Overview:
As the inventor of video gesture controlled experiences, GestureTek is constantly delivering new ways to allow the public to interact with gesture controlled displays. Using a mobile device, GestureTek has taken that one step further by delivering a system that lets participants wirelessly send their own art creations/pictures from a mobile device into our live projected interactive display and then to step up and interact and play with the resulting animation and projection. Our first installation of this technology was in the Crayola Experience in Easton, Pennsylvania. It was the first of its kind in the world.
Objectives:
Crayola Experience's wanted was to promote, encourage and inspire creative self-expression in kids of all ages through their 21 hands-on attractions. GestureTek created 'Art Alive' a permanent installation for the new Crayola Experience, a family entertainment center, in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Our objective was to give families a positive association with Crayola and increase brand awareness of their new product ‘DigiTools App’ and get kids using it. To do this we wanted to bring their digital art to life to enhance their experience.
We created 4 custom worlds (underwater, space, fairytale, safari) that are projected onto 4 giant 16x9 foot screens. At 40 ipad stations kids can color and draw an image, assign an effect to it and send it to their chosen world. Once on the big screen kids can interact with their design by moving their full body in front of the screen (while also making the water ripple, plants part, clouds move and animals wiggle, etc) which is hours of fun.
Product Description & Timeframe:
Our main challenge was to come up with a concept that would highlight how great a product Crayola’s DigiTools App is and to integrate it into our gesture controlled system. The issue was the gesture controlled GestureFX system was not designed to take in and display new content while it was up and interactive. This meant having to create a new gesture controlled graphic engine that allowed real time wireless input of additional interactive elements from mobile devices while the application was up and running. Such a system had never been built before. We would also need to allow the user to assign the desired effect to the drawing, and send the drawing to the appropriate screen.
To do this we wrote new software to accept real time input from wireless devices into the code of a running app. We created a control network manager to help send the right images of media components and the code for their associated interactive effect (shrink, breakup, spin etc) to the right worlds, also allowing for an external approval station, and external re-launch station for kids to send their images back to the projection to play with again. The project took approximately 3 months from first contact to delivery to finish.
Results:
The former Crayola Factory operated in the red, according to Crayola, and the revamped center with the new attraction is expected to excel — and to draw an additional 150,000 people a year into Easton thanks to the new experience that has been installed. The Art Alive exhibit was designed to allow 40 users to be engaged at one time and has successfully highlighted how great a product Crayola’s DigiTools App is by bringing art to life and getting kids to interact with their own art.
