ARCH-DNA VISUALISATION
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Architecture is a common aesthetic of everyday life, we see it in magazines, online and most are encapsulated within it in every day. But what happens when this space is deconstructed and transformed into live data, how do we visualise and understand it? With the inspirational work of digital artists such as Stanza, could DNA and architecture link?
“DNA.. is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA)… The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences” (Genetics Home Reference 2009).
The Arch-DNA visualisation acts as a way of new thinking for architecture. With the advent of such technologies as the Arch-OS system, data relating to activity, temperature and usage is readily available to designers and artists alike. This processed data could be considered as the structure and makeup to a building. If DNA can exist in humans and other living organisms, is it not possible that architecture can also harbour its own DNA. Through the user of a cross platform system, the Arch-DNA visualisation aims to provide a solution for the understanding of such data, in a new form of DNA.
Garry T. Marx once argued:
“These materials can help us see and understand (whether emotionally or cognitively). They offer an alternative language through visual metaphors. The traditional role of the artist in making the unseen visible has a particularly appropriate meaning here. Such media can educate in a distinctive and perhaps more profound sense than can the exclusively verbal. They can help us see and experience in different ways, especially things that are new. For example, we can more readily understand electronic data and microscopic DNA sequences when they are transformed into images through artistic representations”(Lyon, D et al 1996:228).
Utilising the existing Arch-OS system for the collection of data, the application processes the architecture in the following way, mimicking the characteristics of the human DNA.
Human: “The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T)”.
Portland Square:The information relating to the DNA is stored as code made from 4 elements, Devonport (Block A), Stonehouse (Block B), Plymouth (Block C) and External (Roof Top).
Basing and developing the project on this theory, the Arch-DNA provides a solution to this problem. It acts as a way of representing the internal data as a visual experience, which could be displayed via the GreenScreen display. This would of course result in a level of self-reflexivity, exposing the makeup of the building, on the building. Here I am, this is me!
This principle could also be transferable to many other areas. The application has the capability of displaying DNA segments from animals and even humans. One could also utilise the DNA generated from the data as a way of creating replicas, or even clones if you wish.
As evolution occurs and the data becomes updated, the visualisation continually updates itself, injecting the most recent DNA into the visualisation. This creates a real-time generation process meaning that only the most recent DNA is displayed. This live data is what inevitably drives every audio and visual aspect of the project. Below you will find a much more detailed evaluation of how the system works, and how the process of transformation occurs.
How the System works
The process of visualising the DNA data is carried out by a number of technologies. The diagram below shows a simplified version of how the system works.
Essentially the system starts life on a processing machine, for example a laptop or pc. The machine runs a localised or server located html web page which includes an embedded flash application. Plugged into the Arch-OS data feed via an Internet connection, the application processes data obtained from 39 sensors located both internally and externally from the Portland Square building on the Plymouth University campus.
The live feed can be viewed here:
http://arch-os.scce.plymouth.ac.uk/raw_data.php?source=all_bms
Example Arch-OS Data
30 17.5 30 18.92 18.96 39.45 292.48 -184.52 118.24 -143.4 245.64 -163.72 2 265.64 46.52 20.48 57.45 20.63 59.34 21.37 92.83 10.81 4.69 20.59 21.8 15.18 19.11 20.07 21.62 18.28 21.1 21.28 17.32 0 4.09 20.23 81.68 0.14 215.91
Conversion to DNA Process
This unique Arch-OS data is then transformed into a distinctive DNA structure, transforming the information from a numerical values into a sequential string of characters and groups using a predefined algorithmic conversion:
A = -, B = ., C = “Spaces”, D = 0, E = 1, F = 2, G = 3, H = 4, I = 5, J = 6, K = 7, L = 8, M = 9, N = 10, 0 = 11, P = 12, Q = 13, R = 14, S = 15, T = 16, U = 17, V = 18, W = 19, X = 20, Y = 21, Z = 22.
Example of the Arch-OS data when converted into DNA:
CDCQBECCDC RBIBCQBFBC CIBGBCBIBD HCARDBEBCM DBBDCAMDBD CBDEBFDCAP CBGBCBCBEF BFDCDFBEBC TBDHCEGBCC CTBGCEHBED CUBFCCIBFI CKBDFCCBIC CTBFCCUBHC OBRCSBMCTB DGCUBGCCRB GCUBCECUBB HCRBQCDCDB DICTBBCCHA FHCAEDCVEB
This process mimics the extraction process that you would typically see in a laboratory, filtering out the correct information and representing it in a data form.
The Visualisation Aesthetics
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Once the initial processing of the information has occurred the application begins the visualisation process in real time. Individual cells are constructed and are visualised and modified depending on the DNA data relating to the particular cell. Predefined algorithms handle the details such as size, colour, blur and alpha levels, modifying as the data updates.
Blur:
Blur is created dependant on the character reference number.
Character 6 has 100 pixel blur vertically
Characters >=20 have 200px vertical blur;
Characters >=10 && Characters<15 have a 200px horizontal blur.
Glow and Alpha
Glow and alpha are depentandt once again on the character reference number. So for example if Z related to 26, this number is multiplied by 4 giving the overall glow size and alpha level.
Blend
There are three types of blend mode available for this visualisation.
- ‘No’ blend is applied to cells with a character reference of 9
- ‘Add’ blend is applied to cells with a character reference that is even
- ‘Overlay’ is added when the character is none of the above
The graduation of the visualisation background is generated from the Arch-OS data feed. Capturing the first, middle and last node, the system calculates an RBG input specific to the current live data feed, once again updating as the live data adjusts. Using these three points allows for a variety of colour combinations and possibilities.
This visual style mimics that of an Agarose Gel Electrophoresis Ethidium Bromide Staining used by scientists all over the globe.
Generating the Audio
Generation of the audio is once again composed using the compiled and processed DNA data. Characters numerical values are outputted to a customised audio generation application, which creates music scores, formulated using a php midi plug-in. This audio is then performed by the browsers.
Presenting it back to the Space / User
The visualisation has been designed to be displayed by either utilising a large LCD display, or by using much larger visual apparatus such as the GreenScreen. The GreenScreen the most relevant location for this project as it is displaying the data from inside. This gives passers by the opportunity to withness the collection and transformation of the data. The audio too is best suited for the Portland Square building as it would plug directly into the existing sound architecture of the building. Once again acting as a way for communicating the data to the viewer.
References
Lyon, D., Zureik, E. (1996) Computers Surveillance & Privacy, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Genetics Home Reference (2009) What is DNA?[online] http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/basics/dna [date accessed: 11th March 2009]
Tags: arch os, dna art, idat307
