It's been a while that I wrote here about the 3D scanning of the Ponyheads. Meanwhile happened a lot and before and during Easter time mails were flown between Stefan Nitz, Marianne Ternek and myself to an fro. Stefan had worked a lot with the data, I got a lot of orders for remeasuring Pepe's head and Marianne looked with a very professional eye at the intermediate results.
Request for measurement from Stefan looked like this
Pepe was very patient
Comments from Marianne often looked like this:
It felt like hundreds of emails and I think the tension rised with all of us. Easter Monday was the last day and Stefan presented the final version here. Meanwhile the look of the pictures had changed a lot.
Almost final version
Our teamwork was fascinating. Marianne and Stefan had never met or even phoned. I only have seen both of them once. But we operated well together, as if it was our 10th project. For all of us it was unknown territory and therefor I think this teamwork was kind of unprecedented and I like to think back to this intensive time. We often just discuss questions of proportion like what about the muzzle, what to do with this huge amount of hair or are the nostrils ok? By all these questions I tried to measure or made photos, Marianne surprised us with pictures she found in my own Blog: Friendly Hairy Creature.
Tuesday after Easter the print should start. All in all the whole head needed 52 h printing time. During the week I couldn't help but asked Stefan how is it going, because I started counting hours beginning on Tuesday morning. Of course by a job like this, there are also some preparations on the printer side.
Last question was about the material. The suggestion was a sort of polypropylen that means it would be transparent.
In between Stefan sent us a video with the following words: "Pepe looks good in the printer. Attached a video - but you can't see much. The laserpoint drives over the model and are heating up the material."
Finally a picture from the head. More pictures are in the next post. We took some and I want to share them separately.
Moritz is wearing the GoPro between his ears. We walk through our village, than we stay a while in our garden and after that we walk back through the forest.
At the moment we - our research colleagues in Linz and I - try to find out how the hearing of the Ponys works. There are not many studies, but they say that the localization of a noise works with a variance which is greater than 20 degree.
My last try with flicking and calling I don't call serious. My Ponys knew that I didn't want anything from them. For that it seems for me, that you have to consider in what kind of situation the Ponys are. So is it a natural or a artificial situation. Therefor my last post with the three videos show an artificial situation. We were moving and I did something by the side what did not affect them. Ponys are made for walking. For them the world was perfect, because we started to walk and from the trail they knew we were not heading home. If I try to translate this, it means: Variety in a very positive meaning.
For the better understanding: Almost every day since more than 10 years I walk or jog with my Ponys, even if it is just for 15 min. Mostly we are in a set of three (or four with me). That's our daily situation and we know the region in a radius about 10 km pretty well. Means that's their territory. I don't ride, I jog or walk with them. According to the direction I choose they know whether it will be a quick round or a longer hike. My be I imagine that, but my impression is that they start to walk faster and the head goes up, if I have time for a hike.
Out of the entire recording of this day I choose 6 sections. They all have different characteristics:
1. The postman comes
First he observes - up the road, down the road - than he focus. I thing that the kink at the end of Moritz ears gives it all a kind of dramaturgy.
2. A roadblock - that's new
There was a tree felling in our village and therefor the passage was blocked. That's also the reason while I was able to walk through our village during the week. Normally I don't do that because of the trucks. The Ponys don't mind, but the whole situation is to dangerous. Cars and trucks are too fast, and to close while overtaking etc.
A Pony is a flight animal, but as I said that's their territory and therefor they don't spoke when they see new stuff, but instead start to explore. So to see in this video, the hooves carries the ears to the place!
3. A car passes
This situation I always wanted to see through Pony eyes. What happens when a car pass? It is heard before seen and it is not really interesting and instantly unimportant when it drove past.
4. Something will happen
This video was a surprise. The Ponys stood a while tied to the horse trailer. Sometimes I was in the house, but also while on the phone walking through the garden - with Stefan Nitz from MakerLounge. I wanted to know if he needs more datas about Pepe's head.
When I clean the paddock my Ponys knew when I'm close to finish. They group together for getting the halter on. In this video I suspect that they hear in my voice that I'm about to leave. I'm in the house and talk to Alexander. There we are again about intention and which powerful signals we are sending via our body, voice etc.
5. Scanning the hillside
This situation I saw more than once in the videos. When the Pony runs free, occasionally the Ponys stops and 'scans'. When they on the rope, I make the pace, so there is not place for that. When they run free, I have a more natural situation, even though they have to follow the herd.
6. Finale with a view of Point
With this snippet I want to draw the viewer in our situation. Most times it looks like this ... Besides look at the ears from Point.
After scanning so much video material I'm slightly confused. I'm fusing with the Pony while watching through his ears and occasionally there is this 'alien'. In black clothes with a hoodie, inconspicuously and seems to belong to the group. Fascinating hunch ...
Movement of the ears from a pony
The question came from my research colleague in Linz: "Do the ears turn in your direction if you pass the pony on the left or the right? Or, if you make a noise (like finger snapping or clapping your hands), do the ears turn in your direction?"
