The Khronos Projector

Concept: Alvaro Cassinelli
Date: 2006

Nowadays, controls that make it easy and convenient to play films are something we take completely for granted. On a DVD player, you can record, fast-forward and reverse, or pause on an individual image. Nevertheless, it’s only been possible to view these sequences of shots in one predetermined temporal direction. Now, “Khronos Projector” makes it possible to see a film from a completely new point of view.

The pliable projection surface interposes a completely novel interface between viewer and medium. You simply touch the surface to shift parts of the image currently on screen forwards or backwards in film-time. The resulting “time islands” and “time waves” open up a completely new way of looking at a film sequence. The “Khronos Projector” uncouples the continuum of space and time in a film sequence and opens the floodgates for an endless array of interactive visualizations.

Prix Ars Electronica 2006: Honorary Mention in Interactive Art