˗ˏˋ ChristineDinata ˎˊ˗

Earlier this week I mentioned an interactive art I found that uses the Muse headband as their EEG reader. It is called Ristiaallokko. The creator (or someone related in working on the project) shared the codes to Github . They also clearly state that they are using a 2014 Muse headband. They said that they: build it on top of MuseIO to access data and Muse command-line tools to send data via OSC to OpenFrameWorks and they are building the project on Mac. However, if you check the official  MuseIO website , you will notice that Muse said that they are currently not supporting the MuseSDK. Basically, we cannot download the MuseIO or access the Muse command-line officially from Muse. (Which is the most important application to get this project running) Then I scoured the internet and found someone posted the MuseLab content to be downloadable ( here ). Note that the version provided is only compatible with macOS Mojave (version 10.14.5) and under, cause I tried downloading ...

Upon researching further on how to use Muse headband's brainwave in real-time, I stumbled upon two mobile applications that can support this. One is called Muse Direct, created by the company Muse themselves, the other one is called Muse Monitor, which is a third-party app created by fellow Muse enthusiast, James Clutterbuck. He created this app to help users to record their brainwave activity in real-time and saving those files in .csv (excel form). These .csv files will then be uploaded to the Muse Monitor website  and they can produce colorful graphs that will allow users to read them. These graphs consist of 5 important waves such as Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. As you can see here, the app is reading the user's brain activity in real-time. It will change according to how the person is thinking, feeling, doing. There are a lot of factors contributing to the reading as well, such as how the headband is worn on the head, any rough or forced blinking of th...

An Old New World is an interactive exhibition curated at the National Museum of Singapore, which is under the institution of the National Heritage Board. This exhibition allows curious visitors to learn and explore the '200 years leading up to the establishment of an entrepôt in Singapore in 1819'. The exhibitions start with an area dedicated to the maps used and discovered of the 17th to 19th century that show how the East Indies were navigated, surveyed and documented. There is also an interactive globe, which when you turn the globe to face a certain side, the projector on the wall will change accordingly, allowing you to learn about what topic you picked. We then set foot to an area where we can learn more about the ships and sails used during back in the days. There is also an interactive ship to let people find out how sailors navigate the seas in the past, the items people brought for their long journeys, and the challenges faced at sea. ...

Searching for more pieces of information and references for my Research and Development subject is hard because making brainwave art into reality needs a lot of expertise in brainwave reading and EEG use knowledge, and to have an at least basic information of how to code the create the right algorithms, etc. What makes it another struggle is that I honestly don't really know where and what to search for. So far, I'm still waiting for the email reply from Mr. Michaud about the inquiries I asked last week. I've also been searching for project examples people uploaded online that are similar to what I am doing. I've found this project  uploaded by laurames on Github. The project is called Ristiaallokko | Cross Waves Cross Waves is a sea state that occurs when two or more nonparallel wave systems meet. The waves generated by this phenomenon are dangerous to swimmers, boats, and ships caught between the crossing waves. Cross Waves is also the name of the Sprin...

Last September, I reached out to one of the artists mentioned by Dr. Sara Diamond, during her visit to Singapore for the ArtxTech Canada @SG event.  His name is Maxime Michaud and he is from Canada. When I found his website online, I decided to contact him if there would be any chance that I could ask him a view questions about his work. A few days had passed before I finally got his reply. Surprisingly he was eager to help me out. Even offered to come to Singapore if there is the opportunity. We then emailed back and forth for a bit to discuss the best option for him to share his work. However, I pitched the idea to my lecturer and I still haven't got any response. Nevertheless, I still asked him a view questions to help me clarify my curiosity. Attached below is the email I sent to Maxime, including the questions I'm curious about. Within days, he replied to me that he will try to answer my questions within the next two weeks. He also offered to shar...

I ordered the Muse2 headband a week ago from Ireland and it has arrived in Singapore. So this is how it looks like. Since Muse is marketed as a tool to help people focus on meditating, I tried Muse for meditating as well. I don't really have any experience of meditating before this because my definition of meditating is sitting cross-legged, closing your eyes, straightened your back and breathe calmly. I didn't know there are more scientific or psychological things that needed to be added to it. With this headband, the first thing it will do when you turn it on and use it is to calibrate your brain activities in its default state. You are told to sit in a comfortable position and think of anything or nothing. Just try to make your mind as its default state as possible. Once the app calibrated your brain, it will allow you to start meditating. There are several themes you can choose from the app to accompany you meditate, but let's pick one...

Upon researching more on examples of brainwave arts, I came across a Mashable article by Gianluca Mezzofiore (June 24, 2017) Random Quark is a London based company, who believes in bridging technology and art and making people happy by experiencing them with immersive interactive arts. Random Quark enjoys transporting people to a place of fun and colour; somewhere they can forget about their troubles for a while. One of the amazing works Random Quark did is called The Art of Feeling . Random Quark was approached by Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness Agency to create a machine that produces digital paintings by translating human brainwaves. Random Quark wanted to make the digital paintings come alive and astound as many as possible. That’s when we turned to the science of flocking birds to create a unique and complex painting. The machine measures the asymmetry between left/right hemispheres as well as the overall activation of the brain (alpha/beta/gamma waves) and p...