A Winter Tale
A Winter Tale is an interactive installation responding to people’s gesture and give them poetic experiences.
Collaborated with Jacquelyn Zen, Anne-Michelle Gallero and David Chen
My Role: Concept Research | Interaction Desin | Physical Computing Development
Tookit: Processing | Arduino | Kinect
2017
Project Description
Winter Tale is a window installation. When people wave their hands towards the book, it will turn the page automatically. There are four pages, each with one sentence and illustration on each page. When it turns to the certain page, the background display will also have some interactions. For example, the birds will rise up and the trees will move. We hope to create a different way for people to interact with book and stories. So we built this physical book and changed the way people use to turn the page. We set up this installation at Broadway Avenue in New York. During the four-day display, we found many people really enjoyed our installation and they called it a magic book.
Project Prototype
This project took around two weeks for ideation and prototype. We experimented with Kinect caputure accuracy, motor control structure and prompt production.
To avoid the reflection from the glass, Kinect has to be tighly attached to the glass. And to give people better gesture control feeling, the calculation of waving distance needs to be accurate. We experimented with different people’s waving habits and find the best waving range.
In order to find the best way of turning the book page, we experiemented with a few structures and found fishing wire and servo is the best way to control. The background prompts control and book control are all integrated on one Arduino board.
This project took around two weeks for ideation and prototype. We experimented with Kinect caputure accuracy, motor control structure and prompt production.
To avoid the reflection from the glass, Kinect has to be tighly attached to the glass. And to give people better gesture control feeling, the calculation of waving distance needs to be accurate. We experimented with different people’s waving habits and find the best waving range.
In order to find the best way of turning the book page, we experiemented with a few structures and found fishing wire and servo is the best way to control. The background prompts control and book control are all integrated on one Arduino board.
Project Setup
We have one day for on-site contruction. This is a big challenge for us to put everything ready to work in 24 hour, considering the space is tight and small.
The team was splited into two group, responsibe for scene design and technology check. The two group took turns. One group stayed at backstage to prepare and another team went into the window to do the setup.
We have one day for on-site contruction. This is a big challenge for us to put everything ready to work in 24 hour, considering the space is tight and small.
The team was splited into two group, responsibe for scene design and technology check. The two group took turns. One group stayed at backstage to prepare and another team went into the window to do the setup.
Significance and Feedback
It’s a window-installation, so we had to think about the relationship between our installation and the environment. We were planning to use projectors for more digital components, but later we found that projectors couldn’t perform well during day time.
It’s also crutial to reflect on the relationship between installation and people. How to catch people’s eyes, and how to encourage people to interaction were all difficult questions. Compared to digital screens, a physically moving installation turned out to be more interactive and attractive.
The exhibiton lasted for 48 hours without any stops to the installation. This was a big challenge for the sofeware and hardware building. With our preparation and testing during the ideation process, the installation turned out to be impressively stable.
It’s a window-installation, so we had to think about the relationship between our installation and the environment. We were planning to use projectors for more digital components, but later we found that projectors couldn’t perform well during day time.
It’s also crutial to reflect on the relationship between installation and people. How to catch people’s eyes, and how to encourage people to interaction were all difficult questions. Compared to digital screens, a physically moving installation turned out to be more interactive and attractive.
The exhibiton lasted for 48 hours without any stops to the installation. This was a big challenge for the sofeware and hardware building. With our preparation and testing during the ideation process, the installation turned out to be impressively stable.
