Brahmarama is an interactive storytelling system. You type in words, and Brahma creates it out of thin air (well, okay, out of Flickr’s database).

Many more features are planned, this can be considered the first reasonably-functional version, released for the grand opening of the Interactive Open Gallery.

The machine encourages play, and its installation near stages infuse the actions (and output) of the machine with a sense of synesthesia, as the human brain matches up on-screen animation with environmental sound.

The box is all powered by a laptop sitting inside, which is easily removeable for changes to the program. The control surface is also modular, existing in its own box which can be switched out for a new controller on a per-installation basis. The whole rig sits atop a mobility walker, allowing easy transport to and from stages.

The construction of MCS was possible thanks to a grant from SOAK - the Portland Burning Man Regional Event. The device will be joined by a DDR pad in the future, to extend playability to a third person. Here’s a look at the original concept:

There really wasn’t a bad seat in the whole house.

I also created an original arcade-like machine called the Ribboncube, which is a black box system of knobs and faders that control every aspect of a generative video synthesizer, which was then splashed across the wall.

Throughout the night, concert attendees unlocked the mysteries of the Ribboncube, figuring out which knobs and faders controlled the various aspects of the projection, and teaching their friends. The source code for the project was posted online the very next day.

I’m heading down about two weeks ahead of time to learn their system, develop some new Quartz Composer scenes that will complement their styles, and - very important - practice performing together to the bands we’ll be playing with.

Here’s a little peek at what I’m bringing:

This is the same case that held an MPK49 for my GrandVJ demo in Detroit last year. This time it’s stuffed with a variety of VJ Equipment. The ubiquitous V-4, a Canon HF100 for documentation, my Monome 128 in a beautiful case made here in Portland by MapMap, a portable eSata drive, a 7″ LCD, my new Korg NanoKontrol (replacing the UC-33 in my VDMX setup), and a mesh bag with a bunch of cables, a small hard drive and my USB hub. My trusty MacBook Pro is packed separately (as a carry-on).

I’m really not sure what to expect, but I’m very excited about my 2-week study with the Xochi crew. More pictures and video to come as things develop.

Entertain the Brutes needed a functional game to pitch a project. Scott St. John came to me with the functionality of the game, and I produced a basic working version. Once he was happy with the way the game functioned, I designed the look and feel, including all graphics and animation. The sound is from a royalty-free source, I performed some manipulations to create a looping sound narrative that follows along with the game.

More information will be available once the project reaches the next phase.

The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) hosts two conferences every year, bringing together an international member base of organizations that work with food system reform in a spectrum of capacities.

I created a site which would provide potential attendees all the pertinent information in an easy-to-navigate fashion, based on the design of the existing brochure but adapted for the unique challenges of online information. I built the site on the Wordpress platform, which enabled the office manager for CFSC to handle all of the content production and updates without having to go through me.

I also developed the registration system for the conference, including a custom shopping cart, database design, and integration with their existing Authorize.net merchant account.

As a non-profit, they often have tight budgets for their operations, so the development for this conference also served as an opportunity for me to spend some time with the many-hats-wearing employees and learn what they really need in a registration system. In this way, we spread out some of the research and development costs involved with a complex registration system. We were able to create a working system for this conference which serves as a milestone in the larger registration and membership system project.

This site is a promotional vehicle for the Lionsgate film “Still Waiting’, which is a sequel to ‘Waiting’, a no-holds barred comedy about working in a restaurant. I worked with the Ant Farm Online team in developing the design, and programmed the site single-handedly, building on Steve Sacks’ excellent Gaia Flash Framework to produce a website that leverages all of the fun and interactivity of Flash without losing deep-linking and SEO capabilities. The ‘Crack or Cleavage’ game was created by Blockdot.

You can also see the Banners I created for Still Waiting.

I developed the patches and did the on-stage rigging and tech oversight for the Video Projection.