The Tech

So, how do we plan on creating this super-duper living painting experience?   Our basic tech setup will include:

-Arduino - the reigning champion of open source I/O processing, an Arduino Mega equipped with long range IR sensors will act as our user interface.

-Unity3D – We’re going with a 3d game engine to render all of our graphics with a brush-stroke-like custom shader.  Unity will take the output from the Arduino and use it to trigger transitions from winter to summer, fire animations, and correspond the painting’s lighting to the real time of day outside.

-Projectors – We want this painting to be visible at noon from across the street.  That means we’ll need a super bright light source.  We’re hoping that two 4,200 lumen projectors will do the trick on even the clearest of February afternoons.

-RearProjection Screen – We want the painting to be as close to viewers as possible, so we’re experimenting with different rear projection adhesive films that we can attach to our storefront’s windows.

-A Computer – No magic lanterns or gear-based analytical engines here.  We haven’t decided to go Mac or PC, but we’ll need a computer to hold the show together and also to connect to the internet so we can monitor the installation from afar.

The Concept

After a few intense meetings (intense because of the beers consumed, not conversations had), we’ve come up with some goals and a concept for our Pop Up installation.  We’re striving for an interactive experience that brings together families, friends and strangers to play together in downtown Pittsburgh.  What we’re proposing is a painting of a winter landscape.  As people walk in front of the painting, a portion transforms into summer. The more people, or the more one person moves, the more summer is revealed.  The painting should be on display during the depths of the horrible Pittsburgh winter so that hopefully, between the summer graphics, and running along or working with friends to try to trigger the entire painting, users feel warmer!

What?! Sorcery you say? Nay, it’s simply technology combined with good experience design principles.  Here’s how we explained it to Pop Up Pittsburgh:

“Summer Sky Eternal is a rear-projected image displayed on a storefront window with a large gold frame on the outside.  Viewers break inferred beams to trigger the computer generated image’s change to summer in real time.”

The Most Wonderful Project of the Year

Welcome To Summer Sky Eternal!  We’re a team of graduates from Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center working with the Downtown Pittsburgh Partnership to create an awesome interactive art installation for PopUp Pittsburgh.  Stand by for all of the news, pictures, code, schematics, and art required to turn an abandoned storefront into a work of art.