The Whole (Art) World in the Palm of Your Hand

On a scale of one to ten – ten being the most – how much of your world is consumed by art? Many of us art enthusiasts can’t get enough art. We practice art, talk about art and devour news of current art events and exhibits.

Thankfully, there is enough art inspired news to fulfill our insatiable appetites. Actually, there might be too much news. Sometimes it is nice to filter out the fluff and get to what is important. This is where an art/news app comes in.

An App for Art Enthusiasts

Now, with an iPad app called “Planet Art,” you can receive valuable news from the art world. According to UBS, the banking mogul behind the art app, “Planet Art is the location to simplify your access to contemporary art.”

Artnet.com praises the app (which was designed by Razorfish), saying:

“The app seeks to cut through the glut of art publishing initiatives, filtering out the most essential news, features, and market analysis and presenting it all in a clean, pleasingly-designed layout on the iPad. See it as the curated arts RSS feeder you didn’t have to create yourself.”

How Does Planet Art Work?

Planet Art pulls quality content about contemporary art from sources like The Art Newspaper, ARTnews and more. It also swims outside of the mainstream featuring worthwhile reads from blogsites and independent publications.

Aside from gathering content, the app also organizes articles into three main feeds: news, features and “The Market.” (The latter showcases articles that help everyone from art students to high profile collectors stay up-to-date on trends and happenings in the art world.) Also, users have the option to pick and choose the type of information they receive by applying keywords to create unique streams.

Another Must-Have Art App

Long before the Swiss bank merged the world of art and apps, Segmation brought digital paint-by-number patterns to the digital devices of art enthusiasts.

SegPlay Mobile makes fun ready-to-paint pattern sets available on iPhones and iPads. The app has several modes (normal, scored, hint, creative, and instant), providing an assortment of playing options which test your painting speed, as well as your artistic acumen. It allows users to color and zoom into intricate line patterns and produce photorealistic images.

With SegPlay Mobile, you can take art into your own hands. If you haven’t already, explore how fun and relaxing the world of digital paint-by-number can be. Click here to download the app for free: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/segplay-mobile/id395127581?mt=8.

Read more Segmation blog posts about art and color:

Vision Problems Guide Artists

Graphic Designer Creates a Different TYPE of Art

Colorful Jewelry Inspired by Classic Art

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

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Color helps Human’s Heal with SMART Bandages

Red means stop and green means go. This has been true for some time and is widely accepted, probably because traffic signals reinforce this behavior on a daily basis. Now these colors are being used to determine if a human wound is healing or not. SMART bandages turn green when oxygen is flowing to wounds and red if oxygen is low.

This is important technology because wounds need sufficient amounts of oxygen to fully heal. However, until now, most bandages actually restrict oxygen flow and hide the healing process, leaving wounds susceptible to unseen complications. With this new “paint-on” translucent bandage, an individual and his or her physician can easily monitor the wound’s healing process.

The creator of the bandage, Conor L. Evans, an assistance professor at Massachusetts General Hospital (at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine) and Harvard Medical School, considers the color changing technology to be a sort of mapping system. For right now, the SMART bandage maps “a wound’s tissue oxygenation concentration.” But this is only part of the bandage’s purpose.

SMART is an acronym for Sensing, Monitoring and Release of Therapeutics. Right now, sensing and monitoring are available thanks to easy-to-follow color changing technology; in the future, the bandage may be capable of “automatically [delivering] drugs at the wound site.”

The transparent liquid bandage displays a quantitative, oxygenation-sensitive colormap that can be easily acquired using a simple camera or smartphone. Image: Li/Wellman Center for Photomedicine

For now, the bandage uses a viscous liquid that includes phosphors. Phosphors are in many glow-in-the-dark products because they “absorb light and then emit it via a process known as phosphorescence,” explains rdmag.com. This liquid is painted on the first wound. In conjunction with a different top coat, it creates an air-tight sealant that protects the wound while monitoring airflow. Then, a camera is used to activate the phosphor and capture a reading of current oxygen levels (i.e. a map of reds and greens) throughout the wound. Any camera can trigger this process—even a smartphone.

There is no telling when or if color changing bandages will be sold over-the-counter. The research for SMART bandages has been driven by an admirable goal: to help wounded soldiers. SMART bandages may soon go into field testing in efforts to “significantly improve the success of surgeries to restore limbs and physical functions.”

On a large scale, the sensing and monitoring bandage may be the start of precise wound healing. On a small scale, it is pretty cool that a translucent bandage may change color, and in effect, help humans heal.

Read more Segmation blog posts about art and color:

Red Artwork is Worth Fortunes

Cutting Edge Art Blog Inspired by Current Events

The Color Red and its Many Meanings

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Crisp Imagery through Color Enhancing Technology

When you look at an image, it is safe to assume that you are seeing it through three color sensors: green, blue, and red. Can you imagine seeing an image through 12 times the amount of sensors?

