Registration by 10 May (limited places): c.rizzuti@abaroma.it
The workshop is intended for students of the School of New Technologies and will take place over three full days. A basic knowledge of Touchdesigner, strong motivation and a commitment of three full days are required. The workshop will be in Italian.
From 22 to 24 May, Riccardo Torresi (Ephemeral Tomorrow) will hold the three-day workshop Datascapes for the School of New Technologies for Art.
The Datascapes workshop explores the creative potential of data visualisation and human-machine interaction through TouchDesigner, offering a practical and experimental approach to transforming complex information and body movements into an immersive audiovisual experience.
Participants will begin with an introduction to real-time data visualisation, analysing strategies for converting numerical datasets into visual and sound elements. Techniques for mapping data onto colours, shapes and sounds will be presented, with a particular focus on the balance between aesthetics and scientific consistency.
Subsequently, the focus will shift to the integration of motion tracking in TouchDesigner, demonstrating how the human body can become an interface for the generation of audiovisual content. Technologies such as LiDAR and infrared cameras will be presented, as well as advanced tools such as open source models for face detection, object recognition and pose detection. Participants will experiment with body tracking and skeleton detection to create visuals and sounds in response to body movements in a prototype for an installation and to position in space.
In the final phase, participants will work collectively on an installation that blends data and tracking into an immersive experience. The starting point will be a real dataset, that of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, which will be specially processed to shape an interactive work. Participants will define the concept, explore technical solutions and create a prototype of a visual and sound experience.
Through case study analyses, practical exercises and a collaborative approach, the workshop will provide concrete tools for developing interactive data visualisation projects, transforming complex data and movements into an immersive installation.
Artist Bio
Riccardo Torresi is an Italian artist based in Berlin, where he is part of the Ephemeral Tomorrow collective.
With a degree in Architecture and New Media Design, he constructs his works in the interconnection between Science, Art and urban space. His work has been exhibited and presented at international festivals and public institutions such as Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Athens Digital Art Festival and RIXC Ungreen Conference Riga, among others. He is a lecturer on the Master’s in New Media Design at the University of Europe in Berlin and, since 2021, he has also been working as a Creative Developer at Field.io.
The workshop is being held in collaboration with INFN – Roma Tre and is preparatory to the installation planned as part of the EAR – Enacting Artistic Research internationalisation project.