Matthew McGinity
Short CV:
Matthew McGinity holds a BSc (mathematics and physics) and a BA (philosophy and literature) from the University of Melbourne and 1st class Honours in Computer Science from Monash University. Following university, he worked for a time in the visual FX and computer game industries, before joining the European Space Agency in 2000, where he prototyped virtual reality simulations for astronaut training.
In 2002 he joined the ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, before moving in 2003 to Sydney, Australia, to join the newly founded iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research at the University of New South Wales. At iCinema he held the position of chief computer scientist, leading development of the Centre’s key projects.
In 2014 he completed a PhD at the University of New South Wales. The thesis presents cross-disciplinary account of immersive media in three parts: a theoretically account of presence as fundamentally a function of perceptual binding, the creation of a 360° omnistereoscopic multi-user immersive theatre and an exploration of the aesthetics of presence through the creation of the immersive artwork La Dispersion du Fils. The artwork has been exhibited internationally on numerous occasions and the thesis was selected by Leonardo Journal as among the highest ranked theses concerning the intersection of art, science and technology in 2014. See http://www.ladispersiondufils.net/
Since 2008 he has been a member of the Marseille-based artist collective LFKs, led by artist Jean Michel Bruyère, collaborating on a number of large-scale immersive artworks across the fields of theatre, cinema and virtual reality, music and opera, installations and live performance.
His current research interests concern the perception of images, the perceptual foundations of presence in immersive media and the aesthetics of immersion. In particular, he is interested in virtual reality as a means for experimental phenomenology, with which one might examine not just the nature of our everyday being in the world, but also ‘alien’ modes of being in the world.
Former projects:
With LFKs (2008…):
Tour Reservoir: Online web documentary with real-time generative narrative, 2015 - 2016.
La Dispersion Du Fils: An immersive omnistereoscopic real-time generative projection 2008 – 2016.
Polyptych Bobby Seale: Large-scale immersive audio-visual installation with 4K projection, CG effects, real-time generative narrative and 3D audio. Grande Halle d’Arles, France, 2013 .
It’s Now Baby: iPad application, with École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de St-Étienne, Gardanne, France, 2012.
Une Situation Huey P. Newton: Contemporary opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bois de l’Aune, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2012.
Gamme Normale: Exhibition and films, Fondation Vasarely, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2011.
Eldridge Cleaver: Theatre production, Théâtre Garonne, Toulouse, France, 2011.
With Morean Digital (2015):
Le Radeau des Cimes: Head-mounted VR project. Interzum trade fair, Köln, May 2015.
With iCinema (2002-2010):
Conversations: A multi-user head-mounted display project, with 8kx4k resolution omnistereo video, HRTF binaural audio, voice recognition and spatialised voice transmission.
AVIE: A versatile 360° omnistereoscopic multi-user virtual reality theatre.
TVisionarium: An immersive televisual database platform.
SphereCam: A high resolution reconfigurable panoramic/hemispheric video camera.
iCASTS: VR training simulators for underground coalminers.
iDome: A low-cost single-user hemi-spherical projection system.
CharacterLab: A framework for autonomous virtual characters in immersive narratives.
iCinema Software Development Kit: C++ library for VR development.
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