Volker Kuchelmeister

Mr Volker Kuchelmeister is currently working as the Head of the Media Laboratory at the iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research at UNSW in an academic position. His research focus is in Interface Design, Human-Computer-Interaction, immersive Visualization technology, global capture and imaging systems and new media in the performing arts.
His expertise is incorporated in numerous interactive visualisation and immersive mixed media projects for galleries and museums around the world.
Mr Kuchelmeister designed and developed, the Spherecam system, a ultra high definition digital motion camera for spherical and panoramic capture. In 2007 he was commissioned to use the Spherecam for a project with the New York based performance company, the Wooster Group. The project had its premiere at the ZKM (Centre for Art and Media) Karlsruhe, Germany in the beginning of 2008.
Mr Kuchelmeister has been awarded several large ARC and UNSW Infrastructure grants (totaling more the $320,000) and is actively involved in commercializing iCinema’s research output (NSW Coal Services, VR Mine Safety training, 2007, $5,000,000 and BackOBourke Exhibition Centre iDome installation, 2008, $130,000).
From 1996 to 2002, Mr Kuchelmeister was head of the Multimedia Studio at the ZKM Institute for Visual Media. The Multimedia Studio was established by Jeffrey Shaw and Volker Kuchelmeister in 1994. Numerous new media projects and publications, which have been produced over the years, have earned the ZKM Multimedia Studio an outstanding international reputation. One example is the award winning "Mansaku & Mansai, That's Kyogen" DVD series. Commissioned by Waseda University, Tokyo - it makes the theory and acting techniques of this 400 year old traditional Japanese theater accessible to contemporary audiences worldwide.
The focus of Mr Kuchelmeister work at the ZKM was the complete spectrum of complex new media productions, ranging from the conceptual planning to the completed interactive publication or installation. Mr. Kuchelmeister was also responsible for the technical infra-structure in the studio, research, and implementation of emerging technologies and communication with cooperating partners, clients and artists-in-residence.
Another important aspect of Volker Kuchelmeister's work is the research in the area of Human-Computer-Interaction/Interface-Design and the development of new audio-visual technologies. A good example for this work is his participation in an international research project of the European Community called eSCAPE. The eSCAPE project investigates the exploration and development of the concept of an electronic landscape as a virtual environment that provides interconnections to other environments.
Mr. Kuchelmeister has held numerous workshops, papers and lectures at various international Universities and other organizations. A two-week workshop he held at the Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Faculty of Science,in the context “Exploring state-of-the-art Visualizing techniques”, resulted in the “Virtual Chulalongkorn Campus” project and was published on the University's website.

Grants:

AUC (Australian University Consortium) Seeding Grant 2008
Immersive Interactive Projection Environments using Quartz Composer and OpenGL
2008
Total: $2,500

Participant
FARO LS420 High Precision Measurement Scanner and Software.
Pagnucco, M., Kuchelmeister V.,Stodhardt, P., Rizos, C., Sammut, C., Blair, A., Ryan, M., Shaw, J., Del Favero, D., Hardjono, A.,
UNSW Major Research Equipment and Infrastructure Scheme
2008,
Total: $82,500.

Major Contribution
Phillip Stothard, Jeffrey Shaw, Bruce Hebblewhite, Dennis Del Favero, Maurice Pagnucco, Paul Compton, Matthew McGinity
Portable stereo panoramic virtual reality visualisation system
2007
UNSW Major Equipment and Infrastructure scheme
Total: $99,000

Chief Investigator (tbc)
Jeffrey Shaw, Dennis Del Favero, Neil Brown, Paul Compton, Maurice Pagnucco, Andre van Schaik, Craig Jin, Hock Soon Seah, Peter Weibel, Sarah Kenderdine, Tim Hart, John Fritz
Reformulating narrative in virtual heritage using a co-evolutionary model of immersive interactivity
2006
ARC Linkage
Total: $519,000

Major Contribution
Jeffrey Shaw, Dennis Del Favero, Neil Brown, Paul Compton, Maurice Pagnucco, Matthew McGinity
TRANSTOR integrated disk storage infrastructure in AVIE and Panocam
2006
RIGB Grant
Total: $40,000

Contribution
Dennis Del Favero, Neil Brown, Jill Bennett, Maurice Pagnucco
Digital Arts Program
2005
Contestable Funding for International Strategic Projects
Total: $25,000

Major Contribution
Dennis Del Favero, Jeffrey Shaw, Steve Benford, Johannes Goebel
Co-evolutionary narrative as machine autonomy in the relationship between artificial agents and human participants in the interactive cinema
2004
ARC Discovery
Total: $219,000

Major Contribution
Jeffrey Shaw and Dennis Del Favero
Advanced Visualization and Interaction Environment (AVIE).
2004
UNSW University Capital Infrastructure Grants Scheme
Total : $280,000

