PAUL LACROIX 

Consultant / Software Engineer

This project focused on developing a specialized software solution for reconstructing skull meshes in the medical field. Besides the physical limitations of the scanner (only a limited area of the skull can be captured in each scan), the software aligned and merged the multiple partial scans. This proved challenging at times, particularly because of the patient's head movements during the scans.

Artist

'Path of Noise (r, theta, phi)' received the Festival Platform Award Geo-Cosmos category at the Japan Media Arts Festival.
In this artwork, particles are moving along the surface of a sphere and are tracing curves along their passage. The movement of the particles is a symbolization of the randomness of one's life and its chaotic path.
The content is generative, in other words, different patterns and colors appear for each iteration.

A quite challenging aspect of this project was using a sphere-shaped screen (6-meter-diameter). Because there is no border, there is neither a beginning nor an end. The particles can move in all directions and loop around the sphere.

Although it is generative content, I also wanted to tell a story. The artwork is composed of several parts in which I tried to put different moods. Recent years have been difficult for many people around the world. I wanted to express some hope and bring some comfort into the heart of the viewers. That's the reason for using cherry blossoms.

Engineer

Though the system was initially conceived in order to play multiple video contents synchronized over multiple computers, a very special requirement for this installation was on the contrary the videos to be played randomly and avoid any impression of looping.

Speaker

A Story About Face And Body Projection Mapping

During this speech, I talk about the experiences and inspirations that led me to my work on face projection mapping and body projection mapping.

System developper/Calibrated system expert

Development of an application capable of synthesizing a 12K wide camera equivalent by combining three 4K cameras. A precision-focused calibration system, tailored for sports scenarios, ensures impeccable visual outcomes as it deftly stitches images side-by-side, presenting a seamless and visually correct result. The system operates at a swift 60 frames per second, delivering high-resolution panoramic views perfectly suited for competitive sports coverage and other live events.

Expanding its horizons beyond sports, this technology finds adaptable utility in the realms of live stage performances and outdoor landscapes, where it confers remarkable visual clarity and detail.

Artist

At the occasion of the moving of their headquarters to Toyosu, the company NGC commissioned me for a variation of one of my content.

Displayed on 4 curved screens, the content evolves and changes perpetually. Colors and shapes, as well as camera work are generated randomly in real-time.

Technical director / Software developper

Software development

Developped as a front end demo for the AI interface Watson, this hologram interacts and provides information to customers visiting the head quarters of IBM Japan.

Technical Director

Design of the technical solution and installation

30 screens (5x3x2) for a total resolution of 19200x3240 pixels

Installation of original media server synchronizating video on multiple computers

27 screens (9x3) for a total resolution of 11520x2160 pixels (3x4K)

Adjustment of the system to handle multiple audio tracks

Simulation in first-person view of projection mapping event (used for content check or presentation)

Support of Oculus Rift virtual reality headset when available

System Developper

Development of an original media server synchronizating video on multiple computers

Tools for data preparation and network synchronization

36 screens (12x3) for a total resolution of 16392x2304

Technical support for interactive content on multiple screens

Real time drawing capture

Stroke path edition

Progressive stroke drawing

Object animation with spline interpolation

Real-time preview and high quality rendering

User interface developed using Qt

Fluid and particle simulation

Real time drawing, edition and visualization

Importation of camera data from MAYA

User interface developed using MFC

Development of an ActiveX Control performing camera capture, compositing and recording to MPEG-2 file

Creation of customized DirectShow filters

Programming of software adjusting automatically the volume amplitude of audio data (robust approach)

Evaluation of several video compression formats for optimal display on mobile phone

Programming of software/hardware/network diagnostic software

Prototyping of a new interface connecting two devices in order to decrease the system cost

This application was used in the context of the American TV series My Friends Tigger and Pooh

Digital measurements on 3D models

Scan anonymization

Scan stitching

Documentation, demonstration and training related with the software

Upgrade of the company 's website

Research and evaluation of methods especially in the following fields:

Processing of images and depth maps (Digital Elevation Model)

Scanner calibration, correction of the lens distortion

Mesh operations (polygonization, merging, simplification, comparison, positioning...)

Use of various data structures for optimization (octree, kd-tree...)

Reading volume data from DICOM files

Volume data processing

Programming of a volume rendering engine (real-time mode with texture stack approach, high quality mode with ray casting algorithm)

Polygonization of vascular network

Participation in the authoring of a software development normalization document

Software training

Calibration of a vision system

Construction of 3D mesh from profilometer data

Color correction

Projection/merging of 2D textures on the 3D mesh

Research about mesh construction algorithms, publication of an article