PAUL LACROIX  ポール・ラクロワ

Creative Technologist / Engineer / Media Artist

Categories:    My picks  Interactive installations  Projection Mapping  Other  All

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.
October 2020: Generative art - Vector field virtual sculpture
NGC
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.
May 2020: Parted - Body Tracking and Projection Mapping (Personal project)
Daisuke Hashimoto / Paul Lacroix / Yae Doi / Mari Katayama
Creative Technologist

  • Technical direction
  • Creation of a system (hardware & software) able to smoothly track the performer body and accurately project video animations fitting the body shape

  • After several years experimenting on body projection mapping, this collaboration between Daisuke Hashimoto, Yae Doi and me represents a new step in the field of body projection mapping. The video is starring the Japanese artist Mari Katayama.

    Besides the cutting-edge technical aspect, we tried to create a peculiar visual, strongly inspired by the Japanese painter Ito Jakuchu. We also question the relation between identity and technology, as well as the perception of beauty and taboo within our societies.
    Video
    April 2019: The Lady in the Wood (Personal project)
    Paul Lacroix / Ryosuke Makita / Yae Doi
    Director / Technology developper

  • Direction, content creation
  • System development

  • Before this project, most of my facial projection mapping videos were shot in studio or at least in a location with easy access to electricity and light. The Lady in the Wood is an experiment aiming to evaluate the feasibility and robustness of using markerless face detection system in an uncontrolled environment. The video was shot in a small forest near Mont Fuji.
    Video
    August 2014: OMOTE / Real-time Face Tracking & Projection Mapping
    Link: Omote page
    Collaboration with Nobumichi Asai and Hiroto Kuwahara
    Technical Director / System Creator

    Design & Development of the Real-time Face Tracking and Projection Mapping System:
  • Calibration system (projector and OptiTrack devices)
  • Original face tracking algorithm
  • Video texture projection