Major Contribution
Dennis Del Favero and Jeffrey Shaw
Interactive Digital Media Matrix.
2004
ARC Research Network Seed Funding
Total : $30,000

Major Contribution, Technical Lead
Jeffrey Shaw, Dennis Del Favero, Neil Brown, Ian Howard, Ross Gibson, Mark Gugliemetti, Adrian Miles, Scott McGuire, Nikos Papastergiadis, Henry Gardner, Pascal Vuylsteker
240 x 360 degree digital video camera for interactive immersive visualisation research applications.
2003
ARC Linkage Infrastructure
Total : $289,458

Chief Investigator
Jeffrey Shaw, Dennis Del Favero, Neil Brown, Volker Kuchelmeister, Nikos Papastergiadis, Scott McQuire, Andy Arthurs
Reformulating museological narrative using three models of cinematic interactivity.
2003
ARC Linkage Project
Total : $128,205

Major Contribution
Dennis Del Favero, Jeffrey Shaw, Neil Brown, Peter Weibel
Interactive narrative as a form of recombinatory search in the cinematic transcription of televisual information.
2003
ARC Discovery
Total: $241,954

Major Contribution
Dennis Del Favero, Jeffrey Shaw, Ross Gibson, Ian Howard
The reformulation of narrative within digital cinema as the integration of three models of interactivity.
2002
ARC Discovery
Total: $122,882

Major Contribution
Dennis Del Favero, Jeffrey Shaw, Ian Howard
iiC_inema: an international collaborative research program involving the development of interactive immersive video technology and its creative and commercial application.
2000
ARC Linkage Infrastructure
Total: $205,000

Chief Investigator
An investigation of interactive strategies used within multi-sensorenabled mixed media installation to develop a metaphor based model of participatory interaction.
Miller B., Kuchelmeister V.,
UNSW/CoFA Faculty Research Grant, 2004.
$8,000

Commissions/Commercial Projects and Sales:

BackOBourke Exhibition Centre Commission. An innovative mixed-reality interactive cinema display for their permanent exhibition.
Kuchelmeister V.
2008
$140,000

Mines Rescue Pty Ltd Commission. Virtual Reality Mine Safety Training utilizing iCinema AVIE-SC and Interaction Consoles
McGinhity, Kuchelmeister, Hardjano, Shaw, Del Favero, Compton, Pagnucco, Stothardt.
2008
$930,000

Mines Rescue Pty Ltd Commission. Virtual Reality Mine Safety Training utilizing iCinema AVIE and iDOME.
McGinhity, Kuchelmeister, Hardjano, Shaw, Del Favero, Compton, Pagnucco, Stothardt.
2007
$4,200,000

Scitech/Questacon iDome sale
2007
$18,000

University of Woolongong, iDome sale
2007
$19,500

University of Western Australia, iDome sale
2006
$11,000

Interactive Cinema projects and Infrastructure:

Concept and technical realisation, BackOBourke Exhibition Centre iDome installation. Bourke/Sydney, 2008

Technical Co-Ordiantor, Cinematographer The Wooster Project. UNSW iCinema Research Centre, ZKM Karlsruhe Germany, The Wooster Group New York USA, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., USA. 2006-2007

Concept and Cinematography, The Sydney Journey, Ultra high resolution panoramic film. 2007

Concept and Cinematography, Hawkesbury River Ride, Ultra high resolution spherical film. 2006

Production, Design and Technical Co-Ordinator iCinema iDome Immersive Visualization Environment. UNSW iCinema Research Centre. 2004-ongoing

Production, Design and Technical Co-Ordinator iCinema Spherecam 240 x 360 degree digital video camera for interactive immersive visualisation research applications. UNSW iCinema Research Centre. 2004-ongoing. ARC Linkage Infrastructure Grant

Production Co-ordination and Management, Advanced Visualization and Interaction Environment (AVIE). 2004. UNSW University Capital Infrastructure Grants Scheme.

Project Coordinator iCinema Interactive narrative as a form of recombinatory search in the cinematic transcription of televisual information, T_Visionarium Interactive Immersive Environment Project. Premiere at Sydney Festival 2007. UNSW iCinema Research Centre. 2003-2006. ARC Discovery Grant.

Production and technical Co-ordinator, Conversations The reformulation of narrative within digital cinema as the integration of three models of interactivity. 2002. ARC Discovery Grant.

Production Co-ordination and Management iCinema AVIE Advanced Visualization and Interaction Environment. UNSW iCinema Research Centre. 2004-ongoing. UNSW University Capital Infrastructure Grant.

