The piece functions with a webcam observing a sheet of watercolor paper. As audience members drop colored inks (red, yellow, and blue) onto the paper, the webcam reads the color information and maps it to an animated virtual landscape-- different colors affect the landscape in different ways, and it is up to the audience to figure out what changes they are causing!

As shown below, as the webcam image (top right) gets more saturated with ink the more difficult it is to keep the environment healthy. The piece is intended to promote thought about the complex interactions and impacts of our collective actions on the ecosystems we inhabit. 
Impact was created as my capstone for the Multimedia program at PCC-- the goal was to create something that showcases a variety of my skills as an interactive multimedia artist in addition to being relevant to my interests in interactive museum exhibit design. I used Adobe Photoshop for the asset creation (digital painting, image compositing, and animation). I then brought these elements into Processing and coded the interactivity and functionality-- it works with a custom color-tracking algorithm to suit my specific needs.  
tests of color tracking:

OTHER PROJECTS

Back to Top