metric.ply
JPEG compression reduces visual data based on what the eye is unlikely to notice, maintaining the illusion of completeness while prioritising efficiency and control. Building on this logic, I developed ‘metric.ply’, a custom digital tool that reimagines compression, not as reduction, but as transformation. Working with 3D point clouds, the system divides a model into voxels, or spatial cells, and evaluates each one against perceptual features such as curvature, surface density and spatial frequency.
Each voxel is measured against a defined ‘ideal’, and the further it deviates, the more its geometry is stretched, thickened or displaced. Rather than preserving what aligns with expectations, the system amplifies what stands apart. By adjusting the parameters, multiple sculptural outcomes can emerge from a single model. This project uses data as a creative force, turning difference into a form-giving element and offering a new perspective on how digital perception can shape material expression.