TED Talk – How we can teach computers to make sense of our emotions
April 3, 2018
I’m honored and pleased to share that the TED talk I gave late last year is now live on TED.com.
Thank you to those who watch, and do let me know your thoughts:
Stanford’s LAST Festival at SLAC National Accelerator
February 28, 2018
I’m pleased to share that I have been selected to exhibit Nostalgia
at Stanford’s LAST Festival. The event will take place on Friday night, March
23rd and the following Saturday, March 24th at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
in Menlo Park. There will be a ton of other artists, performers and speakers ehibiting, presenting and performing. It’s
an event you won’t want to miss!
Now a Board Member of Leonardo (International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology)
January 24, 2018
I’m pleased to share that I’ve been asked to join the board of Leonardo,
an organization that champions the intersection of the arts, sciences and technology. It’s a great organization
that publishes a number of academic journals and sponsors a number of conferences around the world. I’m looking
forward to extending the organization’s reach to corporations, academia, museums and beyond.
TED@IBM
November 29, 2017
I’m honored to have been selected to give a TED Talk at
SF Jazz next week. There’s an amazing lineup of IBMers and friends speaking. I hope you can make it!
LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) Talk
November 9, 2017
Tomorrow night I’ll be giving a LASER Talk at San Jose State University. The LASER Talks are coordinated by
Leonardo ISAST in conjunction with San Jose State University and feature scientists
and artists. There’s a great lineup tomorrow night!
The Evolution of the Moving Image: Exploring the Role of Film Schools in the Age of Extended Reality and Immersive Media
October 28, 2017
Excited to share that I’ll be participating in a panel on the future of film schools and art schools at large
in the age of immersive media. A few others and I will be discussing how immersive media will evolve as technologies
like augmented reality and virtual reality pick up steam. How will these developments influence all of our senses as
we consume media?
The event is hosted by CalArts and will take place at Draper University in San Mateo, California on Sunday, November,
5 from 3-5pm. RSVP for your seat here.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with Yazin Akkawi and Inc. Magazine on designing for emerging
tech. Being a designer in tech today means dealing with the fast-paced nature of innovation and the ability to synthesize
from a variety of different disciplines. It is very much a team-sport, and I’m honored to work with such incredible
folks at IBM Research on a daily basis.
Today, at IBM’s Watson West in San Francisco, IBM is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Turing Awards by featuring
talks from some of IBM Research’s most interesting as well as up-and-coming, millennial researchers as they share their
passion for changing the world as we know it. By applying computer science to AI in new and creative ways, these scientists
are innovating diverse industries, including genomics, food safety, chemistry, healthcare and the arts. Stay tuned
to the IBM Research blog for videos showcasing these researchers as they present their ideas at the event.
ISEA2017 / Festival de Imagen Recap
June 21, 2017
What an incredible time at ISEA 2017 in Manizales, Colombia. It was wonderful meeting so many talented artists and
critical thinkers. Wayfinding was well received. Here are some photos from the week of festivities:
I’ll also be exhibiting Wayfinding as part of the Art
Track. Photos and more to come!
Tonight in a planetarium
April 29, 2017
Chris Weisbart and I will be projecting some of our video art in the El Camino College Planetarium. The screening
will be accompanied with live music from Wyatt Keusch. If you happen to be in the LA area, come and check it out!
I’m looking forward to seeing our attendees in Denver.
Speaking @ LAUNCH Festival
April 6, 2017
Excited to be representing IBM and speaking at LAUNCH Festival
this morning. I’ll be talking about my team’s first endeavor into Cognitive Experience Design: Conversation.
Thanks to everyone who attended our talk at SXSW! To learn more about Conversational UX, check out ibm.biz/conversational-ux
Applying Science to Conversational UX Design – SXSW Talk
March 10, 2017
Bob Moore & I will be giving a talk at SXSW on Monday from 5-6pm at the Marriott. If you’re headed to SXSW,
we hope to see you there! We’ll be having a conversation about how to apply conversation to your products and
services. In tandem, we’ve developed a set of principles and best practices to help you craft dialogue for your
conversational agents: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP66008
San Jose State University – CADRE Laboratory for New Media
January 25, 2017
Excited to announce I’ve just accepted an adjunct position at SJSU in their Digital Media Art program. This
semester I’ll be teaching a class on Advanced Digital Video that covers some video art history and skill-building
in motion, video production, generative art practices and projection mapping. More information can be found on the department’s
website: https://cadre.sjsu.edu/
Nerd Nite @ The Tech Museum
January 15, 2017
On February 2nd, I’ll be speaking at The Tech Museum in downtown San Jose for their Nerd
Nite Silicon Valley event. In my talk Cultivating Cognitive Experiences, I’ll share some of the
research work I’ve been doing on infusing cognitive computing and artificial intelligence with user experience
and interface design. I’ll also discuss ways that we can leverage advancements in AI to enhance aspects of creativity
and aesthetic practices. My hope is that at some point we can begin to design AI systems that are emotionally aware
and therefore more relatable and universal.
