Color Gun

http://youtu.be/iBVsIf1XxZ8?t=6s

This is a pretty cool project done in another interactive arts class, at 2007. What I like about this project is the element of surprise that it has. When the student is about to pull the trigger on his head in front of the projector, I didn’t know what to expect. Then when it was pulled, and the splash of color “sprayed” out of his head, just like the crows in the classroom I laughed. When an artifact like that triggers a spontaneous reaction from people, I think it hits the spot and does the exact right thing. As simple as it is (the simpler the better!).

SXSW 2012 Interactive Movie winner!

This “movie” is one of the SXSW 2012 winners. It’s pretty weird and is interactive with the mouse. Basically what I like about this movie is that you are not given any instructions whatsoever or feedforward as what you are supposed to do. But once you start clicking, you interact with the shapes (and later this funny figure) and get a lot of different feedback – both audio and visual that guide you through this “movie”. I could not make any sense of what exactly is going on there, but it is pretty cool! Too bad it’s using flash.

Here’s the link http://blabla.nfb.ca/.

Aquatypes

Another winner of the SXSW 2012 awards. I really liked this one: The users send txt messages, and those are translated to a fictional creature according to pre determined rules. Those in turn are displayed on the screen. What I like about this piece is the simplicity of interaction – everyone can do it with their phone. In addition, I like the artists attitude as saying that this is a metafore for words in general. Once they are out of your mouth, they are independent in a way and act on their own.