Double Date | Video Sculpture
Updated: Jun 21
Jan 2020
An interactive video installation about the interference of smartphones on dates.
A collaboration between: Yiting Liu, Dina Khalil, Patrick Warren, and Hyunseo Lee.
The How:
Tools: Arduino, Sprite, Projector, Laser-Cutter, After Effects, Premiere, Illustrator Skills: Projection, Experience and Interaction Design
The What:
Full Experience:
Closer look at the Videos:
We've all worked together equally, but I've mainly shot, directed, starred and edited the different scenarios on Adobe AfterEffects along with Patrick Warren.
The Why:
Concept
It seems more tempting to get immediate gratification from phones than to be engaged in face-to-face conversations. Being present in the moment is difficult with constant access to the world in our pockets. Where should we direct our attention when trying to stay present?
Problem Statement
Do people know how to communicate with their loved ones and manage their phone usage?
Ideation
In our brainstorming process, we came up with several ideas, most of which revolved around people being controlled by their possessions.
Our goal is to create an interactive video sculpture as a portraiture. The focus was then on telling a story about a modern relationship between people and their phones.
Production
We wanted to show how human interactions would change the relationship for the people in the video. For our concept, using a phone is very intuitive as the interaction device for the user. Different interactions such as swiping, picking the phone up, would indicate changes in the relationship depicted in the videos.
User Journey
Phone faced down → Video 1 of the couple having a great time
Phone faced up → Video 2 of the girl playing on the phone
Button pressed → Video 3 of the couple on the phones, giving attention to the digital others
Programming
Using C++ via Arduino and Sprite MedeaWiz, we were able to bring our idea to life.
Sprite MedeaWiz is a triggered video repeater for compact video projection. Due to it's compatibility with Arduino and small size, it was the perfect device to use in this project.
For the code, we used the Accelerometer and Arduino Uno to determine if the phone is up or down. Yiting Liu, added the button as another condition to trigger the third video.
library for the accelerometer: Arduino_LSM6DS3.h
Fabrication
The phone was fabricated from scratch using plywood and standoffs, also serving as an enclosure. A design for the phone was created in Adobe Illustrator, and then the pieces were laser cut and assembled.
Special thanks to the dream team!
Patrick Warren, Yiting Liu, and Hyunseo Lee.