Chief Investigator and Production and Technical Co-Ordinator Reformulating museological narrative using three models of cinematic interactivity. Research project and Interactive Installation Conversations at the Studio, Powerhouse Museum Sydney as part of the permanent Design Across Time exhibition. 2004/2005. ARC Linkage Project Grant $128,205

Book chapters, publications, papers:

AVIE: A Versatile Multi-User Stereo 360° Interactive VR Theatre. McGinity, Shaw, Hardjono, Del Favero, Emerging Display Technologies (Siggraph), 2007
Praxisbeispiele computergestützter Wissensvermittlung, Vom Tafelbild zum globalen Datenraum, Edition ZKM, 2001

Books, CD-ROM's, DVD-ROM's, DVD-Video's:
Design and production, digital Arts Esition, DVD and Book, ZKM, iCinema, 2008
Design and production, T_Visionarium : A User Guide, Interactive Cinema Edition, Jill Bennet, DVD and Book, ZKM, UNSW Press, 2007
Multimedia authoring Dennis Del Favero DeepSleep DVD-ROM, UNSW iCinema Research Centre. 2004
Noach, documentary, Film/DVD project, Theater Bremen, Germany, 2002.
Design and production, New Screen Media DVD-ROM/Book, ZKM Karlsruhe Germany/British Film Institute London. 2001
Design and production (dis)LOCATIONS DVD-ROM/Book, ZKM Karlsruhe Germany/UNSW iCinema Research Centre. 2001
Design and Production, Noach, documentary Film/DVD, Theater Bremen, Germany. 2001
Design and production, Complete artintact DVD-ROM (1994-99), ZKM Karlsruhe Germany. 2001
Design and production. Mansaku & Mansai, That's Kyogen. DVD series. Waseda University, Tokyo. Tokyo; Karlsruhe: TMC/Tokyo Media Connections; ZKM, 2000.
Design and production William Forsythe: Improvisation Technologies. A tool for the Analytical Dance Eye. ZKM-Digital Arts Edition CD-ROM, ZKM Karlsruhe Germany. 1999
Antoni Muntadas. Media Architecture Installations. CD-ROM. Centre Pompidou, Paris. 1999
Multimedia authoring Dennis Del Favero Cross Currents CD-ROM, ZKM Karlsruhe Germany. 1999
artintact CD-ROM/book series, ZKM Karlsruhe Germany. 1994-99

Lectures/Symposiums/Workshops:
Ultra High resolution panoramic video: System design and post processing, VSMM 07, Brisbane, 2007
DVD Art projects, Documentary Film Festival Kassel, Germany, 2001
DVD Art projects, European Media Art Festival Osnabrueck, Germany, 2001
Kyogen DVD Project, fmx Conference Stuttgart, Germany, 2001
Screen based interface design. Challenges and solutions, Writing Interactive Fiction Workshop ZKM, Karlruhe, 2001
Computer based Knowledge transfer, Vom Tafelbild zum globalen Datenraum, Neue Möglichkeiten der Bildproduktion und Bildgebender Verfahren, ZKM, 2000.
Juror at the Multimedia Transfer Award 2000, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, 2000
Workshop (Exploring state of the art Visualizing techniques, Virtual Chulalongkorn Campus) at the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 1998
Panoramic Navigator, Information terminals in public space, Multimedia Market, Stuttgart 1998
Art on CD-ROM, Transmediale, Berlin, 1998
Workshop Multimedia and Art at the Merz Academy Stuttgart Germany, 1997
Modern Ballet and New Media, Torino Danza Festival, Teatro Regio Torino, 1996
Multimedia and Art, Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts Strassbourg 1996

Select Awards, Exhibitions:

Mansaku & Mansai. That’s Kyogen:
Silver Medal at Interactive Media Design Review 2001, I.D. Magazine, New York
Nominee, Prix Möbius Award 2001, Munich
Nominee, Europrix 2001, Europe

Improvisation Technologies:
Winner Interactive Media Design Review 2000, I.D. Magazine, New York
Exhibition Stuttgarter Filmwinter 2000, Stuttgart
Nominee, EuroPrix MultiMediaArt '99, category "Knowledge and Discovery", European Commission and Austrian Ministry for Economic Affairs
Honorary Mention (Special Prize), Prix Moebius Germany 1999, category "Art and Culture", Marstall Muenchen, Munich
The Installation is part of the permanent collection of the German Dance Archive, Cologne, Mediapark, Cologne, 1998
Award winner at the "New Voices, New Visions 1996", New York. Wired, Interval Research & Voyager
Exhibition "Revue Virtuel" at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Honorary Mention, Artec 1995, Nagoya

artintact CD-ROMs:
arts_edge, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1998. The Sub-Division... by Perry artintact 3 receives a first prize of the arts'_edge Prize, 1998 for interactive multimedia works.
Honorary Mention, distinction "Interactive Media 1997", ID. Magazine, New York