The Manual Input Station


'Golan Levin Golan Levin / 'Zachary Lieberman Zachary Lieberman / ' Tmema Tmema

The Manual Input Station is a series of interactive audiovisual vignettes which probe the expressive possibilities of hand gestures and finger movements.

Our installation consists of a combination of custom interactive software, analog overhead projectors and digital computer video projectors. The analog and digital projectors are aligned so that their projections overlap, resulting in an unusual quality of hybridized, dynamic light. During use, a computer vision system analyses the silhouettes of the user’s hands and other objects as they move across the glass tops of the overhead projectors. The shapes and gestures are then analyzed by our custom software. In response, the system generates synthetic graphics and sounds that are tightly coupled to the forms and movements of the user’s actions. The synthetic responses are co-projected with the organic, analog shadows, resulting in an almost magical form of augmented-reality shadow play.
http://www.tmema.org

The Manual Input Station is based on the performance project The Manual Input Session, presented in 2004 at the Ars Electronica Festival, and has now been adapted expressly for the exhibition in the Ars Elecronica Center.