Institute of Visualization Design

Sheridan College seams to offer a wide variety of different technologies and continues to surprise me with various examples of these technologies throughout the school facility. Today I experienced a small adventure of the visualization design institute which took me through several flash, html, and video developments. These developments ranged from online tests, educational and training games, as well as, a video that allowed the audience to participate. The interaction with a movie being played was very interesting, however, with a bit of improvement, it could have a greater impact. The movie gave a series of multiple-choice options which altered the scenes slightly but resulted in the same conclusion. However, my opinion of a movie is not to be interactive. I feel that a short ten or 15 minute movie clip or game would be more suitable for this kind of technology and probably more stimulating. All in all, the experience was entertaining and I look forward to being a part of these growing technologies.

GestureTek

GestureTek is a company located in Toronto that develops new and interesting ways of interacting with computers. From mall kiosks to games that allow your image into a 3Dimensional game. Touring GestureTek’s facility was very attention-grabbing as it is far from ordinary. The main showroom features a section of the floor that is used as an interactive experience where the user can play games with each other like air hockey or step onto the floor that while it mimicked a pond and the water would flow and ripple around the area you stepped on. The company featured large monitor images through glass with the use of projectors and modern kiosks that the user could use to select items with there fingers that would act as a mouse click. GestureTek has a lot to offer with interactivity and is an exceptional example of where technology is heading.

Some related sites to check out:
http://gesturetek.com/gestxtreme/introduction.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060818/cifaldi_06.shtml
http://www.gesturetek.com/groundfx/introduction.php
http://www.industrial-embedded.com/articles/vincent/

InterAccess

InterAccess is an attention getter to say the least. Creativity is utilized to such extremities that it makes me realize how interesting the collaboration of different technologies and artwork can be. Interaccess is all about using technology to create artwork. The company even offers workshops for those who feel intrigued enough to attend. You can learn something from nearly everything they create from learning how to be a VJ to controlling lights and sound according to your own movements.A project inspired by Interaccess that I found very fascinating was that of a greenhouse per say. It was created by an artist who was trying to master the growth of orchids far from their natural growing environment. What the artist created was a small green house for the plant that had a controlled environment based on the daily weather of India, where orchids grow very well. If it rained in India, it rained in the greenhouse where the orchid grew. The project was a successful one and is only one of the many interesting projects going on in the InterAccess world of art.