Meet the community: Leo Scarin
About volumetric interviews, art school collaborations, and algorithmic systems for artistic expression
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PSA: It is a key value for us at AIxDESIGN to open-source our work and research. The forced paywalls here have led us to stop using Medium so while you can still read the article below, future writings & resources will be published on other platforms. Learn more at aixdesign.co or come hang with us on any of our other channels. Hope to see you there 👋
To share a variety of voices and perspectives in our growing community, we’ve decided to cast a monthly spotlight on one of our members in the form of mini-interviews 👀 This month, we are very happy to introduce you to Leo Scarin: an artist, creative technologist, and our brand new Social Media Lead!
AIxD: Hi Leo! First question 🎤 where are you now and what does the view from your window look like? (We would love to see a picture 🏙)
L: I am in the TodaysArt headquarters in The Hague, where my studio is based. Attached is a scratchy cat in the backyard 🐈
AIxD: Thank you! We love to see a cat 😻 Off to the next question: tell us briefly about yourself. What do you currently do and what kind of background and experiences have led you to where you are now?
L: I am a creative technologist! My main interest is the use of new technologies to design meaningful and tangible digital interactions. I recently graduated at the Royal Academy of Arts in Interactive / Media / Design, a bachelor program that incorporates diverse and critical approaches to Art, Design, Technology and Society. For a couple years I have worked with TodaysArt, a media art platform and festival based in The Hague.
AIxD: As a creative technologist, it is actually part of your work to be trying new tools. Could you tell us more about a tool or a method you have recently worked with and are excited about?
L: I have a strong fascination for volumetric capture technologies, which I believe to be the most intimate way to archive a memory. In my work, I often adopt this technique through the use of Kinect sensors, photogrammetry softwares (OpenMVG, Brekel), and realtime render engines (Unity3D, Touchdesigner). The most exciting part is the application of volumetric technologies into interactive experiences: an inspiring example is Planet of People at the Lithuanian Space Agency. PS — For the most technical geeks, Instant Neural Graphics Primitives seems to be the latest and fastest AI tool in the game of photogrammetry, a technique to be very curious about, in the future.
AIxD: to put it simply, what is volumetric capture? Is it recording real-life events in a 3D format?
L: Correct! Volumetric capture renders a digital 3D replica of real-life objects or bodies. Photogrammetry, for example, uses different multi-angle photos to digitally recreate the 3D form of an object. Kinect sensors do this by capturing the real-time depth of a moving image through infrared lights.
AIxD: Thank you for sharing some insights into your toolkit with us 🛠 We also want to use this space to promote your work and ideas. Is there anything you are working on at the moment you would like to share with us?
L: I am now working on a super exciting project by Rotterdam-based artist and fellow KABK alum Kexin Hao for the upcoming Rewire Festival in The Hague. Future Dance of Nostalgia is an interactive performance and installation incorporating pre-industrial heavy labour gestures into dance and bodily knowledge. As the creative technologist of this project, I am developing a customised Just Dance-like motion-capture videogame for the visitors to play! The installation will be running at the entrance of Amare during the whole Rewire Festival (get your tickets here).
AIxD: Fantastic! We can’t wait to see your work 🙌 and to learn more about your vision and perspective. What do you find interesting/attractive/worth looking into at the AI x Design crossover?
L: As accessible as AI tools have become for artists and designers, what excites me the most is how algorithmic computational systems will enhance artistic, creative expression. There is some sort of poetry in the way machines manifest creativity, and how new aesthetics arise from it. Those fragmented attempts of computers to replicate the complexity of human situations are the limbo, the intermediate state of the image that I am attracted by, both as a creative medium and as a context of technological research. Furthermore, I find worth looking into the social justice scenarios and how they are shaped by computational systems. Kavita Philip writes “rights, ethics, speech, freedoms […] cannot be predicted or deduced from axioms or a priori rules […] searching for a pure, clean signal entails wiping out all noise. It involves shaping humans in the dumb models for which computational systems have been built”. As she wisely suggests, I am interested in embracing the noise and explore its expressive outcome.
AIxD: Wow, this is a wonderful quote, and also very urgent, as we need to look not only at playful aspects of tech but also we aware of its harms and violations. Last question: If you could pick one text/book or a podcast which is an absolute must-read or must-listen, what would you recommend?
L: Your computer is on fire (the quote above is from this book, from the chapter ‘Afterwords: How to Stop Worrying about Clean Signals and Start Loving the Noise’)
AIxD: Thank you! And thank you so much for chatting with us 🙏 we are looking forward to having more conversations throughout the year and working together 🎆
About AIxDesign
AIxDesign is a place to unite practitioners and evolve practices at the intersection of AI/ML and design. We are currently organizing monthly virtual events, sharing content, exploring collaborative projects, and developing event programs.
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