A couple months ago, while in Paris, I saw a fascinating exhibition of work by Yayoi Kusama. Much of her work has a hallucinatory quality — of obliteration and making things (especially herself) disappear. And it was her dot-room and light installations that I thought were particularly beautiful and amazing. She recently completed an installation at the Queensland Art Gallery entitled The Obliterated Room. It’s a a very simple interaction (and without any technology —…
 
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Two interesting wall-sized interactive experiences… one charming, one kinda terrifying. Night Bright is a new installation by Design I/O. The experience, designed for children, let users explore a nighttime forest, as if moving through it. The system adapts to their movements, and creatures in the forrest hide or come forward in response. It’s charming and engaging — and looks like a great way to help kids understand the unique rhythms of the natural forrest. Boo!…
 
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Back in 1997 Art Center‘s Williamson Gallery housed the exhibition “Memory, Reflection and Transformation, Reactive Works by Jim Campbell.” I was teaching there at the time and remember first seeing the show as I took a break from one of my classes. Walking through the gallery was a playful and social experience, as visitors together discovered the reaction the pieces gave. But it was the subtle use of technology and interaction to create remarkably beautiful…
 
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Arclighting recently posted two fascinating video histories, by Thomas Schielke, on lighting and communication technologies in architecture. The videos contained just a handful of examples of interactivity — but there were some elegant ones from rAndom International, a firm which is inventing and creating interactive, experiential installations. rAndom International was founded by Stuart Wood, Flo Ortkrass and Hannes Koch in 2002. The studio was set-up as a license for experimentation with the mission to develop…
 
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Small Design Firm‘s recent Pledge Wall for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is a beautiful interactive installation with a unique pen interaction. David Small, the firm’s founder, is a friend back from when we were both students at the MIT Media Lab. I’m a little jealous, as his firm has gone on to create some remarkable projects, while my former firm, Triplecode, is in deep hybernation. But despite that I’m super-glad he was able to take…
 
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Take a look at this “reactive wall” in Montreal in front of La Vitrine. It was created by Moment Factory and Photonic Dreams. Created in August 2009 it was originally intended to be a temporary installation, it’s since been made a permanent part of the club’s facade. Sensors (it looks like they’re in an overhang above) track where people are, and in what direction they’re moving. Graphics react to their movements. I particularly like it…
 
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