The University of Granada in Spain and Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, recently unveiled design plans for a “multispectral imaging system capable of obtaining information from a total of 36 colour channels.”

The Polytechnic University of Milan is responsible for creating the sensors, known as Transverse Field Detectors (TFD). These sensors “…are capable of extracting the full colour information from each pixel in the image without the need for a layer of colour filter on them.” The Color Imaging Lab at the University of Granada has created a system that enhances these sensors and puts all 36 color channels to good use.

While this technology will be available to medical and government industries at first, there is a good chance it will someday transform the images we see on our mobile devices and personal computers.

The digital devices we use every day currently have color image sensors limited to the basic three color channels. As you can imagine, this impacts how we perceive color and lessens the quality of the images we see. If our handheld devices and personal computers offer 36 color channels someday, the colors we see onscreen will appear true to life.

Before this technology makes it into our homes it will be used for important activities that depend on poignant but stubborn details, like medical imaging and detecting counterfeit currency.

For now the technology is making it easy to facilitate the “capture of multispectral images in real time.” According to Wikipedia, “A multispectral image is one that captures image data at specific frequencies across the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or by the use of instruments that are sensitive to particular wavelengths, including light from frequencies beyond the visible light range, such as infrared.”

The Principal Investigator on this project is thrilled about the potential TFD technology has to “…turn the light they receive into electric signals.” He believes that this technology will aid and advance a variety of industries and research fields.

Even though the technology is young, trials of the Transverse Field Detectors are taking place in locations like the USA.

Learn more about the research that is leading the way to crisper imagery through color enhancing technology:

Imaging Resource

University of Granada

Read more Segmation blog posts about art and color:

Hues, Tints, Tones and Shades – What’s the Difference?

Basic Color Theory – Color Matters

Pantone’s World of Color

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Technology to Permanently Change Your Hair Color

Blonde. Auburn. Red. Dishwater blonde. Golden brown. Ash brown. Soft black. Dirty Blonde.

Stop for a minute and think about the many hair colors that are all around you. There is such variety of shades and textures.

It’s a stereotype to think women are the only gender to care about hair colors; both men and women consider hair color often. For instance, if a woman is not talking about her own hair color, she is probably describing someone else’s. If a man no longer has a full head of luscious locks, it doesn’t stop him from admiring the hair clad people around him.

Hair color is, whether conscious or not, something we observe often.

Now, two engineers want to have entrepreneurs and investors think about hair color in new ways.

What if you could permanently change your hair color by simply using a flat iron?

Mechanical engineers from The University of New Mexico, Bruce C. Lamartine and Zayd C. Leseman are exploring the idea of “Nano-Patterning of Diffraction Gratings on Human Hair for Cosmetic Purpose.” In other words, they are seeking to find a way to re-pattern a single strand of hair so that it reflects a different color.

In an article published by the University, author Karen Wentworth describes this process:

The use of focused ion beam technologies and the way they can be used to pattern different materials. Their research explores a way to etch diffraction gratings on individual hairs to reflect light in a specific way.

Unlike out-of-a-box hair dyes and creams, pattern etching human hair would provide permanent results. (Unfortunately, the article doesn’t say if the process can color gray hair.) Without applying a special conditioner to the hair, the new color would be a lifelong commitment.

Celebrity Hair Color Craze

News of this experiment couldn’t come at a better time. Hollywood seems obsessed with changing their hair color. But they’re looking for anything besides brunette, blonde, or auburn. Media darlings Ke$ha, Nicole Richie, Kylie Jenner, Katy Perry, and Anna Paquin recently sported blue-dos (http://news.instyle.com/2014/07/24/kesha-blue-hair-tips-photo/).

Alternative Uses for Nano-patterning Technology

Celebrities may be accustomed to getting media coverage for changing their hair color, but it’s far less likely that two engineers would dedicate time and energy to discovering a new, improved, and permanent way to alter a person’s appearance. And the University of New Mexico professors are the first to say that haircare isn’t the only thing this process is good for.

While altering hair color seems to be the most marketable use for the scientific experiment, this discovery may serve additional purposes. Read more about how nano-patterning of diffraction gratings may prevent credit card theft and improve national security: http://news.unm.edu/news/new-technology-allows-hair-to-reflect-almost-any-color.

Currently, Lamartine and Leseman are eager to find funding for their research. If news of a permanent solution to change hair color makes it to celebrities, or if the process can miraculously eliminate grays, it seems chances of funding would be rather high.

Read more Segmation blog posts about color:

Color Blocking Makes for Artful Fashion

Pantone’s World of Color

Who Creates Color Trends?

