EDITION: INTERNATIONAL U.S. MÉXICO ARABIC TV: CNNi CNN en Español Set edition preference Sign up Log in Home Video World U.S. Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East Business World Sport Entertainment Tech Travel iReport /* STORY PAGE SPECIFIC CSS */.cnn_stryspccvrgehdr { background:#fff url('http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bg_speccov_hdr.gif') 0px 0px repeat-x; }.cnn_stryspcvh1 { position:relative; height:74px;background:transparent url('http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/ssi/story/3.0/banner/intl.make.create.innovate.inc/make.create.innovate.jpg') 50% 0px no-repeat;overflow:hidden; }.cnn_stryspcvh2 { font:bold 10px/12px arial;color:#666;padding:0 0 2px 0; }.cnn_stryspcvh3 { font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight:bold; font-size:18px; line-height:21px; }.cnn_stryspcvh4 { position:absolute; z-index:1000; float:left;margin:30px 0 0 10px;display:inline; }.cnn_stryspcvh5 { float:right;margin:30px 10px 0 0;display:inline;text-align:right; }.cnn_stryspcvh20 { padding:0 0 2px 0; }.cnn_stryspccvrgebot { height:3px; background:#e6e6e6; }.cnn_stryspccvh6 { width:100%; height:74px; text-align:center; left:0; }.cnn_stryspccvh6 a { display:block; margin:0 auto; width:304px; height:74px; }Part of complete coverage onMake, Create, InnovateSHARE THISPrintEmailMore sharingRedditStumbleUponDelicious/* push in config for this share instance */cnn_shareconfig.push({"id" : "cnn_sharebar1","url" : "http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/21/tech/innovation/the-weirdest-thing-at-sochi/index.html","title" : "The weirdest thing at Sochi? Your face on a giant screen of morphing pistons"});The weirdest thing at Sochi? Your face on a giant screen of morphing pistons
By Kyle VanhemertFebruary 21, 2014 -- Updated 2201 GMT (0601 HKT) | Filed under: Innovationsif (typeof cnnArticleGallery=="undefined"){var cnnArticleGallery={};if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList=="undefined"){cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList=[];}}var expGalleryPT00=new ArticleExpandableGallery();expGalleryPT00.setImageCount(6);expGalleryPT00.setAdsRefreshCount(3);//cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("Piston heads", 1);.cnn_html_slideshow_metadata > .cnn_html_media_utility::before{color:red;content:'>>';font-size:9px;line-height:12px;padding-right:1px}.cnnstrylccimg640{margin:0 27px 14px 0}.captionText{filter:alpha(opacity=100);opacity:1}.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a,.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:visited,.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:link,.captionText a,.captionText a:visited,.captiontext a:link{color:#004276;outline:medium none}.cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto{margin:0 auto;padding-right:68px;width:270px}
It takes 11,000 pistons to make these likenesses.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":true,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":1,"title":"Piston heads"}Visitors can get their face scanned at one of seven photo booths throughout the park.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"Piston heads"}The futuristic view from behind the facade.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":"Piston heads"}The pavilion was designed by Asif Khan for MegaFon, a sponsor of the games.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"Piston heads"}The faces appear more than 20 feet tall.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":"Piston heads"}It's a selfie on a whole new scale.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"Piston heads"}HIDE CAPTIONPiston headsPiston headsPiston headsPiston headsPiston headsPiston heads<<<
Visitors can get their face scanned at one of seven photo booths throughout the park.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"Piston heads"}
The futuristic view from behind the facade.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":"Piston heads"}
The pavilion was designed by Asif Khan for MegaFon, a sponsor of the games.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"Piston heads"}
The faces appear more than 20 feet tall.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":"Piston heads"}
It's a selfie on a whole new scale.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"Piston heads"}HIDE CAPTIONPiston headsPiston headsPiston headsPiston headsPiston headsPiston heads<<<
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6>>>Event.observe(window,'load',function(){if(typeof(cnn_adbptrackpgalimg) == 'function' && typeof(cnnArticleGallery) != 'undefined'){cnn_adbptrackpgalimg(cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[0].image,"The weirdest thing at Sochi? Your face on a giant screen of morphing pistons");}});STORY HIGHLIGHTSSochi visitors can see their own face rendered on a giant morphing wall.The 20 feet tall facade is made of 11,000 pistons, each acting as its own LED-tipped pixel.The creator refrained from rendering the spectators' faces in true color as it was too scary.(Wired) -- One of the most impressive spectacles visitors have found at the Sochi games doesn't have anything to do with sports at all. It's their own face, over 20 feet tall, rendered on a giant morphing wall at the entrance to Olympic Park.
Read more: 'Brilliant Cube' lights up GangnamThe Mt. Rushmore-style monument is "the first thing you see when you go in," says Asif Khan, the British designer who conceived of the pavilion for Megafon, one of the games' sponsors. Spectators start by getting their likeness captured at one of seven photo booths throughout the park.A five-camera array generates a 3D image of the face, which is then processed for the facade, where it's rendered with 11,000 pistons, each acting as its own LED-tipped pixel. (After getting their picture taken, visitors get a QR code to scan that lets them know when to expect to see their mug go big.)
Kahn worked with Basel-based engineering firm iart to bring the idea to life. Scott Eaton, a digital sculptor whose worked with animators at Lucasfilm and Pixar and contributed to films including "Captain America" and "World War Z," was brought on as a sort of creative director for the project, creating a piece of software that situated each face at a certain angle.The faces, shown three at a time and cycled through every 20 seconds or so, are 8 meters tall -- larger than the face on the Statue of Liberty.Read more: The world's most incredible offices: Happier staff, more money?We had to pull that back a bit. It looked like a giant was there. I mean, it was really scary.Asif KhanFor Khan, the concept perfectly captured the spirit of the Olympics. "I thought, if we can harness that latent emotive potential in the face, we can communicate with everyone -- without language, without any text, without anything," he explains.But he had to be careful about what he was communicating. At one point, Megafon wanted to explore the idea of rendering the faces in true color, using the LEDs to recreate spectators' skin tones."We had to pull that back a bit," Khan says. "It looked like a giant was there. I mean, it was really scary."Still, even in monochrome, the faces are a striking sight, harkening back to monumental sculptures of antiquity. If you want to put a more contemporary spin on the installation, you could think of it as a Mt. Rushmore for the Selfie Age."The iconography of the face and the expressive potential behind it hasn't been surpassed," Khan says. "And actually, I don't think it will ever be."
MegaFaces: Kinetic Facade Shows Giant 3D 'Selfies' from iart on Vimeo.
Read more from WIRED:Fantastic Infographics, Drawn From A Study of Instagram SelfiesWatch: A Light Installation That Makes You Lose All Sense of SpaceMeet the World's Best Paper Airplane MakerWorld's Coolest Playgrounds Give Kids a Taste of the SurrealSubscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here!Copyright 2011 Wired.com.0Comments »SHARE THISPrintEmailMore sharingRedditStumbleUponDelicious/* push in config for this share instance */cnn_shareconfig.push({"id" : "cnn_sharebar2","url" : "http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/21/tech/innovation/the-weirdest-thing-at-sochi/index.html","title" : "The weirdest thing at Sochi? Your face on a giant screen of morphing pistons"});
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