François Quévillon
Algorithmic Drive, (2018)
Algorithmic Drive is part of a body of works that plays with the tension that arises when confronting the technologies used by mobile robotics with the unpredictable nature of the world. During several months I have installed a camera on the front of my vehicle and collected videos synchronized with information from my car’s on-board computer, such as location, orientation, speed, engine RPM, stability and the temperatures of various sensors. The videos and data captured feed a sampling system that uses signal processing, data analysis and computer vision algorithms to sort the content statistically. The system assembles an endless video as it alternates between calm and agitated states by modifying parameters related to sounds, images, the car’s activity and the environment in which it’s located. A controller displays data related to each scene and allows people to interact with the system. Combining a maximum of trees, instability and percussive sounds will select scenes in bumpy forest paths; joining buildings and speed at zero will select those in which the vehicle is parked in front of buildings or inside of them. Since one of the motivations of the project was to see how these technologies deal with unexpected situations, the work features several scenes that are difficult to decode, such as darkness, harsh meteorological conditions and odd images.