Forbes 30 Under 30: Enterprise Tech
January 3, 2017
I am beyond honored to have made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Enterprise Tech category! I couldn’t ask
for a better way to kick off 2017.
Well, that was quite a year. Personally, I spent lots of time spent on skill-building and AI inquiry, perhaps as a
means of escapism. I’m excited, however, to announce I have two new installations that I will continue to be working
on for 2017.
The first one is around the concept of nostalgia as a poetic reference to AI systems that attempt to quantify and
calculate emotion. Can we leverage AI to predict sentimentality? Machine learning can only take us so far, but humans
are creatures of habit. A snapshot of a 3D model for the sculptural component of this work can be seen below.
The second piece will be around the concept of Dark Patterns. Fast
Company claimed 2016 was the year dark patterns won. Many of us feel mislead by digital media—I find it curious
that platforms that are supposed to be bringing us closer together have cultivated a greater sense of obfuscation. Perhaps
if we can increase awareness and criticality of our digital platforms, we can relinquish some control over them.
William S. Braintree – New EP
December 1, 2016
William S. Braintree put out a new EP today titled Automaton
1. I’m grateful he asked me to make some art for it.
Happy to share that our proposed workshop on designing conversational agents has been accepted to ACM
CHI 2017 in Denver, CO. In this hands-on workshop, Bob Moore and I will be discussing how to create conversational
agents using the Watson Conversation platform and also discuss best practices for designing conversation in various
service encounters.
GLOW Festival – Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
October 30, 2016
My news updates are getting the best of me – I showed an installation in a room at the Museum of Art &
History in Santa Cruz for their annual GLOW Festival. I’m grateful
my friends and talented musicians Hoofwerk and William
S. Braintree were able to perform. Here are some videos & photos from the event:
Our talk Applying Science to Conversational UX Design
has been accepted at SXSW 2017. In this talk, Bob Moore and I will be discussing guidelines and best practices for creating
conversational agents and also discuss the emerging subset of UX around conversation design. Hope to see you there!
Design Thinking at IBM Research
August 30, 2016
I’m grateful my employer took the time to get my thoughts around art, design thinking and future technology.
This Sunday I’ll be teaching another workshop at the Santa
Cruz Idea Fab Lab. Space is limited so be sure to sign up soon! https://santacruz.ideafablabs.com/event/arduino-led-sequencer-workshop/
Changemakers Event: Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
June 10, 2016
Next week, I’ll be showing Wayfinding at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art History. During the past year,
I’ve been a part of C3 (Creative Community Committee).
This is an exciting event where creative leaders of the Santa Cruz community will join together to share their respective
projects.
I had a wonderful time teaching the Arduino workshop this past weekend. Thanks to everyone who made it out. Check
out a video showing some of the output:
My friend Hoofwerk (Wyatt Keusch) just released a new album. I’m honored
to have created the album art for it. Check out the album
and see the artwork below:
Next month, Chris Weisbart and I will be projection-mapping live in the planetarium dome at El Camino College. The
artwork will be based off the 50s sci-fi film Forbidden Planet. This is a one-night only event and will entail
a screening of the film, showing of the artwork, artist lecture and panel featuring astrophysicist professor Shimonee
Kadakia.
This Fall, I’ll be teaching an honors-level course at USC entitled Critical Approaches to User Experience
Design & Media Art. This course will be a meta-exploration of sorts in the sense that as the semester progresses
we’ll be taking an inquisitive look at remote collaboration since I’ll be teaching from the Bay Area.
What a year 2014 was – so much great stuff. Here’s to topping it in 2015!
Starting this year off with a Projection Mapping workshop at Calarts this Thursday (01/15) as part of my residency.
Although it’s a closed workshop, I’ll post slides & materials after Thursday.
Guerrilla Billboard Projection Mapping
December 7, 2014
At a private party last night, Chris Weisbart and I projection-mapped onto the back of a billboard in Silver Lake.
