For 15 years as a Research Artist at the University of Southern California, Kurosh ValaNejad helped develop a wide range of well-meaning computer applications - on topics which include immunology, democracy, cultural sensitivity, and spiritual enlightenment. He has collaborated with artists and scientists in a variety of disciplines including land-planning, architecture, installation, animation, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and video games. By continually changing the field to which he applies his computer-graphics skills, Kurosh's work matures while he maintains the enthusiasm of an amateur.

Pushing Light Through a Darkened Palette

Statement:
Pushing Light Through a Darkened Palette is a visualization of, and possibly a trigger for, the low-grade euphoric experience of an Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR). I adapt the computer graphics technique of Color Cycling (a.k.a. Palette Animation) to step white or a bright color though the histogram of an image. On screen, this looks like a thin band of light scanning the surface of the framed object and mimics the reported characteristic of a tingling sensation moving down the back of the neck and upper arms. I repeat this technique on images of objects associated with ASMR with the hope that the audience-participants of SoundPedro will have a beneficial therapeutic experience.