Installation
10.16.01
Implementation
 

The system's hardware consists of a window through which the scene is viewed and a stylus with which objects are manipulated. The window is a flat panel display removed from its housing and attached to a board with handles for easy movement. There is a tiny camera mounted on the back of the window showing a live video image of the room as seen through the window. A stylus attached to the end of a long cord is used for user interaction.

By tracking the position and orientation of a stylus and the window itself, we are able to calibrate virtual coordinates with real viewing position. Virtual objects created in the system respond as though they were physically in the space of the room. Once objects are placed in the environment, they will stay there in perpetuity, changing and growing like plants in the air. See movie (8MB).
     

Frustration

Ideas

Implementation

 
Physical forms   Software
 

The viewing window from the front. Wafer thin.

 

   Blobby forms are created with a stylus that is tracked in three dimensions. [movie, 2MB] (Requires QuickTime 5)
 

The stylus is an inductive position and orientation sensor with a button attached.

 

   Once objects are created they are placed into the space of the room. [movie, 3 MB] (Requires QuickTime 5)
 
The viewing window from behind. Notice the position sensor on the lower right and the camera in the center.
  

The forms generated in Installation are described by a method developed specifically for this application. It is a very fast way to model and render complex organic forms. [movie, 6MB] (Requires QuickTime 5)