsets cost thousands of dollars. Note they also are attached to a big cord.  I asked if one could sculpture digitally with them, and he said that anything that would run on STEAM would run on his headsets.  However he also added that this would be overkill as one could do the same thing with a less expensive PICO.

 

The big screen (with me in it)

showed you what the person wearing the headset

was looking at

HoloLens

Someone from the UNM Artemis project was showing off the HoloLens, where one could see the landscape of Mars in 3D Augmented Reality:

The HoloLens

What the HoloLens sees...

the landscape of Mars

HoloLens docking stations

BIG REP ONE

The ARTS Lab has a huge BIG REP ONE 3D printer:

 

BIG REP ONE 3D printer

Big lobo 3D print

The Artec Leo 3D scanner only takes minutes to do a 3D scan:

Artec Leo 3D scanner

Digital weaving machine

• Previously I went to a hologram presentation by August Muth at the UNM Arts Lab
• Plus I went to an AI ART Workshop about the legal issues at the Albuquerque Museum

CNM FUSE

Afterwards I checked out the CNM FUSE makerspace down the street:

CNM FUSE makerspace

They had three Epilog laser cutters:

They also had a large AP LAZER:

AP LAZER

One can become a member at FUSE for as little as $25 a week.  It costs an additional $109 to get certified on the laser cutter.  I can use their laser cutter until Quelab reopens.

NOTE:  UNM is building a new Fine Arts facility, and CNM is building a new makerspace.  So that both of these facilities will be moving in about two years.

---

KUNM asserts that UNM was a pioneer in computer art:

In the late 1960s, the University of New Mexico played a key role in bringing together creativity and technology in what was then the nascent field of computer art. Now a new book from Museum of New Mexico Press offers the first in depth account of this early digital creativity -- “Sharing Code: Art1, Frederick Hammersley, and the Dawn of Computer Art.”

• Note that Richard Williams designed the computer code, and he used to draw with us. 

My interest is in still pushing a digital 3D file as far as I can.  I would love access to the ARTS Lab 3D scanner, though there are phone apps that do an acceptable 3D scan job these days.  And of course it would be fun to print something on the large 3D printer at the ARTS Lab, but where would I store the result?

I would also love to continue building a VR environment with my artwork, like I did in Spatial.io.

Spatial 3D Maya Gallery online

Krrrl Gallery of Maya AI Art on Spatial.io

However I can still push 3D objects in low rent Augmented Reality experiences with WebAR:

WebAR

ALIEN JAVELINA

in WebAR

Luma AI Genie

WebAR

Haiper

EzGif

The Alien Javelina jumped onto the stage

at FUSION and hammed it up

I still want to create real world sculptures that one can control with their smart phones:

March 22, 2014

Sculpture controlled by an Android tablet

at Southwest Maker Fest (2014) -- 01

November 21, 2024

We drew at the Edith Bunker in Albuquerque, with Monty Singer and Brian Gonzales:

Deep Dream Generator

November 20, 2024

We drew at Fusion in Albuquerque:

AI ART Workshop at the ABQ Museum -- Legal Issues

I went to the PUBLIC ART and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WORKSHOP at the Albuquerque Museum on November 19th, 2024.  The guest speaker was an attorney -- Sarah Conley Odenkirk -- who spoke mostly on the legal issues, and not how to generate AI ART:

Public Art & Artificial Intelligence Workshop

at the Albuquerque Museum

Opening lecture image

Example how AI Art

was too similar to the original Getty Images art

I didn't learn anything about how to make AI ART, or whether AI ART was any good or about other aesthetic issues, or even how to apply for public art programs using AI ART. However Sarah Odenkirk did point to two projects designed to subvert AI ART, by poisoning the images in the input training data:

• Glaze
• Nightshade

Other websites that she brought up:

• chatgptiseatingtheworld.com
• Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity

Personally I don't feel like AI is an imminent threat to artists yet.  It can generate some intriguing images, and artists should take advantage of the tools we have in our times:

An intriguing AI ART image

that I generated last year in 2023

However most of the current AI ART images are rather dry and limited.  I feel like they are shoehorning all the generations into some kind of Barbie archetype, more and more, at the expense of more creative visions.  

Moreover AI can't generate good fake images of my drawings (no matter how hard I try to get AI to do so).

Finally I feel like AI ART innovations have slowed down recently -- unlike a year ago (note also the software programs)-- and Matt Wolfe agrees.  I follow his YouTube channel for new AI ART tools, and am not finding much new to play with recently.  Currently I'm more keen on 3D AI ART innovations rather than the recent AI ART VIDEO progress.

She also pointed out that Midjourney has the right to use any image you generate, as well as any images you upload, to do what they want with it...

Midjourney terms of service

may be overreaching

... so is there any way to sue Midjourney if they DON'T -- "reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Content you input into the Services, as well as the Assets produced by You through the service."  The way I read their TOS is that Midjourney has the OBLIGATION to promote my bad art and bad AI ART generations.

Earlier Adobe changed their Terms of Service, and it was even worse than Midjourney's.  From my June 10, 2024 blog post

• Adobe changed their terms of service to own everything you make with Photoshop
• (YouTube): Adobe roofies all of their customers

Also note that printmaker William Hogarth started copyrights:

 

"Hogarth was a pioneer in copyright for artists as well. His work was so heavily plagiarized that he lobbied for the legal protection of engravings. As a result, the Copyright Act passed by Parliament in 1735 is known as the Hogarth Act."

 

November 19, 2024

We drew at Sir Henry Morales' studio in Albuquerque:

Quelab hung their sign in Albuquerque

at the new location at 1511 Central NE

November 18, 2024

Drawn at Art Buddies in Albuquerque:

I went to the South Valley Studio Tour on Sunday, November 17, 2024, to visit Barbara Endicott's studio:

Barbara Endicott covering up my face

in her painting-in-progress

Barbara Endicott showed her prints,

including her tessellation print

SIGNS

Some signs were welcoming for the South Valley Studio Tour:

Friendly sign

And some signs objected to the South Valley Studio Tour, fearing imminent gentrification:

I also saw the exhibition at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque -- Convergence x Crossroads: Street Art from the Southwest.  Two of the Desert Triangle artists had work in the show -- Los Dos and Nani Chacon:

Los Dos

Los Dos

Los Dos

Nani Chacon

Rebecca Gomez curated the exhibition. She also curated the Desert Triangle exhibition when it showed at Mexic-Arte in 2018:

Rebecca Gomez was the curator