The document summarizes the work of the MINT research team at University Lille 1. The team includes 6 permanent members and 6 associated members who conduct research on gestural interaction techniques. They have two specialties: being multi-disciplinary with fields like computer science, engineering, and psychology, and having multi-application areas including serious games and numerical art. The team has collaborated with an art school on several installations combining art and new interaction techniques using tools developed in their research. They view artistic collaborations as a way to test and showcase their work while transferring knowledge to different domains.

1. Art and research:
open source, open minds
Pr. L. Grisoni, MINT research team,
Univ. Lille 1, INRIA/CNRS
FoSSa, Open-art track, dec. 5th 2012
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2. MINT Research team
‣ MINT: Methods and tools for INTeraction
‣ 6 permanent members (1DR, 2 PR, 3 ass. prof), 6
associated, between 10 and 15 post-doc/PhD/
young engineers
‣ Research project: methods and tools for gestural
interaction. In the direction of continuous space
interaction
‣ Multi-touch techniques
‣ Small-scale depth interaction
‣ Continuous space interaction
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3. MINT Research team
‣ two specificities:
‣ multi-disciplinar: computer science (HCI, numerical computing), electrical engineering, psychology
‣ multi-application:
‣ serious game (retail, rehabilitation):
3 funded projects on the run : Interreg SHIVA, ANR Instinct,
FUI Smart-Store, FUI Touch-it
‣ numerical art (Le Fresnoy National art studio)
4 art installations in two years, one on the run
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4. MINT Research team
‣ Other specificities:
‣ close link between scientific activity and technological transfert (ex: collaboration
with ST microelectronics on tactile pads)
‣ Close link between application domains
(ex: Health and Art,
Interreg European project SHIVA)
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5. MINT Research team: why this art stuff ?
‣ academic research : goal is threefold:
‣ contribute to global knowledge (through publication/code),
‣ contribute to national economical competitivity
‣ widespread this knowledge in society
‣ artistic field provides a nice society visibility context for us, as well as a
challenging application field
‣ for some part of the team activity: art is a nice testbed for potentially new
knowledge and develop software through artistic installations: as soon as
done, as soon as shown
‣ We try to interleave research and technological work: e.g. of a current
process, the mockup builder
‣ inclusion of activity/knowledge transfert into the scientific process
B. De Araujo, G. Casiez, J. Jorge,
Graphics Interface‘2012
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6. MINT art-science work 1: RoadSide Attractions (Jacques Loeil
2010)
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7. MINT art-science work 2: Monades (Alexandre Maubert, 2011)
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8. MINT art-science work 3: Damassama (léonore mercier, 2011)
‣ Collaboration in 2012 with Le Fresnoy art school
‣ Damassama: 24 tibetan bowls, one single Kinect
‣ Request for rich interaction:
‣ few commands, both single-hand and two-
hands
‣ «hammer» each bowl, and allow user to
control the intensity
‣ parameterized gesture
‣ two parameters:
‣ first one is discreet (bowl id)
‣ second is floating point (intensity)
‣ proposed tools has great potential in other
applications fields
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9. MINT art-science work 3: Damassama (léonore mercier, 2011)
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10. MINT art-science work 4: Ez3kiel, Lille concert, feb.2012
‣ Ez3kiel welcomed in 2011-2012 in Lille
‣ orchestra leader gesture captured using
kinect and leads numerical content
‣ for us: same software tool as in previous
works
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11. MINT art-science work 5: Tempo Scaduto, Vincent Ciciliato,
2012)
‣ shown at Panorama 2012
‣ multi-camera system: combination of
gesture and hand posture
‣ two computer science teams involved:
MINT (distant gesture) and FOX (vision
features extraction)
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12. MINT art-science work 6: Damassama 2.0 (léonore mercier,
2013?)
‣ use piezo-electric actuators: much more dynamic
‣ enrich gesture commands: make installation
become a programmable musical instrument
‣ currently trying to use piezo-electric ceramics to
launch bowls natural vibrations (ideally including
harmonics)
‣ use of gesture for programming and using
installation
‣ continuum between artistic installation and musical
instrument
‣ revisited relation to ancien objects using technology
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13. MINT art-science feedback: few (everlasting?) questions
‣ Being a researcher is not being an engineer; being an artist is not being a
beautifier
( -> each part has both a primary goal, and shareable knowledge)
‣ artists and scientists: different worlds, same identities
(-> need to understand each other goal and constraints)
‣ collaboration between artists and scientists : two intellectual freedoms made
compatible
(-> how to have both freedoms fully exist?)
‣ what makes the value of the work? how to create virtuous circles?
-> utopic (non-)answer : fund valuable people, not valuable projects
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14. One possible way to deep innovation: Theory U
Otto Scharmer (MIT), «Blind Spot of
Institutional Leadership, how to create Deep
Innovation Through Moving from Egosystem
to Ecosystem Awareness», World
Economic Forum, Tianjin, sept. 2010.
some nice, recent, idea: smart art:
making smart things with existing
devices ...
(see Sm(art)^2 IP proposal)
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15. Thank you
laurent.grisoni@inria.fr
http://www.lifl.fr/mint
(© S. Cotin)
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