Zain Karim

@dallas_skybot

2023

Dallas SkyBot is an automated application that captures the color of the sky above the Dallas skyline every 30 minutes. Inspired by Michael Bodge's NSKYC project, it is an artistic and technical experiment that merges data capture, image processing, and visual storytelling.

At its core, Dallas SkyBot leverages a livestream of the Dallas skyline to capture a screenshot every half hour. After each capture, the image undergoes minor enhancements to optimize brightness, contrast, and saturation, ensuring the sky's colors are accurately represented. The application then isolates the sky region, analyzing its average color value. This value is cross-referenced against a Pantone color database to find the closest match.

Once identified, the application generates an image with a solid background matching the sky's average color, overlaying the Pantone color name and hex code. This color image, alongside the original skyline capture, is then tweeted to create an ongoing visual archive.

Dallas SkyBot was created to be an evolving piece of digital art. It serves as a love letter to the city I grew up in and is driven by a fascination with how data extracted from the natural world can be transformed into creative expression.