Questions like this are kind of challenging me. Day by day I walk among my ponies. I think I know a lot about them, but when it comes to a concrete question like this ...
I thought that I could provoke a reaction with the ears, but on the other hand you can see clearly they know pretty well that nothing serious is going on. See for yourself!
For some time I try to figure out how to scan pony heads in 3D?
Therefor I talked with different Daimler colleagues and they all agreed: Statically no problem, but a breathing pony head - fascinating task. So, okay thank you and all that without little knowledge in 3D scanning. But there was one colleague - who knows - who did some research and made contact to a small company. He also talked to the owner and assured me about his reliability. Makerlounge 3D-Studio and he advertizes with scans from live animals.
Last Sunday it happend. Stefan Nitz came from Goslar. I was a little nervous, but: it was a very pleasant adventure.
Stefan Nitz from Makerlounge says Hello to Pepe
My preparations with the ponys were: Trying to get the hair out of the face. Therefor I braided the hair, so that it will be easier to remove them from the 3D scan. The goal is to have the heads printed out as accurate as possible. For the most exact adjustment of the prototypes.
The Ponys should stand still. So how to achieve that. We started with Pepe as an easy guinea pig:
1. I stand beside him and holded the hair away - it didn't worked.
2. I kneeled beside him and hold him in my arms - he fall asleep in my arms and he was very heavy. So also not a practically idea especially for the bigger ones.
Trial with Moritz
The next picture I like very much. The clever Haflinger didn't understand what I want from him: STAND STILL! But you can see my joy and proudness -- Clever boy, doesn't make it easier.
We don't have pictures with Point. During the whole process suddenly he stands in the middle and dozed. Stefan Nitz took the chance and the first good scan was fetched.
Therefor we came to the following solution. I don't like it from an optical way.
Lashing with two ropes
But there was more to do. At the beginning we tried to be calm. But the right way was a smooth way of talking. And one after the other dozed of. Stefan Nitz is a very calm person with a soft voice. Quite perfect for the handling with ponies.
A look over the shoulder
I have never seen something like that
The data were send to me last week and the colleaques from Ars Electronica Future Lab showed me how they look like.
Moritz in the scan
Point in the scan
Pepe in the scan, in one case in my arms
Next task: Who is printing the Pony head in 1:1?
Stays facinating!
Which parts of the Ponyhead are expressional and thereby involved in the communication process? With the following pictures I try to highlight the spots.
Ear: Posture of the ear, root and top of the ear
Eye: Posture of the pupil. The area at the front at above
the eye can move.
Nostrils: Opening and muscles around the nostrils.
All signals together are giving the hole picture.
Three examples with Point:
On guard, because Pepe hold his halter with his teeth.
Fun can get serious very fast.
Point is in pain. The whole muscles around the nuzzles are cramped.
The lips are pressed closed together.
He is concentrated but relaxed. The jaws are tight,
because he is eating. Nuzzles are relaxed.
Pepe after jogging: Relaxed and satisfied.
Attentive, but not alarmed. Both turn the head, both each has one
ear and Moritz also an eye to the front.
The whole body language signals, no stress. All Ponys
have one ear to the camera.
For our project I focus on the Ponyhead. But of course a Pony has a lot more to communicate with!
At this video you should look with a portion of humor. I want to gave a look 'behind the scenery', how photos and videos are produced. So, please smile!
Pepe's point of perspective comes from much more below. Head, ears are a lot smaller, therefor he has much more hair ... So the ears are just caught in the camera picture.
As always: Look at the ears.
At the beginning and at the end you see the view from external.
This time Point is wearing the GoPro between his ears. All in all he is much more restless with his head than Moritz, but this is his character. Besides he runs free.
The snippet happens at a parting of a ways, all in all 5 different paths are leaving.
In between he is scratching his mouth at his leg.
First he walks in front, than we overtake in his back and he follows.
After seeing this video a lot of people say that the scratching seems like a displacement activity.
About the empathy into the world of how a pony sees and perceive.
The ears!
The biker is sensed early and is taken 'between the ears'.
In the second part: Normally that gate is closed. The path you see borders the meadow of the ponies and for that belongs to their territory. What I didn't know - and saw later - there were people.
SLAP – See Like A Pony
With SLAP we want to make robotics more understandable. Clifford Nass drew the comparison of robots with domesticated animals. They are useful, but also dangerous. But, how do we comunicate with animals? How does it work?
So don't hesitate, design a test: SLAP - See Like a Pony.
As guinea pigs we like to use my ponys. They are as creatures alien to us, but also familiar. And they can develop a lot of kinetic energy.
Neuroscience has a concept for interaction called Mind Reading. It works with living beings: we represent them in our own minds, and then try to model their mood to predict their actions. Now we try that in a novel way with our ponies.
Hope it will bring us insight for robotic interaction, and fun!
