Trans---~Formation
November 2007

Installation	Location	SLurl	Teleport
Trans---~Formation	Cave@VCE	SLurl

Title:

• Trans - combining prefix from Latin, trans means "across", "beyond".
• ---~ - to reflect the creators.
• Formation - an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit;
       a particular spatial arrangement;
       the fabrication of something in a particular shape.

• Richard Brown
• Julian Wagstaff
• Austin Tate
• Ai Austin

• Richard Brown initial Formation installation design for School of Informatics Forum Building, University of Edinburgh (2006).
• Richard Brown and Ai Austin initial visualization of what could be done in a Second Life as an interpretation of Formation (October 2007): [ Image ]
• Music and slide show added with cooperation of Julian Wagstaff.
• Installation completed on Second Life "Edinburgh Uplands" Region in "The Vaults@Vue" (November 2007). SLurl http://slurl.com/secondlife/Edinburgh%20Uplands/117/189/33. Image of completed installation: [ Image ]
• Installation taken down from Edinburgh Uplands and moved to "Cave@VCE" in Second Life (October 2010). SLurl http://slurl.com/secondlife/VCE/200/200/22. Image of completed installation: [ Image, HD Image, From Viewing Platform, Night Image ] 2010-10-12-Transformation-on-VCE.jpg

• Title: Treptow
• Composer: Julian Wagstaff
• Date: 2005
• Performers: The Rose Street Ensemble
• Conductor: Richard Lewis
• This 10-minute long atmospheric piece for strings was inspired by the awesome Soviet war memorial (sowjetisches Ehrenmal) in Treptow Park in East Berlin.
• URL: http://media.aiai.ed.ac.uk/Audio/Vaults/treptow.mp3

• The creators are all linked via their association with the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh and came together to create this virtual world installation on Vue (http://vue.ed.ac.uk) in Second Life (http://secondlife.com) in October and November 2007.
• Richard Brown creates interactive artworks using multi-media technology, computer programming, electronics and interfacing. He was Research Artist in Residence in the School of Informatics from 2005-7. [ http://www.mimetics.com ]
• Julian Wagstaff is a composer and musician working mainly in the field of concert music and musical theatre. He was supported by the School of Informatics in the production of his opera The Turing Test which was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007. [ http://www.julianwagstaff.com ]
• Austin Tate is Director of the Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute in the School of Informatics and heads Vue - the Virtual University of Edinburgh. He has been the principal designer of the Vue regions in Second Life and is a 3D modeller and graphic artist. [ http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~bat/ ]
• Ai Austin is Austin Tate's avatar in Second Life. He created The Vaults@Vue in which the installation was originally placed, the Cave@VCE into which it was moved in 2010, the background planetary installation and the Trans---~Formation virtual world installation itself. [ http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~ai/ ]

• The 3-D Design is based on the planned University of Edinburgh School of Informatics Forum Formation installation notes from artist designer Richard Brown.
• 19 molecules are planned to be suspended from the ceiling of the Informatics building atrium, arranged as a "bubble packed" array 3, 4, 5 ,4, 3. Each molecule consist of two light spheres (lit by RGB LED lighting) connected together via a fixed tube.
• Approximate dimensions are: molecule length end to end 1m: sphere 1: 40cm diameter, sphere 2: 25cm diameter, tube: 35cm x 5cm.
• The molecules can be angled, raised and lowered by two winches with cables attached to the two spheres. The vertical movement range is 20m. The winches are fixed to a bar which can be rotated enabling the whole molecule to turn as a unit. The two spheres can be any shade of colour programmed as an RGB colour. he whole system is planned to be MIDI-like controllable, enabling choreographed movements and patterns set to music.
• A further plan is to enable students to be able write control software so as to produce generative and emergent behaviours, with the addition of sensing units (cameras, microphone, proximity, etc.) the system may also be made interactive - able to respond to temperature, wind direction, movements of people and so forth.
• Bob Fisher, a roboticist in the School of Informatics, led a team which created a physical prototype of one of the modules of the planned Formation installation. Sample images of a prototype of one element of Formation as at December 2007 are at "Informatics Forum Arts Projects Design Notes" [Local Copy: Image 1, Image 2]

• Media Resources - © individual contributors.