Check out some footage of it here:
ISEA 2014 wrapped up last week and I had a great time premiering (+/-) Pendulum! Great turnout in LA and a positive
response from folks in Dubai. Thanks to everyone who participated! I gave a talk remotely in Dubai – here are
the slides I presented with.
Also, below is a poster I designed for the event:
ISEA 2014 Underway!
November 2, 2014
Thanks to everyone who came out to the LA opening of the (+/-)
Pendulum! For those who missed it, the sculpture will be up on display semi-permanently in the Calarts Art &
Tech gallery space.
Meanwhile, in Dubai, a dual screen video installation of the piece is up. One screen contains a video of the sculpture
in operation while the other display contains a view of the submissions log. If you’ve registered for the conference, you will be
able to live-stream my talk on the piece Monday, November 3rd. There will also be a paper published in the conference
proceedings, which I’ll upload on my site.
A video of the working sculpture will be uploaded soon!
Gamble House Photos
October 23, 2014
Projected Shadows at the Gamble House had a fantastic
turnout. Thanks to everyone who came out.
The crew at Machine Project took some great photos. Be sure to check them out.
Projected Shadows @ The Gamble House
September 27, 2014
Tonight! I’ll be projection-mapping on the facade of The
Gamble House in Pasadena from 8-10. There are tons of great artists involved in the event, so please be sure to
check it out if you can make it!
The Happenings Collective is putting on another group exhibition tonight. I’ll be showing a few pieces (prints
& mixed media) as well as a hifi/lofi
print. The event starts at 6 – come by for drinks, snacks and good company!
Also, a just released a new print for August called Martyrnobyl. I’ll
be screenprinting it in the coming months.
Upcoming Workshop & Installation at The Gamble House
August 12, 2014
On September 28, I’ll be running a workshop with fellow artist & maker Chris Weisbart at The Gamble House, a historic home and museum, in Pasadena.
The workshop will entail exposing the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the Greene brothers, the architects that designed
the Gamble House by highlighting an advancement of the house known as the “Annunciator”—a novel call box system with
dials to indicate which of four house doors a visitor might be ringing. In order to shed light on how ground-breaking
this advancement was for 1908, we’ll be teaching workshop participants the inner workings of the call system and
how the Greene brothers built off its preexisting technology to create a modern-day spin-off version. In the process,
participants will build their own functioning doorbell and learn how this circuitry formed the basis for modern day
wireless technology.
The installation, on the other hand, will involve projection-mapping designed to mimic the bas-relief wood carvings
in several rooms at the Gamble House. These projections will appear on various wood surfaces on the exterior of the
house made available for visitors to experience.
Dimension, a Happening
August 1, 2014
I’ll be part of a happening in downtown LA on Sept. 6 encompassing the theme “Dimension”. More info
soon, but in the meantime, a little info on happening structure:
A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings
occur anywhere and are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience.
Key elements of happenings are planned, and artists sometimes keep room for improvisation. This new media art aspect
to happenings eliminates the boundary between the artwork and its viewer.Happenings emphasize the organic connection
between art and its environment. Kaprow supports that “happenings invite us to cast aside for a moment these proper
manners and partake wholly in the real nature of the art and life. It is a rough and sudden act, where one often feels
“dirty”, and dirt, we might begin to realize, is also organic and fertile, and everything including the
visitors can grow a little into such circumstances.” the feeling of all inclusivity, quality, and raw-ness of
the various art forms. Anything and everything is art.
Giant Metal Caterpillar Album Art
July 30, 2014
William S. Braintree is putting
out a new record called Giant Metal Caterpillar. I’m honored to have been asked to make the artwork for the album
and the release show poster. Both below:
Otis College Presentation
July 14, 2014
I’ll be giving a brief talk on literary software art tomorrow night with Norman M. Klein & Margo Bistis
at Otis College of Art and Design. The presentation begins at 7 and will cover aspects of the Imaginary 20th Century
and its construction.
xCoAx Paper Published
June 29, 2014
A paper I wrote has been published as part of the conference proceedings of xCoAx (a conference on computation, communication,
aesthetics and x). Many other great projects were exhibited, written about and performed.
The folks at Downtown LA Artwalk featured some of my work during April’s literary art themed event. Here’s
a video where I explain the concept behind Echo Echo Bot.
Largely Defunct Facebook Page
April 20, 2014
For a backlog of progress photos, please take a look at my instagram
feed. All updates will be in this “new” news section, and progress shots of works can be seen on my
instagram feed.
