Shadowplay

Joe Lindley & Roger Whitham

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An AI-powered canvas to create video and music using by casting shadows.

 

What is Shadowplay?

Designers need to learn how to be creative with AI – how to make it do what we want, and how to use it as part of our craft. We want to help people explore AI image generators, understand what is hidden inside them, and use them as a new creative material. Shadowplay is part of Design Research Works, a project that demonstrates how design can play a key role in understanding emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. In 2024 anyone can use Generative AI to create images, but often this involves typing in a text box and then waiting ages to see a few options. Shadowplay offers a different experience that allows you to explore a Generative AI model using your body in a playful and interactive way.

 

How does it work?

Shadowplay creates 12 images each second using an AI image generator called Stable Diffusion. Each image is based on the shadows cast on the left-hand screen, and one or more text-based prompts. The system captures an image of the shadows and combines that with text prompts to produce an ever-changing interactive video. Behind the scenes (over in the corner) we are using a computer equipped with a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to run the AI image model. In the future, real-time Generative AI of this kind will be commonplace on phones and screens everywhere. Check out ‘Play of Light’, our second AI-powered installation, in the old Mountain Warehouse shop on Market Street.

 

Credits

This version of Shadowplay was created by Joe Lindley and Roger Whitham from ImaginationLancaster, a design-led research centre at Lancaster University.

We a very grateful for extensive advice and support from the LICA technical support team:

Simon Attwood, Mark Bentele and David McBride.

This work is supported by UK Research and Innovation grant MR/T019220/1 as part of

Design Research Works designresearch.works

Special thanks to George Harris and Julie Brown for bringing this work to Light Up Lancaster.