The Thingy Cloud was an interactive ceiling prepared for the University of Twente, for the class of Human Media Interaction project. In this project, we created a ceiling that could detect and track the position of the user. As the user moved in the detectable area, he/she would have an effect in the visual world above of her/his head. The world had the look of a microbial environment. The system could detect about 4 users simultaneously. We tested our prototype with groups of very diverse compositions. Our objective was to create a fun interactive art installation for a public space. The interactive art installation had the purpose making people to smile by interacting with our installation.
Additionally, our installation had to be unobtrusive and easy to intall and remove. We featured bright and colorful graphics in order to capture the attention of the people who transited the area. Our first prototype was tested in a controlled environment. The project was done in collaboration with Saskia Akkersdijk, Steven Gerritsen, Michiel Neelen and Mark Oude Veldhuis. The project was supervised by Mannes Poel and Gijs Huisman.
Interactive Applications
Avatar and Thingies Gallery (SWF): 1.5mb
Apart from the research, you may be able to find the world concept and a flash gallery of the characters (Thingies and Avatars) in this virtual environment. The Avatars are the characters that were controlled by the user and were capable of eating Thingies. Thingies on the other hand were system-controlled characters that interacted with the user by feeding his/her avatar.
As mentioned earlier, we intended to create a microbial environment with all sorts of creatures. Unfortunately, much of the visual information can’t be expressed in images. I added links to the SWF files where you may find the animated objects of our project.
Research Documentation
Thingy Cloud Research (PDF): 8.7mbThingy Cloud Research is a PDF document. To effectively execute this file and be able to read the content you should have a PDF Reader such Adobe Reader. If you are a Google Chrome user you can simply open it right away without having to install anything else.
Research Presentation
Presentation Slides of Thingy Cloud (PDF): 901kbPresentation Slides of Thingy Cloud is a PDF document. To effectively execute this file and be able to read the content you should have a PDF Reader such Adobe Reader. If you are a Google Chrome user you can simply open it right away without having to install anything else.
Name of the Project: Thingy Cloud
Purpose: Educational
Client: Universiteit Twente (supervised by Mannes Poel and Gijs Huisman)
Location: Enschede, The Netherlands
Date: February 2010
Coauthors: For this project I had the fortune to work with four amazing and highly creative individuals. Saskia Akkersdijk, Steven Gerritsen, Michiel Neelen and Mark Oude Veldhuis were part of this project and together we brought our Interactive Ceiling to life.