Major Studio // Computation // Spring 2008 -----------------// Design and Technology // MFA Parsons The New School for Design. ------------------------// Instructor: Yury Gitman
The LobbyPet is an interactive playmate devised to entertain in the monotonous periods of your day. Just like a pet brings comfort when you get home, the LobbyPet comforts and entertains you while you wait for an elevator, stand in line for food, or various other dull times of the day. Your LobbyPet responds to your voice, so he'll come when you call him. However, he doesn't like it to be too loud, so make sure not to yell at him. He may hide at first when you bring over a large group of people, but if they're nice to him, he may eventually come out to say hi.
"Tetris Moves Me" is an interactive
projection built in Processing. Tetris pieces shift and dance in reaction to movement. Originally designed to be installed in Barcade, a bar located in Brooklyn NY, vintage arcade games were used as inspiration. Intended to be a playful installation for all ages, Tetris Moves Me can be installed in any public space designated for recreational socializing.
A camera attached to the computer reads the speed of the motion that passes in front of it. That reading is then interpreted as fast, medium or slow movement. The projected tetris pieces move in one of three different ways as a result. If the tetris projection is still the camera is reading no movement, a small jitter in the pieces means the camera sees slight movement and if the pieces react explosively the camera is reading a lot of movement.
On March 28th, 2008 we debuted the project at a house party in Fort Green, Brooklyn. People at the party enjoyed the projection for hours, but got tired of the camera interaction quickly. In some cases people were not aware that their own movement was triggering the movement of the projection. That passive interaction was intended, but in conclusion we questioned different ways of making the interaction more obvious. Overall, we were happy with the result and are inspired to create further variations of this project.
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