Description

This is a project done in collaboration with YesYesNo. The goal was to turn the historic Ferry Building in downtown Auckland New Zealand into a giant interactive playground.

We used 3 different types of interaction – body interaction on the two stages, hand interaction above a light table, and phone interaction with the tracking of waving phones. There were 6 scenes, cycled every hour for the public. The whole experience lasted 6 nights.

Monsters

The monster scene was a full body interaction – as people danced in front of light boxes their contours would magically transform into a playful monster. As groups of people came together they created giant monsters. see more monsters here

Ferns

This scene is another full body interaction – as people made growing gestures a fern would spawn from their contour. Throughout the scene colorful butterflies would flock toward peoples bellies.

Paint

This scene allowed people to finger paint on the entire building.

Constellations

This scene generated large constellations from the motion of people’s cellphones. The more movement people made caused stars to spill from the building.

Photos

Credits

Interaction Design and Software: YesYesNo Joel Gethin Lewis, Zach Lieberman, Pete Hellicar, Kyle McDonald, Todd Vanderlin w/ Daito Manabe sound design

Projection / Staging: Electric Canvas, Inside Out Productions. Production: The Church, Simon Velvin. Production & Art Direction: Hellicar and Lewis

Thanks to NZ Telecom and the Auckland City Council for supporting this, Peter Milne and all the Team, Simon Velvin and all at the Church, Mike Mizrahi, Marie Adams and all at Inside Out Productions, and Takayuki Ito.

This project was a collaboration between Ryan Habbyshaw, Brad Simpson, and Todd Vanderlin. We began the project seven days ago when we learned of the competition and developed it from initial ideas to the final foldable posters within the week. Below is a brief description of the process of parsing, sorting, visualizing, and composing the final posters.

The subway data from August 12, 2009 was parsed in openFrameworks and Matlab using custom applications. Statistical analysis was performed in Matlab for subway loading (temporal and geographical including the entire MBTA, individual lines, and individual stations), rate of subway activity, and associated data. openFrameworks was used to generate the central visualizations for the project. Programs were written to interpret data that was processed into several arrangements to emphasize different trends within the data. Linear charts were used to display the activity of stations on a given line to show the geographic relation of activity throughout the course of the day. Circular 24-hour clocks for individual lines and stations were made in order to see the relative activity throughout the day. Pie charts were used to visualize rush hour commutes on each line, showing the contrast of activity during morning and evening rush hours. Histograms were used to show the breakdown of daily activity in a linear fashion. Layouts were done in Illustrator and visualizations were combined in order to create the five individual MBTA line posters and overall MBTA poster. Individual print posters are 33in x 23 in.

Photos

All Lines over 24 hours.

Built around a 24 hour clock each ring is a train station the thickness of the line represent the amount of people on the train at that time.

Orange Line


Red Line

Green Line

Blue Line

Silver Line

More photos here

Credits:

Todd Vanderlin
Ryan Habbyshaw
Brad Simpson

“Graffiti Taxonomy is a graffiti-based study in which characters are isolated from a collection of graffiti tags that were photographed in the same geographic region.”

I built a tag visualizer for all of the graffiti photos taken for the study. The visualizer show the relationships between the letters within the tags. You can investigate the letter down to its location in the original photograph. The project was a blast to work on. The exhibit looks amazing, congratulations Evan!

Video

Photos

Links:

View the Project
Video of the exhibit
Evans work
Fondation Cartier

Credits:

Graffiti Taxonomy: Paris, 2009 by Evan Roth
Consulting/Production: Robert F. Houlihan
Development: Todd Vanderlin

Description

I was playing around with some AR markers the other day and came up with this idea. taking just a plain old vinyl record and attaching an AR marker to the label you can track the record in 3D space. The next question was, can you scratch the record?

So by figuring out the velocity of the records rotation and applying it to the payback of the audio you can scratch. There is some digital noise that needs to bee worked out, but sounds pretty good. Its still really hard to scratch, it takes some practice but is super fun. The next step is to figure out some nice triggers for different modes. I like the idea of not needing a turntable but the actual spinning of the record helps with the scratching and playback. I made a couple modes, one where the record is paused and you can just scratch through the song. The other looks for zero velocity for x time and then continues on with the song. If there is velocity you then are scratching and the audio is affected. I think that this project has some legs can’t wait to play more.

Description

The interactive aquarium is installed in store front windows in 6 cities across the US. Using computer vision the seascape will react to the motion of a user, seaweed will sway and fish will scatter. Users can then dial in with any mobile device and create a fish using their voice. As they connect in realtime the sounds they make are analyzed and create a dynamically generated fish. You can then enter that fish into the aquarium and use your key pad to eat various pieces of fish food that will transform and morph your fish into creatures. The application will remember the state of your fish so that when you call back later you can evolve your fish even further.

Technical

The installation was setup in two situations an HD rear projection and a LCD wall. The vision technology was able to track motion and trigger animations. The phone technology was built using megaphone a realtime multiuser mobile phone server.

