Don’t Trip is a multimedia installation by Calvin Waterman that explores the relationship between written prose and illustrated scenarios. In what moment does information become a tangible narrative, how do we build our realities?
The piece consists of five written character outlines each with a corresponding button. When one of the five character buttons is pressed a version of that character’s scenario is chosen from a database of possible outcomes. The scene is projected on to the “stage” which consists of a small white cube resting in the corner. The white cube connects object to character, bringing the illustration into the third dimension while providing a consistent platform for the directing object of each scenario.
The relationship between the written prose and projected scene allows a linear reading. The randomization of the projected scene creates endless narratives. The resulting narratives follow Ben through different steps of his accident.

http://calvinwaterman.com

The Ocean of Light project, by Squidsoup, explores the creative and immersive possibilities of light-based visualisation in physical space. It uses bespoke hardware to create dynamic, interactive and three-dimensional sculptures from light. Surface is the first artwork to be exhibited using the Ocean of Light hardware. It uses minimal visuals and sound to evoke the essence of character and movement. Autonomous entities engage in a playful dance, negotiating the material properties of a fluid surface.

http://www.oceanoflight.net/

Bitquid, by Jeroen Holthuis, is a complex system of about 800 meters of transparent hoses through which digital information will flow in the form of ‘analogue’ fluids. In a really darknened and quiet surrounding this information becomes visible and alive because of the use of an fluorescent component in the fluid. With blacklights this fluid lightens up in a green/yellow color. Everytime one of the 32 valves open you hear clicking sound and at that moment one bit becomes an collection of atoms. In the fluid the digital information is still present, though it will be transformed by our analogue environment leaving a stain on the information.

http://www.jeroenholthuis.nl

Cell Phone Disco, by Ursula Lavrenčič and  Auke Touwslager is a surface that visualizes the electromagnetic field of an active mobile phone. Several thousand lights illuminate when you make or receive a phone call in the vicinity of the installation. Cell Phone Disco makes an invisible property of the environment perceptible to our senses. It reveals the communicating body of the mobile phone.

http://www.cellphonedisco.org/

In January 2010 the Cologne based design agencies Grosse8 and Lichtfront presented their cross-media installation “Augmented Sculpture” for the first time to a public audience.
The core of the installation is a 2,5m tall wooden sculpture that builds the screen for a 360° projection with virtual content. The projection constantly augments the sculptures outside within a 2:32 min. long, dramaturgically structured edit of video content to a track by musician Jon Hopkins. The sculpture becomes a mirror of changing realities. As a result, a kind of real virtuality arises to confront virtual reality.

http://www.lichtfront.com

Amphibious Architecture is a floating installation in New York waterways that glows and blinks to provide an interface between life above water and life below. It was developed by the Living Architecture Lab at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and the Environmental Health Clinic at New York University, and it was commissioned for Toward the Sentient City by the Architectural League of New York.
Amphibious Architecture submerges ubiquitous computing into the water—the substance that makes up 90% of the Earth’s inhabitable volume and envelops New York City but remains under-explored and under-engaged. Two networks of floating interactive tubes, installed at sites in the East River and the Bronx River, house a range of sensors below water and an array of lights above water. The sensors monitor water quality, presence of fish, and human interest in the river ecosystem. The lights respond to the sensors and create feedback loops between humans, fish, and their shared environment. An SMS interface allows citizens to text-message the fish, to receive real-time information about the river, and to contribute to a display of collective interest in the environment.

http://www.thelivingnewyork.com/amphibiousarchitecture.htm

The Artificial Moon is a large-scale installation by Beijing based artist Wang Yuyang. The giant, suspended moon is made of thousands of low-energy bulbs. First created ad hoc few years ago on an industrial complex that now totally disappeared, this installation is now travelling worldwide.

http://www.shearts.org
http://arthubasia.org
http://www.bjartlab.com
http://www.strozzina.org/

A crew of Freeborders took over a San Francisco street to create a real life video game. Which game? Tetris of course. The tetraminoes are giant neon structures set up over every skater’s head.

http://www.freebord.com

Sportpong is an interactive physical computer game. The field is projected on the floor, two or more players can fight in teams against each other. With a paddle on each foot you hit the ball to the goal or to defend your goal. Not only smartnes and reactivity let you win, also geometric appreciation and teamplay is required. Sportpong is a mobile game which can be installed in locations of various dimensions both indoors and outdoors.

www.sportpong.ch

ATOM is a performance for a matrix of 64 gas balloons, lights, and sound. A room is filled with deep, evolving noises from a four-channel sound system. An eight-by-eight array of white, self-illuminated spheres floats in space like the atoms of a complex molecule. Through variable positioning and illumination of each atom, a dynamic display sculpture comes into being, composed of physical objects, patterns of light, and synchronous rhythmic and textural sonic events. Change, sound, and movement converge into a larger form.
The height of the helium balloons is adjusted with a computer-controlled cable, whilst the internal illumination is accomplished using dimmable super-bright LEDs, creating a pixel in a warped 8×8 spatial matrix.
The sonic events, the patterns of light, and the movement of the balloons are manipulated in real time as a 45-60 minute-long performance.
ATOM is a performance by Monolake and Christopher Bauder

http://www.electricmoons.com/indexAtom.htm

“How it would be, if a house was dreaming“. The conception of 555 Kubik consistently derives from its underlying architecture – the theoretic conception and visual pattern of the Hamburg Kunsthalle. The Basic idea of narration was to dissolve and break through the strict architecture of O. M. Ungers “Galerie der Gegenwart”. Resultant permeabilty of the solid facade uncovers different interpretations of conception, geometry and aesthetics expressed through graphics and movement. A situation of reflexivity evolves – describing the constitution and spacious perception of this location by means of the building itself.

http://www.rossarossa.de
http://www.urbanscreen.com

[ITALIAN BELOW]

TileToy è un prototipo di gioco elettronico fatto di mattoncini a LED. Il progetto si propone di portare la flessibilità del software nella materialità degli oggetti tangibili, che le persone possano toccare e manipolare. Spostando le “mattonelle” elettroniche i giocatori possono affrontare diverse tipologie di gioco, dallo stile arcade, ai puzzle, fino all’educational.
I mattoncini sono delle scatole di plastica e il loro aspetto unisce il fascino retrò dei LED con il più moderno design minimalista. I singoli moduli sono in grado di comunicare tra loro e l’interazione con l’utilizzatore è pensata per essere totalmente intuitiva.
Tiletoy, sviluppato da Tuomo Tammenpää e Daniel Blackburn è un progetto open source: sia l’hardware che il software verranno rilasciati sotto una licenza aperta. Questo permetterà di sviluppare giochi e applicazioni in modo comunitario.

www.tiletoy.org