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The Blackest Shade of Black

A new shade of black has been discovered, but don’t expect it to show up in the next set of Crayola® crayons. This black is touted as the blackest black. Unlike other colors, this hue is engineered and must be grown from carbon nanotubes. These tubes, which are smaller than strands of human hair, are responsible for soaking up nearly 100 percent of the light that hits them.

Before revealing the man who is responsible for uncovering the shade that is blacker-than-black, let’s discuss the often overlooked relationship between light and color.

The Relationship Between Light and Color

It is shocking to learn that color, as we see it, is not color at all. Items that appear colorful are only perceived this way if white light is present. In order for the human eye to see color, objects must reflect light, absorbing certain waves and resisting others. Depending on what waves are absorbed and rejected, we get particular color. For instance, when light hits an orange, it absorbs all colors of the spectrum except for orange.

At early ages, children learn that black is not a color. This is because black does not need light, like other colors do. Whenever a “black” product is created, like a black crayon or paint, it is always the goal to have it reflect as little light as possible. But not all light can be absorbed.

Even Frederik de Wilde’s blackest black only absorbs 99 percent of light. But this is more than was ever expected or thought possible.

Fathering the World’s Blackest Shade of Black

Frederik de Wilde is an artist and scientist who is dedicated to discovering the darkest shade of black. Some call the hue, “NASA black,” because he partnered with NASA and a team from Rice University to nano-engineer this “color.”

Of his findings, De Wilde says, “Blacker-than-black is necessarily something which exceeds the luminous phenomenon.” Made up of 99.9 percent air and .01 percent carbon, blacker-than-black is what people see when they are essentially looking at nothing. Throughout the research process, as he and the team aimed for a nano-engineering phenomenon, de Wilde realized the process of creating the world’s blackest shade of black was going “beyond zero.” It was doing something that people once thought impossible.

Now that this shade has become a reality, there is much discussion about how it can and will be used.

The Future of Blacker-than-black

NASA is excited about the potential this shade of black offers to “creating hyper-efficient renewable energy.” A Huffington post article elaborates, saying NASA thinks this may lead to the development of invisible technology and may enable telescopes to pier deeper into space.

De Wilde also sees blacker-than-black as having “limitless potential” in the art world, too. He nano-engineers paintings and sculptures with material so black that it seems as if volume vanishes.

The creative, practical and sustainable functions of the world’s blackest shade of black are unique. Not only does it absorb more light than any other color, it is also a breakthrough in areas of art and science. This is a big accomplishment for something that is made of nothing.

Read more Segmation blog posts about art and science:

The Creative, Artistic and Inventive Mind of Leonardo da Vinci

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EnChroma Introduces Colorblind People to Color

For many people, being colorblind is a way of life. There are no magic pills to take or corrective surgeries to explore. Once the diagnosis is reached, it is highly unlikely that a person will ever see beyond his or her dingy view of the world.

Unless he or she has the help of new age corrective lenses by EnChroma®, seeing color is near impossible.

Prescription glasses have been correcting eye problems for years. Now, Digital Color Boost^TM technology is making up for what colorblind people lack. The journey to discover these compensatory lenses began about one decade ago. Scientists at Enchroma, the company that owns and distributes the Digital Color Boost sunglasses, were given grant money to find an optical solution to the age-old problem of colorblindness.

Scientist found that “…by filtering wavelengths of light, the color signal sent to the brain could be amplified.” Filtration is provided by the Digital Color Boost coating, which is sometimes put onto lenses 100 layers thick. From there, cuts are strategically made in the spectrum to manipulate incoming wavelengths. This allows some photons to pass through the lenses while others are blocked, which in turn introduces color to the colorblind.

The science and technology goes far beyond the scope of common thought, but EnChroma makes it easy to digest in the “How it Works” section on their website (http://enchroma.com/technology/how-it-works/).

Beyond the technology, the packaging of EnChroma sunglasses and the public’s reception of the product is anything but confusing. People are crazy about this product and how it remedies a problem that, for so long, people accepted as, “the way it is.”

Playwright Kelly Kittell told BoingBoing.net, “The first time I saw brick red I was so overwhelmed I stopped cold. Purple and lavender, where have you been all my life?” Lives are changing thanks to the new technology that is introducing them to a world of color.

Kittell goes onto admit that it is distracting to use the glasses at first. “You won’t be able to stop yourself from peeking under the glasses over and over again to verify your favorite gray sweater is actually a dusty rose. It is.”

His thoughts are confirmed by a young caucasian boy, the demographic who is the most likely to be diagnosed with color blindness. Owen’s mom and dad surprised him with EnChroma sunglasses one day. They recorded his reaction to share with the EnChroma blog. Check out Owen’s reaction as he challenges himself to keep the sunglasses on his face after being shocked by color: http://enchroma.com/call-for-enchroma-videos/.