Credits

Ryan Habbyshaw
Illustrations by Emily Gobeille
Arnold R&D

more photos

We developed custom software using Openframeworks (openframeworks.cc), an open source development environment for C++. The software is displayed on a HD (1080 x 1920) vertical LCD screen, enclosed in a custom fabricated bamboo frame. The interaction is based on motion and presence. As people stand in front of the display a camera captures the them and the software analyzes the movement in each frame of the video. In realtime the users movement is translated in the a wind force. A physics system is the skeleton for all the elements is the environment. This force and physics system is what animates and brings the environment to life. As the user sways and moves the plants will move with you.

The interaction becomes a tango between you and the plants. To encourage growing we are isolating the upward motion and computing that into plant growth. The more someone moves up the more the plants will grow. The application has two modes day and night, at night the sky fades to a black gradient and stars twinkle in the background. When the sun rises the environment transitions back into a sunny day.

Installation Photos

Application Photos

Video

Credits

Todd Vanderlin
Ryan Habbyshaw
Memo Akten

Description

The app loads a series of type images that I created. They are analyzed in realtime in order to find the whole words and each individual letter. I created custom particle system that react to the each letter. The Triggering of the particles was generated via SuperCollider . The result was a realtime music and visual performance.

Photos

Video of Performance

Credits

Todd Vanderlin
Dave Dellacosta

Description

This installation was done for the 2008 SCMX music festival. You were able to interactive with drifting bubbles that when touched would release smaller bubbles that roll off your contour. Based on amounts of motion you make dust would float upwards and ribbons would burst from your body. The application would export renderings of your interaction for printing.

Technical

The piece was installed under a tent on two HD 52″ LCD displays. The image was a beautiful 1080p and super bright. The application was built in openFrameworks using openCV for computer vision. Using a vector field you were able to paint a motion path for the bubbles to drift across the screen.

more photos

These creatures are attracted to people; they are curious. As you get closer they will jump out and have a taste. This piece is projected over a stairwell 10′x18′.

Video

“We make you smile”
The piece allows you to be someone or something else for a moment. As the user walks by the piece finds their face and eyes replacing them with a new image. The reaction is priceless.

Video

Beta Video

Galaxy was an installation done for the Children’s Tumor Fund in NYC. The concept was to create an experience where people could change the atmosphere of the room by creating constellations.

A custom built multitouch table was placed in the middle of the room. People could draw shapes and and make connection with the clear blocks that symbolized children’s toys. Above their heads was a large canopy where stars and constellations were projected. As connections were made on the table constellations would appear above everyones head. Words that represented foundation would build if the right constellation was created. The piece allowed people to set the mood and transform the space in a new way.

Video

Description

This site was built in collaboration with Adam Larson. View the site here.

Credits

Adam Larson
Todd Vanderlin

Using the simplest of parts The Drawing Machine creates patterns overtime. A pen or any drawing device is controlled by two motors driven by a custom built application. The machine mimics the human gestures of drawing.

The documentation of a true Frankenstein experiment. I skinned a mouse and added glowing LEDs for eyes. The mouse was ordered from an online research supply store. I followed the steps to clean and skin the mouse, then created LED leads and attached a watch battery. These components were placed inside the mouse and everything was sewn up.

Press

Make:Blog

The frozen mouse ordered by mail

Two LEDs wired and shrink wrapped. They were place inside the mouse with a small watch battery.

A Frankenstein LED mouse

Description

Using light and water Sound Fountain acts as a alternate interface to audio. The sampled audio is altered and plays back as one interacts with a stream of water. The more one plays with a stream the more elaborate the sound becomes.

Photos

Lasers used to trigger the sound sampling.

Construction

first prototype

Initial Sketch

These are little Scribblers that I made. I took a couple of DC motors and attach a piece of lead to the shaft. I controlled them by pulsing them randomly.

Video

This is a project on how to crated a custom mounted LED light for a bike. The light was built from $1 toy telephone, blue LED, and a 9volt battery.

Video

more photos

Description

This is a portfolio site for Stuart Heir Photography. Stuart is a brilliant photographer out of New York. The site was designed with the ability to create custom books to show for clients. Visit the site here.

Credits

Todd Vanderlin
Ryan Habbyshaw

Using very simple electronic components the task was to make an ordinary “hello my name is:” sticker and make it digital. Some on the stickers would just buzz, others would playback audio files. The stickers needed to be inexpensive, I used small toy and watch batteries for power.

The stickers were placed in public spaces, you need to consider the placement. Elevator buttons, door knobs, etc. are great locations, they are places were you naturally interact. The stickers made you aware of your technological surroundings. They exposed the simplicity of a circuit and create a new form of street art.

Parts List

Hello my name is sticker.

Red wire for connetions between
components. A simple button to
trigger the sound.

A sound chip with a recording.
You can rip one of these out of a
toy. You could also use a simple
piezo speaker.

Video

Description

A online portfolio site for photographer Brian Jenkin. The site runs via an XML system where all the content can be changed very easily.

Description

This site was developed for Heller Communications a design and communications firm in NYC. The site is an exploration of their work and strategy. Hellercd is an amazing and unique firm that really understands the design processes. This site is a tool to help deliver that message.

Credits

Cheryl Heller
Sarah Berends

Description

Online portfolio for fashion designer Behnaz Sarafpour.

Description

Website for New York City cratering company Creative Edge Parties. View the site here.

Credits

Heller Communications
Todd Vanderlin