Seeing is Believing? Visual illusions, Compression and Immersive Technologies
Researchers from MyWorld, Bristol Vision Institute and Centre for Sociological Futures teamed up to deliver a fantastic interactive stand at Up Late @ S.S. Great Britain – Futures, one of the events held as part of FUTURES organised by the University of Bristol Public Engagement Team. Coordinated by the MyWorld Skills and Training team we had a whole host of engaging activities for the 367 attendees to interact with which were all really well received.
A fantastic showreel containing visual illusions and video compression content streamed all evening, alongside two fun interactive demonstrators to challenge visitors’ visual perceptions. One was the ‘ambiguous garage roof’ which using a mirror and a 3D diorama showed the importance of perspective, and the other ‘Why aren’t tigers green?’ allowed visitors to wear glasses which mimicked the eyesight of a tiger’s prey, showing how the tiger’s recognisably vibrant colouring (as seen through human eyes) appears completely differently through the eyes of their prey and actually serves as excellent camouflage!
Another interactive exhibit on our stand ‘How does a computer know how you feel?’ challenged visitors to the stand to try pulling faces to see if the computer could identify their emotions, (which we are researching the use of to help us understand how the audience are reacting to creative content). Visitors also had the opportunity to try out some virtual reality immersive experiences including the Virtual Reality Oracle and have conversations with our researchers about the future of immersive technologies. With posterboard content to read as well as these exciting activities, our stand was very busy all evening. We had lots of fantastic conversations with adults and children of all ages and from all across the Bristol region keen to talk to us about our research.
A huge thanks to the team involved in planning and delivering all the activities at this event: David Bull, Angeliki Katsenou, Laszlo Talas, Jasmina Stevanov, Kane Carson, Aaron Zhang, Ute Leonards, Nathaniel Thorne, Siyu Zhang, Mike Richardson, Kirsten Cater and Jo Gildersleve.