Physical Computing’s Greatest Hits (and misses) – response

I’ve seen a lot of the projects listed in Physical Computing’s Greatest Hits (and misses). One that I’ve had recent experience with is the hand as cursor example. For GO-Brooklyn Open Studios I created a hand as cursor projection where 100 particles followed each hand of each user in a different color, and drew lines (pictures below). The installation was pretty effective. People intuitively use their hands when they see something they want to interact with. With this installation people could immediately see the effects of their actions, since the particles drew lines wherever the user moved their hands. The results were pleasing to see too, due to the physics that the particles were operating with. It was really enjoyable for me watching everyone have so much fun with it.

The installation also had a sound component. Based on the distance between both hands, sounds were triggered in certain spaces of the room. This was a little less effective because their was no visual reference for the users. They could tell that they were doing something that made the sounds, but couldn’t tell quite what it was that the sounds were linked to.

I’ve also created body as cursor projects for live performance where dancers’ movements are tracked from above. This is a little less obvious to the audience, since they are not directly interacting with it, but can be effective for using multiple people’s movements to draw things on screen.

GO – Brooklyn Open Studios pictures: