GMU:DIY-Microscopy: Difference between revisions

Werkmodul/Fachmodul
Lecturer: Max Neupert
Credits: 6 ECTS, 4 SWS
Date: Monday, 9:30 until 12:30 h
Venue: Marienstraße 7b, Room 204
First meeting: 2012-10-15

Description

Aim of the class is to develop a creative practice within a the digital images of a microscopic world. To achieve this we will hack a USB Webcam to deliver microscopic video. The microscopy stage will be constructed with the help of our rapid prototyping machine GMU:RapMan and simple 3D modeling tools. Lastly video editing and realtime manipulation techniques will be explored and applied.

This course ideal for students who want to explore a broad set of skills and different aspects of technological driven playful artistic research.

Costs of 20,- € must be paid, you will keep your microscope.

Course language will be English (except everyone speaks German then it will be in German.. obviously).

German description

Ziel des Kurses ist es einen gestalterischen Umgang mit den digitalen Bildern einer mikroskopischen Welt zu entwickeln. Um dies zu erreichen werden wir eine USB Kamera umbauen, so dass diese mikroskopisches Video ausgibt. Die Mikroskop-Bühne wird mit Hilfe unseres 3D Druckers GMU:RapMan und einfachen 3D Modellierungswerkzeugen entwickelt. Um die gestalterischen Projekte umzusetzen werden grundsätzliche Video-Schnitttechniken und Echtzeit Manipulationsmethoden erprobt und angewandt.

Dieser Kurs ist ideal für alle Studenten die in eine breite Auswahl von Fertigkeiten Einblick gewinnen möchten und verschiedene Aspekte einer durch Technologie bestimmten spielerischen künstlerischen Forschung kennen lernen möchten.

Kosten von 20,- € müssen bezahlt werden, das Mikroskop ist eures.

Kurssprache ist Englisch (es sei denn alle Teilnehmer verstehen und sprechen Deutsch. Dann ist die Kurssprache natürlich Deutsch).

Topics

22.10. Electronics tinkering → Max
29.10. 3D Modelling (with Blender, SketchUp, MeshLab) → Jakob
5.11. 3D Printing GMU:RapMan → Matthias Breuer, Laser cutting
12.11. Microscopy → Adriana
26.11. Light in photography, Light Microscopy, → Amel, Brian, Nils
3.12. No class!
4.12. Excursion to the optical museum in Jena. 13:07 train is leaving in Weimar
10.12.
17.12. Sonification Workshop
7.1. Contemporary Art practice, Hackteria, Bioart → Maria
14.1.
21.1.
28.1. Final Presentation
31.3. Submission of Documentation (deadline)

Evaluation

Active participation, graduates teach 20%
presentation (artistic examination) 40%
documentation 40%
edits in the wiki (not related to the class) extra +10%

Eligible participants

Undergraduates and graduates enrolled in the Faculties of Media, Gestaltung and in the MediaArchitecture program

Works

Images (general images)

Abandoned

Choosing a Camera

Any webcam which works with your computer will work as a microscope. It is recommended to choose a webcam that isn't only working on one platform with special drivers and restricted to the software of the vendor. A good choice is a USB Video Class compliant (short: UVC) camera. Often this isn't explicitly said in the specifications, but if it says driver free, plug and play or Mac compatible it is an indicaton that the camera might be of the UVC type. If you can find one which is easy to disassemble (screws instead of melted or glued parts) you got an advantage. Wikipedia has an incomplete list of UVC Webcams. A longer list of supported UVC cameras is to be found on the Linux UVC driver page.

Magnification and Resolution

To find out how big the surface is we are looking at, we are capturing a piece of a screen/display and count the pixels. We tried an iPod Touch 4th generation which has a widescreen with the following specs:

resolution is 960 x 640 pixels
physical size is 75 x 50 mm

Hence we can calculate the pixel density of the device:

0,078125 mm per pixel (or 12,8 pixels per mm)

On our screen capture through the microscope we see approximately 5,8 x 4,2 pixels of the screen (one pixel consists of a triplet of red, green and blue). Now we know that we are looking at a surface of ~ 0,45 x 0,33 mm.

To calculate the magnification factor the pixel density of the display must be taken into account.

Capturing from the Webcam

Windows

A basic (you must have installed .NET Framework 4) application for capturing images from your webcam: File:Microscopy-WebcamCapture.zip
Usage: Spacebar: Save image to file, R: Start/stop recording, N: Give name, Escape: Exit the application

OS X

You may use Apple QuickTime or Photo Booth to record video from the webcam on OS X.

Linux

Cheese

@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 * resolution is 960 x 640 pixels
 * physical size is 75 x 50 mm
+[[File:iPod touch screen measuring size.png|150px]]
 Hence we can calculate the pixel density of the device:
 * 0,078125 mm per pixel (or 12,8 pixels per mm)