Matt Dembiczak

RGB, 2023-2024

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Three.js

RGB is an interactive exploration into how computers store and interpret images as data. It is also an investigation of websites as a form of digital installation. When interacting with RGB, players are forced to think like a computer, to deconstruct digital media into its pixels consisting of the only three colors computers know: red, green, and blue.

Technical Process

Screens display media through pixels, individual points of light that combine red, green, and blue additively to display 16,777,216 possible colors. RGB examines each of these pixels in an image, comparing its red, green, and blue values, or RGB values. The work features three 3D panes, one corresponding to each of these colors. In each pane, every pixel’s RGB values are compared. If the corresponding color is dominant, then that pixel is tinted and displayed; otherwise, it is transparent. Interacting with each slider adjusts the bias for its corresponding color.

Interactions

• Click the central image pane to toggle pane alignment.
• Click the outer image panes when unaligned to navigate three-dimensionally.
• Drag the sliders to adjust the red, green, and blue bias.
• Click the refresh button to receive a random image.
• Click the upload button to upload an image from your device.