The visitor starts by spinning the Dial-A-Style wheel, similar to the prize wheels seen at carnivals.

There are four significant styles represented on the wheel:

1. Impressionism - in the style of Van Gogh

2. Cubism - in the style of Picasso and Braque

3. Pointillism - in the manner of Chuck Close

4. Anime - the Japanese comic style

When the wheel stops, optical detectors send a signal to the computer, which triggers the webcam to photograph the visitor, the computer then runs the selected algorithm to create the stylized painting displayed on a projected screen.

Note that the wheel can stop between neighboring styles, resulting in a hybrid-styled portrait.

If the visitor likes the portrait, they click on the upload button, which will make the picture available to be downloaded on www.robgon.com.

In creating algorithmic self-portraits, visitors will gain an insight into the perspective of visionary artists who are now very familiar to us. Through experimentation, viewers will understand and appreciate how various painting styles impact the emotional connection to the artwork.

Several OpenSource projects were used in the making of this video installation:

• openFrameworks is an open source C++ toolkit for creative coding, www.openframeworks.cc

• OpenCV is a library of programming functions for real-time computer vision, opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki

• XDoG: An eXtended difference-of-Gaussians compendium including advanced image stylization, code.google.com/p/xdog-demo

• flandmark is an open-source C library implementing a facial landmark detector in static images, cmp.felk.cvut.cz/~uricamic/flandmark

I want to thank Jennifer Lim for her help with this installation.