Completed eye form with interchangeable iris that can be modelled from a stamp.

Virtual eye augmentation in prep for animation / inventor rig

Eye rig I put together in maya and mudbox for this project. I will finish animating the iris when I have done compositing it in photoshop.  

Teeth placement

These post are just the preliminary fixtures that I will be working on. I do rather like how its working out so far but getting all the mechanics working in such a small space is going to need planning. 

Exploring materials for artificial sclera

I spent some time today casting different materials to create the sclera for my new artificial eye system. I used latex, silicone and gelatin to make the cores with for the sclera. I found that latex is very rigid and therefore isn't really suitable for this system as I require flexibility. Silicone proved to be the best material as gelatin proved to be very sticky which may hinder. Now I have an idea of which material will work best I can now look at adding deader and hardener to get the strength I require.

Another issue that arose was that the silicone did not give a clean cast from my nylon mould. I think the only way around this is to mix a lower strength mix so that it pours into the mould rather than pushing it into place after giving a few mins cure time.

New Project for 2017-2020 is part of my practice led Ph.D study into simulacra and simulation.

Simulacra and Simulation

Are we still prisoners of Plato’s cave, staring endlessly blurry eyed into the abyss of convoluted symbology, clambering absurdly to discern fact from fiction, truth from lie? Has the complexity of contemporary technology blurred the line between actuality and artificiality to the extent that we can no longer trust in our most basic of human senses? Will we one day ourselves become god, creating life, commanding over it and building it in our own image?

With such unlimited potential, should we take warning from Baudrillard’s augury, and question… was there ever really a cave to begin with? perhaps human beings are just not sophisticated enough to understand the complexity of our situation. However, in time maybe our synthetic counterparts may unravel this most holy of grails, after all, the simulacrum is always real.

My project is a practice led exploration into the hyperreal, developing and constructing a humanistic animatronic system capable of surficially emulating life through mechanical simulation. 

This amazing skin reference piece was sent to me from the U.S.A is beautifully textured on gel 10 silicone.