Wednesday marked NC State Libraries’ inaugural Code+Art Student Visualization Contest sponsored by Christie Digital systems. Finalists competed for a $500 grand prize and an opportunity to have their project featured on the art wall in Hunt Library. 

Anthony Smith, a senior studying computer science, won first prize for his Fractal Forest piece. The Fractal Forest piece is an interactive projection that changes as students enter Hunt Library. 

The visualization shows a planet that grows various types of plants in conjunction with the people entering the library. It also features a sun and moon simulation as well as accurate time and weather data. As people add to the work and interact with the visualization, it develops and changes. 

Smith said he learned about the competition from one of his professors. 

“And the day after I learned about the competition, in a separate lecture, I learned about tree expansion algorithms which gave me the tools and the inspiration to make my project,” Smith said.

The second place winners were a team from NC State’s radio station WKNC 88.1. Their visualization was a projection which interacted with the radio station. 

The team consists of group leader Cameren Dolecheck, a senior studying computer science; lead designer Harrison Wideman, a junior studying design studies; and group members Neal Grantham, a graduate student studying statistics; Dylan Stein, a junior studying computer science and Colin Keesee, a sophomore studying industrial design.

The competition began with a proposal process last semester in which students submitted proposals of projects for a data-drive generative projection. This projection would have to cover the 20-foot art wall above the ask desk in Hunt Library. The proposals received a budget, and students had from January until April 1 to build their projects.

The data visualization medium of art is a relatively new way of combining technology and art, which is part of what made this competition unique. 

“The data visualization format is really cool because of how new it is with big companies putting big walls up that they then want to put beautiful things on,” Dolecheck said. “Our visualizer works by taking our radio stream over the Internet and visualizing it by having the buildings light up to the different frequencies, and having a bird flying across the sky for each current listener. The sky color changes along with the changes of music blocks on the radio station.” 

The rest of Dolecheck’s team was made up of four other students who either work at WKNC now or have in the past. 

“We wanted to join the competition because it was a perfect way to get WKNC in a space where people would see it,” Dolecheck said. “A surprising number of people on campus are not aware of WKNC or that NC State even has a radio station. One of the key goals of this project was to get piece in a space that when people walk into the library, they would see this piece, think of WKNC and become interested.”

Dolecheck and Wideman were two of the project leaders with Dolecheck being the official group leader and Wideman leading design. 

“Both projects look amazing,” said Mark Cylinder, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, “I was just going to study when I noticed all the people and the videos being projected on the wall. I like the fact that the WKNC project shows active listeners as well.”

The purpose of the competition was to highlight this new form of visual art as well as show how data can evoke an emotional experience.