EnChroma understands exactly what they do for the people whom they serve. Their tag line boasts: Color for the Colorblind. With digital color boost technology, they are doing what has thought of as impossible. They are introducing people with colorblindness to the world of color.

Read more Segmation blog posts about colorful technology:

Color-changing Properties Make Gold Multi-purposeful

Extracting Art from Science

Art Illuminates Science

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Extracting Art from Science

Art is thought to be subjective. But with advancements in technology, driven by adept curiosity, one woman seeks to make art exact. To accomplish this, she extracts art from science.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg is working towards her PhD at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The name of this university correctly suggests the concentration of her degree path: Electronic Arts. In the past she studied Information Arts and Interactive Telecommunications. Now, she puts this knowledge to good use with an original yet familiar concept.

DNA in Art

For years, shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Bones have been using DNA evidence to uncover suspects and pursue perpetrators. Dewey-Hagborg takes this popular scientific concept of and turns it into a mesmerizing art form.

Stranger Visions is the name of the project that allows her to build sculptures of people’s faces whom she’s never met. By picking up pieces of DNA (from strands of hair, or cigarette butts, or pieces of chewing gum) she collects the basis from which she will create unique 3D artwork.

The Question that Drives Art

The curiosity that led her to merge art and biotechnology began when she noticed herself entranced by a single piece of hair. This led to a looming question: What is there to learn about the person who was once here?

In tireless efforts to answer this question (many times over), Dewey-Hagborg has come up with a complex process that allows her to create 3D sculptures of people’s faces from the DNA they leave behind.

The Complex Process

Knowing it is possible to extract a whole genome from one stand of hair, the information artist first took a piece of evidence to Genspace, a community biotechnology lab in Brooklyn. Then she developed a process that is both technical and intricate. In developing keen understanding of her discovery, Dewey-Hagborg has been able to outline, replicate, and perfect her concept. She has a personal account of this process available on her blog.

Ultimately, by amplifying sections of the genome she is able to assume a person’s unique facial features, like nationality, weight, eye color and more. She uses snips, which are the parts of a genome that link to traits. By correlating the results of amplification, and using computational programs, she is able to come up with a blue-print of the sculpture (or person) she will replicate.

As a result of her intellect, skill, and curiosity, Heather Dewey-Hagborg has brought more to the world than a new form of art. She is bridging a gap between science and the community and making it known that extracting and analyzing DNA is becoming more accessible to the general public.

After viewing the Stranger Visions exhibit, it is likely to experience a heightened sense awareness about leaving DNA behind. Just like creator of this 3D art.

Read more Segmation blog posts about Art and Science:

Color Advances Science

Custom Art Made from Your DNA

Art and Science – A Genius Combination

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Hotel Provides “Sleep Art” as the Ultimate Luxury for Guests

For many people, art is considered a luxury. Investors all over the world pay vast sums of money for single works of art created by revered artists. Individuals on a smaller budget may not have much money to invest in art, but often these people will reserve funds for trips to the museum. When looked at from this perspective, it may be safe to assume that art is a luxury for some people.

Ibis, a European hotel chain, has taken luxury to the next level by introducing a robotic arm that creates paintings based on hotel guest’s sleep patterns. It’s clear that Ibis believes its guests will consider it a treat to receive personalized art — that’s why the hotel chain has invested in the amazing robotic arm ‘artist’.

The robotic arm, which has been named “Sleepy”, was originally intended to be used in factories for packaging and manufacturing. Ibis gave the robotic arm something of a makeover, making its motions smooth and precise. The amazing thing about Sleepy is that he creates personalized works of art for hotel guests as they sleep.

It’s reported that Sleepy gets his inspiration for artwork from sensors that are attached to guests’ beds. On each bed there are about 80 sensors. These sensors “measure pressure, heat, and sound to compose a visual interpretation of the energy and motion of sleep.” When guests awake in the morning, most are probably excited to view a piece of art that represents their sleep patterns.

The acrylic paintings created by Sleepy give an honest review of someone’s “sleep personality.” For example, if someone is a restless sleeper, that will show up in the painting Sleepy creates. If another person is very peaceful, that will be made apparent as well.

Ibis is demonstrating its belief in the idea that art goes hand-in-hand with luxury. To Ibis, art is even a part of great customer service. This European hotel chain is doing all it can to provide guests with an experience they will never forget. Sleepy, the robotic arm ‘artist’, is setting Ibis apart and helping the hotel chain to make guests feel like royalty.

Sources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50138200n

Coming soon: Most people are unaware that beautiful, inexpensive works of art can be made from beans. You won’t want to miss our next post, which features a bean art tutorial!

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